Pestrib

Children of the Sun

The Pestrib are well-organized, tough, and smart to match. They were the first civilization to spring up, and they stood standing through over five thousand years of history. I have nothing but the utmost respect for their abilities. But, as a border commander, I also have my orders to defend my state against them.

— Frederick of Eurus

The Pestrib are an ethnic group of Brown Halora concentrated in the southeastern regions of Zentland. They form the majority of the Kalian League, and are said to be one of the oldest civilizations in the world. They have not much distinguishing marks, but over 80% of the population has blue eyes, with a sizeable green-eyed minority. Their plumage tends to be darker in color compared to the Brown Halora in other regions.

Naming Traditions

Unisex names

What? Why can't I be Catherine? It's a feminine name? What's a feminine name?

— John Pestrib, grappling with human naming customs

In the Pestrib culture, there are no masculine or feminine names. Due to their logographic language, in which each character represents a word, each name has a given meaning. For example, the naming call for both a famous female astrologer as well as a male general means "iron and ice". However, some names slightly skew males, and some for females.

Family names

I am William Orewood of Linsent Gate, for example. Our family names derive from the original villages we came out of.

— Halora, explaining Pestrib names

The Pestrib have three names: the clan name, the matrilineal family name, and the first name. The original Pestrib were divided into nineteen regional tribes, which later conglomerated into a tribal union. Each of the regional tribesmen, wanting to keep their tribal identity, took on the name of their tribe. For example, one might fashion himself "Eren of Arcum Mors", if he or she originally came from that tribe.
Besides the tribal name, there were also the matrilineal family name. This name was passed down from mothers to daughters, and generally came from a specific agrarian village. This name was said to have originated from the population boom following the establishment of the Kalian League, where the populations of Linsent and Port Nora surpassed 25,000.
After this boon to population, more and more people took on surnames based on their location, or their occupation. While there are by now over five thousand surname calls, most of the surnames are extremely rare, and the collective expression for the Pestrib is still "People of the Hundred Names". Those hundred surnames make up 94% of the Pestrib population.

Culture

Major language groups and dialects

The Pestrib speak a branch of the Proto-Halorese language tree. The Plains-Range language tree is characterized by a logographic writing system, a subject-object-verb sentence structure, and a highly analytical language. Almost all ethnically Pestrib peoples speak a Plains-Range language. Notable examples include the ubiquitous Pestribian, as well as Collisian, spoken by a sizeable minority.

Culture and cultural heritage

Those Kali-worshippers with their rituals... such pagans. The one god is Tukod and all should bow before him!

— Disdainful foreigner

Rituals were held once every planetary month in large urban centers. Smaller villages generally celebrated rituals at least once every year. The content of the ritual was determined by the ruling (and later non-ruling) priest class. The ritual content tended to depend on several things.

1. The phase of the planet (gas giant)
2. Equinoxes and Solstices
3. The success of the village
4. Commemoration of historical events
5. The phase of agriculture (harvest/sowing etc.)

These rituals are generally frowned upon by foreigners, who see them as sacrilegious. However, this changed somewhat under the Three Great Gods in Harmony school of thought that came about in early medieval times.
Music was relatively important in the society of the Pestrib. Being birds, their song was their method of communication, and the quality of their voice, as well as how on-pitch they were, could directly serve as an indicator of evolutionary fitness.
Besides direct song, bone flutes were often used in ritual, later supplemented by a stringed instrument similar to the zither or guzheng. While most of the music was made to please the ruling elder class, many common citizens enjoyed singing and dancing out in the city streets.

Art & Architecture

Towers spiral up to the sky: turrets, elegantly built out of sandstone. The art here is heavily based on curves; even their roads form a coil out from the city center.

— Diplomat on arrival to Port Nora

The architecture of the Pestrib most emphasizes a merger with nature, with large, communal nests (and later houses) built around tall Turrim trees or large Kava plants.
On the ground level, there are many short, squat, one-story stone buildings. These buildings generally serve an administrative and mercantile purpose: the residential trees are all far above. First built out of sandstone or marble, they are generally immune to the firebombing that happens occasionally during Pestrib wars, and therefore serve as fortress areas and barracks.

