The Campaign Builder's Guild

Whilst Duer are often percieved as a simple, single culture, this is not the truth at all. Duer are divided by many lines, and warfare between different groups, if minor, is common.
 Religion

Most Duer would not claim to be religious. In fact, many of them believe that 'Gods', in fact, are nonexistent - if there were Gods, they argue, they would never have allowed the thousands of years of enslavement put upon the Duer people by the dragons. However, they DO believe in something greater than themselves - the spirits and ancestors of their people.

This belief began shortly after the Duer escape from draconic slavery, and was put forward by Shadurn Tuk (to whom we shall come shortly), or more specifically by two of his apprentices, some of the first Duer to ever use any form of magic. According to the Shand'aak'on Nel'Masaabh, or Chronicles of the Travelling, Ishmael Danaak and Torkaan Makzuuk discovered the Soulwall and performed a large amount of research into its properties. Concluding that it could not be broken, and that all but a few souls went there after death, they decided that it was some form of 'Judging Ground' at which your rewards for your life were granted.

However, due to many factors, it seems that at that time a much larger amount of Revenants were being formed due to the mass disturbance of Duer emotions. Many felt at their deathbeds that there were too many things left to do - find a homeland, look after their children, and so on, and so became dead-walking. Some Duer attempted to kill these creatures, only to have them rise from the grave a few days later - and it was from this constant hounding by undead beings that gave rise to the concept of 'Blood Debt' and Honouring the Ancestors that is so common throughout Duer society today. The only thing that can permanently, certainly destroy a Revenant is fulfilling its goal, and although the Time of the Dead (as it is annotated in the Shand'aak'on Nel'Masaabh has long passed, the image of the Ancestors assisting or harming you still remains.

From this, the two scholars theorised that Duer whose needs in the current life have not been fulfilled cannot go past the Soulwall. Therefore, the Ancestors must be avenged, and their power reclaimed by their children. This concept of 'Inherited Duty' spread rapidly throughout the Duer, who were at least then one semi-united people. From these two factors, it seemed inevitable that a form of Ancestor Worship should rise up and become popular. As the numbers of Revenants decreased, it seemed more and more that this new religion was having the desired effect, and eventually more than nine-tenths of the Duer followed it. With their separation and spread, the religion was spread also.

The Great Ones

Amongst many Duer peoples, three main Ancestors arose as a uniting force in what they term the 'Soul Rites'. These Ancestors - Kata'ak, Shadurn Tuk, and Tinir Shadarak - are worshipped by most as the bastions of Duer society today, and although some Duer know them by corrupted or totally different names, their 'patronage', as it could be said, is generally similar between separate groups.

Kata'ak is a mysterious Duer. He is said in the Chronicles of Travelling to have lived for nine-hundred years, and survived his journey out of slavery to lead his people all the way to the Tandhus Archipelago, apart from House or Clan. His actual identity is still unknown, but he seems to have been a capable and (as far as Duer can be) charismatic leader, apparently clanless and wisely neutral in disputes within his people. He is mentioned less and less towards the 'end' of his life, leading to the belief that he probably died at the old (for Duer) age of one-hundred-and-sixty (the point after which his appearances decline). Either way, he is 'worshipped' and prayed to as T'Shaak Duer, or the Duer Father (Father of Duer), and his influence is used in situations affecting the whole Duer people.

Shadurn Tuk is much less mysterious, although he too is noted as having lived for nine-hundred years. An accomplished Wild Mage of no little skill (learned, apparently, from merely observing his draconic masters), he is known to have had somewhere near to nine-hundred-and-twelve apprentices in his life (references in the Chronicles of the Travelling note him as taking a new apprentice every year, an interesting fact). Sharuss had existed for a language for several-thousand years in draconic slavery, but it had never had much of a semblance of formality or even persistent grammar. Shadurn Tuk devised the Danaak Table, still used for teaching some aspects of Sharuss today. The Table was, in fact, a cube formed using Wild Magic, a cube of white ivory. It essentially showed all the conjugations and irregularities of Sharuss, not via magic, but via clever placing of carvings. Nowadays, smaller, replica tables have been designed on flat planes or on cubes of wood to show certain tenses and intonations.

