This thread is informational, and not meant for conversation. Please do not post here. If you have questions, please write them in the RP General Discussion thread.
I will be adding posts to this Culture Page to update you on any and all cultural changes that take place as time moves forward in the RP. If something you can think about isn't provided here, feel free to write me in the General Discussion thread, or in a PM and we can talk about it!
I have elected to keep some things off this page, though, for the sake of surprises.
Thank you!!
So, let's get started first with Mar' Valoan cultural stuff and things!!
Government
The first leg of Chronicles of Cre' Est will see our characters begin on the Continent of Mar' Valoa. This continent is one huge nation ruled by a central Monarchy (an absolute monarchy to be exact). The King is a fair and kind ruler, but is overwhelmed by the sheer volume of people he presides over. There are just far too many villages, towns, and cities for him to respond to everyone whenever problems arise. So inevitably the continent/nation of Mar' Valoa is in flux when the RP begins which will be a central point as to why our characters choose to answer the call to adventure and leave with the others to found the continent of Cre' Est.
Once we reach Cre' Est, the people will establish a self-governing system which looks like the following:
1) Council - Heads of State who have the final word in all lawmaking and enforcing decisions
2) Central Administration - Comprised of four who oversee and mediate the Central Authority Meetings, and pass all decisions to the Council for approval
3) Local Administration - Town Leaders will be the primary "grunt work" officials who hold Town Meetings with the leaders of the various communities in their respective towns, and who then take the general consensus of said meetings to the Central Authority Meetings for consideration
It's a very simple system. And for the generally low population of a couple hundred people when it all starts, this works just fine. However, as history proves in the real world, such simplicity can't last when the population begins to boom...
Religion
Mar' Valoa is a Monotheistic culture, worshiping a central God named Desmiel. This God is effectively a neutral God in that He is neither wholly benevolent, nor malevolent. It's believed that He enforces fairness and balance in the world, and that belief is central to Mar' Valoan culture as a whole.
Fairness and balance govern many of the other elements of the cultural identity, including lacking tolerance for classism, racism, or sexism (though all three do exist and, unfortunately, can't really be punished easily).
Worship of Desmiel takes place twice a week. Once on Mundas (Monday), and once on Reilas (Sunday). Worship is a one-hour session wherein which a Priest of Desmiel (yes, that's the full title) will first request a one-minute moment of silence out of respect for the House of Desmiel. Should anyone speak or make noises, such as coughing, they are asked to leave regardless of how minor the infraction might be. A bit harsh, but they take this very seriously in the culture and it's heavily frowned upon to break this moment of silence.
When the moment of silence is over, the people join together in song (which doubles as a prayer). The song lasts for three minutes, and after there is a second one-minute period of silence. Following this, the Priest will read from the Book of Desmiel to recount the stories of how He crafted the world, how and why He crafted the human race as they are, and how it is that His followers of old journeyed across the land to discover the Divine Truth of His word.
When the book reading ends, there is a final one-minute period of silence before they depart the House of Desmiel.
To miss a day of worship is not a huge deal. But to miss more than three in a row is considered offensive to the House of Desmiel and anyone found to have missed so many days will be approached and asked why they've neglected to pay their respects to Him.
Atheism is not really tolerated due to how ingrained the worship of Desmiel is in Mar' Valoan society. So even if you don't really believe anymore, it's best to just go through the motions with everyone to keep them off your back so you can focus on what matters to you without drawing too much negative attention.
Technology
Technology in Mar' Valoa is primitive, to put it nicely.
Because the continent lacks both sulfur and potassium nitrate, black powder does not exist here. And I think you know what that means for the people of Mar' Valoa... Yeeeeeep. No cannons, pistols, rifles, or any kind of explosive capabilities.
As well, another limit for technology is irrigation. It hasn't been discovered in Mar' Valoa yet, so all crops and such are watered by hand using buckets from nearby streams and rivers (or in some rare cases, lakes) which means farming is very, very concentrated around and near available water sources. Wells also haven't been thought of yet, though the capability to make them does exist.
Metalworking is primitive as well, with swords at this point basically just being a single long flat piece of metal with one rounded end for a handle and lacking any kind of guard for protecting your hands.
Basically, everything kind of sucks as far as being able to be an awesome warrior-type character. It'll be more about hand to hand combat than swordplay or fancy knife duels.
