Braaki

Culture

Culture and cultural heritage

The Braaki culture revolves around their relationship with the earth. Their oral histories trace their origins to the mountains themselves, viewing their tunneling skills as a divine gift passed down by Quisai and the elemental gods. Songs and chants, often performed during work or rituals, play a vital role in preserving their heritage.
Braaki storytelling is highly visual, relying on carvings and sculptures to depict myths and lessons. They also practice a form of rhythmic drumming, using the natural acoustics of their tunnels to amplify the sound. This music is deeply tied to their cultural identity, representing both the heartbeat of their community and the pulse of the earth.

Shared customary codes and values

The Braaki tribe's customary codes are deeply rooted in their subterranean lifestyle and communal mindset. Their shared values revolve around resilience, unity, and respect for the earth. Every Braaki is taught from an early age that their survival depends on collective effort and trust, fostering an unshakable bond between individuals and their community.
Braaki ethics emphasize the importance of balance. Excessive mining or overuse of resources is viewed as a transgression against the earth, believed to provoke its wrath through cave-ins or other disasters. Honesty and loyalty are paramount values; deceit is seen as not only a personal failing but a threat to the tribe's survival. Success is communal, and individual accomplishments are celebrated as contributions to the greater good. Generosity and humility are prized, with wealth or accolades considered incomplete unless they benefit the whole.

Common Etiquette rules

The Braaki share many etiquette rules with their Fenniko cousins, such as the importance of modesty, mutual respect, and deference to elders. However, their underground lifestyle introduces unique norms:
Greeting Rituals: A Braaki greeting involves clasping forearms, a gesture that symbolizes trust and solidarity. Among elders, this may be followed by a slight bow.
Quiet Communication: Loud or boisterous behavior is frowned upon in confined spaces, where sound carries and disturbs others. Speech is deliberate and measured, reflecting their methodical approach to life.
Respect for Work: Interrupting someone during mining, crafting, or a ritual is considered highly disrespectful. Work is seen as sacred and integral to their identity.
Deference to Ancestors: Touching the walls of ancestral tunnels is taboo unless part of a ritual, as these spaces are revered as sacred links to the past.

Common Dress code

The Braaki dress practically, with clothing designed for protection and durability. Thick, earth-toned fabrics such as leather and woven wool dominate their attire, often reinforced with metal studs or plates to shield against the rigors of mining. Capes and shawls made from woven potato fibers are worn for warmth in colder caverns.
Adornments are functional yet symbolic. Braaki jewelry, made from gems or metals they mine, often incorporates clan symbols or ancestral motifs. Their colorblindness results in a focus on texture and form, with intricate carvings or etchings being highly prized. Tail wraps for Fenniko Braaki are also common, often indicating clan affiliation or personal achievements.

Art & Architecture

Braaki art is inseparable from their architecture, as their most significant creative expressions are carved directly into the stone of their tunnels and chambers. Their underground cities feature sprawling networks of intricately carved passageways, with walls adorned by bas-relief sculptures that depict tribal history, myths, and daily life. Every tunnel tells a story, and Braaki pride themselves on the ability to "read" these visual narratives.
Braaki architecture prioritizes functionality but integrates beauty seamlessly. Structural supports are sculpted into elegant columns, often resembling trees, animals, or abstract shapes representing the earth's strength. Grand halls serve as communal gathering spaces, with polished stone floors and glowing Magha crystals providing light.

Foods & Cuisine

The Braaki are master cultivators of subterranean crops, particularly their symbolic potato, which forms the foundation of their diet. Potatoes are prepared in a multitude of ways, from roasted and mashed to fermented or baked into dense breads. Their underground farms also yield mushrooms, tubers, and hardy root vegetables.
Meat is rare but highly valued, typically sourced from subterranean creatures or traded with surface dwellers. Stone-grilled dishes, where ingredients are cooked on heated slabs of rock, are a Braaki specialty. They flavor their food with unique salts and mineral-rich spices harvested from deep tunnels.

Common Customs, traditions and rituals

Tunnel Blessing Ceremonies: Before starting new excavations, the Braaki gather to perform rituals that include chants, offerings of potatoes, and the carving of protective sigils into the stone.
Potato Harvest Festival: A communal celebration marking the successful harvest of their primary crop, featuring feasts, dances, and storytelling.
Gemlight Vigil: An annual event where Braaki gather to honor their ancestors by lighting their tunnels with glowing Magha crystals, symbolizing their eternal presence.

Coming of Age Rites

Braaki coming-of-age ceremonies, called Stonebond, revolve around a test of skill and endurance. Adolescents are tasked with carving a personal sigil into a communal wall, signifying their readiness to contribute to the tribe. This carving is performed in solitude, symbolizing independence, but is later unveiled during a communal celebration.
The final stage involves crafting a piece of jewelry or tool from materials they mine themselves. This artifact becomes a lifelong keepsake and a marker of their transition into adulthood.

Funerary and Memorial customs

The Braaki view death as a return to the earth and treat it with solemn reverence. Their dead are laid to rest in ancestral tunnels, where bodies are encased in stone sarcophagi adorned with carvings depicting their life’s achievements. These burial chambers are sealed with intricate reliefs, ensuring the deceased remains undisturbed.
Memorial rituals include the lighting of Magha crystals and the recitation of the departed’s deeds, ensuring their legacy is preserved in tribal memory. Annual pilgrimages to these burial sites reinforce the Braaki’s bond with their ancestors.

Common Taboos

Overmining: Excessive resource extraction is seen as sacrilege, risking imbalance with the earth.
Disrespecting Ancestors: Neglecting to maintain ancestral tunnels or defacing their carvings is considered one of the gravest offenses.
Breaking Trust: Betrayal or deceit within the tribe is intolerable, as it threatens the community's cohesion and survival.
Leaving Tunnels Unfinished: Abandoning a tunnel before its completion is a symbol of failure and bad luck, believed to anger the elemental spirits.

