Zeribian culture

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Cultural characteristics

Zeribians are thought to be quiet and reserved but very polite people. Zeribian culture is very anti-individualistic, and it is important for them to always be considerate of others, and not make any fuss about oneself. This includes being quiet on public spaces, keeping one's surroundings and public property clean, and always being on time on meetings. Zeribians like to keep among their own kind, and usually follow their own hierarchy and laws even when living among foreigners. Families, lead by the oldest man, are the center of the society. The families are strictly divided into casts.

Stereotypes

Farens think Zeribians are reserved and even cold, and mostly conserned about their own people, which can make them look egocentric. Zeribians are mostly thought to be traders and pirates, which leads to the common conseption that they are criminals and thieves as well, even though Zeribian piracy is more like a form of war than criminal activity. Many jealous merchants claim that the successfull Zeribians are avoiding taxes or doing something else illegal. The Ara people know Zeribians from their piracy and luxury trade items, but haven't been a lot in contact with them.

Zeribian culture and the environment

Related articles:
Zeribians and Water
Boat-Dwellers of the Silver Stream
Zeribian privateer
Sailor's Root used against drowning

Zeribians have traditionally lived on the tiny tropical Eastern Islands surrounded by the sea. The sea is an essential part of the Zeribian culture. They will rarely settle further than an eye's reach from the sea, and in those cases make sure to be near a lake or a river.

The Zeribian clothing and architecture has adapted to the tropical environment. They wear light clothing: capes and loin clothes. The houses are built on top of pillars to avoid flooding and cool in the wind.

by katy_1989 (pixabay.com)

Sailing and ship building

Zeribians sailing skills are world famous. Zeribians are capable of navigating the open ocean by the celestial objects, wind patterns and sea animals. Their sailing routes connect the whole Eastern Islands into an excellent network of fast transportation, communication and trade, unlike anything seen on the continent.

Even the smaller boats they use are quite seaworthy, and the bigger ones can make weeks' travel without touching ground, unlike the Faren vessels that have to travel hugging the coast lines. The stability of their vessels comes from the design where a long and narrow hull is connected to an outrigger, which makes the boat stable in rough water without affecting the speed. The boats' hull and outrigger are usually covered with a deck. Bigger cargo vessels can also have two hulls of equal size. The underside of the deck can be used for storage, or even sleeping or cover from the rain if it's big enough. The smaller ones often have a small cover on the deck. Despite the large deck size, the boats are very light, and can be carried if necessary. The boats are powered by a single triangular sail, but can also be paddled when necessary.

Zeribian religion

Main article: Zeribian pantheon
Related articles: Zeribian ritual purity and purification
Zeribians practice animistic, polytheistic religion and worship dozens of gods, many of whom are only believed to hold regional power. Religion is a very important part of every Zeribian's life. The everyday life is filled with ceremonies, but especially the consept of ritual purity is present in all the social interactions.

Some of the most important gods are Feren, the god of sea and Storm; Usahdeg, the God of fire and architecture; and Idûrfeš the god of freshwater and fertility.

Zeribian cuisine

Related articles:
Zeribian stew recipe
Sahfyl

by Tuisku

Sea food is the base of Zeribian cuisine. They will fish, gather shell fish and shrimp, and hunt large sea creatures like whales and sharks. They also gather sea weed.

The islands offer a large number of native fruit and vegetables that are both gathered and cultivated. They are less reliant on grains than the Farens. They don't cultivate oil plants, but instead eat various nuts, and import olive oil from the continent.
Zeribians don't traditionally keep any big cattle because transporting it to the islands on ships would be hard. The most common animals are small goats that are mostly used wool and milk rather than eating. They also keep domesticated birds for eggs and meat in addition to hunting the wild ones.

Common beverages
Most Zeribians have an easy access to relatively clean water and that is the most consumed beverage (unlike the Farens who mostly drink wine). The traditional Zeribian alcoholic drink, sahfyl, is made from fermenting fruits. It's mostly drunk during religious festivals to cause religious ecstacy. Beer is also produced in small quantities, and imported wine is quite popular. Many Zeribians however abstain from drinking outside the religious celebrations. The practice is strongest on the islands, but many will also use it to set themselves apart from the Farens while living among them.

Architecture

On the countryside Zeribians live in communal longhouses with large extended family and servants. The houses are built on pillars, that offer protection against regularly occuring floods and earthquakes, as well as predators and attacking tribes. The underside of the house is used to keep the house animals. Zeribians cities are built loosely. Most of the houses are inhabited by one family, and are one or two floors high. The common houses are built from wood, which is plentily available. Temples and noble residents are more often stone. The cities have a lot of open space, trees and are often built around or next to a river.

by Alex Lapuerta

Generic culture articles:
Zeribian fashion
Zeribian law code
Hašmaq Sag - The Zeribian Sarcred Duels
Zeribian calendar

Zeribian family & society:
Zeribian family and kinship
Firstborn son
Šyrzir (Zeribian 3rd gender)
Zeribian nobility

by Tuisku

Main article: Zeribian fashion

Language and writing

The common Zeribian language is Ngad i zerib. It is more accurately classified as a small family of related languages, because the speakers from different areas have significant problems in understanding each other. To communicate with others from different islands Zeribians use Standard Zeribian, a standardised version of the language. The nobles also use it in their daily life.

The literacy among Zeribian is very low. At most 5% of the people are fully literate, mostly the nobles. Many of the traders are however able to create simple notes of their business. The litterature and poetry is a very important part of the noble culture. Because Zeribians adopted writing from the Farens, many popular stories are Zeribianised versions of Faren texts. For the general population reading the Zeribian litterature is nearly impossible just because they don't know the standard language well enough. In the illiterate population oral story telling is an important form of culture.