Post by Kizmet on Jun 13, 2011 23:25:09 GMT -5
HISTORY
Shinohi was settled long ago by refuges from a land that is, or perhaps was, located beyond the Forest of Tane, beyond Messina, beyond the Western Sea. Legends tell of the various divinities great displeasure with the people, and the Gods and Goddesses abandoned their people due to their becoming unpious and forgetting their worship. Great disasters befell the people. There were droughts and the crops failed and many starved. There were great storms of unprecedented strength. The ground trembled and shook, and burning water burst forth from the ground, and the sea ran in to devour the land. Just when all seemed to be lost, the cries of the people were heard. One of the Gods, Toko Aiu, took pity upon the people, and he led them from their land and across the sea to the western coast of what is now known as Lamavia. He led them through the forest and across the great plains to their new home in the mountains. There he taught them how to safely farm the valleys, and how to survive in the strange and harsh climate. He taught them to climb the sheer cliffs and to fish in the oceans, to build the wood and rope bridges that were their lifelines and connections between cities and towns. He also showed them the new deities of this new land, and taught them how to worship them so that what happened in their homeland would never happen again. This is why the Shinohin are known for their great piousness, and why Toko Aiu is known as The God and The Great God, and why he is revered well above all others. A more scientific approach to the legend is that the land where the Shinohins come from was besieged by earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis after a period of severe drought followed by equally severe monsoons. This led to a break down in society, and the people were forced to flee. When some reached Lamavia, the forest and plains were already settled by the Haida, forcing the Shinohins to continue until they reached the unsettled, or relatively unsettled, mountains.
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
Shinohins are a relatively short but muscular people. They have thick gleaming hair with a shine like a raven’s wing. Most have dark hair and eyes, and any Shinohin born blonde, brunette, or auburn haired or with blue, green, or hazel eyes are prized for their beauty and exoticness in most places, though in some this is viewed as a form of a curse and these individuals are ostracized and not entirely Shinohin. They are pale skinned, with a slight almost yellowish tone to their skin. Long, thick eyelashes are a common Shinohin attribute. Most are what would be considered slightly pudgy in other areas, in order to withstand the numbing cold of the mountains. Their eyes are almond shaped and on a light angle. Both men and women mostly keep their hair long, except during military service, when both men and women keep their hair cropped short. It is often woven into thick braids that are than left to hang or wrapped tightly and secured to their heads.
POSSESSIONS
The Shinohin do not keep many possessions, mostly what is required for day to day living. A rug in their family area, blankets and clothing to keep warm, pots, bowls, cups, and few utensils for food, whatever weaponry they have, and whatever tools they need for their work. Each family has a large altar set up in their home which they use to honor the deities, with separate areas of the elaborate altar set up for individual family members. The centerpiece of it all is a shared area set up for the worship of Toko Aiu, though each family member worships him separately at their personal altar as well. The only other real possessions of the Shinohin are trinkets worn about the neck and wrists, something like jewelry, but the medallions on the necklaces and bracelets are meant to be an entreaty to the deities for favors or a form of worship.
LIVING QUARTERS
The Shinohin live in homes built of wood or stone, and some live in natural caves and openings in the mountain side. The Great Palace at Toshio, where the Royal Family live, is made of stone and built into the mountain itself. What can be seen from the outside is, like an iceburg, only the tip of the entire structure.
SOCIAL SKILLS
Shinohins are a hospitable people to outsiders, but also dislike them and are condescending to them, believing themselves to be better. They believe the other races are doomed to suffer the fate the Shinohins themselves once suffered because they forgot the worship of their ancestors and the deities. However, despite this revulsion towards others, they are bound to hospitality by their laws in remembrance of once being newcomers in a strange land. It can be dangerous for outsiders in the smaller and more isolated villages however, because they are quick to react with their own brand of justice when their laws are broken, often times involving a severe beating or even a lynching. Shinohins show respect to their elders and ancestors. They revere the old people and pay great respect to them, bordering almost on worship. Age and wisdom are greatly valued in Shinohi.
