Gopel (go-p-ell)
Biology:
Gopel are half man half goat. (very similar to fauns and satyrs.) They are short, only getting up to three feet tall, and their fur can be quite a few different colors. They have curly horns (like curly horned goats). They are very agile like mountain goats. Their hair color corresponds with the color of their fur and is curly like their fur. Their skin tone also is darker or lighter based on the shade of their fur. There are no race separations among the gospel. Because color is almost completely random. They can be speckled, but this is a rare trait. If they are speckled, all of them is speckled. Their eye color is the one thing about them that isn’t based on coat color or genes. The color of their eyes corresponds with what they are skilled at. Manual labor, hunting, cooking, entertaining, ect. If they are skilled in more than one area, they will have heterochromia, though this is rare. Gopels with heterochromia get to chose what they want to be. The color of the gopels eyes lets the parents know what to train them in. the gender of a gopel doesn’t matter when it comes to getting a job in the herd, but gopel women who have just had a lamb are free from their duties for a year, letting them spend time with the lamb and take care of it before it is apprenticed. The colors of fur can be black, white, light brown, dark brown, reddish brown, gold, and silver. The most common being the first three, the next two are less common, and the last two are rare. A gopel with two colors in their fur is rare, three is rarer, and four is practically impossible.Their tails are short, but they are still visible. Their faces are very similar to people except, of course, for the horns and the ears. Lambs have big floppy furry ears, as they grow older the cartilage in the ears harden and they stand up straighter. They are able to control their ears like a dog. The ears are stiff by the time they get their graduation earrings. The fur on the ears is the same color as the fur on their legs. They have longer canines than people. They can start walking properly about 7 - 9 months after being born, and are talking properly very soon after that.They can have as many children as they want until they turn 45, though most people only have 2 - 4. After they turn 45, they sort of go through menopause…
Education: Gopel children start learning at a very young age, first learning skills like running, climbing, and hiding for their first year. The second year is dedicated to history. The third to writing, and the fourth to poetry, song, and dance. By the end of the fourth year they will be five years old and ready to apprentice in their guild. They stay in that guild until they have learned their trade. This takes 8 years. Then the lambs graduate to adult status, but aren’t allowed to marry for another three years. This gives them time to practice their trade, build a house, and fall in love. Once a gopel turns 60, they retire and live in the elders hut, where they teach the lambs during their first four years.Young lambs live with their parents until they graduate.The guilds are: hunter, warrior, cooker, entertainer, healer, crafter, farmer, herder, and fisher. The colors that go with these guilds are black for hunter, red for warrior, yellow green for cooker, gold for entertainer, light blue for healer, brown for crafter, green for farmer, gray for herder, and dark blue for fisher.
Beliefs: The Ram, or leader, is chosen through a ceremony. All 18 year old gopels attend, their horns are measured and tested by the priest of Neuaala. Then the one the priests choses is the leader for the next year. When the priest turns 40, they take an apprentice. The apprentice has to be from the most recent group of guildlings. There is only ever one priest at a time. The priest cares for the statue of Neuaala, prays for the people, offers the gifts, chooses the leaders, cares for the orphans, cleans the hall of ancestors, and carves the horn dolls. Once the priest turns 50, they retire and let their apprentice graduate. A retired priest then goes on a quest. This quest is only allowed to be attempted by a retired priest. The quest is to see the face of Neuaala. They never return, so either they die, or they live with Neuaala until they die. They are not permitted to marry. The gopel lifestyle is purely centered on community. At a gopel funeral, everyone is singing and dancing, celebrating the life of the deceased. The food, decorations, and type of song and dance is all based on what that gopel’s job was. Dead gopels have their horns removed and cleaned, then one horn then placed in the hall of ancestors, where it is kept safe. Gopel believe that when you die your soul needs a place to live. They believe that the horn becomes a house for the soul. The other horn is carved into the likeness of the deceased and is given to the guild from which they came. Each guild has a special building for these dolls, so that they can remember those who came before. A gopel wedding happens like this: the bride and groom aren’t allowed to see each other for a whole year while it is being prepared. Then, on the day of the wedding, the bride is led to her new home by her guild, where the rest of the village is waiting, then they all have a party and do the wedding dance and eat good food. The bride and groom are only allowed to stay for the first hour. Then they are locked in their room together while the rest of the village parties. The next morning the newlyweds wake up to a clean house and soft music playing outside their window. They then carry on life as if they had been married forever. You don’t have to marry within your guild, though that is what normally happens. This allows them to be together most of the time. At the end of winter there is a celebration. At the celebration there is a performance, the people who are in the performance wear masks made of bark, fur, raffia, feathers, and beads.
