Worldbuilding

Sexuality and Law

CW: Mentions of rape, incest, beastiality, sexual slavery. Elaborated on are medicalized aphobia and purity culture.

This intro is a brief overview of Nayiri sexuality through the lens of formal and customary law.

A few definitions, first.

Nayiri laws are strict around sex. The core of the most recent lawcode is 400 years old, created shortly after independence. All amendments and additions made since then are intra-referential, rather than a totally accurate depiction of modern Nayiri sexual attitudes, which are informed by customary law and interactions with surrounding nations and peoples. In all above cases, sexuality is a matter of acts, rather than static internal identity, so it is these acts that are regulated.

The chief purpose of sex is procreation, necessary to the perpetuation of the nation. A partner being found infertile or unable to have sex is fine grounds for an otherwise-rare divorce. A child born of premarital sex will either be given up and lose their connection to their previous family’s land, or kept and given all the same privileges as a child born within a marriage. The economic unit of the family remains stable by allowing children born of any partner to integrate, rather than just “legitimate” children. This reduces the chance for resentment over “stolen” inheritances, a plague on a country placed in the hands of five royal families. Any potential upset in the balance of power is considered.

This is also true in sexual situations in general, even when having children is not a possibility. A great amount of attention is given to the power dynamics between partners. The strongest laws regulating sexual activity in Nayir forbid sex between humans and animals, adults and children, overseers and tributaries, commanders and soldiers. There are laws elaborating on every possible situation. All of the above are considered rape, though the degrees of seriousness they’re treated with varies. The blame for the crime is placed squarely on the criminal, for their incontinence in lust. However, both parties have their behavior regulated, especially in cases of serious violations.

One group of laws that apply to both parties are purity laws. These laws forbid sex where it would normally be permitted. If one partner is sick, menstruating, or pregnant, quarantine periods and rituals are required before re-entering public life. On a physical level, sex strains the indisposed partner. Bodily fluids, however, are the main concern. Menstruation requires a stay in a separate house or camp, with separate utensils and no contact with those outside. In keeping with power-based laws, it is understood that a partner with any of the above conditions is temporarily powerless, though purity is the primary reasoning.

Sometimes called laws from the ancestors and informally called customs, customary laws are a set of norms that distinguish the Nayiri nation from other groups. Currently, the Nayiri lawcode and customary law align, but that is not always the case. Even when the nation is in diaspora, occupied by a foreign power, or under a foreign power’s laws, Nayiri people can perform and preserve their identity through these prescriptions. Their secondary function is furnishing, reinforcing, or filling in gaps in the formal lawcode. They differ from province to province. The Order and the Hollow Temple have bearing—to the point where customs is used as a synonym for religious laws--though the concept itself is older.

In customary law—particularly law informed by the Order--sexuality is a gift from the gods, though not all forms of intimacy serve the same purposes. Serious-love is necessary in a nation with an abnormally low birthrate, whereas play-love is one of many sensory delights the world has to offer, designed to be taken advantage of. One common complaint to doctor-priests is that of impotence in either of these areas. These priests treat people lacking sexual desire, libido, fertility, or potency with folk-remedies. Upon the failure of these remedies, customs step in, recommending that the afflicted person join an occupation that better suits their condition, such as the priesthood or military. An otherwise-rare divorce may be in order. The instability of a divorce is superceded by the instability created by sexual incompatibility, an instability that if uncorrected would lead to a life of disobedience.

Under customs, certain sex acts lead to certain outcomes. Egregious power imbalances render both parties impure and the aggressing party cursed or beset by demons, regardless of their status in the lawcode. A curse could go from bad luck all the way to impotence. Demons take many forms, but common are white snakes. These snakes chew their way up the body, consuming and strangling until the host dies. If they don't die, they are often banished or forced out by people's courts. The reasoning behind such a severe punishment varies, though most agree it’s to prevent sexual slavery and anything resembling it. More optimistically, anal sex with one’s equal is encouraged in soldiers. It predicts not only good luck, but good fighting ability. Every act has metaphysical consequences, every power imbalance must be countered and punishment metered out in order to keep stability and normalcy.