Ideals

Beauty Ideals

In the Braaki culture, beauty is rooted in strength, practicality, and connection to the earth. Unlike the surface-dwelling societies of Ysanaf that might favor delicate or ornamental beauty, the Braaki place value on physical traits that showcase their rugged, subterranean lifestyle and their cultural heritage
The Braaki admire individuals with strong, muscular builds. Their subterranean lifestyle, focused on mining and physical labor, has cultivated a cultural appreciation for compact, powerful physiques. Thick, calloused hands—evidence of years spent tunneling through rock—are seen as a mark of dedication and strength. The Braaki also prize sturdy frames capable of enduring the strain of their mining work, associating them with resilience and reliability.
Distinctive nails, sharp and hardened for tunneling, are a source of pride, often polished to a natural sheen. While their color blindness limits their appreciation of color in clothing or jewelry, they value the tactile and practical beauty of smooth stone adornments, particularly ones carved with ancestral patterns or family symbols.
Jewelry among the Braaki is crafted from metals and gemstones mined from their tunnels, worn as a testament to personal achievement. Necklaces and wristbands fashioned from silver or rare minerals signify success and skill. Braaki carvings are intricate, and those able to create fine detail work in jewelry or tools are held in high regard. Earthen hues, rough textures, and polished stones dominate their aesthetic.
Scars are another form of beauty, seen as evidence of endurance and survival in the harsh underground. A miner’s scars, earned from accidents or tough excavations, are celebrated as badges of honor. Braaki art also frequently depicts their muscular builds, carving figures with exaggeratedly strong arms into the walls of their caves as a cultural ideal of beauty.

Gender Ideals

In Braaki society, gender roles are largely fluid, emphasizing contribution to the community over strict binary divisions. However, cultural traditions still imbue certain expectations and values to individuals based on their roles within the family or clan.
Masculinity in Braaki culture is tied to physical labor and the capacity to protect and sustain the tribe. Men are often celebrated for their mining prowess, with strength and endurance viewed as the pinnacle of masculine traits. Braaki men are also expected to take on roles that involve forging tools, building tunnel reinforcements, and ensuring the tribe’s safety underground.
Leadership among Braaki men is tied to experience rather than gender, with the eldest miners often serving as guides for younger generations. They are storytellers, mentors, and protectors of the clan’s wisdom.
Feminine ideals among the Braaki revolve around resourcefulness and caretaking, but not in a limiting or passive sense. Braaki women are equally involved in mining and crafting, often balancing these activities with the maintenance of underground farms. They are revered as preservers of culture, passing down oral histories and overseeing the growth of symbolic crops like the potato.
Women skilled in gem cutting or the creation of intricate carvings are considered to embody the perfect blend of strength and finesse. Fertility is honored but not idealized; instead, the focus is on the nurturing and sustaining role women play in keeping the community connected to its roots.
The Braaki hold a deeply practical view of gender, with roles assigned based on skill rather than strict gender norms. Those who demonstrate exceptional strength or creativity are celebrated regardless of their gender. A harmonious balance of roles, rooted in cooperation and respect, is the ultimate cultural ideal.

Courtship Ideals

Braaki courtship is a quiet and intentional process, reflecting their reserved nature and communal lifestyle. Courtship is seen as both a personal and communal affair, with families often involved in the early stages to ensure compatibility and shared values.
To express interest, a Braaki individual might demonstrate their mining skill or strength through a meaningful gesture. For example, carving a stone ornament or uncovering a rare gem is a common way to show admiration. These gestures are not about material wealth but about the effort and thought behind them. Digging a new tunnel or repairing an old one for the benefit of a potential partner’s family is considered one of the most profound expressions of affection.
Exchanging gifts of carved stone or jewelry is a key part of Braaki courtship. The design of the gift often includes family symbols or tribal patterns, signifying a willingness to connect two lineages. These gifts are treasured heirlooms, passed down to future generations as symbols of enduring love.
Once a couple agrees to pursue a relationship, a small ceremony is held involving the families of both individuals. This ceremony includes the blessing of a shared tunnel, which represents their commitment to building a future together. The couple may carve their initials or symbols into the tunnel walls, marking it as sacred to their union.

Relationship Ideals

Relationships in Braaki culture are partnerships built on mutual respect, shared goals, and unwavering trust. Their underground lifestyle fosters a sense of interdependence that extends into personal relationships.
Trust is the cornerstone of Braaki relationships. With the ever-present dangers of cave-ins and underground hazards, partners must be able to rely on each other in all aspects of life. This trust extends beyond the individual to their families and clans, as the Braaki view unions as a merging of community bonds.
Braaki couples share responsibilities equally, dividing labor based on skill and preference rather than societal expectations. Both partners are expected to contribute to mining, crafting, and farming, ensuring the survival and prosperity of their family and tribe.
Raising children is a communal effort, with extended family and clan members playing active roles in their upbringing. The Braaki emphasize teaching practical skills and instilling a deep respect for their cultural heritage. Parents pass down their knowledge of mining, carving, and subterranean life, ensuring that each generation remains deeply connected to the tribe’s way of life.
In Braaki relationships, the enduring themes are resilience, unity, and the shared effort to navigate life’s challenges together—qualities that mirror the unyielding strength of the mountains they call home.

"The Fennikos of Skies"

Symbolic Crop:

Potato

Main Livelihood:

Mining, Tunneling, Moutaineering

Location:

The Wotamyeong

Population:

8,000 (Wotamyeong)
100+ (diaspora)

Encompassed species

• Fenniko