Shadurn Tuk also spent fifteen years closeted in his tent during the Travelling, supposedly capturing a Shnakka, a type of land-bound, non-intelligent dragonkin, to bear it for him so he did not have to leave it whilst they were moving! At the end, he had produced Shadurn Tuk's tools, a set of artefacts the nature of which are only briefly touched on in the Histories. However, they were supposedly three (some say four) separate objects through which Wild Magic could be used - and controlled - safely, with certain restrictions and the correct training. Shadurn Tuk had, essentially, created Free Magic, and he spent a large period of time training others in its use (of all different races) to keep Wild Magic out of their grips.

Tinir Shadarak does not appear to be an 'Ancestor', as such. He (or she, or it) is always depicted as a genderless, hooded figure, and although the statues may seem slightly disturbing to non-Duer, the Duer find them comforting, as Tinir Shadarak is the patron of art, the home, and creative things, including childbirth and construction. They are generally scented distinctly with certain flowers that a Duer's extremely sensitive nose can pick out as the scent of home.

There is no mention of Tinir Shadarak's mortal existence in the Chronicles, and its gender is indecipherable (whilst Sharuss verbs conjugate to show the pronoun, any verbs involving Tinir Shadarak are not conjugated at all). It is mentioned many times as being 'placated for aid' in childbirth and fertility, which suggests that Tinir Shadarak was either a mystical healer or, more likely, a much more primitive deity from earlier Duer existence.

Shrines

These three ancestors are revered by most Duer who do not follow some obscure version of the Soul Rites or are members of the Cult of the Dragon. They have non-family-specific shrines in all Duer settlements, where all Duer are considered equal and a beggar could brush shoulders with the Ruler of a House. Here, people come to give gifts to and honour the Great Ones, ask them for aid, and perform certain important rites (including the At'aak, or political extension of family - the closest thing Duer have to marriage).

As well as this, all Duer who follow the Soul Rites are likely to have a family shrine, at which they can placate their own personal ancestors. These range from rooms larger than a normal house in Manors to tiny sections of a room given over to a few small statues, scented candles and perhaps finger bones or skull fragments. Certain gifts - including those of money, the metal tin and meat of any kind of lizard - are extremely insulting to an Ancestor amongst many Duer. This has given rise to the saying, varying depending on the Duer involved, 'More foolish than giving tin to an Honoured One'. This phrase is used (at least semi-translated) even by many of those Duer who have never spoken Sharuss or paid homage to an ancestor in their lives, and appears to be very old indeed.

The Darova

Despite their claims to a lack of religion, many Duer groups (particularly those of the Tandhus Archipelago and certain isolated independent clans in the Hariij Empire) do have an order of spiritual advisors, the Darova. 'Darova' is literally translated as the unconjugated noun form of 'Watcher', and, like many Duer titles, is frequently not inflected at all (even to show pluralisation) to show that it is a title and not a nonspecific 'watching person'. These individuals swear an oath somewhat alike to that of a Duer-Sword that makes them part of the 'sacred' class (Ya'rhaak). They are not permitted to do any manual labour apart from that which is directly involved with healing, must rely on the support of their community, and cannot be harmed by any other Duer. They are also technically neutral, whatever house they serve. For this reason, many Darova serve as diplomats and judges in disputes. In a more day-to-day role, they serve as healers, mediators, and performers of Rites to placate the Ancestors and keep them happy.

The Blood Debt, Clans and Familial Honour

Clans, Tribes, and Houses

After their escape from draconic slavery, the Duer remained somewhat divided, split up into clans that worked on the basis of both blood kin and other factors, such as which draconic master you served (and by extension, who you knew as work-partners and friends). These clans fought amongst themselves for fifty years before Kata'ak united them, or so several references to the 'Times Before' in the Chronicles of the Travelling state. Even after Kata'ak bound them together relatively peacefully, they remained extremely proud of their clans and families, and often disputed other clans' rights over their own.

After Kata'ak's death (disputable, although as mentioned in the 'Religion' section, this is after the point that his appearances begin to decline rapidly), the Duer people began to divide. Clans left the main body, and over time only half the original numbers were left in the main body of the Duer travelling nation. This is known as the time of A'atus or 'Knowledgelessness', in which the Duer perfectionist attitude seemed to go into overdrive, causing them to shun to extremes Duer of other clans. By this time, the rite of At'aak (political extension of one's clan, the closest thing Duer have to marriage) had bound several clans into twelve Great Clans, which are often referred to as 'Tribes'.