Formal purity laws that depend on physical evidence are adapted to the mentioned metaphysical situations where, technically, no laws apply. These laws differ heavily by region. Though the Hollow Temple’s purity laws are less strenuous than the Order on the whole, they are more strenuous when it comes to purity laws involving sexuality. In the case of pollution—where semen touches or goes inside the body—all parties must stay out of holy places for a week and enter a ritual bath once that week ends. By contrast, the Order asks only for a ritual bath. Further, customary law adapts to environment. When ritual baths are not available, the priest may use olive oil or glycerin and a scraper. Bowls and plates may be replaced with copper or iron, though copper is standard. Priests are not always fighters, so enforcement depends on people’s courts or the honor system. Though the pressure of these laws is social, intangible, many find it just as intense if not more than formal law.


Death Masks

One unifier between the Order of the Sun's Children and Hollow Temple is the use of death masks. This is because they share beliefs about the nature of the human spirit and the vulnerability in passing from this world to the next. Practically, this gives time for mourners to prepare the funeral while hiding the body's decay. It is also believed to help prevent diseases from escaping the corpse. Spiritually, the mask keeps the soul of the person in the body and prevents possession by outside forces in the interim between death and the final resting place.

It shouldn't be surprising that the masks are a form of disease control, which is why copper is used instead of any other material. Nayiri funerals mean close quarters and contact with the body. A parent may throw themself on the body of their child and have to be pulled off. A lover will cut their braids and place them in their beloved's hands. This practice is phased out, but at one point, servants were expected to commit suicide over their master's body. All mourners present can reproach the deceased for dying, as death dissolves the ties that person had with others and weakens the community. Seeing the dead's face in decay can also test the community's spirit, which is why the mask is removed after lamentations.

After dying, the spirit is confused, open to possession, and unsure of where to go. Moreso if the death was violent. A soul escaping the body before the proper time is a disaster. Even if the soul isn't malevolent, they will wander forever and cause problems for the living. A body becoming possessed is even worse, as it displaces the host soul and reanimates the body, becoming a vector for evil and uncleanliness. Death masks cover the mouth--the primary entry and exit point for souls, spirits and otherwise--while leaving the eyes open, so the host soul is aware.

One of the most sensational aspects of the masks are their appearances. None of them are blank. Some are frightful, especially the spirit-gods of the Hollow Church. A mask of Pilal may have branches or horns sprouting from every part of the face, for example. This is not only an additional ward against spirits--a veil or blank mask would invite them to investigate--but it gives the wearer strength. Typically, the deity chosen will be the household or personal god of the dead. Certain parts may be adjusted in the more human-looking masks. A person who was discerning in life will be given rounder eyes, a stern person a frowning mouth, but it's important the mask remains recognizable as that deity.

After the mask is removed, the host soul is encouraged by all present to move on in peace, or "with a smile." After the funeral, the copper is melted down and used only for other funeral masks, as all things that touch corpses are ritually unclean.

The death mask features heavily in Nayiri poetry, especially as twin to the wedding veil. Though both cover the face, the veil is more intimate. By hiding everything, it pulls the lover in. The mask the opposite. The faces of gods and spirits are complete and prevent the curious from looking behind it. Therefore, the mask becomes both protection and a boundary between the dead and those they loved.


The Hollow Temple

The Hollow Temple is so named because it is mainly practiced in the hollows of Dzoram, though the name has fitting echoes throughout the mythology.

For followers of the Hollow Temple, the earth is the whole of the world. The revolving heavens are of little consequence. This world is the same world anyone has ever known, and everything of meaning is contained within or beneath it.

The largest departure between the majority faith (The Order of the Sun's Children, or just the Order) and Hollow Temple is the lack of reincarnation and Counterworlds. After dying, humans shuffle to the west, toward the Abyss. This happens regardless of social status or deeds in life. It is a world of cold and grey. Beneath the plains of the Abyss churns black water, and it is the slow movement of this water that determines the geology of both the Abyss and the upper world. This is why spirits in the Abyss are searching for their loved ones, and why they require sacrifice throughout the year. While there are public temples, much worship is done at home, and it is the worship of one's ancestors. The offerings of honey, wine, milk, and bread make their tenure bearable. There is little sense of the epic cycles that dictate the Order's mythology.

