Jarissian Culture

## Jarrisian Culture

Jarissian culture refers to the isolated semi-tribal culture of the island-dwelling humans bordering the Jarrisa Sea, as well as colonies on the coast of Morata. The ancestors of Jarrisians once lived in hunter-gatherers in the jungles of Iridia before the island fell into a long period of volcanic activity paved the way for the explosive spread of the invasive Merrin Weed. Jarrisians culture is the remnants of the fearful survivors who clawed to life for centuries until they could find new and bountiful lands to inhabit.

## Social Structure

Jarrisian social structure is very loose.

### Clans

A group of Jarrisians band together to form clans of between a dozen to several hundred individuals. A clan is used for the mutual protection of its members and not as a way to protect its individual members at the expense of the clan's strength.

A clan is a voluntary union, and anyone who wishes to leave a clan is able to do so, although they will likely forfeit the right to live with the clan or to hunt and fish on the clan's lands. Because a clan is not based on familial relations, it is common for a man to chase his adult (male) children from a clan. The elderly, lame, or inept are frequently exiled by the chief once they no longer contribute more to the clan than they take away.

Loyalty to one's clan is a matter of practicality, and many prefer to behave selfishly and to steal or leech from their clan without their knowledge. To combat this, a clan chief will often have severe punishments for disloyalty. At the same time, it is considered stupid and foolish to not take advantage of a chief's misplaced generosity.

In particularly prosperous clans, such as those residing in established cities in the Caugos Confederacy, these social conventions have been dispatched, and a clan behaves much more like a local citizenship.

### Chief

A chief is an elected leader of the militant male population. The chief is expected to be both an unrivaled dictator within the clan and the sole enforcer of its domestic policies who must be able and willing to fight any other male to decide on policy. If a majority of the men in a clan choose to rebel against the chief, it is customary for the chief to instead step down and allow the next strongest male to take over. In external affairs such as war, hunting, trade, or diplomacy, a chief speaks with the authority of his entire clan and all clan-members are expected to follow his orders without question.

In the event that a chief dies, his eldest direct male heir becomes the next chief. If many men of a clan doubt the chief's authority to enforce the law due to their own weakness, the son is often deposed and a new line of chiefs is formed.

### Women

Women have no rights (with the exceptions of druids) in Jarrisian culture. They are considered property and their kidnapping, abuse, or murder is not seen as any more harmful than to steal an axe or to break a spear. A woman who loses their father/husband with no other heirs to take them is considered property of a clan's chief. Within the more prosperous societies in the Caugos Islands, women are generally afforded legal protection though without any of the rights to vote or own property.

## Self-Sufficiency

Jarissians are descendants from a culture whose very survival was always in question. To many of them, the belief that everyone they know could be dead in an instant drove some peculiar beliefs about self-sufficiency and trade.

### Hunting and Fishing

In ash-covered lands scoured by Merrin Weed, traditional agriculture is impossible. A person needed to be able to provide for themselves by hunting or fishing while their clan moved on to unspoiled land. Anyone who could not was left to starve by their clan when food became scarce. Any Jarrisian looking to keep a woman obediently loyal to him or to raise a family needed to prove his worth.

With the growth of agriculture, the need for this hunting has diminished in daily life. However, even those who were not born in difficult times are expected to practice their skills occasionally, regardless of the need.

### Trade

Trade between clans is viewed as a zero-sum game. If one clan viewed trade as beneficial, it must be because they have tricked their partners into a bad agreement. Clans that partake in trade only do so out of pure necessity when one or both face dire consequences. In order to facilitate inter-clan and intra-clan trade to build more complex societies, gift are employed instead. Two potential trade partners will acknowledge that they would like the good of the other, and one will offer to give theirs as a gift to the other, who returns their good as a gift.

Trade with outsiders is limited, but permissible by a clan if the other clan is seen as being cheated in the deal. This has enabled limited contact with the Cellians, but earned most Jarrisians a poor reputation among merchants. Since piracy is also common, many merchants take great risks just to do business with the Cellians.

### Raiding

The act of taking from another by force is seen as disruptive to the internal peace of a clan or a confederation of clans. However, the right of the strong to take from the weak does permit raiding of non-Jarrisian lands. Organized and coordinated warparties will leave from multiple clans at once to land and quickly massacre ashanzu towns and make off with their goods. Raids on Alfar towns tend to prioritize the capture of men and women as slaves, usually for sale to Cellian merchants who will pay exorbitant prices.

## Religion

In the early days of Jarrisian culture, the worship of demons or other non-divine spirits that could help them survive on Iridia. Now, Jarissian culture is very secular, although reverence of the spirits, and of several gods is commonplace.

### Darnus

As sea-farers and fishers whose homes are often spread across multiple islands, the dangers of angering Darnus are high. Believing that his wrath can sink ships or attract Leviathans, many at least nominally worship Darnus. Jarrisian culture is very close to the teachings of Darnus, and they may not be aware of where certain rituals come from. The "marriage", raiding, oceanic offerings, admiration of the Adamant, and acceptance of demonic magic are examples of this.

### Lesellia

As the mother of all humans, Lesellia holds a unique place in Jarrisian society. Jarrisians are more likely to pray to Lesellia for special occasions, such as for good fortune in battle or for fertility. Festivals such as the Moon Festival are honoured by most Jarrisians.

### Akatu

The presence of death in Jarrisian heritage and the need to hunt and fish has made worship of Akatu important. Though her festivals are not honoured directly, many Jarrisians are familiar with basic prayers to be said before a hunt or over the bodies of their relatives.

## Alignment

Most Jarissians tend towards chaotic neutral alignments. To those outside of their communities, they tend to behave as chaotic evil.