Sildaryn (culture)

About

The Sildaryn live within the vast forest which they claim in its entirety. The Sildaryn consider the entire forest region sacred, and maintain it in as natural a state as possible. They chose to live in harmony with nature rather than bending it to their will. The Sildaryn have no formal or informal relations with the rest of the Treahni, mostly due to differences of opinion on matters of ecology and moral obligations towards the planet and its prior occupants. This separation allowed their culture and species to diverge.

Origins

The Sildaryn split from and migrated from the region occupied by the People of the Ark before the collapse. They are now an isolationist culture, and sub-species unto themselves. Most Treahni don't even consider them related, or recollect their mutual past.

Geography

The Sildaryn claim the entirety of Eastern Annexea from the Sildar Mountains to the southern plains.

Language

The Sildaryn people speak a language which diverged from the original dialects of the ark. Sildaryn does have a script associated with it and can be encoded in knotworks of cordage.

Migration

The Sildaryn are migratory, travelling in cycles attuned to the seasons, but returning to established tree house villages. It is a staged migration, around a rough circle with twelve village stops, along the path. Travel is by foot, as they lack roads, and beasts for riding, or hauling heavy wagons or carts.

Hinta

The term refers both to the village group and the tree house dwellings which they occupy as stopovers along their migratory loops. Some of these stops are time-shared with other groups. Depending on the time of year the hinta occupying a given site differs. They engage in trade by proxy, leaving goods for future visitors and taking away items they may need from goods left by past ones.

Family

Structure / Size

A typical Sildaryn family unit is multi-generational, with four or five children for each pair of parents. The head of the family is usually the eldest, male or female. Grandparents will live with the adult children who can best support them.

Roles of Family Members

Male adults will generally take on protective and supportive roles providing food and physical strength to aid the family in daily tasks.

Female adults are generally kept busy with child-rearing and meal preparation for the family.

Children of the family will help in tasks suitable for their age and abilities. Gathering food and supplies, while learning the skills for survival in their environment.

Elders are revered for the experience, and find themselves as storytellers and teachers for the younger generations. They are supported by their children and grandchildren in return for their wisdom and experience.

Importance

To Sildaryns ones family is an important source of social support, and a responsibility as well. It is expected that one care for their younger and older family members. For the young it is an investment in the future, and ones legacy. For the elders it is as a matter of personal honour and respect, as they nurtured the generation below them in kind.

Influence

Ones family are the primary teachers of skills, and the main source of physical or social support. Who ones family is can be very important in determining ones future and standing in the larger community. To reject or lose ones family puts an individual at a disadvantage socially, as they will need to fend for themselves more often. That is, unless they can ingratiate themselves with another family, or find a life partner to start a new family with.

Orphans

Amongst the Sildaryn peoples, orphans will find a place on the edge of the existing family circles, where they are treated charitably, but have to find their own way in life.

Outcasts

Becoming outcast from ones family, or hinta as a whole takes a great toll upon the psyche of most Sildaryns. The loss of community can be fatal, in both a real phsyical sense as well as spiritually. The punishment is not given lightly, and is considered the last option when someone breaks the social order of the community.

Religion

The Sildaryn do not worship any form of divine entity, but revere nature itself, and have formed a religious philosophy around the concept of the River of the Soul.

Primary Beliefs

Ideals

• Respect:The Sildaryn hold great respect for the natural world. They avoid unnecessary killing, By having a understanding of animals natural instincts and behaviours the Sildaryn will ensure the health of the world they call home.
• Loyalty: Loyalty and support towards those who have come before, and those who follow after extends beyond the family unit. The larger community of ones hinta both deserves and gives loyalty to the whole membership. As well those hintas which have overlapping territories and share of their resources through trade and caches of supplies are respected in kind. To take unnecessarily form one is to take form the whole. By extension this concept of loyalty covers the entirety of the Sildaryn people.
• Charity:Sharing of resources and caring for those less fortunate is more than a matter of reciprocity. The act of kindness, and giving of oneself nurtures the soul and allows for the growth of the individual as well as the community.
• Harmony: Sildaryn understand that they are a part of the natural world and have a vital role within it. to upset the balance of the natural order would have greater consequences to the whole ecosystem, and their survival as a people.
• Suffering is Beauty:The story of ones soul is told, not in deeds performed, but in the ebb and flow of the emotions experienced throughout ones life. The joy, the sorrow, and the calm, are all just movements of a greater whole. While providing aid and comfort to those in emotional or physical pain is a good thing, one should also be allowed to feel and express their full emotions so they can gain the lessons taught by the experience.

Religious Figures

Dalfyn

Each hinta will have one or more Dalfyn whom act as religious leaders and advisors to their community. These Dalfyn also provide magical assistance to their hinta through their esoteric art of spellsinging, a harmonious relationship with the spirits of the natural world.

