Culture

[Nevan]

Culture:

Until recently, the Tari people have been dozens of familiar groups of hunter-gatherers; each group led by the strongest and wisest man of age. He is designated the "Chief" of the tribe, and each member must respect and follow him.

However, now this "chiefdom" system has been done away with the founding of the Tari's first, yet unnamed city. They are going through a cultural overhaul, trying to find what parts of their past they want or need to keep, and what parts have no place in the future.

Some cultural notes are listed here:

- Marriage: a man and woman are elligible for marriage once they have reached their fourteenth spring. They call the entire system of marriage, from courtship to consumation after the ceremony: 'The Wedding Dance'. Contrary to many systems in our modern world, it is often the girl who starts The Wedding Dance, for men are often too busy for such things and as such, it is left to the female to approach her chosen male and express interest in courtship. Courtship may only begin in the spring season and generally lasts for three months, in which the actual wedding is planned and the families of the couple have chance to bless or disallow the lifelong union. By their ancient laws, a wedding must take place before the end of the summer season, else the courtship is officially ended and both sides of the pairing become elligible for further proposals the following spring.

The Wedding Ceremony itself is an affair that lasts from the morning of the proposed day, to the early morning of the next. The daylight hours are filled with feasting and at midday, vows are exchanged before a Shaman to Fertilia, the God of love and harmony. They then rest until evening time, which is often filled with light games and storytelling. Once the sun goes down, the final feast of the day begins, involving meat and drink. It will last for three hours, until the stars are against the night sky, at which point all children will leave and each couple get together and dance to the sound of the night.

Each couple is expected to dance until exhaustion, at which point they must leave and return home. The newlywed couple must go one step further, however, and dance until they are the only lovers left under the night sky. If they fail this test of will and fitness, the wedding vows are revoked and under the eye of Fertilia, they are not seen as a married couple. If, however, the newlyweds outlast all other dancers, their vows remain set in concrete until death.

Finally, marriage is often disallowed and frowned upon if the partner is within ones own family (or tribe, though outside ones family but within ones tribe is more likely to be blessed). The only exception to this rule is in the case of a male and female twin. In the Tari religion, a man and a woman born together from the same womb are seen as a blessed pairing chosen by Fertilia herself. As such, the children must remain together their entire life, through childhood, marriage and eventually death.

- Laws: four basic laws exist to the Tari people. One: do not kill. Two: do not take what is not rightfully yours. Three: if married, lie only with your spouse. Four: follow your leader's chosen path, even to death.

- Coming of Age: once a child has reached his or her fourteenth spring (the birthday date itself isn't counted), he or shee becomes of age and is elligible to wed, or take up an adult's occupation such as soldiery. The disadvantage is that in the case of war, as a blessed adult, they are now rightful spoils - women to be taken by foreign husbands and men to be killed. Children, on the other hand, are strictly forbidden from harm across all walks of life.

- Clothing: what type of clothing do people wear, you might ask? Simply look at what was worn in ancient Rome, or ancient Greece, or Egypt and you have a solid idea.