Caseic Culture

Caseic culture refers to the culture practised within the Caseic Archipelago. Because the Caseic Archipelago is fairly large and diverse, the idea of a single Caseic culture is at best overly vague and at worst counter to reality. However, there are some commonalities among various places in the Caseic Archipelago, most notably the dense urbanisation: the vast majority of the population of the Caseic Archipelago lives in a large city. Additionally, the archipelago's economy is largely contract-based, rather than currency-based.

Cultural Groups

Caseic historians often group the cultures of the archipelago geographically based on the Classical-Era Empires]] that the cultures descend from:

• The Nacha cultures on the island of Brisa and in south-west Casea descend from the Nacha Republic
• The Cajia cultures in south-east Casea descend from the Cajia Kingdom
• The Chacya cultures in the north of Casea descend from the Chacya Kingdom

Religion

See also: Religion in the Caseic Archipelago

There are two dominant autochthonous religions in the Caseic Archipelago: Framjism and Gastism. The Framjist worldview is based on humans fulfilling their role as caretakers of the earth, in accordance with Chae's command. In Framjist-majority cultures, littering, pollution, waste of resources, cursing, and the consumption of meat are typically illegal, or at least taboo. Inversely, the Gastist worldview is based on humans struggling against the gods, and by extension, the world. Before the Grand Calming, the idea of struggle against Pechi justified the construction of towns by the sea amidst the perpetual storm, and the idea of struggle against Ajia justified war against inland neighbours. In Gastist cultures, cursing the gods is not only common, but actively encouraged. Non-religion is also fairly common in the Caseic Archipelago, even before the Grand Calming. Non-religious people within the Caseic Archipelago tend not to oppose Framjism and Gastism directly, but merely don't align themselves with either worldview.

Most cities in the Caseic Archipelago are generally religiously tolerant, and have been ever since the formation of the Caseic Federation. As a result, cities often host significant minority populations of non-autochthonous religions, such as Mirroi in Caifra, Azztanism in Brenji, and Modhes in Wesia.

Art

The most dominant forms of art in the Caseic Archipelago are literature, theatre, and games. Within these forms of art, the most common theme by far is conflict and war. Caseic literature is predominantly non-fiction, often consisting of accounts that take multiple perspectives of a war, or recount the history of a political entity; The Rise and Fall of the Cajia Kingdom is one such example of a book recounting history. Caseic theatre takes a more dramatic approach, sacrificing truth and details in exchange for delivering a potent and compelling narrative; Pechi's Reign, for instance, takes some creative liberties in depicting the Brisa War, and focuses on Jomec Iri-Jomec, a fictional protagonist. Caseic games are often abstract representations of conflict, and sometimes theology; for example, Coresachi is a game which symbolically represents the Gastist struggles against Pechi and Ajia.

Sofaic

Unlike some other islands, the Caseic Archipelago does not have a nuclear family structure, as the concept of marriage is foreign to the archipelago. Instead, related people are grouped into sofaic, which consist of two parts: the Sofaijac and the Sofaiprac. Sofaijac loosely translates to "clan" or "dynasty", and refers to a person's direct and indirect ancestors. Sofaiprac loosely translates to "generation" or "age group". Both of these groups are very mutable: they shift and change over time; whether a person is or isn't a member of a given sofaic is a matter of informal consensus and circumstance.

Names

In Nacha cultures, a person's name consists of a given (or chosen) name followed by a sofaijac name; e.g., Casi Fromatica has the given name "Casi" followed by the sofaijac name "Fromatica".

In Cajia cultures, a person's name consists of a sofaiprac name followed by a given (or chosen) name; e.g., Ase Aswaite has the sofaiprac name "Ase" and the given name "Aswaite".

In Chacya cultures, a person has a short-form name and a long-form name. The short-form name, used by people outside their sofaic, consists of their sofaijac name followed by their sofaiprac name; e.g. Siche Cujaen has the sofaijac name "Siche" followed by the sofaiprac name "Cujaen". Within their sofaic, a person is referred to by a given name. A person's long-form name includes their role in society, their sofaijac name, their sofaiprac name, their given name, and any honorifics they have. e.g. Siche Cujaen's long-form name is "Hefolam Siche Cujaen Tico Pere"; "Hefolam" is the Esiga Caseic form of "Feforam", meaning Federal Foreign Minister; "Tico" is his given name; "Pere" is the Esiga Caseic form of "Pebre", an honorific meaning "steadfast".

These forms are just the most common, by convention, but are not required; a person may choose to use a name which doesn't follow the format corresponding to their regional culture. A majority of people in Brenji, for example, have Nacha-style names with a given name and a sofaijac name, despite Brenji being a Chacya culture.

Gender

Caseic societies generally acknowledge the existence of four genders: children, men, women, and administrators. When a person is born, they are considered a child. When they come of age, usually around the age of 22 years, they become a man or a woman, usually based on their biological sex. At a much later age, typically at least 50 years, men and women may optionally become administrators. As administrators are by custom banned from having sexual or romantic relations, they commonly work in the administration of government, regulation of industry, or management of business, as they are seen as unbiased logical arbiters and decision-makers. In practice, though, they are as biased as any person.

