Obeah

The **Obeah** are a tribe of **Manna** living within the icy pole of **Northern Aurulora**. They share their settlement and much of their culture with their sister tribe, the **Ofessah**.

## Settlement

The Obeah live alongside the **Ofessah** in the settlement **Casseah Clila**. The Obeah live on the lower portion of the settlement against the ground, and typically use the natural resources of the lands around them to their advantage. The Obeah build their homes out of marbles and never melting ice, sculpting intricate patterns of moons and ocean waves into the structures to give them dimension and character. The stronger and healthier members of the tribe tend to live in the larger and warmer houses, due to them being the members of the tribe who typically go out and do the hunting the most. The Obeah enjoy inviting their sister-tribe to their section of the settlement, sharing meals and trading crafts. The occurrence happens so often that it has become a tradition between the two to have a feast on each full moon, referred to as the **Feast of Tides**.

## History

During the nights, the Obeah light a blue flamed bonfire to gather around, sharing stories about their tribe and their legends. Their favorite story to tell amongst themselves, as well as to outsides, is that of their origin. The Obeah believe that their founder, **Rangi Nala**, heeded the call of **Alene** to go to the northern seas. Rangi harvested the power of the ice itself to create the poles by becoming one with it, swimming across the sea, encasing himself in ice during the journey. Once Rangi had arrived and seen the unique animals and sea life that lived in the area, he had decided to settle down and create **Casseah Clila**, alongside his lover, **Sanjaya Heru**.

## Physical Appearance

Obeah skin tones are far and wide, but a majority of the Obeah have darker skin and broader faces. Obeah typically wear colorful robes with heavily embroidered designs, typically following their style of architecture. Moons decorate the sleeves and hanging fabrics, with wave-like runes along the sides of the torso. The runes that they decorate their clothing with is referred to as the **Lonarel** - The Moon’s Grace - which is a symbol that represents the **Celestials** that they favor. They are often found wearing fluffy, fur hats on top of their heads for warmth, as well as thick fur boots to help walk across the snow.

Their clothes always have an icy sheen to it, appearing as if they had just walked through a blizzard no matter where in the world they are. All of the tribespeople are expected to have their bodies completely covered, with it being considered rude to have anything more than the face and hair showing.

Women born with pure white hair are seen in reverence by the tribe as a whole, with many of the Obeah believing that the hair color is a gift from **Alene** herself.

## Culture

The Obeah often live a life of warmth and comfort, making their homes and settlement as warm as possible within the buildings. Despite the warmth the tribe puts within their homes, they do what they can to keep the waters surrounding the village frozen at night. They do this due to the belief that it will keep the winter around, and thus keep their primary food source and lifestyle active.

When an Obeah reaches maturity, they will often partake in a rite-of-passage that involves them carving an intricate heart of ice, placing it within the center of their first ice sculpture that they create. The ice that the Obeah use in their sculptures are often taken from the lands surrounding them, causing the tribe to be much more careful and respectful with the materials that they use. They often recycle materials to avoid wasting what has been given to them.

### Food

The Obeah primarily focus on the land as their source of food. When the Obeah leave their village to do hunting within the arctic, they ride upon the **Ekat** to traverse the snow easier. Each able body of the Obeah hunters cycle out, with each of them working on a different task in their hunting each day. Sometimes the Obeah work alongside the **Ofessah** to transport their supplies and catches across the snows via large sleds. The Obeah typically prefer sticking to the land when they hunt, primarily hunting down bears, mammoths, birds, and foxes.

The Obeah is not a strictly carnivorous society, and can also be found foraging for roots and local vegetations. The Obeah use the vegetation that they gather to brew a warming ale out of what they forage, with the ale being primarily made out of a flower referred to as **Ania's Tear**. The ale is affectionately referred to as **Ralena** by the tribe, which means "Rival of Alene" in the **Oumqian** language.

### Trade

Obeah are masters of **bonecarving**, as well as **ice sculpting**. They often will create never melting ice sculptures to the main city of the Manna, trading them and jewelry made from the remains of animals as a trade offer to the other tribes.

### Worship

The Obeah look towards both **Juena** and **Alene** for guidance in their daily lives. The Obeah believe that the two **Celestials** are directly responsible for bringing the fish to their rivers, allowing for them to properly live and survive in the ecosystem they have chosen. As well as this, they believe that Alene is responsible for keeping the tides calm at night, preventing them from washing ashore and destroying their homes or supplies.

Despite this, worship among the tribe is extremely loose. The Obeah often choose to go about their tasks at their own pace, only confiding in the Celestials in dire times of need.

### Romance

Obeah romance conventions consist of either side of the party taking the time to tediously carve a shard of never melting ice into the shape of a **snow lily**. The Obeah makes the lily special to the person they have of interest, carving in charms and designs to represent their potential lover and what they know of them. Once the carving of the lily is complete, it is presented to their lover as a sign of undying love.

During marriage, the couple is donned in fluffy, pure white furs, with long veils of translucent cloth and silver jewelry decorating their body. More revered couples may decorate themselves with lapis lazuli as well.

### Childcare

Due to the low temperatures of **Northern Aurulora**, the tribes living within it have a hard time reproducing and keeping their children alive. Couples within the tribes are expected to attempt for children, with couples who don’t often being looked down on by their tribemates and sometimes casted out. In an attempt to counter this, the Obeah and **Ofessah** alike have begun to wrap their newborn in thick, warm furs, holding them within maternity buildings that have a consistent fire going to keep the room as warm as possible.

### Death

When death occurs within the Obeah tribe, a funeral is placed. During it, the close family of the deceased will carry the body of their loved one upon a marble cot down to the ocean. Once there, the body will be dipped down into the water, allowing the gentle waves to cover the body and freeze over. Once frozen, the family digs a pit into the ice, and the body is left within it to let nature take over. The Obeah do this due to their belief of coming from the ice.

### Language

The Obeah speak the language of **Oumqian**, shared alongside their sister-tribe of the **Ofessah**. The name "Obeah" means "Of the Ice" in the Eprean language. Many of the Obeah speak Eprean as well as their native tongue.

## Leadership

The current leader of the Obeah tribe is **Motya Kuznetsov**.