ALL NOVEL Culture of the Hidan
The Tribes of the Hidan
The Hidan plains are a stretch of land in the eastern corner of Hell, the world which was abandoned by Kingu. They are a fertile land empowered by the greater fey dragon who lives in and rules over the great eastern forest.
The plains are bordered on the south by the white mountains, on the east by the great eastern forest of the fey, and in the north by the dragon eye, the great ocean which is the domain of the northern guardian. These plains extend far to the west, and there is no certain location that can be called the end of the plains. However, at some point, the power of the fey which brings fertility to the land begins to wane and it becomes an area known as “the disputed zone.” There is no definite cut-off that defines this boarder, but it is a zone in which nobody can agree as to whether it is territory belonging to the east or the west and most who do not have a taste for blood would rather avoid this region all together.
Within these plains are a number of nomadic tribes of fey worshiping humans, all of whom have similar practices and are all descended from the same bloodline which manifests the powerful ability to easily tame and control the most savage of wild beasts.
There is some disagreement as to whether the tribes are named for the plains or the plains named for the tribes. The only thing that is certain is that the two share the same name.
Other denizens of the plains
The tribes of the Hidan are far from the only denizens of these plains. There are also other nomads within these regions, as well as many more permanent human settlements upon these particularly fertile plains. People looking for an easier life. The Hidan tribes, the original denizens of these plains, often look down upon these outsiders and become contentious over their lack of reverence for the fey.
Due to the culture of power that has been cultivated by the Hidan tribes, they often have more powerful warriors than those of the outsiders. However, the outsiders have numbers and the Hidan often find it is not worth it to make war with these outsiders and will avoid conflict unless one particular group of outsiders has committed a particularly egregious offence.
In cases where the Hidan go to war with the outsiders, several tribes will band together and come down on their settlement with a force of numbers that can even outweigh those of the outsiders, outclassing them both in numbers and in strength. In this manner, the Hidan can completely wipe the entire large cities of the outsiders from the map. For this reason, the outsiders have learned to fear and respect the power of the Hidan.
Aside from human outsiders, there are also occasional dense forests that exist interspersed within the plains. These are separate from the great eastern forest that is home to the dragon queen of the fairies, and it is often the case that these forests may host an independent elven city. Although they are considered lesser members, the elves are still considered to be members of the fey and are held as being above the station of humans. For this reason, the Hidan respect the boarders of the forests and never enter, and they will also consider incursions on the forest by outsiders to be a violation worthy of punishment.
Culture of the Hidan
Animal husbandry:
The Hidan posess a powerful bloodline magic that allows them a powerful form of animal empathy, and the ability to partially dominate any creature created by Ugallu, Kulullu, or Kusanikku, who created the lesser beasts of the land, sea, and air. Those with particularly powerful spirits and advancement in their skills can also tame the chimeras of Akrabamelu and the wyverns of Umu-dabrutu, and even the ability to tame some of the more animalistic demons and monsters.
However, there is no level of power that will allow a Hidan to tame a humanoid or a true dragon. Meanwhile, it is unknown as to whether or not it is possible to tame a fey. No Hidan would ever dare to attempt such a thing as it would be seen as blasphemous enough to be subject to death for even making the attempt.
Animal husbandry is an important part of Hidan culture, but none of their tamed animals are ever considered as a source of food. All meat is hunted, none of the tamed animals are ever slaughtered.
The Hidan prefer to tame powerful beasts that are capable in combat and will avoid creatures that could be considered livestock or pets. Stronger and sturdier creatures such as unicorn beasts (Rhinoceros) might be made to pull carts while the tribe is on the move, while the more lithe wolves and large cats are used as hunting animals or in combat against their foes.
Mounted combat is common among the Hidan, and they prefer long spears that can be alternately wielded as lances or javelins in combat. For this reason, male Hidan will prefer a sturdier animal as their war beast, such as a Rhinoceros or a Hippo who can carry replacement weapons for when one is thrown or breaks, while the women who often tend to be more capable with magic will ride on the backs of apex predators who are more lithe and maneuverable.
