Micamo wrote:Trailsend wrote:Kids these days, hooking up with foreigners XD XD
Given the Feayr look so similar to normal Wolves I can definitely see accidental beastiality happening.
...On the subject, how is mating with a "normal" wolf viewed? Or mating with a human?
Heh! Perhaps not so common. The mateship vow is an oral recitation, to which the female must reply. Since a true wolf cannot speak to accept mateship, relations would be extramarital, and thus a no-no.
There haven't been any significant interactions with other humans yet in Feayra--the one explorer who came to the continent denounced it as a land of devils, and it's hard enough to get there that traders and explorers have so far been otherwise occupied. It's hard to say how the pack would react to a feayr-human couple, but since the feayr do not tend to draw conceptual lines between species anyway, I suspect it would be accepted fairly quickly.
Part the third!
VII. Questions of War
(a) Who declares war?
If the kalvái declares war, the rest of the pack will almost certainly follow. If a large body of the pack demands war, the kalvái may relent, but a sufficiently charismatic leader may be able to calm folks down.
(b) Who has the power to declare conditions of peace?
The kalvái's decisions filter down through the
vùurái/kìiráu hierarchy to be accepted by the rest.
(c) What happens to prisoners taken in battle?
They may be killed, or exchanged back to the enemy, or expelled from the territory, or in rare cases, kept within the pack as something like slaves.
(d) What form of warfare does this society use?
They're wolves. ;) They war like they hunt.
(e) Who are the Elite warriors? What distinguishes them?
Particularly skilled hunters and scouts may be honored by being painting with yellow dye.
(f) How does someone get command of troops?
By being
vùurí over them. This can be achieved through akanuháurhr, or by other public demonstration of ability.
(g) Where do the loyalties of military units lie?
Loyalty follows the
vùurái/kìiráu hierarchy tracing to the leader of the team and eventually to the kalvái, but in general, there is a strong connection to the pack identity.
(h) Are there professional soldiers? Do they make up the bulk of the military?
If you consider the similarity between feayran hunting practices and feayran warring practices, then sure there are, and sure they do.
(i) Has this society ever attacked another? Do they want to? What would make them do so?
Not really. Their territory sustains them, and without strong motivation (drastic longterm famine, fleeing from a plague, etc.), feayr do not leave their territory.
(j) Who are their enemies? Who's winning?
None at this moment, although anyone not of of the pack (with familiar people from satellite packs being a notable exception) is regarded with distrust and dealt with harshly if proper protocol is not followed when territory lines are crossed.
(k) What do soldiers do when there's no war?
They hunt.
VIII. Questions of Education
(a) Does this society have its own language? Its own writing?
Yes, no.
(b) How common is literacy? How is literacy viewed?
N/A.
(c) What form and value are books?
N/A.
(d) Who teaches others? How do they teach?
As children approach maturity they are more and more incorporated into daily tasks; they are taught by whatever adult is performing the task, and they learn by doing. Other skills (especially those used in hunting) are learned through play with other pups and adults.
(e) Who decides who learns to read or write?
Edited question because N/A is boring: Who decides who learns to tell stories? The audience. People will call for pack members to tell stories if they enjoy listening to the member's telling. The more you tell, the more practice you get, the better you get. Some storytellers may pick out and tutor interested youth.
(f) Who teaches professions, like carpenter or scribe?
Anyone doing them.
(g) Are foreigners ever brought in to teach new skills? Who does that?
In
supremely rare special cases.
(h) How do this society's doctors try to treat wounds and sickness?
This is usually the shaman's job, applying herbalism and mysticism.
(i) Which medical assumtions of this society are wrong?
Sooo many. Some are on the right track, if interpreted in bizarre ways (i.e., if you eat carrion, then you're eating something you didn't kill, which is thievery from the prey spirit--it is likely to become offended and take revenge on you, which is why you get sick), but a lot are just wacky.
IX. Questions of Art
(a) What are the favorite artforms?
Music making, dancing, but above all, storytelling.
(b) What are the least-favorite?
Craft and jewelry making are appreciated, but not quite as revered as the ones mentioned above. (There are exceptions of association--a masterful flute maker is a big deal indeed.)
(c) How respected are artists?
Elder storytellers are some of the most respected in the pack, and the go-to folks for questions of morality and tradition. It is up to the kalvái to interpret the story, but a good storyteller is usually able to make a particular choice the apparent best one.
(d) Do artists require official or unofficial protection?
It is taboo to harm a storyteller during the telling of a story, or to harm the teller in reaction to the story itself. The community will usually step in to reinforce this, unless the teller has
really managed to irk everyone.
(e) What kinds of trouble are artists in particular likely to find themselves in?
Poor sports may not take kindly to being rebuked in story form and may try to get even when the public eye is not watching, but this is fairly uncommon.
(f) How might a very successful artist live?
Essentially the same as everyone else, though at formal occasions when stories are told they often receive a better choice of food.
(g) What forms of theatre does your society have?
Story-telling itself is a very dramatic art, with the teller playing all the parts together.
(h) How naturalistic or stylized is your society's art?
Crafts are often exaggerated to emphasize particular features; storytelling performances do all they can to exaggerate things and get laughs and reactions out of the audience.
(j) What shapes are most common in your society's arts, like embroidery or architecture?
Stylized representations of animals, and circles representing the moon.
(k) Which artforms get the most and least respect?
At the top, storytelling; at the bottom, craft making (though all artists are respected to some degree).
(l) What form does censorship take?
If a large body of the community dislikes a particular story, they may shout the teller down if he tries to tell it again.
(m) Who may not be an artist?
Females are more common, but no one is systematically excluded.
(n) What qualities equal "beauty" in this society?
Smooth contours, the color blue. However, scent is much more prevalent than sight in determining beauty. The smell of rain and mint are some popularly romanticized smells.
(o) What makes a man or woman especially beautiful?
Again, smell more than anything. Strength and speed are desirable in males, and agility in both genders; wit and musical ability are desirable in females. White hair is especially prized; skinniness is a sign of weakness and is disliked.
(p) How do people react to tattoos? Piercings? Facial hair? Make-up?
Piercings are not particularly popular as they cause trouble when changing shapes. Tattoos are common for a number of purposes, most notably marking mated pairs. Body paint is used all the time for ceremonial purposes.