Common Customs, traditions and rituals

Now, an ancestor of ours was Emir of Orriven. He spent every moment of his life in the service of his king, but was banished by jealous noblemen. When he heard that his capital had fallen, he wrote his last work: the Lament for the Lost Souls, a long, emotional ballad, unique in its defiance and despair. He then drowned himself in the Great River. One of the originals heroes of our nation, he was. You should be proud.

One important custom of the Pestrib is the Visitation of the Dead. On this day, all stores and offices are closed, and each family goes to their own family shrine to see their dead, who are cremated, with their ashes carefully laid in small jars of pottery. On this day, the Pestrib also mourn their cultural heroes, such as Emir of Orriven described above.

Ideals

Gender Ideals

Unlike humans, the Pestrib have more matriarchal gender ideals. This may be due to the female's more powerful role: she is often at least as strong, if not stronger, than her male counterpart. In militaries across Zentland, females are subjected to similar if not greater challenges than males. The record long-range flight as well as the record weight carried over ten kilometers were both set by females. Family names are similarly matriarchal.

Major organizations

The Pestrib serve as the majority of the Kalian League citizenry, and therefore are also a major political force there. Nora, the legendary sage-archer who founded the league, was a Pestrib, as well as several others. Notable minority populations of Pestrib exist in the East Bay Gate Coalition as well as the Great Steppe region of Zentland.

Related Organizations

• Aestajian Gate
• Baiqiang Union

Related Items

• Axe of Ten-Thousand Strokes

Related Myths

• Legion Cygniere

Related Locations

• Salt Plains
• Salt Range
• Sea of Alessia

Population
2,000,000 to 4,000,000

Notable
Nora Pestrib

Children of the Sun

Long, long before we were here, there was the sun and moon [actually giant planet] and Earth. And they came together, and each decided to pick a form of life as their own. The Earth picked the kava plant. He did not have the influence to produce his own race, but he could at least choose his own to be the best of plants. A true gentleman indeed, the kava grass simply admitted it wasn't strong enough to stand rigid against the gales of wind. And so the Earth gave it strength stronger than steel, so it would never break, and told it to reach up to the stars. And so the kava became the Children of the Earth.
Then came the moon, in her splendid robes of red and yellow. She looked for a race of the seas, for the waters she controlled. She looked for a race that she could endow with her grace and intelligence. She struck a hard bargain, and took in her chosen ones: the Sigitor [dolphin-like sentient species discovered much after the Halora]. She gave them wisdom, and agility, and long life. The Sigitor lives centuries, much longer than any human, as the Children of the Moon.
And finally, the sun took his own. He was strong, but flawed: he would never have the finesse of the moon. And so he took rapidly, so rapidly that the moon laughed at him in his rashness. He had picked a bird: but the bird was not strong, nor beautiful, nor intelligent. But he stood by his choice, proclaiming they would grow as great as any species, and dominate the planet. And so the halorin became the Children of the Sun.

Author's Note

The halora was the most relatable race of sentient species for me. It is not strong, nor immortal. The species is not stubbornly analytical and near-perfect, like the Sigitor. Instead, it is human: maybe even more so than humans themselves. Their world is fading, their age is ending; it seems the Sigitor will dominate the centuries to come, being simply better equipped than them.
But a Sigitor is too lofty to really respect anyone outside their own race. They will not fight unless it is in their own interest, in their own small game of world-chess. They were raised by the moon, indeed, and the moon's cold light did little to instill in them their passion, their compassion, and soft skills. A Child of the Sun will raise their spear and fly at your back at a moment's notice, as a friend.
And still, the Halora has a promise, written in myth. Their legendary founder still is said to return when she is needed, and her cross still shines bright in the sky, a symbol of love and compassion. Maybe the embattled species has hope indeed...

Banner of the Pestrib

Flag of the Kalian League by ElementalShrike