Family:
The typical Hidan tribe consists of anywhere between 3 and 7 families. A family is all people who are descended from the same living woman, and refer to themselves as the family of (name of family matriarch.)
The Hidan tradition is that boys are raised by their mothers until the age of 10, after which they are raised by their uncles. Girls are raised by their mothers until they come of age. A girl is considered to have come of age when her ears are long enough to properly be mistaken for an elf, if not for the metal clasps she would have to wear to keep them from falling. Females of the Hidan have a practice of stretching their ears in their youth with ear-clasps which are pierced into the auricles of the ear. A chain is then attached to the ears and wrapped around her hair-bun in a way to slowly stretch her ears over the course of her childhood.
Upon coming of age, she will have the ear-clasps exchanged for ear-splits, which will go inside her elongated ears in order to hold them up. The typical age of adulthood for women in this manner can range from 14 to 24, depending on how plastic the ear tissue is and how forceful they are with stretching. They are very aware of the danger of the ears ripping should they stretch too hard, which is a tragic experience that can actually cause the stretching process to take longer. It is, therefore, also seen as an exercise in wisdom for a girl to judge how quickly she should be stretching her ears, and it is seen as a great source of shame if she causes her ear to rip due to making her chain too tight.
Girls who become pregnant before coming of age will have any children who result from this pregnancy claimed by their mother as she will be viewed as not yet wise enough to raise children on her own. These children will remain the property of the girl’s mother even after she comes of age.
Each adult woman receives their own tent, in which she and all the children she is raising sleep. The men, meanwhile, will sleep outside along with male children aged 10 and older.
Procreation within the same family is not allowed, all sexual partners must be taken from among one of the families the tribe travels together with. There are no prolonged relationships between sexual partners among the Hidan. All children who result from such a union are considered to belong to the woman and her family.
Sexual relations, however, are extremely important and paid attention to within the Hidan tribes. It is believed that wisdom is the most important quality a woman can have, and that wisdom is best demonstrated by her ability to raise wise daughters. The best mark of having a wise daughter, then, is the ability to raise a good family. A sign of a good family is to have good capable grand-sons, and the sign of capable grand-sons is judged by the grand-daughters of all the other families in terms of who they find most sexually desirable.
As such, each head of the family desires to have a number of strong and capable grand-sons who the grand-daughters of other families will find desirable as this will mark her as the most wise among the tribe, and thus the one most fit to lead them.
Genders and outside interactions
The genders among the Hidan are strictly separated even though they travel outdoors with no physical boundaries between them other than the dwelling of the women in tents at night and the men outdoors. For the most part, women stay among other women and men among other men except in cases where the women are looking for sexual partners.
It is the tradition of the Hidan that the women approach the men. The men have the right to refuse a woman’s advances, and it is seen as a mark of pride among the men to be able to be choosy in which partner he takes. As such, the men of the Hidan are trained not to accept a woman’s advances easily.
The only time in which the men may approach the women is when a representative from the tribe’s male warriors wishes to report something of importance, in which case he will approach either his family matriarch or her representative. In cases of something that is particularly important, and if he belongs to a family that is not the one in leadership of the tribe, he may instead choose to approach the tribal leader instead of his own family matriarch.
In regards to those who are not a member of their own or another Hidan tribe, it is the tradition of the Hidan that it is the women who deal with the Fey and the men who deal with the outsiders. When it comes to the fey or outsiders, this rule supersedes the normal gender mixing rules and dictates that Hidan men can freely interact with female outsiders and Hidan women freely interact with male fey.
