Despa

Often called "the travelers" in the Heartlands, Despa are a primarily nomadic group that can be found across the continent, from Haisan to Onera.
Despa are a complicated group to define - in many ways, the demonym is one entirely created by outsiders, as "Despa" is the word for "Person" in Despazi. Groups can broadly be classified by region, but the Despa are a stateless people made up of many tribes that are difficult to define in the way that nationalities are. Despa aren’t a singular homogenous culture, with each tribe having their own traditions and dialects, but they share a common bond in that they have no tradition of an ancient and distant homeland from which their ancestors migrated.

Culture

Major language groups and dialects

Despazi is the main language spoken in one form or another by the group known as Despa, but there are four major dialects that can be found in Thamrysis.

The Despa tribes of the north, in the regions of Onera and Black Hills, speak a dialect called "Derash." It borrows many words from Oneran, as well as a smattering of Sarkan and Wyneil.

The Despa Tribes of the Heartlands, from Wyneil across the Riverlands, speak a dialect called "Manti." It can be difficult for outsiders to understand native speakers, even with years of practice.

The Despa tribes of the Southlands, from Syvale across all Haisan, speak a dialect called "Hitano." It shares a tremendous number of words with Haisan, including body parts and daily activities such as waking, sleeping, washing, etc.

The Despa from Hylimunde through Norgarden speak a dialect called "Sintesa." It is distinct in that it appears to have been the most affected by outside languages, as the grammer and syntax has changed more than the other dialects and is more similar to Wyneil than any of the other dialects.

Culture and cultural heritage

Traditionally the Despa maintain professions that fit with the itinerant lifestyle and require no Guild affiliation. This includes the trade of livestock, the training and exhibition of animals, music and performance, and the craft of tinwork and other small metalsmithing. Across the Heartlands, many farmers look to Despa for advice on herd health and husbandry and even to serve as veterinarians for sick animals.

Shared customary codes and values

As displaced people are often outside the cultures they inhabit, Despa culture places importance on family, customs, and the right to autonomy. Despa groups often travel in bands or tribes comprised of anywhere from a dozen to several hundred families that travel together. Each group traditionally elects a papunii to lead the caravan and make decisions about where to go next and how best to protect the band. In addition, most groups elect a nanunii to handle internal affairs, maintain food supplies, and otherwise sustain the bands infrastructure.
While there are many Despa groups, they are generally unified by the despaden, a code that proscribes law, general customs, expected behavior and enforcement of the despaden itself. While the specifics are determined by the ruling bodies of the various family groups that make up the tribes of the Despa. While interpretation of the despaden falls to the leaders of these groups, the primary concepts remain coherent across all tribes:

1. To give is honorable, when you have it. It is shameful to give, when you do not have enough.
2. There is no shame in taking what you do not have. There is dishonor in taking what you already have.

The concepts of giving and taking are the primary manifestation of law within Despa tribes, but each tribe may interpret this idea differently and interpretations may vary from generation to generation. A tribe may find a lavish feast prepared for the tribe to be an honorable and good act, but may also see it as inflicting shame on those that attend who already have enough food security. Another tribe may find the same feast to be dishonorable or shameful as the act of a single person sharing a large amount of food with their own tribes marks them as "outside" the tribe and they are sharing what is not theirs with those that need it (who would experience no shame in the taking of what they do not have, as it has been taken from them).


These conventions can often seem confusing or unintuitive to outsiders, which has lead to Despa having difficulty integrating with other groups who do not share their values (whatever they may be at the time and place).

Displays of wealth, prosperity, and success are common throughout the Despa tribes. Their caravans of wagons are notable for their uses of bright reds, greens, and other brilliant colors. 

All this being said, not all Despa are nomadic and there are large settled groups throughout the continent.

Common Dress code

Typically, Despa love opulence in their clothing and outward presentation. Gold jewelry is often made up of coins, but coins are considered a meager form of wealth in comparison to gems and other elaborate jewelry, which can be secured on the person rather than in a chest. 
An item referred to as an aska is commonly worn by many Despa, and is a form of fabric drape that is often worn over whatever other clothing may be worn. Depending on the wearer, it may be wrapped around the waist, worn as a scarf, or tucked into the front of the skirt then wrapped around the waist and thrown over the shoulder. Woven fabrics are highly prized among the Despa (as looms can be quite heavy to move). Askas have a measure of religious importance to the Despa, as they are items of clothing untouched by needle.

Art & Architecture

Music and dance form a significant part of Despa culture. Most Despa can play at least one instrument (even if they play it badly). It's said that Despa have a song for every occasion, but in reality Despa simply tend to prefer improvised music to formal music. The Despa musical tradition is such that most songs are maintained entirely by oral tradition and musicians often learn only snippets of common songs. Similarly, there are few formal dances amongst the Despa, who instead tend to maintain a handful of "steps" that can be applied to various meters of music and improvised upon.

Coming of Age Rites

Among Despa, marriage and courtship follow a rarely deviated pattern. While parents are usually consulted before marriage, the decision is entirely up to the two who are to be married.

When a marriage has been announced there is often a banquet, complete with music, singing, and dancing. The festivities are usually informal, but can last for several days.

The marriage itself is a short affair, usually thought of as little more than a symbolic act; Once the married couple are united in a single home, they are considered married. The marriage ceremony itself is usually preceded over by the papunii and nanunii of a band, and usually is completed with the eating of bread with salt.

Common Myths and Legends

There is a Despa parable that appears in one form or another across the various tribes and bands: When all people begin a religion, they write them down to preserve their beliefs and understanding in books, or etch them in stone, but the Despa recorded their original religious beliefs on the leaves of a cabbage. One day, an ass came along and ate the cabbage. This story is often told in jest, a sort of ironic handwaving as to why there is no written document that establishes the religious practices of the Despa.

The legends of the Despa are a litany of deities and spirits. Asim is that which is "boundless," an entity associated with the sky and the heavens. Bahi is the inverse of this, a being that is the source of all evil, weakness, and troubles. Legends exist of those that make pacts with Bahi.

Moon and star worship is prevalent among the Despa as well with Akrunii, the Moon, who serves as a protector of the living and escort to the beyond in death. Fire is often seen as a manifestation of the divine, with powers of healing, protection, and punishment of evil things.

Babaji

Of note amongst the various myths and legends are those of Babaji ("Auntie"). Babaji is often said to have been born on the day after the creation of all things, and was already old and frail. In most of the stories, Babaji appears in this manner, though sometimes she appears as a child that is similarly frail. A common theme amongst the myths is that Babaji appears to a people who do not recognize her, and asks for something. Invariably, the people refuse her request and are punished. Babaji is often associated with fruit bearing trees, especially apple and pear trees, and offerings to her are often left at these trees (though the specifics of the offering and associated rituals vary from group to group). Babaji is thought of as as kind of malevolent spirit or goddess that may appear when least suspected in an innocuous form - as such, many Despa children are warned "Be kind, every stranger is Aunti."


This story and its main character are so infamous and well known amongst the Despa that the Cult of Babaji, which makes it their full time duty to appease the spirit of the malevolent entity, has been in operation for at least the last century.

Related Locations

• Haisan Golden Valley