Clothing

Caseic clothing is typically very plain. Most people in the Caseic archipelago wear a tunic, a sash, shoes, and possibly a hat. A tunic is a thin item of clothing that covers most of the body, protecting it from harsh rain and sunlight. Tunics are typically very plain. A sash is a band of fabric, often silk, that is worn on top of the tunic diagonally. Sashes often have complex decorative designs that stand out from the plain tunic, and are used expressively by the wearer. Children do not wear sashes. Men wear sashes going downwards from their right shoulder. Women wear sashes going downwards from their left shoulder. Administrators have a double-sash. Shoes are an optional item of clothing which protect the wearer's feet from ground hazards such as sharp rocks. They are more common in coastal areas. Hats are items of clothing worn on the wearer's head, typically to indicate a person's role in society. For example, the Federal Foreign Minister wears the FFM Hat, which symbolises the office of the FFM. Government leaders in the Greater Nayela Union and Brenjia typically wear a tricorne.

Death

In Framjist societies, it is common to bury the dead directly in the ground with no embalming process, representing that their time as a caretaker of the earth has come to an end, and they are ready to become a part of the earth. The dead are not typically removed from burial. When the body of the dead cannot be found, one of their valuable possessions is buried to symbolically put them in the earth.

Before the Grand Calming, it was a common practice in Gastist societies to throw the dead into the perpetual storm equipped with a fishing rod beneath their sash, symbolically representing that their soul will live on in battle against Pechi. After the Grand Calming, it has become more common to send the dead into the sea on a boat, and watch until the boat travels out of sight. As the construction of boats is costly, it is common to send hundreds of dead into battle at once in a Necsanafis.

Throughout Caseic societies in general, it is typical for the possessions of the dead to become common property of their sofaic.

Politics

Federations

The Caseic Federation united the entire Caseic Archipelago around 49 TT. Before the Calming, it was a council-ruled federation, where each of the seventeen states sent nineteen Federal Representatives, thus forming the Caseic Federal Council. The Federal Council then decides to enact, revoke, or amend the Caseic Federal Law. However, some states, such as Jifancaya, Prefichi, Esiga, and the G.N.U. tended to have local laws which deviated from the Federal Law. After the First Great Attu War, the Federation began to limit deviation from Federal Law within the states that remained a part of the Federation.

The Greater Nayela Union is itself a federation of (nominally) five sub-states, two of which are monarchies and two of which are democracies.

Monarchies

Some of the states in the Caseic Archipelago, mainly in the north and the east, are monarchies, meaning that in theory they have one executive ruler at a time. Some of these monarchies, such as Yecha and Jasfeya are hereditary, meaning that the crowns are typically passed down within the sofaijac of the monarch. In some cases, as the sofaic of the monarchs shift, this has lead to personal unions, where a monarch controls multiple independent states, such as Fromachi III's simultaneous control of Yecha, Irachi, and Jasfeya.

Monarchies tend to have a class of nobility, who exercise administrative control of the government at a sub-state level. Some monarchies, such as Esiga, spread power between the monarch and the nobles, whereas other monarchies, such as Jifancaya, centralise the monarch's power.

Paradoxically, Caseic monarchies tend to be more socially liberal than Caseic democracies, because the monarchs see the concession of social freedoms as beneficial to maintaining stable monarchical power. Jifancaya, for instance, considers itself the "freest state of the Federation".

Democracies

Some of the states in the south-west of the Caseic Archipelago are democracies, meaning that their leaders are elected on a regular cycle. Nacha cultures have a long history of democracies, both stable and unstable. In general, Caseic democracies have elections which allow all residents to vote for the state leader and for a local representative in the state's government. Some democracies, such as Brisa and Wesia elect a governor with a limited term, whereas other democracies, such as Brenjia and Bainachia, elect a president for life.

Public Works

Because much of the Caseic archipelago has a contract-based economy rather than a currency-based economy, public works are funded in a more complex way. For example, when a municipal government wants to build a new road, it will establish a contract with a road-building company in which the company builds a new road in exchange for a share of government resources. These resources are obtained at regular intervals from residents of the city, typically once a year. In some cities, each resident may have a unique contract with the municipal government, which specifies how much of their resources they give to the government. Alternatively, the amounts may be standardised, or the municipal government may borrow resources from other cities. State governments often manage the movement of resources between cities within their states.

Warfare & Military Service

Around 30 TT, the Caseic Federation enacted a policy of external military service, meaning that a citizen of the Federation cannot serve the military of their own state. This was initially introduced as a method of building unity within the Federation: a member of the Federal military fights for all citizens of the Federation, not just those of their home state. However, because war at the time was rare, this military service mainly consisted of helping build local public works and infrastructure.

This changed with the rise of the First Great Attu War in which the Federation went to war against Tietero. As Prefichi, the Greater Nayela Union, and Esiga broke apart from the Federation, there was a shift away from loyalty to the Federation and towards a loyalty to national identity. Prefichians, especially, began to form an anti-Federation identity, and linked the Kingdom of Prefichi's culture to the pre-Federation Duchy of Prefichi.