Roja

The Roja are one of three ethnics groups found natively in the Serene Union of Spyron, alongside the Clanmen and Tanospy, living primarily within the Rojanta Penninsula.

Characteristics

Roja are typically extremely pale, and many are incapable of tanning. They are known to range in height to an abnormal degree, with people well under four feet tall and over seven feet tall not uncommon. Roja have dark eye colors, near to pitch black, and rojan eyes visably appear to be dilated more than average, though research has not found any difference in their vision.

Insanity

Rates of progressive and genetic mental illness are higher among Roja than in the rest of the world, to the extent that it is a widely known sterotype of them as a people (though this trait is shared, albeit to lesser degrees, with the other native peoples of Spyron). The origin of the "Alongic Madness" is unknown, with the leading theory being from a period of widespread and intense inbreeding some time in ancient history. The madness can present at any time from ages as young as 15, though it is rare below 40, and is marked by a gradual onset of delusions, paranoia, violence, and mania. There is no set speed of progression, and cases have been reported of semi-stable behavior for decades on end, as well as abrupt snaps. No physical degeneration accompanies the mental, and sufferers can live heathily if cared for for a full natural lifespan.

While the rate of insanity is higher than average among Roja, it is said to have been far higher still in historical times. Classical authors wrote of the madness as being inevitable, with either the whole of the Rojan populace eventually succumbing to it, or a portion as high as 1 in 3. Up until the industrial age, and in some places through it, it was common practice for those in the early stages of madness to be sent westward into the storm, so that none would have to witness their decay or death. Some sources claim that there used to be a method to detect the madness years before it would occur, but this is met with skepticism by experts.

History

Origin

According to the legend of the Roja, recorded in the U'lindli'te and various oral tellings, the Roja were the first people to inhabit the land of Alongi. The U'lindli'te and oral myths state that the Roja were created by the god Hyeudzeu at the dawn of time, alongside Alongi and all the beauty of the world. The first Roja, confused and scared, went to their creator for shelter, but Hyeudzwi remained apathetic to his creations, for as a god of creation he held no interest in that already created. The Roja huddled together for safety, and came to realize that they had only one another to rely upon in this world.

The Codex Rojantica, a chronicle of Rojan history by Tanospy authors, asserts a similar narrative, but places it not in Alongi but in Haxoica, the mythic barren land that Tanospy myth states the Clanmen to have come from. In between their creation and the founding of their society, the Roja are enslaved by the Clanmen, and taken to invade Alongi, founding their society in Rojanta following an escape from slavery.

The relation between the Clanmen and Roja has always been a matter of contention between the two peoples, in no small part due to an ambiguity of the Rojan origin in Clannic Legend. The Clannish term for the Roja was historically "The Lost Clan", or in some very old texts, "The True Clan", but the precise meaning of this moniker has been lost to time. Some Clanmen have speculated the Roja to be a Clan who for whatever reason diverged from the rest of society during the invasion of the Tanospy, or even that they are a remnant of the pre-invasion Clannic culture.

Mythic and Semimythic History

Hy Roja, the Rojan societal network, is said to have once spanned all of Alongi, an era sometimes refered to as Hy Rojanta. This ended with the near-simultanious invasions of the Tanospy and Clanmen, from the south and north respectively, that left all Roja outside the Rojanta Penninsula either dead or forced to migrate. The survival of the Roja at all is attributed to Aelu the Great. Aelu is said to have created the first army among the Rojans, fighting back against the advances of the invaders and establishing a stronghold in the jungles. Aelu is also creditted with the founding of Dlongaengeun, the historical capital of the Roja. Each of Aelu's seventeen sons and nineteen daughters is said to have been the first wise teacher in a line of trade.

Culture

Marriage and Family

The Roja practice assymetrical polygamy, wherein women can have many husbands. For a man and woman to wed, the matriarch of the woman's Myon and the patriarch of the man's Myon must allow for it, and the two must be from different Myon. A common practice is that of a "trade family", wherin a woman has many husbands who all work in the same trade, earning wealth for the family, as she manages the household and raises the children to one day also work in the trade. male-based polygamy existed in history, but is no longer practiced.

Within Rojan culture, all Roja are seen as being part of one big family, subdivided into units known as Myon. A Myon consists of all the descendants of the oldest woman within a Myon, as well as their spouses. A Myon is itself divided into Piygs, generations, determined by the number of children, grandchildren, etc one has. Those too young to have children are in the lowest Piyg, those mature but without children are in the next, then those with a child, those with two, those with three, etc., then those with a grandchild, those with two grandchildren, etc., all the way up to the matriarch of the family. The Piyg one finds themselves in determines the level of respect they hold within the Myon, and within wider society, as well as their say in the actions and practices of the family. Spouses are considered to be one Piyg lower than the blood-member they are wed to. The patriarch of a Myon, typically the spouse or eldest son of the matriarch, hold a special distinction as respresenting the Myon externally, acting as the "leader" (in a literal sense) of the family unit. While every person with married parents is part of two Myon, the Myon of one's mother is seen as superior to that of their father, and so on for higher generations.

Roja historically went by mononyms, and following their joining into the Serene Union this practice continues, as all Roja have the legal family name of "Roja". Informal additional names are common, such as a locational suffix, descriptive title, the name of the patriarch of their Myon, etc., and it is also common for related individuals to have similar names. For example, Maitl-Eula "The Fat" Gaeneye Ametliye, a prominant Hyadlu, is named Maitl-Eula, hails from Gaene, is known for his rotund physique, is descended from a man named Ametli, and has the "maitl" name in common with his nephew Namaitl-Go Yeza.

Sexuality

Rojan culture is very open on free love, and Roja are sometimes stereotyped as "promiscuous" for this reason. Relationships prior to marriage are common and encouraged, and there is no stigma upon having premarital children, though an unmarried parent has no say within their child's other Myon. Following marriage, it is expected for a woman to remain entirely faithful, with extramarital affairs being an extreme taboo. Among men however, they are met with less scorn, though still not encouraged.

Homosexuality is an accepted practice among the Roja, though it was nominally illegal for years following admittence into the Serene Union. Gay marriage exists, but is a wholly legal arrangement, as there exists no place for it within the Piyg and Myon system.