However, the two have many gods and spirits in common. These gods are earthier than their Order counterparts, though. An example would be the Open-Mouthed Lady, who rules over wine and vinegar rather than beer, and rules over the Abyss with her dragon partners. These gods are embodied in natural features and local shrines and can be carried from one place to another. Since these features are different from place to place, it means that the gods become less universal and more particular, closer to spirits. This fact has been used to cast the Temple as primitive or outdated in comparison to the sweeping sky-gods of the Order.

There are a few deities that are either unique to the Temple or drastically changed in their Order incarnations. This includes Pilal, an oak tree that gives knowledge and holds up the sky. The weather depends on his moods. It is said that the future can be divined through the rustling leaves of oaks, for those who cannot go to Pilal himself. His roots reach down to the Abyss and into the black water below., grounding his position and connecting the layers of the world. There is Sister Fire or Adrouni, who has enjoyed a higher proportion of worship and complete overhaul of mythology since the Order took over. Before then, Adrouni was known for warming houses and making them merry, as well as scaring off demons with her glare. There is her counterpart, Brother Spring or Ceragh. He (though his gender is not always clear) works together with Sister Fire to heal and also provides knowledge in return for a sacrifice. The arrival of the Order has diminished his position to that of a river creature. The familial names provide context for the eternal feud between fire and water--only siblings can fight so fiercely--and connects them to the humans that live among them.

Then there are the dragons. They're called Skyshapers, Mazemakers or Keepers of the Mountainous Temple in Dzoram, as to say their name directly would invite trouble. They rule in the Abyss and serve a king. Though some are helpful, they are on the whole malicious, with the ability to cause natural disasters, possess humans, or replace the children of humans with their own brood. The animosity toward dragons is understandable, considering that Dzoram is where they appear most, causing tornadoes and earthquakes by raging beneath the earth or exploding upward through it. In the Order, they have a loftier reputation as holders of knowledge predecessors of humankind.

The Hollow Temple is older than the Order, with many temples of it having fallen into ruin or converted to temples of the Order. However, worship continues within houses, with dedicated rooms set up to worship ancestors and personal gods, offshoots of their larger Brother and Sister archetypes. No doubt part of its survival is due to absorbing the gods of the Order and taking on the rituals, while being careful not to let the old ones die. It is the starkest difference between the peoples of Dzoram and the rest of Nayir and a large part of the reason why the province is viewed with suspicion and cloaked in myth.


Why Hyenas?

The Nayiri flag shows two hyenas, sometimes three, dancing beneath an eclipse atop a broken sword. The other elements will be covered another time, but the hyenas will be the focus today.

The love affair between humans and hyenas began with domestication. Hyenas ate scraps alongside dogs, though they were able to digest bones and were immune to diseases common in corpses and carcasses. This usefulness was recognized early on, and hyenas worked their way into funerary practice and waste disposal. That was the extent of their use during Shirayan rule, as dogs and lions were more favored.

Post-Shirayan rule, their position has expanded. Overhunting of lions left an ecological niche open, which allowed hyenas to flourish. Though they were seen as a pest by some (as were lions), their position as principal predators of the region elevated their importance. They began being used as guard and war animals, or even pets for eccentrics. The ban on lion hunting in most provinces extended to hyenas as well.

Much like their physical presence, the symbolic presence of hyenas runs in contrast to that of the lion. The lion is courage and power, laziness and tyranny. Lions are undoubtedly stronger than hyenas one-to-one. Their large size and manes naturally align them with sun imagery. The lion is the symbol of Shirayan now, but it has been used by rulers throughout history in the region.