DIET
Crops are evenly rationed in Shinohi, and supplemented by what individual families find while scavenging, hunting, and fishing. Excess food and other items in one family is bartered out to others who need it in exchange for goods and services that they may need. In the larger cities, such as Toshio and Hiramiku, these excess goods are often exchanged for currency as well, and in recent years the cities have developed a different sort of culture involving marketplaces where families who purposely create an excess of a certain type of good barter and sell their items to others daily. In this way, each family gets the highest quality of items, as they are all made by ‘experts’. The main staple of the Shinohin diet is grains such as rice, corn, and wheat. It is heavily supplemented with fish and game meat, and to a lesser degree with fruits, vegetables, and other plants.
FASHION AND DRESS
The Shinohins wear animal skins from the various animals they catch, single garments often being comprised of several species. Those who live near one of the lakes or the ocean can often be found wearing clothing made of fish skins. In the winter men and women both wear pants and tucked shirts with parka type garments over the shirts that have hoods and reach down to mid thigh. They wear thick boots over their pants that extend 2/3 to ¾ the way up their calves. In the summer they wear pants that are more like knickerbockers that are flared at the bottom and semi-long sleeved tunic garments. Most go barefoot. Small children often go naked during the summer months and swaddled in blankets otherwise.
EDUCATION
There is no formal education in Shinohi. Children are taught at home by their parents and older relatives from a very early age, about 2 or 3. Here they learn to read and write, some history, some of the sciences and arts, religion, fighting etc. Older members of the society often further the education of local children once the children are a bit older, about 6 to 8. Here they are taught more of history and mythology and the arts, many choosing to learn a musical instrument. Their fighting skills are also furthered here if possible. They also continue to learn at home. When Shinohin children turn 12 they travel to Hiramiku to attend the military school there. This is as close to a formal education as is available in Shinohi. They train here in the martial and military arts mostly, with little in the way of science and art, although there is some emphasis placed on history. They train here for three years, until they turn 15. At 15 they join the Royal Shinohin Military and serve for a mandatory 5 years. At 20 the most promising of the recruits continue their career in the military, while the others return to their hometowns and become farmers, fisherman, hunters, and homemakers. During times of war, able-bodied citizens of Shinohi aged 20 to 60 may be called back to active duty if their service is required. They are thus required to keep their weapons, armor, and skills well polished at all times.
COMMUNICATION
The native language, Kenjin, believed to have come across the sea with the original Shinohins. Very few people in the smaller more rural villages, if any, speak the traders tongue, though scholars in the larger cities usually do speak it.
PROFESSIONS
The Shinohins are by and large mostly farmers. A sizeable percentage serve in the military as a career, with some of them going on to become advisors to the Royal Family. The rest of the Shinohins are fishers, hunters, and homemakers. A few become scholars, living in the larger cities and concentrating on a chosen field, such as religion, science, an art, history, music, etc. They also are often advisors to the Royal Family.
MEDICINE
There is no advanced medicine in Shinohi. There are some natural poultices and elixirs, but mostly healing is achieved through prayer.
RELIGION
The main Deity in Shinohin religion is Toko Aiu. At one time, in the Shinohin homeland, he was a lesser deity, but he rose to significance during the migration, and has become the primary deity of the Shinohin people. There are other, lesser, deities that are worshiped, most of them being involved with one aspect of nature or another, such as fertility and growth, or Summer and Winter. They also worship their ancestors almost like Demi-Gods, and the Emperor and Empress receive near religious devotion.
PROTECTION
Shinohins practice many forms of the martial arts and utilize a number of weapons, including a variety of swords, daggers, spears, sticks, throwing knives, etc. Some practice a secret and forbidden magick that involves invoking and controlling the elements. Prayer for divine intervention is a very common reaction by the Shinohin people.