Seven of these Tribes crossed the waters to the Tandhus Archipelago, three went further across the seas, and two constructed fortress-towns along the coast and settled there happily. Only two of the three that crossed the seas further survived in any manageable state, and the Hariij Empire enslaved most of the two that remained in the Old Lands. The seven that moved to the Archipelago, though, survived and built T'Zakat'az Durin out of what they discovered there. They were followed by several smaller clans (eighty-three is the precise number recorded). Over time, the Duer word for clan was replaced by the term for 'House' as each family settled into manors and fortresses. After some infighting and attempts at expansion, seven rough areas of territory were established, and the Duer got along relatively well, with new minor houses springing up frequently.

Familial Shame and Familial Honour

The Duer sense of inbred Honour in one's family, and the ability to shame your family by your own actions, guides many Duer (especially of the Tandhus Archipelago) in their everyday lives. This has almost become a part of the religion they staunchly deny possessing, causing them to seek honour for their House in whatever they do. Only a few things affect personal honour, an individual's honour, and those depend on the Duer people - but almost all Duer cultures respect that unnatural death without taking blood from your aggressor is something that hurts only the honour of one individual.

Of course, it follows that that individual is dead, and thus his descendants must avenge him before he can gain his rewards in the Judging Place. From this rises the Duer idea of 'Blood Debt' - not just any revenge, but a pure, calculating and cold one. Although few Duer take it quite as far, to an extreme, Blood Debt allows for the taking of not only the life of the murderer of your father, but the smith who made the blade, the miner who mined the ore, the cartsman who brought it to the smith, the guards who did not protect him sufficiently, the smith who made the armour your father was wearing during the murder, and so on. During the Housewar, some particularly bloody results of Blood Debt were seen, including the murder of an assassin's entire living ancestral family for causing him to be born in the first place. Blood Debt, if owed to several members of your family (or if all but your closest family or a few scattered kin are dead) can lead all members of the debtor House to become Houseless.

A particularly shaming thing for your family is to be taken as a prisoner for more than ten days. After ten days, your captor must either declare you a slave, kill you, or free you for your honour to remain intact. The Housewar was a terrible example of this, with prisoners being forced to watch their family being tortured over periods of ten days and a few minutes before they were finally executed to produce extreme shame. Slavery itself holds no shame, and ordering a slave to take up a weapon is a great crime against your own honour in many Duer societies.

Familial Standing in Society

The Duer of T'Zakat'az Durin (and some other societies) hold great stock by House. There are five main social classes in the Duer Nation - Slave, Houseless, Housebound, Kin, and Ya'rhaak (sacred).

A slave serves the house he is enslaved by as his master sees fit and is expected to forget, or at least ignore, his old kin. There is no dishonour in becoming a slave, and slaves can earn their freedom. Upon the death of a master, it is common to set all his slaves (at least, those who behaved well) free, along with a small pension. In some Duer societies, however, particularly the more isolated independent ones who survived total Hariij conquest by methods of their own, this does not apply.

Houseless are Duer with no House or Clan of their own, who will not or cannot join (or at least be bound to) a new House due to unfulfilled Blood Debt or other reasons of their own, and often serve as mercenaries for the highest bidding house. Houseless are seen as extremely low, individuals with little social standing whatsoever, and even the least member of the most minor House of the Minor Houses considers himself above all but the most worthy Houseless, and that a grudging equal. Houseless generally cannot form their own Houses, although the Dakratshan, or Brotherhoods, of mercenaries and their families grew up from the need to be part of a community. Some of these Brotherhoods are notoriously brutal in membership rites or their actions on the battlefield even today.

The Housebound are the backbone members of any House - Duer who are not part of the Family that leads the House, but do much of the work, especially in military areas. Of the more active Housebound, most are soldiers or servants, and a small proportion do administrative work (although that is usually dealt with by the Family themselves). Others might be House Mages or other special roles. The more 'passive' Housebound make up most of the population of T'Zakat'az Durin and many other Duer societies - serving as farmers, shopkeepers, and so on that are protected, at least in theory, by their House. These people are free, generally, to do as they wish, provided it does not damage their House's standing. If a House is big enough, sometimes a section of the Housebound split away (if they are upset with the current House's power or the way they are treated) and form a Minor House.

The Kin are the ruling families of a House, be it Minor or Great. They are the elite of Duer society, and are generally the rich ones, although this is not always the case. They spend most of their time either plotting against other houses or administrating their own house's estates. Sometimes, like the Housebound, a particularly disillusioned Duer Kinsman might break away to form his own Minor House.