Structure

The Sildaryn religious beliefs do not support a structured hierarchy. However reverence towards those of greater power and knowledge is common. a paired teacher and pupil relationship is also a regular thing with the hinta's dalfyn tutoring a small number of the younger Sildaryn in their ways and practices. not every student becomes a dalfyn in their time, but promising pupils will be given instruction and guided towards that role if they so desire.

Groves

The dalfyn of each hinta will eventually retire to live their latter years at a permanent grove. One or more of the stopping points along a hintas migratory route will have a small community of dalfyn and others who no longer make the cyclical journey with the group. These groves form the focal point of the local circuits religious community.

Tree of Faces

At these groves a large tree called the tree of faces is tended to by the dalfyn. This tree holds the multitude of death masks representing the fallen Sildaryn from the hintas which visit the grove. Rituals of remembrance occur when adding new masks to the tree and for visits to remember those from previous years.

Ceremonial

The Sildaryn mark some milestones of one's life or changes in circumstance with small ceremonies. There are however, differences unique to the Sildaryn culture that are a reflection of their life style and philosophy.

Birth

The arrival of a new family and community member is generally celebrated at the time of the birth, or at the next stop along the migration when practical. The community as a whole brings small gifts of food and other useful items for the child and mother, wishing good health and a happy life upon the child.

Naming

A child is named by the consensus of their parents when possible this happens within the first full day of their birth. Names are often chosen from amongst prior family members or important cultural icons. Some parents will chose names that break from this tradition to reflect circumstances of the childs birth or the events from the time between conception and birth, as their is some belief that the child learns from the mother experiences during the gestational period.

Age

Small ceremonial acknowledgement of a child's age will occur each year upon arrival at the hinta of their birth, or the first stop which followed their birth.

5 years

At the anniversary of their fifth cycle a child is expected to begin taking on adult responsibilities, and no longer act in childish ways.

10 years

At the conclusion of their tenth cycle a Sildaryn is considered fully adult in the eyes of the community and holds the responsibilities and obligations that come with the status.

Adulthood

The transition from childhood and adolescence into adulthood is marked by a more serious ceremony in which the community leaders will hold a conversation with the newly adult members. This traditional conversation is considered a moment to pass on the final pieces of wisdom and challenge the youth to take up the mantle of adulthood for the betterment of their family and the hinta as a whole. It is a matter of pride that those participating in this rite of passage gift the community with items useful to the whole, or prepare a feast for the whole community to show their willingness and ability to support others.

Marriage

The Sildaryn do not practice specific elaborate marriage ceremonies, however a couple that desires each other may simply begin living together without much input from the community or their families. However ones choice of partner will often be influenced by social status and pre-arranged agreements between the parents, especially with younger couples.

Divorce

Like marriage, the ending of a couples time together is a simple matter of no longer cohabitating. The expectation of support to the children of the couple by both parents is still held by the community, but no negative social punishment is given for either party for ending their partnership.

Senescence

An elderly Sildaryn who is no longer healthy enough to continue the cyclical migrations of their people will be given hospice with the Dalfyn at one of the scared groves. Usually the next one along the path, as at least one of the stops for each Hinta's cycle will be a sacred grove. They are treated well, have access to healers, and generally convalesce into old age and death. This gives them more quality of life than the monthly shifting of residence, and rigours of travel would. Health permitting, they garden, tend to the trees and plants, care for animals, study and teach anyone willing to sit and receive the wisdom of their experiences.

Death

The Sildaryn bury their dead, and plant a tree seed above the grave. They believe that their departed return to the forest and watch over their living relatives observing and subtly influencing their lives. If a deceased Sildaryn is not properly remembered, their soul can become lost and might corrupt the natural order and balance of their forest home. A death mask is prepared representing the deceased and carried to the next grove along the hinta's migratory route. The masks are hung upon the tree of faces, a wide branching tree upon which hangs thousands of masks representing all the departed souls of the hintas which visit this grove. Every season when a hinta visits the grove small ceremonies of remembrance are performed at the tree. New masks are hung, and tales recounting the family history through the faces of their ancestors are told to keep the memories alive.

Inheritance

The personal property of a Sildaryn who dies is generally distributed amongst his or her descendants and family on an as needed basis. There is no mass accumulation of wealth, and no single heir that receives the whole. Debates regarding the legitimacy of an individuals claim to property of their deceased parent or family member are rare. Such disputes are most often resolved through mutual agreement by the extended family that remains.

Diet

Food

The Sildaryn are vegetarian, and practice a naturalistic agriculture, tending to low-impact agriculture keeping the forest in as natural a state as possible. Crops include anything that grows naturally in the wild, they will assist food producing plants to produce higher yields, maybe propagating saplings and the like, but they don't plant orchards and fields. Given that the forest they claim spans roughly two million square kilometres, and ranges from temperate in the north to tropical rain forest in the south, quite a variety of fruits, nuts, and other greens are available.

