UNITED LISSONIAN TREEHOLDS

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• SPECIES: Lissonian
• SYSTEMS/PLANETS: Groombridge 1618

Culture

• Intergovernmental Organization/"World Government" - United Lissonian Treeholds
• 3 Major and 5 Minor Nations ("Holds")
• 1 "Global Language" [Lissonian], 2 "Major Languages" [Leef, Mariata], 5 "Minor Languages" [Charesh, Railaka, Shakana, Taina, Zaina]
• Societal Scribbles
  • Marriage/Union - no 'set number', anywhere between 2 and <some stupidly large number here as a record>
  • Koshiir Ra: Leef -> think scandinavian
  • Koshiir Ra: Charesh -> think middle eastern
  • Koshiir Ra: Railaka -> think indian
  • Koshiir Ra: Shakana -> think australian (i.e. everything is trying to kill you in Shakan) with bits of "no natives until people from Leef fled there to escape <thing>"
  • Cultures/Holds
    • Charesh - Born Pilot, Desert Dweller, Heat Tolerance, Level-Headed, Seagoing
      • Charesh holds a unique place on Lissonia - they make their home on the landmass of the planet that lacks any jungle. Language-wise, Charesh is guttural.
    • Leef ("Land of Lee") - Agricultural, Charming, Connoisseur, Gregarious, Jungle Dweller
      • Richest among the Holds agriculturally, Leef could feed the vast majority of Lissonia...if they weren't constantly trying to one-up Mariata. Leef is the second-oldest civilization on Lissonia, arising separate from Mariata a short time after the rise of that oldest of the Holds. To this day, Leef still has the largest population of herd animals and arable 'farmland,' and they are consequently also one of the most stable societies on the planet since they rarely suffer resource shortages. However, this has also led to a certain quirk of culture, for the Leef are some of the most hedonistic Lissonians on the planet. Cultural celebrations of plenty abound, with participants gorging themselves to excess before spending several days to recover. Leef had little to no interest in conquest, and the only reason that their language became so popular was due to the popularity of their culture's festivities and cultural emissaries which spread alongside Mariata's explorers. Language-wise, leef is flowing (for a lack of a better term), almost musical.
    • Mariata ("Land of the Children") - Forester, Glib Tongue, Jack-of-All-Trades, Jungle Dweller
      • Oldest among the Holds, Mariatan culture and history goes back thousands of years. While there may have been Lissonian culture before the rise of the Mariata, it was the Mariata that made the first attempt at civilization in the trees of the largest subtropical landmass of Lissonia. The climate in the area was similar to that of the northern Mediterranean on Earth. Language-wise, Mariata is a 'babbling' language with no concept of spaces or pauses between words in a sentence.
    • Railaka ("Followers of the Paths") - Efficient, Forester, Forward-Thinking, Industrious, Jungle Dweller, Specialist
      • Railakan culture revolves around devotion to the Paths, with each Railakan following anywhere from two to four Paths. The Paths are a combination of spiritual journey and career path, though not every path is as suited for work as others are. Each Railakan has at least two paths - a Chosen path and an Assigned path. Chosen paths change as the Railakan ages, while an Assigned path is determined during youth. Additionally, one or two Inherited paths can be passed down from parent to child, in the case of multi-generational goals such as long-duration experiments, family business, and the like. Railaka is an offshoot of Mariata, and as such their languages are very similar (think Latin's relationship to Spanish, Italian, and French)
        • Artist
        • Beast-Speaker - animal tamer
        • Disciplined Warrior - Psionic-only path, originally developed as a way to control the privacy-intruding impulses of Railakan psions. Any psion born into Railaka has this as their Assigned path (by law). Disciplined Warrior followers made up the majority of the Railakan military. Railaka maintains no standing military, but the Disciplined Warrior followers form a sort of militia in service to the state.
        • Scientist
        • Sage
        • Seer
    • Shakana - Adaptable, Distrustful, Explorer, Forester, Guerilla Fighter, Jungle Dweller
      • Unlike the other primary cultures, the Shakana are a relative newcomer on the societal scene. Descended from the Order of Shakan, a religious minority that believed in constant exposure to hardship to temper the soul, mind, and body. Disgusted with the hedonism that had been running rampant during the reign of Emperor Lødæfeesk, the Order left Leef 300 Earth-years ago to settle the harsh lands of the landmass referred to as Kæorga - the dangerous lands. Kæorga was a feral land, rich with wildlife and untapped resources. The reason why it had been left alone was the dangerous nature of the native wildlife - everything there was dangerous in some way. But in the risk, the Order saw the potential for enlightenment and spiritual perfection. Beginning with only a small colony, the Shakana soon spread across Kæorga, living in a harmonious perpetual battle with a land that still seems intent on killing every last one of the Shakana through a variety of nasty creatures. 200 Earth-years later, the Shakana had tamed the Kæorga and set their sights on the next hostile frontier - space. Language-wise, Shakana is defined by hard consonants. Shakanan culture is still driven by the four core edicts of the Order of Shakan - danger, discipline, self-depravation, and self-perfection.
        • Danger - Exposure to danger is the path to discipline and self-perfection.
        • Discipline - Only through discipline can danger be overcome, and discipline leads to self-perfection.
        • Depravation - Depravation increases a reliance upon one's own personal discipline and skills.
        • Self-Perfection - The ultimate goal of Shakan, reliance upon one's own perfected self.
    • Taina and Zaina - Forester, Good Listener, Historian, Jungle Dweller, Religious Influence
      • While individually they count as 'minor cultures', together Taina and Zaina rival Mariata for influence and history on Lissonia. Taina and Zaina are constantly bickering with each other over which of them is the true inheritor to their progenitor culture, the Aina, which fell around 100 Earth-years ago, right around when the Lissonians were making their first forays into space. Aina was a theocratic nation led by the majority faith of Lissonia when the Lissonians entered space, and proof that life was not unique to their planet shattered the Aina faith into two distinct faiths. Taina and Zaina are the 'victors' of the bloody civil war that erupted in Aina, if there can be said to have been victors. Taina's stance is that all the other civilized species are descended from the same 'progenitor jungle' and have taken to searching space for it, since they believe that the faith's historical doctrines must have had some sort of subconscious truth. Zaina's stance is that the 'progenitor jungle' couldn't possibly have existed, but that the rest of the faith is still true, including all the prophets and mythical history. Language-wise, Taina and Zaina are very similar, and both contain elements of tonally-based language.