Hyenas are weakness and timidity, but they're also resourcefulness, intelligence, and opportunity. They feed on carcasses left behind by other predators, and sometimes employ trickery to get those carcasses. Their stomach acid is strong, and they can survive diseases like rabies and anthrax and prevent them from spreading throughout the ecosystem. Their bites are strong enough to break bone and suck out the fatty marrow inside. They are more associated with the night, though their laughter or myriad other vocalizations can be heard at any time. They have elaborate social dynamics. One's power within a clan depends on both their birth mother and network of allies, rather than individual strength or ability. Kin relations protect clan members from alien threats. In a group, hyenas can kill large prey or other predators.

It's easy to see why Nayir identified with the animal. It features prominently in metaphor and proverb. To be "born with teeth," as hyenas are, is to be a fighter, ready in the things of life. "Can a hyena change her coat?" refers to the qualities one is born with. "That which isn't consumed is the lion's portion," refers to the tendency of lions to wrangle kills from hyenas. In other words, the tendency of the strong to steal from the weak--a familiar narrative in Nayiri history. To "laugh like a hyena," is to laugh in an insincere or gloating way. The migration of male hyenas and submission to females in their new clans is used as a metaphor for antherai-ninvaran relations, the core unit of the family. The assumed inferiority of the hyena is connected with the assumed inferiority of the Nayiri among their neighbors. This inferiority has been internalized by many Nayiri people, but it beats a twin drum with pride.


Schooling

Mass education is the norm and allows children to learn while their parents give tribute, work their crafts, or simply relax. This is why, though it is voluntary, almost everyone sends their children to public school. Primary education starts at six and ends at 14, then specializes by field until full adulthood at 20. After 20 are what we might call universities, though they lack the official regulations and system of degrees and licenses seen elsewhere. In all cases, the curriculum is up to the teacher or professor and the temple they're attached to, with few guidelines to standardize teaching across the nation.

However, there are subjects taught in most primary schools. These include religious and magical studies, reading, writing, and grammar. These subjects are all bound together. Scripture provides an origin for magic and direction on how to use it according to the penitential code, though more concrete knowledge comes in higher education. Reading means they can take in scripture, and writing proves they can understand it. Many primary schools began as temples in the first place, and some remain attached, sharing the building space. Also common are arithmetic and physical education, with the former geared towards record-keeping and calculating dates and times of year. The latter trains the body and, therefore, the mind, and helps foster social bonds and etiquette through games.

Secondary education has even fewer common threads. An example would be a medicinal school attached to a hospital. Students learn the theory underlying all the types of medicine, like anatomy of the body or proper sanitation. Then, upon proving themselves in theory, transition to practice. Here students can get an impression of what tasks they prefer, and what field of study they'd like to pursue. This is also where apprentice-student relationships form, as the class sizes are smaller than in primary school. Students emerge from secondary education with basic knowledge of their trade, which they can either refine in university or in practice.

Tertiary schools are both for refinement of knowledge and social bonds. The emphasis is still on the individual masters and apprentices making up the school, rather than the institution itself. It is always subject to local government intervention. Some even go so far as to say that tertiary schools are nothing but an extension of the government (and temple's) power, and actual advancement is made in the field. However, tertiary schools are still centers of knowledge and documentation, due to their position in major cities and their historical sponsorship by the Shirayan Empire. Subjects like law, theology, and history are popular there, though many go to tertiary schools for the opportunity to meet new people.

Alternatives include military school, apprenticeship, tutoring, or homeschooling. These were more popular during Shirayan rule and even before, when the state was more fractured and money still held sway. Tutoring and homeschooling have been and are more common in royal families. Military schools are still in use, though most attendees are full adults of tertiary age, rather than children or teenagers. Apprenticeship is falling out of fashion everywhere except for exclave communities, as secondary school both performs the same purpose and is approved by the state.


Beer, Wine and Other Giggle Juices

The regular ration of beer is sour and can be drunk during the day. It can be sweetened with honey or date syrup, or spiced with cloves and coriander, though the sourness is pleasant with the leavened bread provided in the ration as well. The beer ration is called "day beer" or "small beer," comes in large jugs and is drunk with long reed straws by a group. Since it's low in alcohol, it serves as a pick-me-up during the midday work break.

