Brézouém

Brézouém is a small nation located in the North-East of the continent, still not very advanced technologically.

## Basic information:

Name: Brézouém

User: brickpen

Location: North-East coast

Technological level: None

Language: Breidkin

## **Culture**

### Religion

*Kantéz is a polytheistic religion based around emotion. Each major god usually represents a sentiment, with Content, Sadness, Anger, Joy and Foreboding (really a word to describe a certain state of emotion where you think about the future, including both hope and anxiety).*

*In terms of principles, Kantez strongly emphasises the importance of balance, honesty and the importance of the individual. The sacredness of life comes from the choice that it offers each individual, before they are inevitably pulled back into the grander scope of the spirit world. As such teamwork isn’t really a major focus of the religion, though the values loyalty and responsibility do help to balance this.Kantéz is loosely organised with holy men that take apprentices and meet once a month, but as it is divided into several factions the religion does not hold enough power to fully contend with the power structure of the country. However, in certain smaller areas or cities it does hold a lot of sway, and the main faction of Raarouén holds some economic power.*

Creation myth

In the beginning there was only one. A being so immense that they were the whole world. Years passed, and finally the being decided to create the world, simply by splitting himself. An act of destruction became an act of creation. His flesh became the earth, his hair the trees and vegetation. His eyes have become the sun and moon, and still look down on the world to this day.  His mind also split, and became the spirits that hold the world together, Content, Sadness, Joy, Anger and Foreboding. They are the forces that breathe life into the world, figures of incredible power that laid down rules and punishments. The easiest way to sense the presence of all these spirit-gods is to go to the sea, which at one moment is full of anger, then is calm and content.

### Art

Brézouém’s most popular artform is oral poetry built on rhyming patterns. A common little game is to choose something that you can see, then make a small poem about it. Others have to guess what you are referring to. Most of the widespread written records in the country are records of long famous poems.

Other forms of art mostly involve small theatre groups and long odes, generally incorporating music from small string instruments. These tend to tell long stories of folklore or parables, and are often used to tell religious stories and parables. The production of the wood used for the small string instrument named kagh is one of the rising industries in the eastern regions of the country. Art is treated with respect, and as such artisans and poets may be some of the most distinguished people of a small town or village. In larger settlements, they are of a lesser importance, though still treated with respect.

### Morals and Traditions

The Bré people mostly have biases against the southern people across the mountains, being less inclined to trade and deal with them. They are jealous of their technological superiority and strengths, and very suspicious of them. More generally, foreigners who do not come from trusted nations will receive a lot of discrimination. Not anything very major, but enough to make them feel unwelcome. The Bré people also have biases and stereotypes within their own culture, especially as mentioned before  against those who are disabled. They are seen as people who cannot act entirely for themselves and are mistreated. Additionally, the Brézouem society has a tendency to favor women, and there are certain stereotypes about men that are disfavorable.