Ashmen: Raiders from the South

[nephero]

THE ASHMEN
The Raiders from the South

The Bare Basics

Humanoid south-pole viking-style-in-profession volcano folk. Borrowing heavy themes from both fantasy dwarves and very early Norse mythology dwarves, and then throwing a wrench into all of it and making them similar to Roman/Italian culture for funsies. Because that's how a Neph do.

FAQ

Q: Holy shit is this official?
A: Lmao absolutely not. Just a fun little "guild" like my Thunderblack orcs, because I wanted to make not-dwarves to do fancy RPin' with. And god forbid I do anything simple, so here they are with a whole culture all their own.

Q: Where, exactly, does this exist?
A: In an unofficial series of small islands far to the south of Le'raana. More details in the homeland section, but the short answer is not within any canonical spheres of influence for the countries. They're effectively just random pirates that show up to be terrible now and again.

Q: How do I make an Ashman?
A: By making a character and telling me about him! If you have any specific questions beyond what I go into in the other segments, let me know and I can go into greater detail as needed.


TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Basics, FAQ and How to Join
II. The Ashmen Islands
III. Biology
IV. Society and Culture
V. Members

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[nephero]

{...HOME...}

   The Ashmen Islands are a series of small, highly volcanic islands far south of Le'raana, closer to the where the waters start to become subarctic. The islands furthest south have colder climates, but aren't frozen solid all year round, with seasonal melts. Ashmen consider the waters surrounding their home to be utterly theirs. To the Ashmen, other lands begin at the shore, and so any ships or ports too close to the water are entirely free game.

   The soil on the islands is rich with nutrients, and the sides of the islands that get rain are lush with vegetation. Mountainous, with several volcanically active areas, along with geysers and hotsprings. More arid and sparsely vegetated are the far southern "rain-shadow" sides of the islands, where centuries-old lava flows are yet still unbroken.

The Islands:

{map to follow!} Effectively city-states rather than being part of a unified kingdom, each island is self-sustaining while providing things that the other islands may need. Anything that can't be found at home, well. Just a matter of going out to go get it.

• Lume: The largest and most developed island, Lume is rich in both agriculture and art, with elegantly carved pillars and fountains a common feature in wealthier homes.
• Sivo: The second island in terms of size, Sivo's main export is their wines, which are in high demand across the Ashmen Islands.
• Nutuvus: The third largest island, this is where soldiers are made. Literally and figuratively, as martial prowess is their main claim to fame along with the highest population of Ironbloods in the islands.
• Ventus: A tiny, though popular island, it boasts several hot springs and geysers.
• Retice: The smallest island and the furthest south, Retice is rocky, harsh, and cold.

Resources:

   Rice, boar, lamb, fish (primary source of protein), olives and olive oil, herbs, wine, coffee, precious metals, gemstones, ore, lumber.

   Coffee is primarily found in the lower altitudes of the mountains. Coffee produced by the Ashmen tends to have an acidic, citrusy taste, and is the go-to drink of choice during cold weather.

   Wine and grapes are not overly common, only showing up in the northern islands, but where they do grow, they grow in abundance. Dry and dark and amazingly potent, it does not take much to get well and truly sauced.

Craftsmanship:

   Metalworking, weapons and armorsmithing, shipmaking, embroidery.

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[nephero]

{...BIOLOGY...}

   Their tallest is 5'4". Heights may be shorter, but are never taller, as that would take more resources than might be possible to properly work without complications. What they lack for in height, they more than make up in strength, with strong muscle that builds easily no matter their workload.

   All Ashmen are male and reproduce asexually by forging their children out of the ash of their home volcano, and their own blood. This takes some time to collect (depending on how many are contributing to the forging). This is largely because you want quality ash, and you have to harvest enough blood to fuel an infant during the forging process, which would take days. Doing this all at once is highly ill-advised, so the bloodletting is typically collected over time. Having a child is seen as a great undertaking, a show of skill and crafstmanship, as well as a trial in just how much a father should be willing to sacrifice for their son.