Stronger beers are referred to as 'good beers' or 'evening beers' and are more popular in Sorikar and Kharrān. They're sweeter, more bitter, or both, with malted barley syrup or hops added, the former thickening the texture if added post-fermentation. These are also drunk in groups in caravanserais and around campfires. They can be drunk alone or in pairs, but it's considered odd in the former case. The ration is delivered in jugs, so it can be poured into cups or drunk from the jug through multiple long straws.

Dzoram, Marakh, and Sir-e-Armân prefer wine, though beer production does occur. Grapes grow easily in the cooler climate in Dzoram and Marakh, and Sir-e-Armân imports it. Wine is for the evening. It's the drink of philosophers and princes. The Tazian family earned their role as Flames by being loyal cupbearers, filling cups while Shirayan royalty reclined in bathhouses and discussed policy.

There are other drinks, of course. Brandy is most common, distilled from grape, apricot, mulberry, pomegranate, rosehip, fig, and date wines. Whiskey is comparitively uncommon. The sprawling herbal gardens of Dzoram give juniper and anise to flavor gin and absinthe. Various varieties of buttermilk are cultivated in Sorikar, with their alcohol content dependent on the milk used (goat or horse) and the preparation method. Distilled spirits are consumed in the evening due to their strength or even used medicinally, whereas buttermilk is consumed throughout the day, often with a dollop of frothy butter on top.

Drinking establishments vary wildly. The most common are teahouses, which also serve syrupy coffee and non-alcoholic buttermilk with cucumbers diced in. Teahouses are also forums for political discussion and board games, with chess and backgammon being popular. Caravanserais and inns are open day or night and serve evening beers, though they're more focused on lodging and accomodation for pack animals. Wine cellars are more similar to teahouses in being places for political discussion. Taverns are more specialized, as they don't provide lodging, but they do provide entertainment in the form of music or dancers and whatever strong beverage is preferred in the region. Bathhouse wine parties do still happen, though they're seen as a bit decadent and are restricted to evenings.

There's a small inconsistency that those more familiar with the Nayiri faith might notice. The wholeness and health of the body is paramount. Yet drinking is common. There's a few reasons for this. There's a lower chance of disease due to fermentation. The lighter drinks quench thirst. All alcohol provides energy, though beer, wine and buttermilk are more nutritionally complete. Lastly, alcohol makes people merry and facilitates the social bonds that hold the country together.


New Year's Festival

The most notable Nayiri holiday is the New Year, which occurs on the spring equinox. Equinoxes and other balance points enjoy a special place in Nayiri culture. The spring equinox in particular is the opened door to the more prosperous half of the year. The festivals technically begin five days prior, called the Bridge Days. Houses are cleaned. Family concerns are discussed and amends are made. Winter foods are dredged up from cellars. Demons are appeased. This is the time when humans are most vulnerable to supernatural actors, so one has to remain on their guard and tie as many loose ends as possible.

All of this allows Nayiri people to arrive at the equinox without regrets. There are feasts of lamb and pullet marinated in citrus or milk, served with fresh fruits like apples, pears, and apricots. Malted grains feature in beer and porridge. Kalanere dancers and singers circle the feasts, unmarried people visit temple workers, and infertile marriages add second or third partners in an effort to conceive. It was the spring equinox that marked the creation of humans, the First Kiss, and it is that creational energy people are attempting to harness at this festival.


Tributaries

Nayir operates from a centrally planned economic system that eschews money in favor of labor. Each citizen, beginning from the age of twenty and ending at fifty, gives tribute through labor on government projects in their region. This tribute is best thought of as a tax. Those who pay it are called tributaries.

At the age of twenty--or earlier, at marriage--one registers with their city's census, which will call them to serve once they're of age. Nomadic populations may register at their summer or winter quarters, though not both. They're entered into a tribute of their local area, and work a maximum of 40 weeks per year, usually at the same job for that year. A day's work is done when the job itself is done, not at a set amount of hours.

