Kugma
culture of the Kugma mountains
demonym: kugma
To the south of the Raron Kingdom is the town of Kugma just in front of the mountain range that bears its name. Mostly the Ildoar people live there, but between the Raron Kingdom and Kugma is a large stretch of cold desert that neither people general cross. Still, some do. Kugma is one of the two capital cities of Ghawle, and it shares many cultural traits with its neighbors to west in Iwati. One of the distinct aspects about Kugma culture is their understanding of the self. They do not ascribe to the belief in a single soul in a single body, but recognize many beings inside their bodies. These groups of beings are called ûûrb (singular ûrb), or body families.Naming Traditions
Family names
Kugma have two different types of families, hû (family) and ûrb (body family). Hû family names trace a person's lineage as a line of biological descendents, passed from egg-laying parent to egg. Sometimes the name is changed to include names from other parents or relatives, but it's most commonly just the same name as the egg-laying parent. This name is used to distinguish Kugma people from each other for resource allocation purposes. While a body may contain many beings, the body only needs as much as one body.
Other names
The ûrb, body family, is a collective chosen name amongst the beings that inhabit the same physical vessel. This name can refer to the whole collective with a typical first name, a meaningful word or phrase, and/or a reference to the collective as a whole. This name is used by others when it is not known what being is fronting, controlling the vessel, or it can at least be an acknowledgement of the plurality of the Kugma person.
Culture
Major language groups and dialects
Kugma people speak languages in the Teshpen family, a vowel- and fricative-heavy language family. It's also noticeable for the way that it handles plurals: reduplicating the first part of the first syllable. Thus words like le, meaning "dog," become lele, to form "dogs."
Common Dress code
To show off the multitudes contained in Kugma people's ûrb, many different articles are worn. Flowing dresses in multiple fabrics, many items of jewelry made with different metals, ear and lip piercings with different gems, short experimental tops that end in the middle of the abdomen, and skirts of various lengths can all be used to convey one's unique combination. One being in an ûrb might want to wear a skirt and another wants to wear a longer one, so the vessel wears both. This also means that, in general, Kugma wear clothes most of the time, and pure nakedness means losing one's identities into the void.
Foods & Cuisine
Kugma people love the zhorrork, a particular type of cactus. They use it for many things, including building materials and needles, but the nogmûdzhyum, sap, earns it as a staple in Kugma gardens. The sap can be consumed as is as a sweetener for drinks, or it can be fermented into an alcoholic beverage, tuf. One does not need a lot of the sap in order to create enough tuf to intoxify an adult.
Ideals
Beauty Ideals
Kugma people value an internal sense of appearance that may not manifest physically. It may be impossible for someone to ever be perceived as they actually are, if their internal sense of appearance differs significantly from the vessel's. Thus, exterior appearances are considered shorthand for physical appearance, but only one facet of many.
Physical appearance is an outward expression of the collaborative efforts of many beings in a given vessel. Being able to express the collective will of multiple people with many different styles combined in fashionable ways is seen as attractive. Some Kugma vessels are inhabited with beings with similar fashion sense, but they could still express their views eclectically to the same effect.
Gender Ideals
Kugma recognize three basic genders, but among large systems it is expected for there to be a multitude of genders contained with a single vessel, and some of them can be contradictory. Some genders remain constant over time, from initial assignment until death, but others are more fluid and can change between them.
Dikûm (plural didikûm) is a gender associated with warm colors like orange and yellow. They use the pronouns ey/em. They are associated with the beginnings of things, such as growing things or new ideas.
Wûlkyû (plural wuwûlkyû) is associated with cool colors like blues and purples. They are associated with the ends of things, the decisions. They are valued for their judgment and leadership abilities. Individuals use the pronouns it/it.
Ing (plural iing) is associated with monochromatic colors, white and black. The pronouns ing individuals use are they/them. It is associated with balance and the connections between things. Iing are valued for their dialectical approaches to problems. They often wear bracelets and necklaces in the ing colors
Courtship Ideals
Common dates with Kugma partners include games meant to getting to the know the many beings inside each other's body family. Vessels might interact and be aware of each other, but it isn't until courtship or other meaningful decisions to become more involved with each other before it's worth the time and effort to get to know all of the beings who want to be known.
These games can be as simple as name games (like stating the name of someone in one vessel and then someone with either the same first or last letter introduces themselves) or as complex as entire roleplaying games that include fantastical settings and harrowing narratives that don't exist in the real world.
This courtship process varies in length. For ûûrb with only a handful of members who want to interact with each other, this could take a single afternoon, but for larger ûûrb this could take weeks or even months.
It is not expected for everyone in an ûrb to have the same kinds of relationships with everyone in another. The different beings inside them can be capable of forming their own bonds at different rates than others. Most relationships involve multiple members of an ûrb entwined with another, but relationships between ûrb can be with singular members connected.
Relationship Ideals
Kugma people are nonmonogamous and often have many concurrent romantic relationships. Any given couple is not expected to have certain genders, have certain relationship dynamics, or have children, necessarily.
Honesty and authenticity are the most important aspects of relationships. Transparency and trust in what the other person wants prevents disagreements or misunderstandings later that could lead to jealousy or disapproval. Jealousy is usually considered unreasonable, but if the other partner is not open about their feelings and who they're seeing then it's more socially acceptable.
Related Organizations
Languages spoken
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