The Ya'rhaak are governed by a complicated set of rules, and include only four classes of people, the Darova (the Spiritual Advisors and Healers), the Duer-Swords, Yakhmata (or Chroniclers) and (technically) the King. This Sacred class are not permitted to do manual labour (except to do with healing in the case of the Darova or training with the blade in the case of the Duer-Swords), cannot be harmed by any other Duer (except in the special case of Duer-Swords during combat or duels) and stand outside of any House.

A New Edomite Official: oh gods. Not more SHORT people.


Seriously:

You are providing a lot of information here, which is generally concise and good. However you might want to divide it up a little bit. Here's an example: when talking about the clans and social class and so on in your second post you are actually bringing up different subjects altogether as though answering unasked questions. Sidebars or distinct paragraphs with headers might help here. As writing it seems fine, as a DM I want things laid out in a very clear cut way so that when I'm leafing through a book quickly to find a particular piece of information--the laws of slavery and why a certain amount of time as a prisoner is shameful--I want to find it quickly.

Now one thing I really like is that you are actually justifying the longevity of this race, explaining a little of what it is to have a legacy while you are still alive. That's neat, that adds to the sense that they are not just humans in funny suits but an unusual folk in their own right.

Here's a question--wouldn't you say family IS religion to the Duer? You seem to imply it. perhaps it is simply religion in an unusual way by normal human standards. There is something akin to a combination of Roman honor, the code of the Samurai and Confucianism in this.

I don't disagree with the way you wrote about it, but it actually sounds religious, with a memorabilia shrine and the family leaders presiding over the way it is viewed, pronouncing judgement on the actions of the individual within the family and so on. I think it's neat, a very distinct bit of cultural flavour.

Agreed. I just took a look at it and... whoa, blocks of text. Perhaps I should add some headings.

But yes, the Duer do -have- a religion, but they deny it staunchly - no other example of religion in the world of Wonders is anything close to theirs, and they believe themselves to be atheists. Family is certainly an important part of their faith, and is something very close to religion.

IMO, this would be alot easier to read in wikiformat. It looks really cool, but I'm having trouble picking out smaller parts to comment about. Anything in particular to which you'd like for me to respond?

Quote from: EclipseIMO, this would be alot easier to read in wikiformat. It looks really cool, but I'm having trouble picking out smaller parts to comment about. Anything in particular to which you'd like for me to respond?

The social standing areas of the 'culture' area, please. I feel as if there's something missing, but can't put my finger on it. :)

Duer-Swords and Yakhmata

The Duer-Swords and Yakhmata are two members of the Ya'rhaak that have only been touched on lightly so far in this document. Both, however, have important and distinct places in Duer society, and both are part of the Sacred class. Therefore, it seems prudent to give them their own detailed synopsis.

The Duer-Swords

Today, these individuals are often those made houseless by horrific events such as the death of their entire close family, who have become so desperate that they take up the mantle of nothing more than a killing machine. To be a Duer-Sword is to be death incarnate, generally committed to a Lord (although the frowned-upon practice of mercenary and freelance Duer-Swords has grown more popular in recent years). It is a way of becoming something akin to a member of a House, although one that stands apart.

The most integral and important part of a Duer-Sword is his blade, named identically, although in Sharuss the two are distinct in both written and spoken form (the accented Hārköz and the unaccented Hārk, the second of which indicates the blade itself and is conjugated normally). It cannot be just any blade, however - a Duer-Sword is a distinct weapon, the origin of which can be found in the Chronicles of the Travelling. The passage, translated, reads so:

And it was thought/believed by (Kata'ak) that the forges of the cursed masters (the dragons) were now free from their influence, and that he and his people might use them for themselves. And the smith Ja'raak, who had helped (the verb Jakkzon, which has a strong 'unwilling' implication) the cursed masters in the forges, was the first to enter, and he designed within the first Duer-Sword, and brought it out to be gifted to the strongest amongst the People, that they might become warriors.. Yet this blade was flawed, and was not truly made, and so Ja'raak returned to the forge, and made a second attempt. Again, when he returned, the blade was flawed.

