Kettelese
These bees are only workers. Drones. They serve their queen, humbly and loyally, because they know she is the future of the hive. She births their hive's people, hidden safe in its depths. We do not have wings, but you see how we as a people are just like the bees. The queen does not command her subjects, nor does she sit idly by; the queen serves her workers too. As Queen of the Kettelese, you must use your mind and your heart to keep the workers happy, and the hive producing honey.The Kettelese historically inhabited the Kettelese Steppes against the Niluo River in Kettel. Originally the Kettelese people made their homes at the banks of the river Niluo and the surround fertile ground, but as time went on they also made settlements along the Kettelese coasts. Historians believe they share a ancestral link to the Aradeans, and the two groups were separated as sea levels rose. Originally in collectives and small groups, the groups would come together to form the Queendom of Kettel that lasted for centuries under matriarchal rule, before suffering from the rise of trade leaders separating cities into the "free cities", and finally being absorbed into the Valyean Empire in 170RB after nine years of conflict. When the Valyean Empire collapsed, the Kettelese monarchy found footing enough to try and re-establish Kettel's independence. When the Kettelese were but small villages, they amassed at the river Niluo, with the most fertile land being close to the Niluo and growing less fertile further away into the savannah. In the savannah, some trees could grow but they were sparse and intermittent - an orchard is a rare thing to see in Kettel. These tribes grew with a common belief that the Nilou was a life-giver and a force of nature. They would worship the aspects of the Niluo as sister goddesses; the Southern Pantheon. Sometime in the early years of the Age of the Third Clans, a Queendom would rise around the river, eventually encompassing more and more of the surrounding regions. At first it was formed to protect the people from the lizardmen, who came from the Snake's Jaw. But by around the year 567 TF, the Queendom of Kettel began to make written record with Queen Tembya Zw, the Lizardkin. It's not confirmed if she was indeed a lizardmen or not, but the accounts tell of her attempts to make peace with the lizardmen and likely the commonfolk gave her the name. The Queendom would last for several centuries under six dynasties, including the Tembya Dynasty, until in 145 RB when the Queendom was suffering from a rise in trade powers, utilising exotic goods from the Kettelese Steppes and Kettelese coasts to make large amounts of wealth for enterprising ladies. The first of the "free cities" of Kettel, Heirang Bao, refused to continue to pay taxes to the Queendom and instead sought protection from Valyea across Skara's Mouth. More cities, growing wealthy from trade and lead by powerful and entrepreneurial ladies, also declared independence from the Queendom. Eventually, in 161 RB, the Queendom was officially invaded by Valyea, helped by the "free cities" who had made pacts and treaties with Valyea. These conflicts continued until 170 RB when the royal family disappear and the city of Niluo Bao allows the entrance of the Valyean armies, securing the capital, the palace, and the region of Kettel for Valyea and its soon to be christened Valyean Empire. The enterprising and the wealthy were rewarded for their support to Valyea. The more commonfolk were punished. Customs and traditions seen as barbaric and untrustworthy were shutdown, and cities were turned over to leal Ladies who implemented wide scale laws and rules to bring the Queendom into (what was considered) the civilised world. An important one being that large scale boat traffic was forbidden on the river Niluo; this was immediately abandoned and allowed for the Valyean to send ships and boats into the river, causing ecosystem damage and tremendous upset to the riverfolk. Some attempted to escape into Eastern Lamércia but the Eastern Lamércians were oft to label them as "con artists", "seductresses", and "untrustworthy travelers". Since then, the Kettelese have had trouble integrating into other nations. Some instead found home in the southern continent of Eleanor, amongst the coast of Alrik and Omrik. Eventually after the Valyean Empire's collapse, the "free cities" would establish themselves as truly free, and the reveal of a Queen of Kettel in Niluo Bao is attempting to resurrect the old Queendom, rallying the people of Kettel to retake their homeland.
Naming Traditions
Family names
Ban, Bao, Cou, Cwe, Cye, Dem, Du, Dwng, Fung, Hun, Hii, Hye, Jao, Jung, Jw, Mo, Meo, Nii, Nim, Nya, Qao, Qu, Qw, Qyin, Rwi, Rend, Ren, Ru, San, Sum, Syw, Tang, Zim, Zwn
Culture
Major language groups and dialects
The Kettelese language is the language spoken across Kettel and in Aradea. Aradean Kettelese has only come about in recent centuries as trade grew increasingly important between the two areas. The dialect of Kettel spoken most commonly spoken in Kettel is City Kettelese, but Buff Kettelese is a common dialect in the foothills of the Kettelese Buffer, and towards the east is the dialect of Palmese. Fukanese, a creole, is commonly spoken on the eastern coast too.
Shared customary codes and values
The Kettelese are the most inclusive of all peoples in Olivia - the lizardmen, commonly considered barbaric, make up a large demographic for species. This has commonly led to people to consider the Kettelese barbaric in their own way, but amongst themselves they consider themselves to not care for what a person looks like and look deeper within.
Common Etiquette rules
The Kettelese, alike many culture, believe water to be a sacred symbol, especially when considering their major religion was based about the river Niluo. Living mostly in savannah, crops and yielding growth was incredibly important. Often a jug of freshwater, or an offering of crops are presented in honouring guests or noblewomen.
Common Dress code
Not helping their barbaric conception, the Kettelese are often seen carrying decorative knives; nothing large or sword like, but the size of one's hand. Originally, this was because they were a useful tool to carry with oneself when working the farms or animals. Now it is more a decoration or fashion piece, shown hanging by a person's waist, with more decorative pieces intending to determine one's wealth. Oftentimes amongst the less wealthy, it will be a bladeless hilt stuck to a sheath, with no real way to draw it.
Funerary and Memorial customs
A Kettelese family will often send their dead down the Niluo river in a raft that is built to sink. By gifting their bodies to the river, they intend for them to pass to the afterlife.
Ideals
Gender Ideals
The Kettelese have always had a more matriarchal society than their Olivian neighbours. The Southern Pantheon, gods of the river Niluo, were always portrayed as female. This does not mean that men in Kettel were seen as inferior, but men are often seen as more submissive and subservient in Kettel, and the Kettelese women in other parts of Olivia often throw citizens off for their confidence and confrontational behaviour.
Meanwhile, some women in Olivia believe a Kettelese man is the ideal partner; strong, hard working, and good at listening. Men in Kettel are dissuaded from further study and instead take on roles and apprenticeships to a trade and focus on that one trade until they grow old. The phrase 'dumb as a Kettelese mule' did not originally mean the animal, and was a colloquialism to refer to the men who would carry goods.
However, not all Kettelese men are this way; some do enter study and contribute to higher levels of office. Oftentimes they mimic the ideals of a Kettelese women; light robes, head scarves, long hair, and shaven faces. Youth is a symbol of an active mind, and the mind is a truly important thing in the Kettelese.
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