   Ashmen's skin is an ashen white, never getting darker than a light grey. Intermittently, their otherwise porcelain skin is broken here and there by trickles of metallic lines, primarily across their chests, backs and shoulders. These lines are one of several colors, all metallic in hue, and each one matching the blood-type and thus, caste, of their bearer. Tattooing, if done at all, is done in a form of scarification, where a wound is made to heal a certain way to "trap" the blood hue in the flesh, making for paler, colored designs.

   Ashmen's hair is a deep, obsidian black, except for rare occasions where a son is born with red hair. Red hair is a marker of great nobility and beauty, and any depictions of deities feature every one of them with fiery red hair. The rarity of red hair is not guaranteed by genetics, as five redheaded Ashmen could come together and combine their blood into a son who ends up being forged with black hair. As such, red hair is often taken as a direct blessing from the gods, attributing some great destiny to the child. Beards are overwhelmingly common and kept very well groomed, often decorated with metal clasps.

   Long-lived but not immortal, the Ashmen tend to linger for a century or two before slowly petrifying. Age results in slower movements and brittle joints.

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{...SOCIETY AND CULTURE…}

full view chart here!

Patriarchy:

   The Ashmen are a very patriarchal society, because... well. They're literally all men. Lineage is important, and the bond between father and son is typically a deep one, and it's not uncommon for Ashmen to introduce themselves by their father's name first (Ex. "I am the son of {father's name}, {own given name}"). It's considered extremely odd for someone not to mention his father, and usually involves some amount of shame for either individual.

Names:

   Naming conventions are relatively simple, if extraordinarily long. Complete with any titles the Ashman may possess, his full name can be several words long. The format is as follows:

   A first name, which is the Ashman’s given name as handed down by his father(s). For example, Celestino named his son Leandro.

   Following that is his “caste name”, which are words for their blood color. For instance, Leandro is Ironblooded, which means his second name is to do with iron: Leandro Ferrus.

   Thirdly is an Ashman’s paternal name, his father’s first name. Since Leandro’s father is named Celestino, Leandro’s full name is: Leandro Ferrus Celestino.

   Fourthly, an Ashman may be called by his home island, if there might be confusion between several Ashmen who share a similar name. So, since Leandro was born on the island of Nutuvus, his full name plus origin is: Leandro Ferrus Celestino da Nutuvus.

   (Any titles outside of his birth and father, however, will go in the front of his name as we might expect. Mr., Lord, King, Lieutenant, and so on.)

Caste system and rule of law

   A very might-makes-right culture, the Ashmen believe that victory is a direct sign of divine blessing. There’s no reopening grievances once contested and formalized. For instance, if two Ashmen are in disagreement over who has mining rights in an area, they might settle it with a fistfight. Whoever wins is in the right, and the loser is honorbound to never contest the results of the contest. After all, if the gods really wanted the loser to win, he would have won. They also take this attitude with the mainland. If you were meant to keep your treasures, you would have been able to defend them.

   As such, they have a rigid caste system based on blood color that is very rarely interrupted.

The Blood:

   What really sets the Ashmen apart is their blood. Unlike humans, their blood comes in a variety of colors, all of them metallic in shade so it seems very much like molten metal. Blood color determines caste, and thus social roles within the Ashmen islands. While some castes are “better” than others, all are considered to be crucial to Ashmen society. After all, a house is nothing without a foundation.

• Copper: The ruling, leadership caste. Their blood is a rich, bright orange, like liquid copper. Copper caste members also sport fiery, vibrant orange eyes, like the deepest heart of the volcanoes that birthed them.


• Bronze: A darker, “burnt” variant of copper, the Bronze caste are basically lower nobility. Typically granted areas of land to govern underneath the jurisdiction of their patron Copper. Their eyes are a rich, warm brown.


• Gold: Third in social rank, these are the scholars, businessmen and contractors, lawyers and historians. Ashmen within this caste have bright, warm, golden blood and golden-yellow eyes.


• Brass: A much paler, cooler version of gold, with eyes that are more close to wheat in hue, the Brass caste shows the beginning of the difference between the “warm” castes and the “cool” castes. These are your standard freemen, your farmers, landowners, craftsmen and ranchers.