Clothing: Gopels don't wear anything on their lower half because it is covered in hair. The females wear tunics made of raffia with a thin soft under tunic made of linen in the summer, and both male and female wear a fur lined leather coat in the winter. They don't need shoes. The women adorn their tunics and hair with colored bone beads. The color of the bone beads always matches the color of their eyes. The men wear necklaces over their bare chests in the summer. The necklaces are made of a raffia strand strung with bone beads and, in the case of the hunters, teeth from animals they killed. Both men and women wear earrings, it is a sign of graduation, the earrings are very similar to the necklaces. Both male and female grow their hair out long, the females braiding in multiple braids and beads, and the males in a single braid down the scalp with the sides shaved. This shows off their horns. The ends of the male’s braids usually have some colored raffia in it. The priest is given eye drops when they become an apprentice to make their eyes white. (The eyedrops are a magical gift from Neuaala) Males have beards which they braid and cap with a bead. Gopels need to keep their leg fur clean and brushed. Every evening they will wash off any mud, dirt, or twigs that may have gotten in it, and brush it. They keep their hooves as clean as possible, washing them in the evening along with their fur. They sometimes wear ankle bracelets. A female who is pregnant will wear a special bracelet until the lamb is born. This will let others know not to work her two hard. The bracelet is the only jewelry that has gold in it. It is a raffia bracelet, with her guild’s color and white, and her husbands if they are from different guilds, alternating. The center bead is gold, and larger than the others. It is carved with a hoof. They can’t find very much gold, so it always goes into making birth beads, as they are called.
Habitation: Their houses are made of stone with a wooden roof. This roof is then covered with a layer of thatch. Their houses usually have 3 rooms. Two bedrooms and a main room. The extra bedroom is for the lambs. The main room is where the family spends time together after dinner, and where they eat breakfast and lunch. They usually have a few soft chairs, a table, and a raffia loom in the corner for making clothes. Their windows are shuttered, and insulated with thatch. They don't have a way to get glass so the windows are open when it's hot, and closed when it's cold. There is also a fireplace in the main room. Usually in the center of the house. The doors are made the same way as the shutters. They make lamps out of specially made clay pots. The lams are shaped like an hourglass with oil in the bottom, a wick coming through the center and the flame in the top bowl. Though candles are becoming more popular. The candles are made of soy. They live at the base of the mountains, that way they can get plenty of stone and still have land to farm on.
Food: The guilds will always eat supper around a guild fireplace, there is storytelling, singing and dancing every evening. This is another reason why guilds tend to intermarry. The guilds come together for a community feast once a month. Gopel eat bread, fish, meat, and vegetables. One of their favorite delicacies is a flower that only blooms once a year. Only gopels are able to eat it because only their stomachs are able to resist its poison. It is said that the flower tastes like spring itself. They make pastries as well, and fill them with berries. The only livestock they keep are a creature called Ased and quails. Ased are small furry cows (like 2 feet tall). They are kept by the gopel for their fur and milk. The fur is made into the female’s under tunics, and the milk is made into cheese, used in cooking, or just drunk. The Ased are also used for meat. They keep the quails for their eggs and their meat.
Goods: They haven’t figured out how to make paper yet, so they use birch bark. If processed correctly, birch bark can be flattened and cut. For ink, they usually use blueberry ink or charcoal ink, but they have also found that using a stick darkened by the fire works in a pinch without having to make the ink. They use brushes for writing, made of bone and fur..They don't have proper raffia trees, instead they have a miniature version that they farm for the raffia. The crafting guild is responsible for making all of the birch paper, ink, brushes, beads, masks, ect. All gopel bodies are burned in the central bonfire after the horns are removed. Gopel music is mostly made with wind and string instruments. They tend to have jumpy tunes. The string instruments are mostly used for funerals. They also make baskets out of raffia. They attend the annual Neagi fair, when all the eight species come together to trade goods.
Education: Gopel children start learning at a very young age, first learning skills like running, climbing, and hiding for their first year. The second year is dedicated to history. The third to writing, and the fourth to poetry, song, and dance. By the end of the fourth year they will be five years old and ready to apprentice in their guild. They stay in that guild until they have learned their trade. This takes 8 years. Then the lambs graduate to adult status, but aren’t allowed to marry for another three years. This gives them time to practice their trade, build a house, and fall in love. Once a gopel turns 60, they retire and live in the elders hut, where they teach the lambs during their first four years.Young lambs live with their parents until they graduate.The guilds are: hunter, warrior, cooker, entertainer, healer, crafter, farmer, herder, and fisher. The colors that go with these guilds are black for hunter, red for warrior, yellow green for cooker, gold for entertainer, light blue for healer, brown for crafter, green for farmer, gray for herder, and dark blue for fisher.
