Putlastros

Frieze of Erkwor Luwkopeter

**Kersakmen** is a semi-pastoral polity located in and around the *Sakwebhus* river valley inhabited by the Putlastros, originally from the east. The full name; **Kersakmens Weghjowos**; has the native meaning of "Domain of the *Weghos* of the region of the sacred grass"

## Geography

The domain of the Putlastros extends through the open fertile plains around the *Sakwebhus*. They are bounded in the east by the sea, in the north by coniferous swamps, in the south by mountains and desert, and in the west by deep canyons that flow through the grasslands and cannot be forded. Near the heartland, there stands a lone, slow-sloping mountain, *Sakrosolos,* which holds spiritual significance to the Putlastros

## History

### Prehistory

Evidence of human habitation of the Putlastros’ ancestral homeland extends from time immemorial, however archaeological evidence suggests a westward migration into the area by a group whose remains are found in association with horse bones, suggesting domestication, and tooth-wear-patterns of those horses indicating riding by means of a bit. This group is ancestral to that of the Putlastros polity that would in the following ages control and exploit the plains, displacing the native hunter-gatherers via their horseback advantage and expelling them north, where their remains can be found in later periods. Grave-goods of the Putlastros culture indicate a nomadic pastoral economy with evidence of outside trade with agricultural societies for valuable materials such as metals. All such metals found in association with these remains have a differing composition from the native metal ores found within the Putlastros' plains, suggesting they did not, at this time, practice metallurgy. Excavation of refuse pits has indicated a diet of primarily sheep, cow, and starchy vegetation. It can be inferred from this that wool was likely the primary textile used for clothing and other such items.

### Waxing Crescent

During the Waxing Crescent period, the Putlastros coalesced into multiple different polities based around familial kinship. Oral tradition describes this as the earliest period of Putlastros history, lasting an indeterminate period of time, where it is usually characterised in a negative light, Possibly retroactively. Through oral poetry, we know this period concluded with the ascension of the Horse-lord *Hekwoklewes* (alternately, *Ekwoklewos),* who brought the Putlastros into a single polity, through both especially bloody conquest and diplomatic marriage, usually characterised in literature as uniting all men under, or into, his flock, or herd, suggesting a pseudo-paternal relationship. This has led some foreigners to retroactively refer to *Hekwoklewes* as a King, though it is unclear at this time if such a concept existed for the Putlastros. The leadership position of *Hekwoklewes* would, after his death, be called *Weghos*, literally meaning "one who leads" or "one who drives [livestock]".

### First Quarter

The First Quarter’s beginning coincides with the Great Eastern Plague, which affected both men and beast of the Putlastros, leading *Hekwoklewes* to make the decision to lead his herd west, where the plague had not reached. Almost all Putlastros followed him, leading an enormous roaming herd of sheep and cattle that left a ravaged trail behind them. During this first migration, they passed over the Reylle river. Following the death of *Hekwoklewes* from a fever, most Putlastros desired to maintain their unity and elected to follow *Hekwoklewes*’ nephew, *Weiktoros*, who had ridden close to his uncle. Being separated from hallowed ground, *Hekwoklewes*’ body was cremated rather than buried. *Weiktoros* led his herd on a further migration west across the sea over a narrow straight. Following the passing of *Weiktoros*, his brother *Alekaneros* was elected to lead the Putlastros. He led them north.

### Full Moon

Following the retreat from the north, *Alekaneros* Led the Putlastros to the plains in the south, where they returned to the lands they had previously traveled through. upon arrival , they took some natives as indentured servants, claiming part of their harvests, and establishing a permanent camp nearby, *Erkworom*, in the name of *Erkwor*, becoming the centre of development of the Putlastros successor state and prompting a shift in economy and culture. The priestly class sanctified the land and plains around the settlement such that it was able to have Putlastros burials. Following this, *Alekaneros* was killed in a battle with a neighboring settled tribal people in the south, and *Polutauróm*, Hekwoklewes’ grandson, was elected to lead. This is the current time period.

## Culture

### Societal Structure

Society in Kersakmen is divided fundamentally into 4 different social classes, 3 of which possess real cultural recognition; The warrior class, the priestly class, the herdsmen class, and the agricultural class. Of these, the agricultural class is not considered as a true part of the tripartite society, being a result of the transition to semi-agriculturalist society, and lacking a theological backing. All Putlastros are, by implication, part of the 3 true classes, and are assigned by varying means, usually birth order and gender. One notable means one may be assigned to the priestly class is if a child is determined to be of the *Tritjos* (third) gender, who are considered to have a closer relationship with the divine, and so are always part of the priestly class.

the *Agrokwolos* agricultural class consist of freemen and indentured servants who sow crops, as opposed to herd livestock, and is the default for non-Putlastros. There are some circumstances where one can become Putlastros, by means of religion and familial kinship, and in such times it is usual that Agrokwolós elevate to a new class, and as such must no longer perform agricultural work, or else their position as a Putlastros remains questionable.

### Kinship and Naming

In Putlastros kinship, relatives are distinguished only by generation and by gender. There is a parental generation and a generation of children. In this system, a person refers to all females of his parents' generation (mother, aunts, and the wives of men in this generation) as "Mother" and all of the males (father, uncles, and husbands of the women in this generation) as "Father". In the generation of children, all brothers and male cousins are referred to as "Brother", and all sisters and female cousins as "Sister". Putlastros engage in a practice of ritual close-family fostering. Wherein all biological sons after the first are fostered by their uncles and aunts. As a result, of the children that live with any one family, only one will be their biological offspring, with the rest related to them through their biological siblings and 1st cousins. All the offspring of a pair of grandparents usually live and migrate in proximity to each-other and form the basic social unit of society.