The third time when Ja'raak entered, he took with him the blood of the cursed master 'Mitassk', who was slain by Kata'ak, and plunged the weapon into it. By doing so, he perfected the weapon, as it had been doused in the blood of a great enemy of the Duer people. From then, many Duer smiths forged the Duer-Swords, for the new warriors amongst the Duer to protect them on the Journey.

However, amongst Jakaab and his brothers, first among them Araan, a powerful force amongst the Duer at that time, it was believed that warriors should take the imperfect swords and perfect them themselves, once they had trained with such weapons enough to do so. And by Jakaab and Araan, the Wielders of Clan Yahmak and Clan Ta'Shaan followed, and the Wielders of Clan Ru'duuk followed them, and so on until all of the Wielders believed that the Sword should be perfected by the Wielder.

This passage shows the origin of the Duer-Swords as a blade and, in fact, the beginnings of the Duer-Swords as they are now. It is not until the following passage that we discover the beginnings of the unique status and rules that bind them, however... Translated once more:

And it came at the point where Ju'daak and his Clan of the Dunoj Rak had amassed two-hundred Duer-Swords at their command, and were beginning to threaten Kata'ak and his men. Kata'ak had knowledge of what would occur was he to let Ju'daak take control of the Journey, given advice by Ti... (Unknown - scholars debate whether this is Tinir Shadarak, unlikely as he is not generally named, Tinrake, one of Kata'ak's sisters, or someone else), and retreated into his tent for guidance. When he returned, he came with a tablet of iron with the Bind-Laws of the Duer-Swords written upon them. Although the Duer-Swords did not like it, they complied to his will. The Bind-Laws spoke of what a Duer-Sword must be, and are maintained now.

The Bind-Laws

The Bind-Laws are, as the text states, still maintained now. They are four in number, and all Duer-Swords (and their masters) must follow them.

*Loyalty to your Master above your own Clan (House).
*Only ten Duer-Swords may be in the servitude of the same Clan (House) (in the same region).
*Duer-Swords do not belong to any clan or tribe or any larger body than themselves.
*A Duer-Sword cannot kill or wound or be injured or wounded in any way outside of formal combat declared by both sides.

At the time when these commandments were written, the Duer-Swords were the only warriors amongst the Duer, but the commandments hold (with the amendments noted above in brackets) today. It was a clever move, and restricted Ju'daak's Duer-Swords whilst equalising power between all the clans. During the Housewar, it restricted the larger Houses from crushing smaller ones using Duer-Swords, and allowed bodyguards to be maintained without making it impossible for a lord to be killed.

Ya'rhaak Status

Of course, Duer-Swords also became part of the Ya'rhaak with this declaration, a position that had before this point been reserved for the Yakhmata Chroniclers (the writers of the Chronicles of the Travelling). They were banned from doing manual labour that did not involve training with a blade or other weapons, became 'neutral' (that is, they do not consider any master more highly than another) and cannot be harmed by Duer or by one ordered to do harm by Duer unless they declare a formal state of combat (using the word 'Shas'raak'), although neither can they harm another Duer. Non-Duer are considered fair opponents for a Duer-Sword without the declaration of Shas'raak, and they may use their judgement in that situation.

Almost all Houses have at least one Duer-Sword (that is, the weapon) in their possession, either a newer one produced in one of the adapted Draconic forges, particularly the Armoury, or one passed down since the original creation. Very rarely is this artefact used, though - it is there for the unspoken purpose of being taken up by the last remaining member of the House to pay the Blood Debt by becoming an independent Duer-Sword if something terrible occurs.

Blood Debt and Dr'Aakrhark

Many of those with a vast Blood Debt became independent Duer-Swords during the Housewar, when this custom became popular. Essentially, these Dr'Aakrhark (roughly translating as Blood-Oath-Blades) are Duer with the blade and the skills, holding to the last of the four Bind-Laws, but not seeing the other three as applying to them. Although these are seen as the same as normal Duer-Swords by outsiders, many traditionalist Duer see them as a corruption of the ideal of being a Duer-Sword - a neutral force of lethal power outside any body. Some of these Duer still remain, staying outside of main society, and incur the pity of many other Duer, who see their state as too sad for words.

Training and Retirement

Duer-Swords are generally trained by other, older Duer-Swords. Styles of combat are not particularly restricted, and so many styles may be learned by a single Duer-Sword before he finds one or a mix of several that he feels is his perfection. Some Duer-Swords spend years working on their particular styles before passing them on to others. There are very few persistent methods, however, as small changes are made by each pupil. This is encouraged. Older tutors often pass on their blades if one is not already possessed by the pupil, and give up their combatant lives.