• Silver: The seafaring caste, those who spend most of their days on longboats, either to acquire fish or to voyage far north and raid the mainlands. Their blood is bright silver, and their eyes are a matching, haunting pale grey.


• Iron: The soldier caste. Strong, proud warriors, with dark, blue-toned silvery blood and matching stormy-grey eyes.


• Bismuth: The liminal caste, both crucially important to Ashmen society while being outside of it. These are the witches, the spirit-workers and clairvoyants, those who take a step outside of natural order and life to see where any cracks in the foundation might be forming. Those who aren’t magically inclined often work as skilled herbalists and healers. Their blood is a vividly iridescent silver, and their eye color similarly changes depending on lighting and angle.

Dress:

   All Ashmen wear a relatively similar style of clothing, depending on whether they’re soldier or citizen. Soldiers have layered armor over dark black cloth shirts and pants, with accents in their caste color only.
   
   Citizens favor flowing, long-sleeved shirts with loose pants tucked into leather boots, with a vest overtop. Colors vary, depending on profession and preference, though tend to be darker muted tones with metallic embroidered accents in caste colors. If an Ashman is married to someone above his caste, he’s permitted small amounts of his husband’s caste color, though his own will always dominate. This is seen as a pretty big deal, because it denotes a certain amount of rank within one’s own caste.

   Jewelry is common, with clasps for beards and rings and necklaces being easy to acquire by even the poorest Ashman. Gems are reserved for the upper castes, Goldbloods and up, with garnets being exclusively the right of Copperbloods. The only way for someone of a lower caste to be allowed to wear them is if, like above, he is married to someone of a suitable rank.

   Pearls, however, are exclusive only to Bismuth. It is seen as wildly inappropriate for anyone but them to wear or even possess pearls, and if there isn't a Bismuth on board a ship as they're going through stolen cargo, pearls will often be thrown overboard to return to the sea.

Ethnic Diversity:

   The Ashmen are not overly familiar with mainlanders, knowing very little about their cultures beyond the value of their goods, which they (sometimes) trade for and (more often) pillage. As such, they tend to regard anyone not of their islands within the lens of their own culture, and become terribly confused by concepts many Le’raanians would consider perfectly normal. Not that they mind this ignorance, because who would want to know about those weirdos?

   In truth, they view anyone not of the Ashmen Islands (which few exceptions) as being little more than uncultured barbarians. Even the most technologically or magically advanced cultures fall short in Ashmen eyes, because if they had any real sense, they'd be as close to what the Ashmen themselves have created for themselves. In short, these guys are jingoist as hell.

   The one exception to this rule is the Kulshedra. (heyyydracowinkwink) A tribe came to their islands ages ago, and they have been an equal society ever since, considering shared reverence for fire between the Kulshedra and the Ashmen. They trust the Kulshedra over any other mainlander people, and will often cut far better deals for their “gemstone cousins”.

Life and Death:

   Forged in fire and solidified in water, both play an integral part in the life cycle for the Ashmen. They consider their forges maternal, insofar as they have a concept of maternity, and so heavily associated with birth and home. The surrounding ocean, by that same token, is what cools and helps shape each Ashman, and when the time comes, will break down the stone of their being through erosion, bringing them back to the world.

   As Ashmen age, they start slowly petrifying, with the oldest turning to marble-white statues at the moment of their last breath. These statues are taken out to sea and lowered into the ocean to weather away the ages as they well, their spirits slowly returning to the earth. A violent death results in the Ashman immediately turning to stone and shattering on the battlefield. This is considered the better of the two deaths, as the more pieces a person is in the more quickly their spirit can return to the earth and be reforged in a newborn son.

Religion:

   Elemental-heavy, with spirits of the dead reincarnating over and over. More details to follow.

Major sources of income:

   Quarter self-sustaining, quarter trade, half piracy

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[nephero]

{...MEMBERS...}

Captain Leandro Ferrus Celestino da Nutuvus {Nephero}

Alvius Ferrus Graminis da Nutuvus {Quaggan}

Varius Arcobaleno Natanaele da Ventus {Nephero}

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