Cuisine

Lissonian cuisine is diverse, and with a heavy emphasis on food texture as much as taste. And more notably - it's actually safe to consume for humans. Lissonian dietary needs are split roughly 30%/30%/30% between meats, fruits, and vegetables, with the remaining 10% being things that are harder to classify (fruit-like vegetables, meat-like fruits, and so on).

Marilith Shakur ("Child of the Great Tree")

This amber-colored liquor is roughly 15% alcohol by volume, and is a product of fermentation and dilution of the sap of the shakur tree. It is traditionally served in a wide, shallow bowl, with the seeds of the roolah plant mixed in it, which are almost microscopic in size. A human drinking marilith shakur might feel like there's lots of tiny bubbles in the liquid due to these seeds, but to a Lissonian its more like...something erotic. A DC 5 Constitution check avoids the headache and hangover-like symptoms that can accompany consumption of this beverage. The beverage itself has cultural significance, as it is surmised that the discovery of the fermented sap of the marilith shakur could be responsible for the rise of Lissonian civilization - not unlike the theories that beer or wine could be responsible for the rise of Human civiliation. This beverage is a staple of the Mariata hold's cuisine.

Leepas ("Lee Balls")

This dish is made of ground lee (a tree-dwelling herbivore not unlike a giant sloth) meat, infused with an oddly simple array of spices (for Lissonian cuisine), and shaped into orbs. The orbs are then pan-seared, after which time they are simmered in a mixture of lee stock and marilath shakur. The mixture is simmered until the lee stock and marilath shakur have completely evaporated, and the orbs are then pan-seared a second time to return them to the proper temperature. The steaming-hot meat pieces are then served right out of the pan, and are traditionally eaten with bare hands. This dish and variations of it are a staple of the Leef hold's cuisine.