Boys take their grandfather’s name as a second name to demonstrate their kinship, anyone who is not related to your grandfather through male descendants is not considered related to you, and therefore eligible for marriage. Boys generally take longer, exocentric names, describing not literally them, but things related to them in someway. For example, the name *Ekwoklewos* is constructed from the words for horse and for fame or renown, and would be interpreted exocentrically as meaning that the holder is famed for his horse, rather than that he is a famous horse. To call a child a name that ascribes to them qualities unrelated to external tangible concepts would be strange. for example, the English name Albert, meaning "noble and bright" would be a strange name. Girls often have shorter and simpler names, rarely compounded.

### View on Slavery

The Putlastros generally have a negative view of slavery in most forms they encounter it, despite practicing it themselves. The Putlastros' view holds that whilst their slaves are forbidden to quit and are subject to their master, they are not, and cannot be, property. As such, slaves in Kersakmen are afforded rights they often lack elsewhere and are referred to as indentured servants to differentiate from chattel slaves.

All slaves are implicitly in a sacred contract with their master, since the laws of the *Kmenés* determine that his service to his master is conditional in several facets:

* A slave must have his needs provided for: food, water, shelter, clothing, and so on, to a similar level that his master may provide his sons or foster sons. To starve a slave, or leave him exposed to the cold to die, is murder.
* Should a child slave be acquired, he may be held in servitude until he has reached adulthood, unless under the care of another slave who would be freed prior to then. Should the slave be acquired as an adult, he may be kept for no longer than 10 years, unless an extension is agreed upon by both slave and master.
* A beating that leaves permanent damage or disfigurement to a slave is forbidden, and may be punished as an assault under the law.

### Language and literature

One example of a Putlastros idiom or saying is that of "waiting for your horse". This has an originally theological root, derived from the idea that, when one dies, he is taken to heaven on the back of a horse. As such, if one is waiting for his horse, he is waiting for death, or waiting for something to happen to him, rather than taking action himself. An indecisive, unambitious, or bumbling man, is seen as waiting for his horse. Poetry is the preferred form of literature in Kersakmen, especially that which can be sung.

Here is an example of a Putlastros riding song with a provided translation: a parable of a man who’s lack of initiative and propriety leave him destined for a monotonous and unappealing afterlife as a subservient herdsman, where he will win no honour. However, he is visited in the night by the procession of the dead and *Wentikwots*, who’s presence warns of his potential fate should he not change his ways.

Original:

> koukwolós senos ridét nekwesi,
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> epikolnei remét ennémesi,
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> tom-ki bhūri kewans okwirughros derkét
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> warons nebons kemelonskwe sporejete
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> okwī senti idrōs, kopōskwe rāsmedōm
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> te kaltanemōs awisdhét, kernewōs senti kersnōm
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> tundsto bhejosjo erkwo dom jāmete nebhons
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> jokwid derkét erkwotnes, kelnemét te gowons
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> Jipi ai é, jipi ai ó,
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> Nekwospoimenes
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Translated:

> An old cowherd rode early before dawn.
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> He rested on a hill in a wood.
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> Then, he saw a herd of red-eyed cows,
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> (and) they trampled the wide sky and clouds.
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> (Their) eyes are flaming, and hooves of bronze.
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> he felt their hot breath, (their) horns are black.
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> An arrow of fear struck him while they advanced through the clouds,
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> Because he saw the riders, (and) he heard their laments
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> Jipi ai é, jipi ai ó,
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> Corpse herdsmen
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## Mythos and Religion

Putlastros religion revolves around the veneration of the divine household, or *Kmenés*, an assembly of divine beings related by blood or marriage. The divines are constantly moving across the sky, grazing their own divine herds and chasing their divine game, just as men do on the ground.

Chiefest among the Kmenés is *Erkwor*, who is associated with the sun and has the epithet *Luwkopeter*. His role is to lead his herd of lesser deities across the sky, from east to west. He is characterised as a bull with bright glowing wings with the body of a man where the bull’s head would be. Behind him follows his brother and nephew, *Meghos Méns* and *Paulos Méns*, the greater and lesser moons. Their role is to manage Erkwor’s herd while he leads, following a constant schedule to their movements. *Erkwor*, *Meghos* and *Paulos* each also play a role as the head of a social class; *Ekwor* is the Divine Warrior, wielding a bow, first of the warrior class; *Meghos* is the divine timekeeper and ritual-keeper, with his fixed and regular changes, and so first of the priestly class; and *Paulos* is the divine herdsman, following the instructions of his father and keeping the rituals whilst he moves around him tending the herd, and thus first of the herdsman class. Alongside the moons are all the stars in the sky, who are minor deities of varying importance in relation to the three greater celestial bodies.

Following a person's death, he can ascend to join the *Kmenés* in the sky. The dead are escorted to the heavens by a herd of horses. Only the first horse has a rider, *Wentikwots* *Nekwosweghos,* and the rest are for the dead to clamber onto. The afterlife for the Putlastros is a mirror of mortal life, and so some who have lived an ignoble and unambitious life go on to an ignoble and unambitious afterlife, whereas the opposite is true for those who have lived noble and good lives. It is traditional to bury the dead as close to the sky as one can, to assist in their ascension into the sky