Template:Breadcrumb Shards > Pelithos > Culture

nectar & ambrosia?

Warfare

crossbows - pelithines hold great admiration for archery and most regard the crossbow as a weapon for conscripts and acrolonian thugs, although they did invent the ballista. some arcanists have developed an interest in crossbow, particularly small pistol-like ones favored by the Cult of the Unseen.

curved longer blades, ranging from scimitars to heavy-tipped tulwars, favored by sailors and cavalry kukri-like sickle knives

chakrams

leaf-bladed spears, good as staff-spears and throwing spears sarissae - 20 foot long pikes used in phalanxes javelins with throwing straps

gladius-style short swords carried by infantry and in cities

round and oval shields composite bows, slings greek-helms leather armor with varying levels of metal plates, greaves, etc, up to something like lorica segmentata; chain and scale do exist as well

heavier armor is used only by certain armor mages, the climate of much of pelithos doesn't favor heavy armor (nor sea-faring) tridents, nets clubs, staves, sickles

phalanx combat, perfected by the aletheiads, particularly necessary against the centaurs, who fight like a cross between mongol horse-archers and european heavy cavalry

extensive array of siege/ship weapons and fortifications

Pelithine-fire, a treacherous weapon (invented by the Brand) but deadly at sea, sprayed from tubes, hurled in bombs thrown, launched from catapults, or bound to ballista bolts; shipwrights have invented a variety of ways of making ships more fireproof: wood treatments, certain choices of tree (shaped by the cornucopia), thin metal plating

naval battles usually involve skirmishing with fire weapons and then either grappling or ramming and boarding

Art & Entertainment

Music

Kidemonian music is a style associated with the Sentinel. It is orderly, intricate and mathematical. Kidemonian poetry is more literary/historic, and adheres to particular rules and formats.
Korephtian music is a style associated with the the Dancer. It is wild and passionate, with heavy rhythms and a lot of extemporization. Korephtian poetry is dreamlike, impressionistic, and free form.

Paizon The best known game on Pelithos is paizon, a strategic game in the manner of chess and go, straight-forward to learn yet with boundless complexities to master. Legend has it that it was invented by the Sentinel herself, in the Elysian Age. Lamia can milk their narcotic venom and sell it. Known as Lamia's Kiss, it is a popular vice, illegal, yet alluring and stylish, in many nations. Some in the Cult of the Vine traffic in it, as do independent lamia merchants. They can also milk their toxic venom and will sell it to trusted assassins, but they want to ensure that a reliable antivenom is never produced.

paizon - go-like board, but with both chess-like pieces and also fixed fortification stone - nine Throne positions, capture for major power - capture space to harvest Charon/pneuma from it to bear on new pieces - special mantle pieces? or the pieces are named after the mantles and have different abilities? - created by the old Sentinel, and said to contain hidden bits of her lore, or lead to them. lots of famous paizon-puzzles. might even be divinatory when done in the right places? - said to represent the struggles of the Theoagonas

Calendar

Ages

The Gilded Age is remembered in Myth as the Elysian Age, a golden time of high culture, magic, and civilization during which Pelithos was fairly unified and formed its common culture and language. There are lots of ruins and lost wonders from that age, many on high mountains. the ancients had flying vessels, the secret of their making has been lost. During the Elysian Age, Pelithos had a common, continent-spanning civilization. It is remembered as a golden time of high magic, arts, and lore during which the peoples of Pelithos were united by a common culture and language. The Elysians laid down most of the traditions of law and democracy. Their ruins and monuments are scattered across the whole of Pelithos. Syntrivian Age (aka the Silver Age; synonymous with the Shattered Age) Epidromian Age (aka the Iron Age; synonymous with the Dark Age) Calendar

Telosia: the anniversary of the Dawn of the New Sun, also called Night's End; it corresponds with the summer solstice. Telosia time of celebration, feasts, marriages, and often displays of martial pride and skill.

Divine Law

The divine law, as set forth in the Edicts, is long and nuanced, but the basic principles are more easily summarized. The Edicts for the common base of law for most nations, although many cultures emphasize or neglect specific elements, and there are plenty of tyrants who disregard them entirely.

Laws of Society Do not bear false witness or break oaths. Do not steal or defraud. Do not commit rape or adultery. Show charity to those in need. Show justice and wisdom to those beneath you, show due obedience to those above.

Laws of Blood Do no harm to those who have offered you no harm. Deal no more than seven-fold vengeance for hurts done to you. He who slays your kin or the one you have a sworn duty to protect owes you the Blood Price.

Laws of the Hearth Respect your parents and mentors. Obey the customs of host and guest; be generous with your hospitality. Always offer your kin hospitality.

Laws of the Gods Give no aid to the titans, demons, or their ilk. Show them only steadfast resistance. Show thanks to the gods with offerings for the blessings you receive from them. Do not leave the dead to go naked into the Underworld, or deny kin the right to bury their own. Do not despoil the earth.

Sex & Gender

Sexuality is a poorly-bounded spectrum on much of Pelithos. Having lovers of either or both sexes is not uncommon, largely a matter of personal preference.

There are a number of "transgendered" subcultures, such as transvestite "eunuchs" (most are actually just homosexual, rather than castrated) and amazon warriors. Members of these subcultures are treated as members of the gender they present as. One may enter of leave these roles, shifting cultural attitudes towards one's gender, but there is not really a notion of being intrinsically transgendered. The exact forms and attitudes vary from culture to culture; many descend from the society of the Elysian Age.