Shinohi was settled long ago by refuges from a land that is, or perhaps was, located beyond the Forest of Tane, beyond Messina, beyond the Western Sea. Legends tell of the various divinities great displeasure with the people, and the Gods and Goddesses abandoned their people due to their becoming unpious and forgetting their worship. Great disasters befell the people. There were droughts and the crops failed and many starved. There were great storms of unprecedented strength. The ground trembled and shook, and burning water burst forth from the ground, and the sea ran in to devour the land. Just when all seemed to be lost, the cries of the people were heard. One of the Gods, Toko Aiu, took pity upon the people, and he led them from their land and across the sea to the western coast of what is now known as Lamavia. He led them through the forest and across the great plains to their new home in the mountains. There he taught them how to safely farm the valleys, and how to survive in the strange and harsh climate. He taught them to climb the sheer cliffs and to fish in the oceans, to build the wood and rope bridges that were their lifelines and connections between cities and towns. He also showed them the new deities of this new land, and taught them how to worship them so that what happened in their homeland would never happen again. This is why the Shinohin are known for their great piousness, and why Toko Aiu is known as The God and The Great God, and why he is revered well above all others. A more scientific approach to the legend is that the land where the Shinohins come from was besieged by earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis after a period of severe drought followed by equally severe monsoons. This led to a break down in society, and the people were forced to flee. When some reached Lamavia, the forest and plains were already settled by the Haida, forcing the Shinohins to continue until they reached the unsettled, or relatively unsettled, mountains.
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
Shinohins are a relatively short but muscular people. They have thick gleaming hair with a shine like a raven’s wing. Most have dark hair and eyes, and any Shinohin born blonde, brunette, or auburn haired or with blue, green, or hazel eyes are prized for their beauty and exoticness in most places, though in some this is viewed as a form of a curse and these individuals are ostracized and not entirely Shinohin. They are pale skinned, with a slight almost yellowish tone to their skin. Long, thick eyelashes are a common Shinohin attribute. Most are what would be considered slightly pudgy in other areas, in order to withstand the numbing cold of the mountains. Their eyes are almond shaped and on a light angle. Both men and women mostly keep their hair long, except during military service, when both men and women keep their hair cropped short. It is often woven into thick braids that are than left to hang or wrapped tightly and secured to their heads.
POSSESSIONS
The Shinohin do not keep many possessions, mostly what is required for day to day living. A rug in their family area, blankets and clothing to keep warm, pots, bowls, cups, and few utensils for food, whatever weaponry they have, and whatever tools they need for their work. Each family has a large altar set up in their home which they use to honor the deities, with separate areas of the elaborate altar set up for individual family members. The centerpiece of it all is a shared area set up for the worship of Toko Aiu, though each family member worships him separately at their personal altar as well. The only other real possessions of the Shinohin are trinkets worn about the neck and wrists, something like jewelry, but the medallions on the necklaces and bracelets are meant to be an entreaty to the deities for favors or a form of worship.
LIVING QUARTERS
The Shinohin live in homes built of wood or stone, and some live in natural caves and openings in the mountain side. The Great Palace at Toshio, where the Royal Family live, is made of stone and built into the mountain itself. What can be seen from the outside is, like an iceburg, only the tip of the entire structure.
SOCIAL SKILLS
Shinohins are a hospitable people to outsiders, but also dislike them and are condescending to them, believing themselves to be better. They believe the other races are doomed to suffer the fate the Shinohins themselves once suffered because they forgot the worship of their ancestors and the deities. However, despite this revulsion towards others, they are bound to hospitality by their laws in remembrance of once being newcomers in a strange land. It can be dangerous for outsiders in the smaller and more isolated villages however, because they are quick to react with their own brand of justice when their laws are broken, often times involving a severe beating or even a lynching. Shinohins show respect to their elders and ancestors. They revere the old people and pay great respect to them, bordering almost on worship. Age and wisdom are greatly valued in Shinohi.