Beliefs: The Ram, or leader, is chosen through a ceremony. All 18 year old gopels attend, their horns are measured and tested by the priest of Neuaala. Then the one the priests choses is the leader for the next year. When the priest turns 40, they take an apprentice. The apprentice has to be from the most recent group of guildlings. There is only ever one priest at a time. The priest cares for the statue of Neuaala, prays for the people, offers the gifts, chooses the leaders, cares for the orphans, cleans the hall of ancestors, and carves the horn dolls. Once the priest turns 50, they retire and let their apprentice graduate. A retired priest then goes on a quest. This quest is only allowed to be attempted by a retired priest. The quest is to see the face of Neuaala. They never return, so either they die, or they live with Neuaala until they die. They are not permitted to marry. The gopel lifestyle is purely centered on community. At a gopel funeral, everyone is singing and dancing, celebrating the life of the deceased. The food, decorations, and type of song and dance is all based on what that gopel’s job was. Dead gopels have their horns removed and cleaned, then one horn then placed in the hall of ancestors, where it is kept safe. Gopel believe that when you die your soul needs a place to live. They believe that the horn becomes a house for the soul. The other horn is carved into the likeness of the deceased and is given to the guild from which they came. Each guild has a special building for these dolls, so that they can remember those who came before. A gopel wedding happens like this: the bride and groom aren’t allowed to see each other for a whole year while it is being prepared. Then, on the day of the wedding, the bride is led to her new home by her guild, where the rest of the village is waiting, then they all have a party and do the wedding dance and eat good food. The bride and groom are only allowed to stay for the first hour. Then they are locked in their room together while the rest of the village parties. The next morning the newlyweds wake up to a clean house and soft music playing outside their window. They then carry on life as if they had been married forever. You don’t have to marry within your guild, though that is what normally happens. This allows them to be together most of the time. At the end of winter there is a celebration. At the celebration there is a performance, the people who are in the performance wear masks made of bark, fur, raffia, feathers, and beads.
Clothing: Gopels don't wear anything on their lower half because it is covered in hair. The females wear tunics made of raffia with a thin soft under tunic made of linen in the summer, and both male and female wear a fur lined leather coat in the winter. They don't need shoes. The women adorn their tunics and hair with colored bone beads. The color of the bone beads always matches the color of their eyes. The men wear necklaces over their bare chests in the summer. The necklaces are made of a raffia strand strung with bone beads and, in the case of the hunters, teeth from animals they killed. Both men and women wear earrings, it is a sign of graduation, the earrings are very similar to the necklaces. Both male and female grow their hair out long, the females braiding in multiple braids and beads, and the males in a single braid down the scalp with the sides shaved. This shows off their horns. The ends of the male’s braids usually have some colored raffia in it. The priest is given eye drops when they become an apprentice to make their eyes white. (The eyedrops are a magical gift from Neuaala) Males have beards which they braid and cap with a bead. Gopels need to keep their leg fur clean and brushed. Every evening they will wash off any mud, dirt, or twigs that may have gotten in it, and brush it. They keep their hooves as clean as possible, washing them in the evening along with their fur. They sometimes wear ankle bracelets. A female who is pregnant will wear a special bracelet until the lamb is born. This will let others know not to work her two hard. The bracelet is the only jewelry that has gold in it. It is a raffia bracelet, with her guild’s color and white, and her husbands if they are from different guilds, alternating. The center bead is gold, and larger than the others. It is carved with a hoof. They can’t find very much gold, so it always goes into making birth beads, as they are called.
Habitation: Their houses are made of stone with a wooden roof. This roof is then covered with a layer of thatch. Their houses usually have 3 rooms. Two bedrooms and a main room. The extra bedroom is for the lambs. The main room is where the family spends time together after dinner, and where they eat breakfast and lunch. They usually have a few soft chairs, a table, and a raffia loom in the corner for making clothes. Their windows are shuttered, and insulated with thatch. They don't have a way to get glass so the windows are open when it's hot, and closed when it's cold. There is also a fireplace in the main room. Usually in the center of the house. The doors are made the same way as the shutters. They make lamps out of specially made clay pots. The lams are shaped like an hourglass with oil in the bottom, a wick coming through the center and the flame in the top bowl. Though candles are becoming more popular. The candles are made of soy. They live at the base of the mountains, that way they can get plenty of stone and still have land to farm on.
Food: The guilds will always eat supper around a guild fireplace, there is storytelling, singing and dancing every evening. This is another reason why guilds tend to intermarry. The guilds come together for a community feast once a month. Gopel eat bread, fish, meat, and vegetables. One of their favorite delicacies is a flower that only blooms once a year. Only gopels are able to eat it because only their stomachs are able to resist its poison. It is said that the flower tastes like spring itself. They make pastries as well, and fill them with berries. The only livestock they keep are a creature called Ased and quails. Ased are small furry cows (like 2 feet tall). They are kept by the gopel for their fur and milk. The fur is made into the female’s under tunics, and the milk is made into cheese, used in cooking, or just drunk. The Ased are also used for meat. They keep the quails for their eggs and their meat.
Goods: They haven’t figured out how to make paper yet, so they use birch bark. If processed correctly, birch bark can be flattened and cut. For ink, they usually use blueberry ink or charcoal ink, but they have also found that using a stick darkened by the fire works in a pinch without having to make the ink. They use brushes for writing, made of bone and fur..They don't have proper raffia trees, instead they have a miniature version that they farm for the raffia. The crafting guild is responsible for making all of the birch paper, ink, brushes, beads, masks, ect. All gopel bodies are burned in the central bonfire after the horns are removed. Gopel music is mostly made with wind and string instruments. They tend to have jumpy tunes. The string instruments are mostly used for funerals. They also make baskets out of raffia. They attend the annual Neagi fair, when all the eight species come together to trade goods.
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