Prostitutes of both sexes are common, and prostitution is not stigmatized on the whole. In some places, governments run brothels to supply the treasury.
- There are three classes of prostitutes: dicteriades, auletrides, and hetairae. The dicteriades are the common prostitutes, serving commoners and mostly working from brothels. The auletrides, in addition to sex, are musicians and dancers, extremely popular among both the common people and the elite. The hetairae are the highest class, serving the wealthy and powerful, acclaimed for both their erotic skills and their knowledge, culture, and discourse.

Slavery

outlawed: most places; even the people of not-great places regard it as a hated Acrolonian practice and forbid it
legal and common: Thundering Empire and satrapies, Katerga, the Hegemony, Calcaria, Southern Isles, kampoi kingdoms, leukrotta tribes, some city-states of Vasileia (e.g. Strakopolis), some individual Boreal isles (not in the Trident's nation).
indenture: Tapiseri allows a finite, prescribed indenture for criminal punishment; Tapiseri "slaves" labor to repay the state for their crimes and are not sold or owned privately. Slaves from elsewhere are freed on entry.

Language

pelithine: greek
arcadian: irish

magical/cosmic- supernal (more known on Pelithos than elsewhere, due to archons, always comprehended)- furian (used by titancults)- arcadian- obyrith- abyssal- gravetongue (somewhat known, achridanoi, people hanging around Epolosia)- draconic (from furian?)- gargan (from furian, giantish, also azer, weirdly similar across all realms)

ancient - Paleoglossa (pre-arcadian fey dialects, basically lost) gilded / arcadian age

- Proiglossa (morningtongue)- Esperaglossa (eveningtongue) - ancient minotaurian fensir (dead, minotaurs) - Imperial (old acrolonian latin)- old centaurian (dead/ritual, Turkish?)- old barigor (dead, used by the invaders and the holdouts) shattered age - Aletheian (from old Imperial, borrowings from glossan)) - Aplosi (mingling of old centaur and glossan from grigora, used by the tribes) - Peshehar ("biting face", leukrottan, from old barigor, mingling of furian/gargan) - Iretigu (cyclopean, from old barigor, mingling of furian/gargan; many speak some Aplosi too) - High Pythian (glossa-descended, but intentionally shifted to create cultural distinctiveness for use by high caste pythians; also used by the oread quasi-slaves of the empire, still used by the lamia and gorgons) - Low Pythian / Chemari (originally used by low caste pythians, slaves, has become the regional dialect of the oread diaspora, golden wastes, phidion coast, and other former pythian holdings and influences (Limani, Chemaros/naiads, Pyrgos) - Epolosian (glossa-descended, merger of the two old tongues, probably closest and purest to old glossan, pride of culture and scholarship in epolosian) - Potamian (glossa-descended, Thalestris kept the two glossas alive in Tapiseri, but even she couldn't prevent some drift over the centuries) mandragora chiefly speak a debased Potamian - Neriadese (used in Boreals, Southern Isles, and Dragon's Tail and other neriad dominated regions, a drift of glossan similar to Epolosian and Potamian; dead after they left in the Great Migration) epolosian, neriadese, and potamian are very close though, like Spanish and Italian, or maybe even Portuguese) - Emenablu ("language of fire", gargan/draconic-like mortalized version of furian used by the Azer) - <Psarian> (rapidly drifted neriadese, mingled with Furian, still spoken by the psarikampoi; distinct northern and southern dialects) <synnephion> (spoken by the harpies and oreads of synnephion ori and opagos, glacial-satyrs too) <margaritarian> (descended from acrolonian latin and fensir, admixed with glossan) Gidan??? - western satyr, from Gida's tribes?

southern isles mostly speaks Aletheian, Epolosian, and Margaritarian, with a surprising amount of psarian

Dragon's Tail? Southern Isles?

vasileia speaks a stew of Potamian, Margaritarian, dragon tail neriadese, synnephian, etc - satyr?- harpy? - synnephian (glossa-descended with furian influence; oreads)

dark age - Lascivian (dark acrolonian latin, officially used in the Hegemony and Calcaria, widely known in the Vasileia and western Aplos/New Aletheia) - Formica (divered from margaritarian, due to changes in vocal structure and isolation enforced by besieging acrolonians) - Agrian (visitors from Acrolon) - Tradespeak - Thalassan (the abrupt departure of the neriads left the Boreal and Thalassan isles empty, killed their old language, to be replaced with a creole of Chemari/Low Pythian, Potamian, and Aletheian), used a fair amount on the Phidion Coast and Limani Gap as well, due to the strong influence of the Boreals during the war.

the feminine is the default gender in the the Pelithine language

languages - Old Elysian (gilded age) - Middle Elysian (shattered age) - "common" (descended from Middle Elysian)

ur-languages - elven (elves, dryads, oriads) - neriadese - spriteling (sprites, quicklings)

- Alethian (descended from old Acrolonian human) - Acrolonian tradespeak, agrian - demonic/abyssal - Pythian (pythians, lamia) - barigori (cyclops, leukrotta) - centauri/minotauri (acrolonian feral?) - satyrine (spriteling descended) - kyne - middle elven

- furyese (dactyloi, gorgons, titancults) - kampoi (furyese+neriadese mashup) - triton/vathys (strange drifted neriadese)

- nimae (middle elven descended) - velosi (spriteling descended) - myrmidon (also uses pheromones, antennae; structure from alethian, but whole cloth phonemes) - maenads (strange-crazed elvish)