You know, I haven't written anything in a while. It's Saturday afternoon, I'm procrastinating, so I think I'll give you all a little insight into Nanshiirite society. I've already given you a look at the Babaese and the Varibs, So I guess it's time to finish the trifect
Nanshiir, sex, the Creator, statues, and why women rule the world
When I first started creating the Nanshiir Empire, I had one hard and fast rule: the Nanshiir Empire was a matriarchy. This created a few problems, particularly when it came to language, because much of the English language uses the masculine as the default, which wouldn't apply in a matriarchal society. They were originally going to be polytheistic, and I even had a name made up to refer to theirs gods so I didn't have to call them 'gods.' I think it was Tialuum. It doesn't really matter because I scraped that a while ago. They are now monotheistic, and their god is referred to as the Great Creator. And he is personified as male. I struggled with this for a while, because I thought It would be better if he was female, but it just worked better this way. I'll explain.
Like everything in life, it all comes down to sex. During sex, the man deposits his sperm, which then grows inside the woman. They don't know that there is an egg inside the mother, so the figure that the genetic material comes solely from the father. This may seem a little weird, but I will freely admit that I cribbed this directly from ancient Greek thinking. And it makes sense, and may have appeared in other cultures, I don't know, but it is a reasonable way of thinking. This is also the basis for the gender roles in the society. Men are the creators. Children, statues, paintings, buildings, these things are the domain of men. Women are the nurturers and maintainers. They run the household, run businesses, own land, and are the political leaders.
This is why the Creator is male, because he is the one creating the world. The priestesses say that he carved the world and everything in it. He carves each person individually, making each one divinely unique. The Nanshiirites also believe there is a finite number of souls in the world. When some one dies, the are buried in the ground, either with or without a burial shroud, and they never have a coffin or interred in a tomb, because this would prevent their soul from returning to the earth. They would be trapped in their bodies. Cremation is used as a way to dishonour a person's memory. When someone is cremated their soul wanders the earth bodyless.
Because the Creator carved the world and the people in it, sculpting is the highest form of art some one can create. Buildings, doors, pillars, walls, furniture are all accented with bas reliefs, and free standing statues stand in the town squares and line the streets of major cities. Wealthy families will often have statues of their ancestors adorning the hallways and private chambers of their palaces and estates.
Next time I update, I'll tell you about some of the important characters in this story, including Talina, the last Empress of Nanshiir. (oooo, ominous!)
Nanshiir, sex, the Creator, statues, and why women rule the world
When I first started creating the Nanshiir Empire, I had one hard and fast rule: the Nanshiir Empire was a matriarchy. This created a few problems, particularly when it came to language, because much of the English language uses the masculine as the default, which wouldn't apply in a matriarchal society. They were originally going to be polytheistic, and I even had a name made up to refer to theirs gods so I didn't have to call them 'gods.' I think it was Tialuum. It doesn't really matter because I scraped that a while ago. They are now monotheistic, and their god is referred to as the Great Creator. And he is personified as male. I struggled with this for a while, because I thought It would be better if he was female, but it just worked better this way. I'll explain.
Like everything in life, it all comes down to sex. During sex, the man deposits his sperm, which then grows inside the woman. They don't know that there is an egg inside the mother, so the figure that the genetic material comes solely from the father. This may seem a little weird, but I will freely admit that I cribbed this directly from ancient Greek thinking. And it makes sense, and may have appeared in other cultures, I don't know, but it is a reasonable way of thinking. This is also the basis for the gender roles in the society. Men are the creators. Children, statues, paintings, buildings, these things are the domain of men. Women are the nurturers and maintainers. They run the household, run businesses, own land, and are the political leaders.
This is why the Creator is male, because he is the one creating the world. The priestesses say that he carved the world and everything in it. He carves each person individually, making each one divinely unique. The Nanshiirites also believe there is a finite number of souls in the world. When some one dies, the are buried in the ground, either with or without a burial shroud, and they never have a coffin or interred in a tomb, because this would prevent their soul from returning to the earth. They would be trapped in their bodies. Cremation is used as a way to dishonour a person's memory. When someone is cremated their soul wanders the earth bodyless.
Because the Creator carved the world and the people in it, sculpting is the highest form of art some one can create. Buildings, doors, pillars, walls, furniture are all accented with bas reliefs, and free standing statues stand in the town squares and line the streets of major cities. Wealthy families will often have statues of their ancestors adorning the hallways and private chambers of their palaces and estates.
Next time I update, I'll tell you about some of the important characters in this story, including Talina, the last Empress of Nanshiir. (oooo, ominous!)
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a pink one with a tiara on top, right?