Mash Culture

The **Mash Culture** is a collection of lifestyles of the peoples of Mashkatil and Ledentil. It is part of the High Shanian Cultures and are its reference culture.

## Philosophy

### Money

Mashians value stability of income rather than seeking large single payoffs. They like to gamble in small amounts with low risk and bet higher when they are in an advantage, rather than betting on a high risk gamble. They would like to see and increase in their regular pay.

### Perception of Time

Mashian perceive time in terms of cycles of events. They do not like to have deadlines but would rather get something done as soon as they can. They do not like to keep others waiting though. They are polychronic, meaning they like to do many things at one time and they like to spontaneously go from one task to another. They enjoy pauses in conversations to think, often considering a good conversations with someone as having some pauses.

They were once people that were always looking to the past, rediscovering things and romanticizing it, further deepening the Makta Statis. However in the past few centuries they have gone into a more future oriented mindset.

### Death

Mashians view death as a passing into a realm of immortals and their time with those alive now has ended. They do believe that there may be some communication with the dead in this state. They keep the memory of the dead alive by passing on what they have done while they were alive. Mashians become very sad upon seeing the body of a dead loved one because they know that they have left forever and they will never be able to share in memories with them.

Mashians creamte their dead in a low burning wood fire and store the remaining bones in a family tomb.

### Individual

Mashians do not percieve the individual over the community, not even the emperor over the empire. Each person is subject to aiding their neighbors whenever they are in need. Emperors have been known to humble themselves disgouising themselves and helping random people on a random day. People don't aim to stand out too much, they aim to befriend their neighbors and work with them. People that work against this are shunned and don't recieve the best treatment.

### Government

Government is an integral part of the Mash people. They believe that there is little distinction between their government and their religion. The emperor is seen as the lead authority on the subject of their religion, believing him to be the patron deity of their people. The laws of the empire are also the laws of their religion.

## Names

Mashians may have between one to five names. The minimum a Mashian has is a nickname. Prestigious Mashians have a nickname, maturity name, birth name, feminine name, and masculine name.

Most Mashians pass down either a feminine or masculine name to their children. If they were the father their masculine name becomes the masculine name of their children and if mother then feminine.

## Daily Life

###  Fashion

* Fems wear stretchy fabrics. They often wear shirts and pants.
	+ Wealthy fem wear see-through lace clothing, both shirts and pants.
	+ Most fems wear opaque clothing with pattern sewing with bright colors.
* Mascs wear loose fabrics that do not stretch.
	+ Wealthy mascs wear armor daily, often just a chestplate with etchings. Pants and shirts under the armor.
	+ Most mascs wear loose shirts and loose pants that are dark colors.

### Cuisine

* Most meals are soups and stews.
* Fish is a common protein. Glow wheat is a staple for energy. Root vegetables are also common.
* Food is prepared to be eaten with a spoon.
* Food is desired to be juicy and salty, savory, and sweet. Candy is often bitter-sweet.
* Roastwheat tea is a very commonly drink. Often consumed all day long.
* Sugar is a common food additive.

### Sleep

* Sleep on floor beds made of feathers or cotton (futon). Often put in direct sun every so often to rid of insects.
* Have multiple bamboo-fabric blankets for summer and a stuffed blanket for winter.
* Often stay up a few hours after sunset and wake an hour before sunrise to start a fire.

### Entertainment

* Physical sports
	+ Spar with wooden weapons for points.
* Games
	+ Deck construction games.
	+ A dice game where the player with the least likely combination wins.

* Music
	+ Electric musical instruments.

## Festivals

* *Blossom Festival* (Priestmonth 1-8): Begins on the Spring Equinox. It is often when the first blossoms occur for the year. There is a dance every day of the festival. Parties are held to help young people make relationships with each other. People often wear plant material and start wearing brighter clothing. People may expose their chests in public from this time to until the Harvest Festival.
* *Sports Day* (Priestmonth 9): First day of sports competitions to be allowed.
* *Hatching Festival* (Servantmonth 16): A collective birthday party where presents are exchanged with no favors asked. Parents sometimes aim to have their eggs hatch on this day.
* *Festival of Light* (Farmermonth 20): A festival for when the Glow Wheat begins to have blue bioluminescence. Games are played in the fields and parades are had in the towns. Lights are strung up and bonfires are made. People tell stories and ponder around the bonfires. It is during this time when rites of passage into adulthood are had.
* *Harvest Festival* (Warriormonth 16-24): A festival for when most of the crops have been harvested and most soldiers are back from campaigns. A week of feasts are had using as many of the ingredients harvested as possible, especially foods that will not last the winter. The remaining food is eaten in winter. People should cover their chests by this time.
* *Leaf Festival* (Bardmonth 8): This festival occurs during the normal period that leaves begin to fall off the trees. A large dance is held between already established relationships, especially old relationships, called the "Strong Dance". There is also a multitude of other parties for singles called "Shadow Parties".
	+ Shadow parties are held in the woods or in dimly lit places. Singles wear blindfolds while volunteer couples, called "Matchmakers" direct the blindfolded people. Matchmakers put put random blindfolded people together, who then dance and chat with the paired person until they signal they would like a different person. The matchmakers then sets them aside and pairs them with another random person when their is one available. At the end of the night blindfolds are taken off and their identities revealed to the other person.
* *Cleaning Festival* (Rangermonth 8-16): A festival with the last day as the winter solstice. During this time people wear masks the whole week and "drive bad spirits away". People clean little seen and dark places and sort things and throw out or donate things not used that year. People also trick, play pranks, or frighten others, especially people who have wronged you during the year while hiding your identity. It is unacceptable to hurt anyone during the time, and a truce is be held even in wartime. On the last day legends are told during plays and cleaning should be done by this time.
* *Knightday* (Wandermonth 23): The last day of the year. This day is removed every 117 years.
* *Empireday* (Wandermonth 24): Leap day added every 8 years. The empire goes incognito in public and does random acts of kindness to random people. Some common people also do the same thing.
* Moon Eclipses (periodic): Days when Terrak passes in front of Lanark.

## Marriage and Family

Mashians have different marriage practices according to their religion. Imperial Aktarash Religions have had their marriage laws change throughout their existence.

Maktash Religion allows for marriage before puberty and with close relatives, including siblings and parents. Gaterash Religion bans marriage before puberty and with relatives within 7 degrees of relation, though family members may have non-fertile relations with each other even outside of a marriage. A child born between close relatives is usually adopted by another family.