Yakhmata

The Yakhmata (full title: Yakhmata'Shand'aaku) fill an equally integral role in Duer Society to the Duer-Swords. They, however, are the chroniclers of Duer history, society, and language, the original writers of the Shand'aak'on Nel'Masaabh, and the tellers of tales. As Duer-Swords and Darova, the Yakhmata are Ya'rhaak, or sacred. Their oaths mean that they cannot do manual labour and cannot kill or injure other Duer. Neither can they be killed or injured by Duer or those acting on behalf of Duer. They are a neutral party in any dispute, and are there only to chronicle (although sometimes they are used as diplomats in lieu of a Darova).

Neutrality and Yakhmata Co-operation

Although they have no official Order as the Darova do, no 'Brotherhood', Yakhmata frequently work together. As Chroniclers, it is always useful to compare notes, and fifty or more have been known to work on the same specific history. Copies are distributed amongst the Yakhmata freely, and the Great Libraries of any Duer leader are open to any Yakhmata neutrally, no matter what House he serves or is a part of. To use a Yakhmata to spy, however, is a disgustingly shaming thing to do.

Gender Status

Unlike many of the Duer societal positions, the Yakhmata are unbiased, gender-wise. Whilst generally Darova are male apart from the occasional midwife-healer devoted to Tinir Shadarak, Duer-Swords are never female, and leaders of Houses are always couples brought together through At'aak-bound couples from the same House or one man alone, the Yakhmata can be any gender. They are sworn to celibacy, and cannot perform Ata'ak with themselves unless they give up their status of Ya'rhaak, possible but shaming.

Day-to-Day Functions

The primary day-to-day function of a Yakhmata is to chronicle his or her master's deeds, list the happenings on nearby islands, and increase Duer knowledge of all things, from plants and animals to the cultures and languages of others. Many Yakhmata speak, read and write Daemonic and Hariij fluently in addition to Sharuss (required in most Duer cultures to become a Yakhmata), and study the speakers of those languages intently, whilst some learn certain types of Free Magic to allow them to perform more detailed experiments.

The ability to read and write Sharuss is necessary for businessmen, Darova and certain other members of Duer society, and most of the Kin learn to do so. When a Yakhmata is apprenticed to a master, this is one of the first things he or she learns, and one of the things he or she gives in return for the free rein in libraries and other historical sites. Many Yakhmata also help Kin run their estates by mathematical knowledge, an ancient concept to the Duer but something that has never really been mastered by any other culture. 'Rakh'Shturussak' is the Duer word for it, and numerical processes - including decimals, the concept of '0' and percentages - are another thing that Yakhmata must learn (and another area that many Yakhmata specialise in).

Tandhus Climate and the Duer Calendar

Due to the bizarre orbit and tilt of the planet on which the Tandhus Archipelago exists, there are some extremely strange climate issues that its lifeforms have to deal with. The most startling of these to an outside observer is the constantly shifting equator. Over a period of ten years, areas within what the Duer have christened the 'Zak'Staash', or 'Moving Place' will go from near-rainforest temperatures to as cold as a temperate winter. As the planet returns towards the Sun, it gets hotter and the equator moves back to its original positioning. Due to this, the Duer have a dramatically different calendar to our own.

Firstly, the calendar has no concept of 'years', exactly. There are Cycles - although only extremely formal dates, for Histories and Chronicles, are measured in Cycles - which equate roughly to the ten-year period it takes for the planet to go around the Sun. More important in Duer terms are the Seasons, a lot longer than our own. There are fourteen Duer seasons in a Cycle, two identical sets of six and two unique ones, beginning with Raksh'aan in the hottest points of the Cycle, all the way through Daksh'aan, Zek'aal, Maksh'aan, Rekza'aan, Manda'aan and Gulz'aan to Hammaz, the coldest part of the Cycle. Hammaz then returns to Gulz'aan, which then goes on to Manda'aan, and so on. In histories and chronicles, these 'second seasons' are often noted by either recording the dates in 'Half-Cycles' or writing them as Mez'Gulz'aan (lit. Second Gulz'aan) and so on.

Each Season is divided up into four month-like periods of Yaash'mah, Duun, Raakza'mah and Za'diin'mah. These are merely there for historical accuracy (and Raakza'mah marks harvest), but are the smallest unit of time above days.