Art
Art is probably the one area of Mar' Valoan culture which is booming.
Because there are many natural sources for paint, charcoal, clay, and stone, there are almost never shortages for artistic endeavors. Sculpting is the penultimate artistic format in Mar' Valoa though, with numerous sculpting competitions and events held every year to showcase what artists can do with their hands and imagination.
Musical instruments, however, are more rare. There are some basic drums, flutes, and singing. But that's about it. There have been no stringed instruments or anything more complex that we might be familiar with today. But if you want to look more into this with me, hit me up! I'm a musician and composer, so I love talking about music and musical history!
Society
In Mar' Valoa, there are many societal quirks to consider which include the following:
* A woman's body is considered sacred. According to the Book of Desmiel, the first woman he created became his mortal wife. To defile a woman is considered both unlawful and sacrilegious.
* Because of the above societal quirk, it's also considered sacrilegious for a woman to lose her virginity before marriage. Should a woman be discovered to have had sexual relations before marriage, she will have her left ring finger removed to mark her as a promiscuous infidel. This will make it impossible for her to marry because no marriage is considered official without a ring on the left ring finger.
* There are no (lawful) Guilds in Mar' Valoa. Period. Such gatherings are considered offensive to the church, and so they've condemned the idea. Guilds do exist though. But they have to operate in secrecy. They've created something of a "lingo" for those who are a part of the Guild to use to disguise their speech and meaning so as not to draw unwanted attention.
* There is no criminal underground in Mar' Valoa (boring, I know) because, despite any and all of its flaws, the fair and kind hearted rulership prevents the need or want for such a life style.
* Men are, despite a lack of tolerated sexism, seen as the "stronger" of the species while women are seen as the "smarter" of the species. This leads men to occupy many of the more physical professions like lumber, construction, etc, while women take more intellectual roles such as teachers, doctors, etc. Art is the one area where there seems to be an equal number of men and women. And for now at least, everyone's accepted this as the norm and are content.
* Life is simple. You take care of yourself, pay attention to your community, and life is usually happy and fulfilled. There is very little poverty in Mar' Valoa due to everyone looking after each other and sharing in wealth rather than hoarding it. While it's no utopia, it's definitely a much, much more stable place than many might give it credit for at first.
Time
Time periods in this RP are divided into Eras. The shift from one Era to another is proclaimed by the religious leaders of society, and are usually identified and confirmed to have taken place when there's a major shift in society or politics.
The RP begins in the 3rd Era, and is now into its 782nd year.
The year is divided into three segments, and those segments come in this order: Ertal (4 months), Laetal (4 months), and Sohtal (4 months).
These months that make up each segment are described as "Moons."
As an example of how to designate a birthday: If someone is born on the 3rd month of the year on the 18th day, their birthday is "the 18th of the third Ertal Moon."
Another example would be if they were born on the 9th month on the 23rd day, their birthday would be "the 23rd of the first Sohtal Moon."
Make sense? Good!
There are 385 days in the year, and the calendar for Cre' Est (once it's discovered) can be viewed here as it will start from Year 1: https://fantasy-calendar.com/calendar.p ... 20a0daa320
(If you can't see the calendar, please let me know)
Each day is exactly 26 hours in length, and is split into a 16 hour day and 10 hour night cycles. In Spring, the day gets a bit longer (up to 18 hours), and in early Fall the nights start getting longer (up to around 13 hours).
There are 7 days in every given week, just like our real calendar.
Sunday - Reilas
Monday - Mundas
Tuesday - Coldas
Wednesday - Thunlas
Thursday - Xedras
Friday - Olas
Saturday - Ledras
The RP will officially begin on Mundas, the 13th day of the 3rd Ertal Moon.
So please remember this date!
This marks the end for the Culture section of Mar' Valoa that opens the RP! I wanted to keep it simple so you can have a good idea for the characters you want to craft to start the RP, and hopefully I've done that. As always, if you think of something I didn't mention feel free to bring it up in the General Discussion thread or in a PM! I'll be happy to discuss it with you!
Thank you so much for reading through all this!
As we progress and get to different stages of the RP, I will continue to update this thread and make announcements in the General Discussion thread of when I do so! That way you're always up to date on things as we move forward in time.
This also means that I'd like to request you be prepared to make multiple characters (if you enjoy the RP, that is) so you can participate in all the time jumps!
See you soon!
~ Kumori
