Jundo-no-min

The Jundo-no-min are a severe, disciplined people holding purity as the highest virtue. Alchemically and arcanely advanced they view divine magic and worshipers of Gods as primitive, crude, ignorant and worst of all impure. They also hold the secret of firearms and alchemical engines. Their lands have been striped to rocky barren wastes by alchemy and arcane magic industrialized. They are known for their distain of religion and their export of alchemical wonders.

Race Overview

The races of Jundo-no-min are clustered into three castes isolated from one another by seas of time, the differences of their lifespans. It is difficult to make real friendships outside these castes due differences of life experiences, values, and perspective due to lifespan differences. The lifespans of the races are linked to the elemental differences recognizable in an alchemically identifiable divide among the four pure-blooded races of their people. Mizu-no-min have ties to Elemental Water. Hi-no-min have ties to Elemental Fire. Chikyū-no-min have ties to Elemental Earth. Ea-no-min have ties to Elemental Air. The shortest lived caste being Osen-no-hito and Ea-no-min. The Osen-no-hito, being of tainted blood and without an elemental nature mature in a mere twenty one years and die of old age as early as 128 years. Being of the elemental nature of air, Ea-no-min live brief lives, maturing at 22 and can die from old age as early as 105 years. Both these races live relatively short lives and have a stronger need for excitement than other races of this culture. The next senior caste is made up of Hi-no-min and Chikyū-no-min. Being charged with a consuming fire elemental nature Hi-no-min mature at 44, and can die from old age as early as 203. Having a elemental nature ranging from soil to granite stone Chikyū-no-min mature at 43, and can die from old age as early as 252. Valuing craftsmanship, competency and reliability both these races find common ground. The major difference is how Chikyū-no-min value resolve verses hi-no-min valuing drive. The eldest, highest, most stable and honored caste are Mizu-no-min alone, whose water elemental nature keeps them nearly as eternal as the tides; mizu-no-min mature more than twice as slowly as Chikyū-no-min or hi-no-min only reaching adult age as early as 114, and can die from old age as early as 354. All but the Osen-no-hito and the Mizu-no-min lack the ability to intermarry and have offspring. The stigma the Osen-no-hito carry along with the lofty position of Mizu-no-min within society makes their marriages unheard of and that interbreeding is usually result of a irresponsible tryst beneath ones station, and is quite scandalous if done by a female. A female Mizu-no-min that does bear an Osen-no-hito often finds herself without marriage prospects and is scorned as “polluted”.

Culture

Common Etiquette rules

The Jundo-no-min tend to closely guard their emotional state behind ridged masks of formality and courtesy, making their expressions frequently seem serene but all the more ferocious when they are overtaken by passionate fury or emotional upheavals.

Common Dress code

Members of the Jundo-no-min Culture tend to have a very refined aesthetic that favors artificial materials such as graceful curves of well worked and finished metals, the loose open design and flowing shine of Alchemical-Silks, and garments that eschew the primitive, rural appearance of other cultures. Their hats tend to be woven of thick stands of Alchemical-Silk in the shape of broad cones to case wide shade from the harsh sun. Both males and females wear their hair long, but in ornamental knots. It is a mark of shame to have short hair or to ones knot cut. Both males and females use alchemical make-ups for formal occasions, making their faces paler with pink cheeks and dramatically done eyes. Bathing is a daily practice, and scented soaps and drying powders remove any natural musk of body odor.

Ideals

Gender Ideals

Having had a high degree of industrialization and most strenuous, dangerous rural work removed from their day to day life there is a high degree of gender equality because most work would not endanger pregnant females. Some unpleasant, dirty dangerous work such as law enforcement, military service, and mining are still predominately male professions but females are not excluded from them by custom but more from female preference. Also given the long lifespan of the Jundo-no-min of the two senior racial castes woman of those races tend to have phases in their life where they match males in their career, and other times focus on motherhood and child rearing. The females of the lowest racial caste tend to either prioritize either motherhood or career as their live spans don’t offer an opportunity to experience both fully, but neither choice carries any stigma. During the family phases of female Jundo-no-min they tend to have several children born within the same decade so that they will all mature in relatively the same time, freeing the mother to pursue a career or another family.

Courtship Ideals

Due to the lack of divine influence in their society Jundo-no-min are literally incapable of marriage without becoming God-tainted by another culture. Also with wide spread alchemical bethods to prevent pregnacy, and since the upper classes have such a long life span they feel no rush to reproduce. Sex is reduced to a casual indulgence

Related Locations