Sildara

Overview

Other Names

Sildara - the Forest

The nation of Sildara, home of the Sildaryn peoples, occupies a vast forested region covering the eastern arm of the continent of Anexea. This forest varies, from tropical savanna and rain forest in the South, transitioning through to temperate mixed woodlands and coastal rain forest in the North.

In their distant past the Sildaryn people migrated from the region occupied by the People of the Ark. 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 from the remaining Treahni. The Sildaryn's 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.

Dominant Culture

Sildaryn

Population

The population of sildara is entirely of Sildaryn ancestry.

Government

Sildara has no national government. They operate at a local level within each Hinta and only rarely would a council of representatives from multiple hintas gather for serious matters.

Head of State

Sildara does not have a singular head of state.

Capitol

The Sildaryn do not form cities, although a cultural centre does exist, as the First Grove. Occasional pilgrimages to this site are undertaken as a rite of passage for some dalfyn in training. The journey can take several years and is not without it's dangers.

Levels

Hinta

The primary social unit is the hinta, a loose collection of families that form a migratory band. One's identity and place in society starts and ends in the hinta. Very few Sildaryn are known beyond a single hinta or i's neighbours that share a grove or two.

Law Making

As much as the Sildaryn have laws they follow their moral guidance of their religion. There are no law books or records, it is all a matter of common practices within the hintas themselves, and no nation wide system of laws exists, outside of common trends in what is culturally acceptable behaviour.

Enforcement

Sildaryn Justice - Punishments for crimes amongst the Sildaryn are focused on restoring balance to the individual and the community. This can take the form of group interventions, penitent community service, or even banishment through being declared invisible.

Taxation

The Sildaryn economy is entirely based on barter and trade through mutualism. Therefore the concept of taxation is completely foreign to them.

Public Works

Where and when necessary hintas will build bridges or other structures to support the camps they dwell in, or to assist movement of the hinta between camps. No other infrastructure exists.

Roads

Commonly travelled paths can form between camps over time, but since the migration of a hinta is annual, the repeat travel is infrequent enough to leave little trace. Paths in the region immediately surrounding a hinta's campsites are a matter of course, and they too can be overgrown and change annually between visits.

Irrigation

At some campsites, the hinta may have made some irrigation works to help ensure a steady supply of fresh water. typically in the form of wells or weirs.

Sanitation

No public sanitation works exist, beyond simple pits for disposing of waste, which are covered over before the hinta moves on to the next camp.

Commerce

Agriculture

Sildaryn's practice agriculture in a natural food forest manner. They will plant seeds of important plants along their travel routes and at camps to provide for the future needs of a hinta, but do not clear fields, or overly tend to the crops they plant.

Crops

Intentionally propagated fruits, nuts, legumes, and cereals form most of the Sildaryn diet. Edible foliage makes up the rest. These plant sources are supplemented by foraging while travelling between campsites.

Herds

The sildaryn do not practice any form of animal husbandry.

Hunting

The Sildaryn do not hunt for food or other materials, but will use materials from found or exterminated beasts as practical.

Fishing

The Sildaryn do not eat fish.

Gathering

The primary means of food collection is gathering from the forest as opportunity allows. Fungi, fruits, and other edibles are gathered when found.

Industry

The Sildaryn respect for nature and harmonious living with their environment precludes any form of heavy industry.

Resource Extraction

Placer deposits for certain clays, shales, flint and other minerals are sometimes the focus of campsites a hinta will visit, however the amount of material removed isnot substantial and seldom more than the hinta needs in the immediate sense.

Manufacturing

The crafting of clothing, tools, and containers is performed on an as needed basis, and seldom involves more product that fits the immediate needs of the hinta. Individuals skilled in the manufacture of items will share their skills with those who can gather the supplies, and youth are taught the skills of their parents or other adults in the community.

Trade

The Sildaryn people live in groups that follow cyclical nomadic migrations. The have a series of tree house villages which they occupy as stopovers along their migratory loops. 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.

In some parts of Sildara, local Etausi rooks might trade with the hintas which travel through or near their territory. Such exchange is still a matter of barter, generally of mutual interest, and not exploitive for either party.

Imports / Exports

As a xenophobic people the Sildaryn do not engage in any trade with outside cultures or nations.

Transportation

The sildaryn do not use vehicles, or pack animals. They carry everything on foot, or in simple travois style sleds.

Trade Routes

Trade routes exist in the form of diffusion of goods through the chain of caches and trade by proxy. Resources that are abundant in one region may find their way to regions of scarcity over several years and exchanges.

Currency

The Sildaryn do not have any form of coinage or other currency.

Role of Guilds

There are no formal guilds amongst the Sildaryn, although the dalfyn are organized in a fashion of teachers and apprentices, with wise and learned elders at centralized groves.