DIET
Crops are evenly rationed in Shinohi, and supplemented by what individual families find while scavenging, hunting, and fishing. Excess food and other items in one family is bartered out to others who need it in exchange for goods and services that they may need. In the larger cities, such as Toshio and Hiramiku, these excess goods are often exchanged for currency as well, and in recent years the cities have developed a different sort of culture involving marketplaces where families who purposely create an excess of a certain type of good barter and sell their items to others daily. In this way, each family gets the highest quality of items, as they are all made by ‘experts’. The main staple of the Shinohin diet is grains such as rice, corn, and wheat. It is heavily supplemented with fish and game meat, and to a lesser degree with fruits, vegetables, and other plants.
FASHION AND DRESS
The Shinohins wear animal skins from the various animals they catch, single garments often being comprised of several species. Those who live near one of the lakes or the ocean can often be found wearing clothing made of fish skins. In the winter men and women both wear pants and tucked shirts with parka type garments over the shirts that have hoods and reach down to mid thigh. They wear thick boots over their pants that extend 2/3 to ¾ the way up their calves. In the summer they wear pants that are more like knickerbockers that are flared at the bottom and semi-long sleeved tunic garments. Most go barefoot. Small children often go naked during the summer months and swaddled in blankets otherwise.
EDUCATION
There is no formal education in Shinohi. Children are taught at home by their parents and older relatives from a very early age, about 2 or 3. Here they learn to read and write, some history, some of the sciences and arts, religion, fighting etc. Older members of the society often further the education of local children once the children are a bit older, about 6 to 8. Here they are taught more of history and mythology and the arts, many choosing to learn a musical instrument. Their fighting skills are also furthered here if possible. They also continue to learn at home. When Shinohin children turn 12 they travel to Hiramiku to attend the military school there. This is as close to a formal education as is available in Shinohi. They train here in the martial and military arts mostly, with little in the way of science and art, although there is some emphasis placed on history. They train here for three years, until they turn 15. At 15 they join the Royal Shinohin Military and serve for a mandatory 5 years. At 20 the most promising of the recruits continue their career in the military, while the others return to their hometowns and become farmers, fisherman, hunters, and homemakers. During times of war, able-bodied citizens of Shinohi aged 20 to 60 may be called back to active duty if their service is required. They are thus required to keep their weapons, armor, and skills well polished at all times.
COMMUNICATION
The native language, Kenjin, believed to have come across the sea with the original Shinohins. Very few people in the smaller more rural villages, if any, speak the traders tongue, though scholars in the larger cities usually do speak it.
PROFESSIONS
The Shinohins are by and large mostly farmers. A sizeable percentage serve in the military as a career, with some of them going on to become advisors to the Royal Family. The rest of the Shinohins are fishers, hunters, and homemakers. A few become scholars, living in the larger cities and concentrating on a chosen field, such as religion, science, an art, history, music, etc. They also are often advisors to the Royal Family.
MEDICINE
There is no advanced medicine in Shinohi. There are some natural poultices and elixirs, but mostly healing is achieved through prayer.
RELIGION
The main Deity in Shinohin religion is Toko Aiu. At one time, in the Shinohin homeland, he was a lesser deity, but he rose to significance during the migration, and has become the primary deity of the Shinohin people. There are other, lesser, deities that are worshiped, most of them being involved with one aspect of nature or another, such as fertility and growth, or Summer and Winter. They also worship their ancestors almost like Demi-Gods, and the Emperor and Empress receive near religious devotion.
PROTECTION
Shinohins practice many forms of the martial arts and utilize a number of weapons, including a variety of swords, daggers, spears, sticks, throwing knives, etc. Some practice a secret and forbidden magick that involves invoking and controlling the elements. Prayer for divine intervention is a very common reaction by the Shinohin people.