They chose the vegetarian diet back when they separated from the other People of the Ark. Its been a long time and they have changed physiologically. They probably can still eat meat, but it is so ingrained now they won't. In addition to their religious prohibitions against the consumption of animal flesh.

Cultural Dishes

Saluc

A jellied fermented fungi and fruit mash. It takes about a ten-day to prepare, but must be eaten within a day or two when ready. It doesn't travel well while fermenting, and if fermented too long turns very sour while separating into a curd and runny liquid.

Spice / Flavours

Spices and Herbs

The Sildaryn use a wide variety of flavourings to enhance their meals. Often collected and prepared as encountered during their travels these culinary additives often serve medicinal purposes as well. Bundles of such ingredients are a common inclusion in the caches left for other hintas at shred sites.

Honey

Gathered after subduing the wysps in a nest with smoke from bundle of soaproot leaves. Harvesters climb the tree and cut away sections of the honey bearing comb. The gathered comb is then lowered to the ground in baskets, where it is placed in glazed clay pots for storage and transport.

Drink

Non-Alcoholic

Most Sildaryn will drink water and a variety of fruit nectars and juices. in seasonal varieties as collected and prepared as desired.

Alcohol

Wines and other fermentation bases drink are not common amongst the Sildaryn, but they are prepared in small batches by some. Alcohol is usually reserved for ceremonial and celebratory use, as excessive drinking of such beverages can lead to disruptive behaviours and break the harmony of the community.

Medicine

Given their harmonious understanding of the environment, Sildaryn medicine is largely herbal based, utilizing the restorative and curative properties of various locally sourced plants for assistance in treating a wide variety of ailments. There are a few medicines unique to the Sildaryn, due in part to the ingredients not being found elsewhere.

Nelpyr

A very powerful stimulant derived from the Nelp fruit seeds. This effects of this drug can be addictive and overuse, or overdose can cause heightened aggression, lack of pain reception, paranoia, and sleep disturbances.

Fashion

Sildaryn clothing is mostly practical in nature and primarily made from plant sourced materials.

Textiles

A variety of plant fibres are collected and processed into suitable thread, and fabrics. Some leaves of plants and trees are also incorporated as suitable fabric replacements. Animal sourced fibres are collected rarely, and no domestication of animals for this purpose has occurred. The Sildaryn will use found animal based materials, but will not kill an animal for the resources.

Dyes

A wide range of colours can be produced from natural dyes harvested from plants and flowers throughout the region of Sildara. These often find there way into the trading caches of shared camp sites, such that local limitations may not reflect the number of colours available to a hinta's membership.

Embellishments

Brightly coloured ribbons, clay beads, feathers, or precious stones are all used to decorate and accentuate clothing.

Outfits

Typically, a Sildaryn has a single outfit that they wear for all occasions. A practical garment that allows them to perform the duties of the role and practice their profession with ease. This would be supplemented with jewellery or accessories on a personal level for daily wear or ceremonial needs.

Ceremonial

Items of a ceremonial nature will be worn during the respective ceremony itself and on an as needed basis. Such accessories are kept safe during the time they are not in use.

Regalia

Some hintas have taken to wearing articles of clothing or adornment that symbolise their membership in the specific hinta from which they belong. These items are not excessive or overt in nature, but are identifiable as markers for the wearers origins, and tend to stick to traditional materials and designs.

Jewellery

Made from natural and found materials, jewellery is worn by many Sildaryn as an individual matter. The materials used are similar to those used to embellish garments. Ribbons, beads, feathers, and stone or wooden baubles are common. Earrings, necklaces and bracelets are the most common items of jewellery, but some pins and brooches are evident.

Makeup

The Sildaryn will uses some materials as body paints for ceremonial uses, or practical camouflage. Augmenting ones appearance for simple vanity is not common and holds no significant cultural role.

Tattoos

Some permanent tattoos and temporary markings using ashes, kohl, or henna like substances is common. The design and placement of such markings is a matter of personal choice and usually made to mark important life events, recording the personal history of the individual.

Leisure Activities

Sports

Athletic activities are common, especially amongst younger Sildaryn. Climbing, jumping, running and swimming are typical leisure or competitive contests. Organised tests of skill with hunting weapons are more common amongst the adult population. Team based competitions exist and often include a ball or ring shaped object that is tossed, kicked, or thrown about to achieve some goal, such games feature heavily on coordinated team work and strategy more than physical force or speed.

Games

For children there are numerous counting and pattern matching games, that are educational as well as entertaining.

Amongst adults games are more about group social activity than learning new things. Games involving tokens made from seeds or pebbles and played on woven painted mats are typical, and tend to favour co-operative play rather than direct antagonistic play.