Finally, there are days. This is the length of time taken, as on our earth, for the planet to rotate once on its axis. Duer are equally at home in light and in darkness, and so, like us, do not necessarily go to sleep when the sun goes down. Days are marked simply by a suitably inflected number suffixiated with 'ne, which would translate as 'First day', 'Second day', 'Third day' and so on.

Technology

As has been mentioned before, Duer are mostly unrestrained by taboo, religious or cultural, where knowledge is concerned. The study of the body and other biology is quite advanced amongst them, aided by scholars using unique methods of Free Magic, whilst their knowledge of chemistry has advanced extremely rapidly aided by arcane buffers and protections. In particular, they have made three major advances in technology and science that are used in their day-to-day lives - the Art of the Scent, appreciated by many Duer instead of more conventional art, the uniform applications of that art, and a primitive form of Gunpowder.

Firstly, the Art. This is a form of decoration unappreciated by any other species, and there are obvious reasons why. To the eye, a piece of scented art often looks like little more than a small dome puckered with uneven holes, and smells... strange, or uninteresting, or at worst disgusting. However, to a Duer's extremely sensitive sense of smell, any well-made and new piece will bring back memories, or conjure up images. A Duer can recognise hundreds of scents where a human will only pick up one, and scent art is often used to calm or create an atmosphere within a room.

Secondly, the Art in Uniforms. Duer cannot see, and therefore cannot detect colour, and so standard uniforms for military forces are useless - however, ranks still exist. As ranks became more prominent in the years since the colonisation of the Archipelago (and other similar events in other Duer cultures who share this advancement), new, smaller examples of the Art, with a few rarely-occuring flowers used, were incorporated into standard military uniforms so that other Duer can scent their rank.

Thirdly, Gunpowder. Known as YÄ"dunom-Yédun Zāāk, or 'Flame-to-the-fire powder', this alchemical miracle is a relatively new find of only four years. The first great experiment being performed now with it is of course the development of the KúdDakranaj, or 'Flinger of Rocks'. This takes the form of a short, wide, hefty tube, hung by a thick leather strap around the shoulder and firing a small orb of iron or rock. The current forms of this weapon have a range of about fifty feet, and although they are extremely inaccurate, can have all the devastating effect of a Free Mage for much less of the bother. Scholars speculate that fired en masse, these could be the weapons of the future.

The most lethal of all Duer weapons, however, is the YÄ"dunDakranaj, a much older weapon with a similar name and a similar, but much more dangerous, function. The weapon consists of a long tube with multiple large reservoirs at one end and a large pump held under the foot connected to it. The reservoirs are highly pressurised beforehand by use of the pump, and each contain a part of the compound known as 'ZÅ«Å«nel Hulyedinajur', or, in a non-literal translation, 'The burner even of water'. It is referred to more shortly by other species as Duerflame. When a small lever atop the barrel is moved, it opens a sluice that releases the pressure rapidly, expelling the various parts of the compound out through the tube. Within the barrel, they mingle, producing the reaction that gives ZÅ«Å«nel Hulyedinajur its name - a chemical that continues burning even on water. It continues down the barrel and expels itself at short range, creating a ten-foot long blast of flaming horror that burns the skin and eyes and sets fire to everything before it. It is due to this weapon, which en masse can stop the most determined charge, that the Tandhus Archipelago was never conquered. It is said that Zakara Koj'naak created this weapon, and the compound used, during the Travelling, and this assumption is based off references to a 'Flame that burns on water' noted towards the end of the migrations.

Very interesting about the Duer swords. Is this also a way of preventing serious outbreaks of internal warfare?

About the time cycle, I have to say that that is one thing that is creating a strong sense of the Duer culture. Of COURSE they would have no concept of days or years as we understand it--how could they? Most interesting. How would this say affect how they would talk about time?

QuoteVery interesting about the Duer swords. Is this also a way of preventing serious outbreaks of internal warfare?

About the time cycle, I have to say that that is one thing that is creating a strong sense of the Duer culture. Of COURSE they would have no concept of days or years as we understand it--how could they? Most interesting. How would this say affect how they would talk about time? [/quote]

In terms of layman's time (hours, minutes and so on), Duer tend to reference it by the sun. Although they can't see it, they do have a 'light receptor' incorporated into their senses which allows them to detect, roughly, where it is in the sky.