The most common jobs are agricultural. After that comes construction and roadwork. Third comes the maintenance of public projects. While the main decider of one's tribute is location, those who have more experience in an occupation are assigned to that occupation. Farmers can till, fertilize, or harvest. Pastoralists can feed and water animals. Masons can work on applying mortar on public buildings or cisterns, woodcarvers can replace split parts in water wheels, and coppersmiths can clean out pipes. Those who have experience--either through education, apprenticeship or the tribute itself--are allowed to direct others, though while doing tribute they still answer to their overseers. Those just starting are given easier jobs for their tribute. 'Easier' can mean lower-skill or lower-effort, or both. Swabbing bathhouses is a common first tribute for those living near one. For those able, there are always ditches to dig or fields to weed.

The principal purpose of tribute is to feed the country and have enough left over to store. There is little arable land in Sorikar and Sir-e-Armân, so while those there may do roadwork or mining, they are fed by those working in Dzoram or Kharrān. Those who are exempt from tribute must be fed as well, and there must be grain stored for lean years. Autumn's approach means that tributaries are siphoned off from other occupations to help with the harvest. The secondary purpose is to maintain infrastructure everyone uses. Water access and hygiene take the highest importance next to food, then shelter after that, appropriate for a large country with a dense population that places high value on health and cleanliness. If an aqueduct or qanat collapses or insufficient canals lead to flooding, an entire city may lose water. If sewer pipes clog or mold festers in a cistern, an entire province may get sick.

There are temporary exemptions and permanent exceptions. Temporary exceptions include illness, pregnancy, and menstruation. Permanent exceptions include being too young or old to work, lifelong illnesses, enrollment into the military, or other necessary occupations like nurses, bakers, cooks, doctors, messengers, and temple workers. Current Flames (governors) and their direct heirs are exempt, though it's considered bad form for a direct heir to never take part in tribute. The rest of the royal family is not exempt. Overseers may seem exempt, but their tribute is in the direction of others. Those who are seen as not pulling their weight may be voted out. The same is true of other government officials that are not directly appointed by a Flame.

Popular perception of the system has changed over time. Currently, it is positive. The tributary system is a fundamental part of the interconnectedness of Nayiri peoples and allows the state to remain self-sufficient.


Intros to the Five Provinces: Dzoram

Dzoram is the easternmost Nayiri province, swaddled in the shadow of the mountains. Other Nayiri people regard it as a pariah among pariahs for their rural traditions.

In the plains are the cities, though comparatively few compared to other provinces. They're connected by a spiderweb of roads and tributaries from the Six-River Drainage Basin. Most of the land of the plains, however, is farmland. The soil is full of silt and volcanic ash and well-watered, and so plentiful are these partitions that the fields can be left fallow for longer periods while still generating enough crop to feed the other four provinces. The capital of Dzoram, Orthos, is here, straddling the border between the plains and foothills in the Valley of Flowers.

Once the plains begin to rise and form hills and valleys, communities become smaller. There is a term for these communities--"a hollow." It is unique to Dzoram and refers to houses clustered around either side of a creek at the base of a valley. There's one way in, and one way out, with the Cloud Forest on either side. Few come, and few leave. There is limited agriculture here, though much of it is subsistence and supplanted by foraging and game from the forest. The most common labor tribute here is mining, as the surrounding hills teem with silver, gold, and critically, cinnabar.

Even higher are the mountain communities, who carve their homes out of rock and string up elaborate systems of bridges and pulleys in order to navigate. Even the most agile of donkeys struggle, let alone horses, so the mountain communities have often served as a refuge during times of occupation and subjugation, though that service is rarely acknowledged by the Nayiri government in peacetime. Some--many--of these communities consider themselves to be an independent state or even a non-state entity, with many of them refusing to recognize the authority of the Citadel and forming their own exclave with people from neighboring Batar Republics. This isn't the only reason other Nayiri regard Dzoram with distaste, but it is the most commonly cited; these communities compromise the wholeness of the nation.

I chose to go over Dzoram first because it's the source of the Six Rivers, bread and fruit, wood and stone, and the wines famed around the world. Though it's not the capital of the country, to me, it's the core, the place from which everything else flows.