Gambling

Games of chance are played, but less common. The Sildaryn concepts of wealth and property are different than other cultures and they do not use any form of currency, so betting on outcomes is less about winning finacial rewards than more socially based rewards.

Social Gatherings

During meal times and evenings the Sildaryn spend time gathered together in family or peer groups, or as whole communities, to sing, make music, tell stories, and share in each others company.

Arts

The Sildaryn use art as a expression of their culture and a means of enhancing their lives with beauty.

Storytelling

As a primarily oral tradition culture, storytelling is a longstanding tradition, and every hinta tells stories from their own history, the history of the Sildaryn as a whole, as a method of teaching important moral or cultural lessons, and for simple entertainment.

Writing

While the Sildaryn do have a method to record information is a written form it is seldom used for artistic endeavors. Recently a few groups have begun using written records to share their stories with others, but the medium used is not particularly good at preserving texts for lengthy times.

Poetry

Peoms as a constrained form of story, or puzzle-game are popular in some groups. A poem is likely to be a record of emotionally important events, or to evoke a particular feeling in the intended audience.

Fiction

While the Sildaryb do understand the concept of fictional storytelling, it has little value to them, and is rare.

Theatre

No organized theatre exists amongst the Sildaryn, however some storytelling combines the oral and a physical component in the form of plays.

Acting

Sildaryn participating in a group storytelling activity may take on roles of particular historical or contemporary figures to assist the primary storyteller with a non-verbal cue to the elements of the story.

Plays

Plays take the form of traditional stories with well known plot and themes. Some are traditionally paired with specific seasonal celebrations.

Dance

Sildaryn dance is usually highly rhythmic, both individual styles and as a group collaborative effort. Certain dances are important ceremonial rituals used for mating, or to call for spirits to join the Sildaryn in some way.

Gymnastics

The athleticism of some dancers includes tumbling, jumping, and rolling, as well as aerial displays while hanging from branches and vines in the forest.

Music

The Sildaryn appreciate a wide variety of music.

Singing

Singing with words, or simply melodic sounds is common and is a key part of their cultural magic tradition.

Percussion

Drums are usually made from hollowed out wood, or gourds. Rythymn sticks and shakers are also common in some groups.

Strings

The Sildaryn do not use any form of stringed instruments.

Wind

Flutes, pipes, and horns are common amongst the various hintas, based on traditional materials and designs. Some reed instruments are also present where appropriate crafting materials can be gathered.

Painting

Painting of murals and motives on rock faces, trees and the body are all practiced in some form by various Sildaryn. these exist to form a form of historical record, as well as to appease certain spirits of the forests.

Sculpture

Small clay, wood, and stone figurines are common, and are typically used as game pieces or toys for children. Larger statues or relief carvings are rare amongst most Sildaryn, however in the extreme northern and southern regions, where mountains are part of the yearly cycle some carved stone way markers exist.

Time

The Sildaryn relationship with time is somewhat unique. While they acknowledge the sequential passing of seasons, and the linear path of aging in living things, they do not think of time as linear in the world sense. To them everything is cyclical, without a beginning or end in the truest sense.

Timekeeping

The course of the sun through the sky is the best measure of time the Sildaryns use. They do not break the day down into hours and minutes. they have concepts for things done, and things yet to be done, but estimating the when of a thing is usually left unsaid.

Daily Routine

A Sildaryn's day typically starts with the rising sun. A small meal to break the nighttime fast is enjoyed before the daily activities are undertaken in earnest. Work gathering resources and food is a constant daytime activity for many Sildaryn, ending about mid-afternoon, when the hinta gathers together for family meals and socializing. Evenings are usually spent enjoying social activities and some crafting of tools, clothing or other items. The day closes with a light meal and beverages before they retire to their family units for sleep.

While on the move between campsites, the day is still fairly similar in structure, however activities are modified to be practical while walking through the forests along the paths travelled.

Timeline

Given the Sildaryn concept of time, these dates are approximates, and not internal cultural references.

~5000 BG - The ancestors of the Sildaryn People separated themselves from the People of the Ark and began their south-eastward migration into what is their present territory.

~2000 BG - The time of Neelam. The Sildaryn adopt to arboreal living and co-operative behaviours with the Tomka.

~1500 BG - The time of Sanpir the Way Finder. The Sildaryn establish the first communal groves.

Persons

List of Sildaryn Persons

Stories

Cross (fifty word fantasy)

Druid (fifty word fantasy)

Elves (fifty word fantasy)

Mala E Pala

One Year Later (fifty word fantasy)

Song (fifty word fantasy)

Songs of Neelam

Surrender (fifty word fantasy)

Travel (fifty word fantasy)

See Also

Sildara

Sildaryn (language)

Sildaryn (people)