Culture of the League of Balúrail

Introduction

Painting of a traveler on a winter's night

The culture of the League of Balúrail is chiefly that of the Tuzquão, who make up most of the League's population, together with that of the Mifajene, the native people of Balúrail. Tuzquão culture has been shaped by Balúrail's swamps and long winters, by the Ascendant Spirit Mavai, whose love of mystery runs through its arts and thought, and by the League's history as a colony of the Kingdom of Bóinbile and then as an independent state. The state religion is Parethism, a branch of Tefar. Mifajene culture, centered on the Mifajene Reservation, has its own script, arts and traditions.

History

Colonial period (201–289 ME)

The first settlers came from the Kingdom of Bóinbile in Gosterra in 201 ME and brought Gostaldi culture with them, along with the Yeparchist branch of Tefar. Writing in the colonies was in Gostaldi, chiefly chronicles of the settlements and religious texts.

Formative period (289 – c. 400 ME)

After independence in 289 ME, Tuzquês became distinct from Gostaldi and was first written down, and a Tuzquão identity took shape. Mavai's influence on the settlers grew, and a rich tradition of storytelling developed. In the First Mifajene War, c. 320–342 ME, the League took the southern and coastal lowlands from the Mifajene.

Age of Expansion (c. 400 – c. 790 ME)

A Tuzquão painting of a nude woman with a mask.

The League turned inland, exploring and settling the interior of Balúrail rather than lands overseas. Explorers such as Gir Onzirro mapped the inland lakes and rivers, and the states of Ezinco and Gurverde and the territory of Eimbuver were added to the League. The Second Mifajene War, c. 590–612 ME, brought the rest of the lowlands under League rule, and the Mifajene Reservation was established in 704 ME. Printing, which reached the League around 450 ME, spread explorers' journals, sea tales and collections of older tales.

Modern period (c. 800 ME – present)

The modern period has brought railways, from 861 ME, along with the telegraph, photography and, in Têr, electric light. The cities have grown, novels and newspapers have spread, and the philosopher Sorris Elirilde wrote in the 840s ME.

Language and Literature

The language of the League is Tuzquês, which descends from Gostaldi and is written in the Gostaldi alphabet. The scripture and liturgy of Tefar remain in Bintzaila, which survives as a learned and religious language. Literacy is high in the cities and lower in the countryside.

During the colonial period, writing in Balúrail was in Gostaldi, chiefly chronicles of the settlements and religious texts. Tuzquês was first written down after independence. Alongside it grew a rich storytelling tradition, including tales of Mavai and of the swamps, such as the legends of silent monks wandering the marshes. Storytellers have long used the berries of the Ipuimbe as a source of inspiration.

Printing reached the League around 450 ME. During the Age of Expansion, explorers' journals, sea tales and chronicles of the Mifajene Wars were widely printed, along with collections of older tales. In the modern period, novels and newspapers have spread, and traveling shows carry storytelling to the towns and the countryside. Mystery stories are especially popular and have a long tradition in Tuzquão literature.

Printing in the League is censored. An underground printing trade produces books and other writing that the censors would not allow.

The Mifajene have their own script and written tradition, including histories of their towns and of their wars with the League.

Visual Arts

Tuzquão painting is known for atmospheric landscapes of mist, water and winter light, and for portraits; works associated with Mavai often show veiled or masked figures and unexplained scenes. Mask-making is among the most important crafts of the League, and masks associated with Mavai are worn in ceremonies and kept on display. Wood carving is common in a land rich in timber, as are weaving and other textile crafts. Photography, introduced from Elursāde, has been in use in the League's cities since the mid-800s ME.

The Mifajene have their own visual tradition. Their houses, built with the Path of Tahami, carry raised geometric patterns shaped into the walls as they are raised. They embroider sashes, wraps and hangings with dense geometric designs, use their script decoratively on walls, objects and documents, and carve wood and bone. The oldest surviving Mifajene art is the cave art of the Donal Hills.

Performance Arts

A masked ball in Têr

Masked theater is closely associated with Mavai: its plays turn on hidden identities and secrets, and the performers are masked. Traveling shows of storytellers, players and musicians tour the towns and the countryside. Music ranges from the church music of Parethism to folk songs of the long winters, the sea and peat cutting; reed instruments are made from the Cantuim, whose stems already make song-like sounds in the wind.