Religion
The Hidan believe that when they approach death, the dullahan who acts as their avatar of death will be the one who takes their souls to the next life. The dullahan will carry a rotten and decayed head under their arm that will bear a vague resemblance of the person who is about to die. As the dullahan returns to visit each night, the head will become less and less decayed and more closely resemble the one who is to die. Upon the moment of that person’s death, the person’s soul will leave their body and go to inhabit the head of the dullahan, at which point it will then bear an exact resemblance of themselves and the dullahan will place the head upon it’s shoulders and it will attach to the neck.
At this point, the dullahan will possess the full mind of the Hidan who had just perished. The horse will then carry them to the home of the fey where they will be reborn. A weak adult Hidan will have their soul delivered to an elf, and the dullahan will spit out their soul where it will then inhabit the unborn body and become an elven child. A stronger Hidan or a Hidan child will be carried by the horse to the great Eastern forest. A powerful adult Hidan will then transform into a great fairy, while a child will transform into a common fairy.
It is considered exceedingly rude for anyone to look at a dullahan during their visit. This is because some people will look at them with fear and revulsion, either because of the decayed state of their head or out of resentment for the fact that they have come to claim the lives of their family. These negative emotions bear a negative spirit energy, which the dullahan will react hostilely to. For a first warning, the dullahan will often throw water or animal blood at the offender. Repeat offenders who exhibit this behavior over multiple nights or many times on the same night will be physically attacked.
Any fairy or elf could be the ancestor of a member of the Hidan, and as such they consider the fey to be very important. Once a year, a Hidan tribe will make a journey to the eastern forest for a ritual of remembrance to their ancestors which they call the spirit communion. During this meeting, occasionally a former member of their family who had become a fairy may come to visit them. Unlike elves, fairies will often retain their memories of their previous lives. Occasionally, fey who are completely unrelated to the tribe will show up as well. These are treated the same kind of respect and reverence as the Hidan would treat their own ancestors, if not more so. After all, they view the fey as superior to themselves and during the spirit communion they are always aware that they are the ones who are the guests being invited to the home of the fey.
The spirit communion is the only time in Hidan tradition where it is acceptable for the Hidan men to also interact with the fey. The women will approach first in a form of the matriarchs of each family riding ahead of the rest of the caravan. They will greet any fey who have come to meet them and exchange important news. After this, the remainder of the caravan will catch up and ready a celebration in which they will feast and exchange leisurely stories with one another
If at all possible, the Hidan will attempt to bring the physical bodies of their deceased to the great forest after they have passed. The body will be taken by the fairies and given to an elven village to be berried according to elven burial rights. If this is not possible, their dead will either be taken to the nearest elven forest or, if not even that is possible, then they will be berried under the largest tree that is convenient.
It is rare for the Hidan to be invited along to see the bodies of their loved ones berried in the elven manner, but on occasion when a great member of the Hidan has died and has been successfully brought to a forest, several prominent members of that Hidan’s own family may be allowed to enter the forest and witness the burial. Any who are invited in are sworn to secrecy in regards to certain issues, including elven child-rearing practices for which they fear what the Hidan response may be.
Note on elven child rearing practices:
Elves, being fey, have the ability to feed on the spirit energy of humans. It has been found that being exposed to large amounts of spirit energy during infancy and childhood will aid in a young elf’s growth and stability.
For this reason, the elves have long engaged in a practice of abducting human children as young as possible, preferably between the ages of a year and a half to 2. An age at which they will be capable of surviving without their mothers, but are also still young enough to be easily influenced by the new culture they were abducted into.
The great fairies who have come from the Hidan have agreed that it is important the tribes on the outside not discover this practice as there is a high risk that they may begin eagerly volunteering their children to the elves. This is seen as something undesirable as the excessive coddling that the elves give to the humans they keep as pets for their children would not help them to grow strong. It is the dearest wish of the Hidan to grow strong and earn their own place among the fey, and any child who is taken in by the elves will have that potential squashed.
For this reason, any Hidan who discover this are charged with the duty to keep the secret. In part, this is the actual reason why elders and important representatives are invited in to observe some burials. It is so that they can be entrusted with this secret and seek to suppress information about it should they see it on the outside.