Dai'Wadeeyan Cultures
The
Ban'Badr
The Ban'Badr are pale of skin, hair, and eyes to blend in with
their nearly year round surroundings of snow. They are a magical race who
believe the moon is their mother and it is she who gave them magic. There
are three levels of magic users among the Ban'Badr with their abilities expressed
with a prefix(or lack of) on their name. There are the Ban' and Dai' who are
the men and women(respectively) with the most magical talent. Their powers
are known at birth marked by a glowing crescent moon somwhere on their body.
Their powers may be known at birth but they cannot begin to train their talent
until they reach puberty, until then they have no control. The Ny' would have
the second highest magical ability although they don't find out they have
magic until they use it the first time which can happen any time before puberty.
The people without a prefix for their name have the least amount of magical
ability and are considered non-magical. Even though they are considered non-magical
these people have basically just enough magic to help them with daily household
chores like cooking, cleaning, foraging, and hunting. Once a Ban'Badr young
person reaches puberty and they haven't shown any signs of magic it is known
they will not reach Ny' status and no prefix will be given to them at their
manhood/womanhood ceremony.
There is no drastic difference in social positions dependant on magical abilitly. This is because the Ban'Badr value wisdom as much, if not more, than magic. For this reason more often than not a non-magical man or woman will be found in high places on the Clan Council. Only in war partys are magic users always in charge and this is only because the weapons used against another clan are themselves magical and magic is needed to defend those who have gone to fight.
Even though the above stated social structure is highly recognized as the correct one for the Ban'Badr there are some clans that do base social position on magical ability. All other clans look down on these few and try to erradicate the leaders and bring that clan back to the correct way. This is what causes the majority of the wars between the clans as the Ban'Badr are actually very peaceful people.
The
Plains Riders
The Plains Riders are a semi nomadic almost exclusively non-magical people.
The different tribs of Plains riders each have two home camps, one for the
summer hunting season and one for the winter hunting season. The different
tribes of Plains Riders are all basically like one very large extended family
and fights between tribes are like fights between siblings. The Tribes are
overlooked by a Shaman's Circle which coordinates which tribe gets which camp
each season and other various decisions concerning all the tribes.
Shaman are the only magical people among the Plains Riders and, if among the Ban'Badr, would be considered somewhere between Ny' ability and non-magical ability. The Shaman can do more than a non-magical Ban'Badr can with their magic but, due to lack of training, would never acheive Ny' capability. Even though the Shaman's Circle overlooks the tribes as a whole and are the only magic users among the Plains Riders they are not in charge of the individual tribes on a day to day basis. That responsibility is left to a man or woman the tribe chooses as needed. If a Headman or Headwoman is failing in their responsibilities then the individual tribe holds their own council to decide who will replace the current leader. If there is a disagreement or other strife at this council only then will a Shaman interfere with daily tribe life and bring order to the council. Once order is acheived they will step down and let the procedings continue.
At puberty young men and women are sent on a dream quest to find their familiar animal spirit. This animal spirit is supposed to be able to help them in all aspects of their life so long as the individual follows the ways of his or her familiar. Occasionally the young men and women will return from their quest telling of an unknown animal of which they are then sent in search of. If a young man or woman returns from their dream quest without a familiar animal spirit then they are deemed not ready and must wait one season to try again. If after one season they still are not able to find their familiar then they must wait one full year to try again. After this period of time if an animal still does not appear to the young person then they are sent to study with a shaman of another tribe to unblock their own spirit to make it more receptive to an animal's spirit. More often than not, those young men and women who either return telling of a strange animal or those who are sent to study with a shaman turn out to be of Shaman ability themselves. Both of these cases are extremely rare, it only tends to happen once every generation or so.
Rathnaiti
More info coming soon…