In villages and at Lelêrrisse, dancers join hands in long chain dances, singing narrative ballads led by a single singer, and many old tales survive in this form. Masked balls are popular in the cities, and couple dances fill the halls through the long winters.

The Mifajene have their own music and dance. Praise singers recite the histories of families and towns, accompanied by drums that imitate speech, and long reed horns are played at the spring festival of Tahami, where dances are performed in lines and circles, some of them in the flooded shallows.

Philosophy

Tuzquão philosophy is marked by the tension between keeping secrets and seeking out the truth. Its best-known thinker, Sorris Elirilde, active in the 840s ME, published his works under a series of pseudonyms, each presenting a different point of view, and argued that the most important truths cannot be stated directly but must be found by each person for themselves.

Parethist theology is the League's chief contribution to the thought of Tefar. Its theologians debate how the afterlife is being formed, whether every life of communion adds to it, and what becomes of those who do not commune, and many describe God as hidden: real, but to be sought rather than seen.

Because of the League's censorship, much political thought has developed through the underground presses, where writers have argued about legitimacy and hidden power, often in works whose real argument lies beneath an ordinary surface.

Science and Technology

Tuzquão in traditional dress

The technology of the League is that of an industrializing state. Printing reached Balúrail around 450 ME. Firearms and cannon have long been used in war; Osia supplements them but plays a limited part, since it takes years of study and few Osiari serve as soldiers. Shipbuilding is one of the League's strongest industries, and steamships now work its coasts alongside sailing vessels.

Railways have been built since 861 ME, and telegraph lines run beside them and to the major ports. Photography, introduced from Elursāde, has been in use in the cities since the mid-800s ME. Electric lighting has begun to appear in Têr, the only city in the League where it is in use.

Peat, cut from the swamps by an established trade of peat farmers, is the League's most plentiful fuel. It heats most homes and also fires some locomotives and small industries.

Osia otherwise plays little part in daily life or industry. Tuzquão Osiari are few, and most train at the House of Mavai. The Mifajene build their houses and towns with the Path of Tahami.

Lifestyle

Tuzquão food is built on fish, fresh or smoked over peat, with root crops and rye and barley from the dry ground, game such as the Oeinso, and berries and mushrooms gathered from the swamps. The national dish is a whole Lacutão baked slowly inside a thick rye crust, which keeps for days and is carried by peat cutters and travelers. Lumbage tea is the everyday drink; through the long winters the favored drink is a brandy distilled from Talme berries.

Traditional dress is made for the cold. Women wear a long linen shirt with embroidered sleeves under a long sleeveless dress or pinafore, with an apron and a headscarf or, on occasions, an embroidered headdress. Men wear a long shirt fastened at the side and belted at the waist, trousers tucked into boots, and a long wool coat. Felt or fur hats and felt boots are worn through the winter, and clothing is decorated with geometric embroidery, commonly in red on white or deep blue. Everyday dress in the cities follows modern fashions, while traditional dress is worn in the countryside and on festive occasions.

Towns are built on dry ground and along the coast. Rural houses are of timber, often raised above the wet ground, and heated by peat fires; the cities are built of stone and brick. The Tuzquão are close-knit and loyal to their villages, towns and local communities, and most take little interest in politics.

The Mifajene eat almost entirely fish and berries, among them Talme and Elurbe. They wear little clothing, but ornamental bead necklaces are common, and the jewelry a Mifajene wears shows their standing. Their houses are framed in wood on ground shaped with the Path of Tahami and covered over with peat.

Sports

Skater on a frozen lake near Têr

Winter sports dominate in Balúrail. Skating on frozen lakes, rivers and canals is the most common pastime, and a team game played on ice with curved sticks and a small ball draws large crowds in the cities. In the Eastern Highlands, skiing is used both for travel and in races. In summer, long boats rowed by crews of a dozen or more race on the lakes, a tradition that began with congregations rowing to church together. Shooting contests are popular in the countryside.

The Mifajene hold swimming and diving contests at the spring festival of Tahami.

Tourism

Few visitors come to Balúrail for pleasure. Its ports, above all Têr, are stopping places for ships traveling between Gosterra and the other continents.