Society, Mores, and Behaviour

Two Very Useful Concepts

• DhermJa:  "Duty", that which attaches to one as part of one's position.
• KhermJa:  "Debt" or "Indebtedness", that which you owe (simply by existing in some sense). For example, if you grew up on a fief, your upkeep and basic schooling must be paid back by your service to the Fief-holder until age 16 or so, and even then you traditionally should give notice at age 15 if you are planning on leaving the fief. The more you get, the more you are expected to return. Oaths regulate these relationships, although they can be quite complex: for instance, you may owe one oath to directly to the person of a Liege, and a separate oath to a particular piece of land, another to an organization, and yet another to a deity. It also has a spiritual dimension, reflecting your actions (and their consequences) throughout your life.

Act Your Age

Unlike the current day, this is a society with little segregation of ages, but there is consequently an enforcement of taboos vs. sex widely outside ones "age-band". There is also nothing like the current day's "youth culture". While children are cherished, they don't have much autonomy, wealth, power, or prestige. Typically, age-bands are seen thus:

• Infancy:  from your birth to age 6 (note -- you only have a "milk name").

• Childhood:  from 1st Naming Day (on the sixth anniversary of the individual's birth) to Demi-adulthood.

• Demi-adultood:  age 16-21: at this point, the society gives you the ability to make a lot of choices over your own life. However, you are prohibited (or at least strongly discouraged) from doing anything that must carry over to your life as a Full Adult. That usually means not getting yourself (or someone else) pregnant. In addition, any indenture (or for that matter enlistment in the military), or handfasting automatically passes at age 21 -- and must be expressly confirmed the next day.

• Full Adulthood:  age 22 - 24. You are now allowed to screw up your own life to your heart's content. At this age, Kafyah are physically mature.

• Age of Reason:  age 25+. You are now seen as mature enough to screw up other people's lives, too. Incidentally, TyrNai are physically mature at this age.

 

Taboos & Prejudices

The biggies: incest, cannibalism (defined as eating Humaniti). Taboos against such things are much stronger than in the present day: if someone were to make a joke on these subjects in the Kingdom, it wouldn't provoke nervous laughter- it would provoke violence. Other unsavory activities are highly scrutinized and regarded with some official suspicion as well: necromancy and demonology (trafficking with demons). These activities are analogous w/ owing fully automatic firearms or "sawed-off" shotguns in the present day- it can be done legally, but it takes a real effort, and you are liable to end up on the government's list of usual suspects if something interesting happens in your neighborhood.

Blood is Special

Blood is not itself taboo, but is so magically significant that when you deal with it, you become contaminated, and may need a ritual cleansing before doing some religious/ ceremonial magics. Also, some cults are less blood-shy than others, or may just make contamination an issue for the Priests and Initiates.

Gender

For the most part, there is a high degree of equality between the genders. This is not to say that women aren't more likely to be the nurturers and men more likely to be the protectors. What you will find is a great deal of acceptance of people of either gender in most roles. Women can certainly own property, rule a fief or demesne, manage a business, fight wars, etc. In fact, most TyrNai women are trained in fighting (at least for self protection) as a matter of course.