Digir

Interpersonal Reactions

Centuries of bitterness between the Digir people and their Daoine or Huldufolk neighbors are not easily forgotten. These three tribes largely do not get along for protracted periods of time. Huldufolk tendencies as thieves and slavers leave Digir wary of them and the secretive nature of Digir peaks Huldufolk curiosity thus forming a vicious cycle. Daoine and Digir have had terrible clashes as far bask as the Age of Summer, culminating in the wasting of The Waning Gate.

Recent history has brought the various nations of Inis Mona closer together with the forming of the Council of Dòchas Ùr. While misgivings and tolerances still vary from person to person, cooperation is largely the order of the current age.

Origin Archetypes

Digir are almost always assigned tasks and careers at birth, based on their star signs. The star signs associated with a job can be discerned from the Domains that particular MUL-Constellation. Because of this caste system, many of their career paths are closed ecosystems with little knowledge outside of that job:

• Artisan, Enlisted Soldier, Fell Hunter, Librarian, Menial*, Mountaineer, Occultist, Ritualist, Smuggler**.

*Menials are almost always Wardu and service specialists such as artisans and soldiers.

**Smugglers are considered a necessary form of corruption by the upper-levels of Digir society who still enjoy things such as foreign wines and drugs.

Character Archetypes

The society of the Digir is heavily informed by their theocratic government and most of the "Adventurers" of the Digir people are more akin to errant-knights, espionage agents and wandering clerics which only leave their mountain homes with an express purpose. There is exceptions made when it comes to Digir living outside the mountains such as those in the Digir districts of Dòchas Ùr, and to a lesser extent Lwyg-Rath, or serve at outer temples such as the Temple of Dagon in the Crescent Bay:

• Alchemist, Cleric, Fighter, Inquisitor, Paladin, Spy, Ranger.

Common Names

Unisex Names

Digir are androgynous and have very little noticeable gender dichotomy, this leads to their society having very little gender strata, which is evident in digir personal names, all of which are as androgynous as their physical forms.

Alittum, Assoros, Belili, Darice, Nana, Sibri, Ubar, Urhammu, Zirratbaniti

Family names

Digir names are an expression of themselves and their destinies. A digir's given name is typically fairly unique; possibly a gathering of syllables the family found pleasant sounding. The digir's middle name is typically the family name which often comes from the family's greatest profession, a reference to a notable deed or person in the family's history. This name is the one most prone to change as it can be updated to reflect the ongoing changes of the family. Finally, the surname of the digir is a simple reference to the deific MUL-star they were born under, associating that digir with the star-god by name brings that particular deity into the family literally making the digir in question a relative of the celestial body.

Culture

Digir have, and as far as they are concerned, always will live far from the world and its problems in their mountain hold. From the first days they were ripped free from the heavens and formed as dustlings on the precipice of the Ardenroots they have hated and feared all other tribes. Deciding it was best to hide away in their nascent holds at the peaks of the mountains they while away their days in philosophical and religious pursuits. Over the years they've created vast wonders of art, pondered the higher meaning of the cosmos and perfected their celestial rhetoric.

Digir society is broken down into a series of cities, each city having its own High-Ordinator who is functionally a dictator and high priest for the temple of chief diety of the city. Each High-Ordinator then chooses of his council of Unknown a senator to represent him at the senate in the capital of the Digir people; The Crown of MUL-ANU. While Digir cities are not republics, the Digir ruling class is. Each High-Ordinator has total authority in his city, but large or sweeping changes in Digir society can only be done by the voting that takes place in the senatorial chambers. Likewise, reactions to crises and societal planning are done via vote as well. While the Unknown, the High-Ordinator of the High-Ordinators and head of the senate, is technically the leader of the Digir people he cannot make change or declaration without consent from his co-dictators in other cities.

While this keeps each city more or less independent and from any one Digir fully controlling the Digir people for long, it does mean that many of the Digir place a truly large amount of faith in their ruling theocratic leaders. It also binds the people of the cities in a large amount of bureaucracies that keep them from moving forward on many topics at any speed other than a crawl. In point of fact, most crises are over before deliberation on them has ended. This seems to be the preferred method of handling such situations; the Ordinators placing gag orders on their citizens and then ignoring the issue in senate.

The Digir peoples, traditionally insular and wary of outsiders, found themselves compelled to open up during the Year of Invasions, largely due to the influence of the Warrior-Orator Eighdruh. While they did not embrace this change with enthusiasm, they recognized the necessity of unity in the face of a common threat. Under Eighdruh's leadership, the Digir served with honor and distinction within the United Inisan Coalition, earning respect for their valor and integrity. Though they remain more reserved compared to other cultures, this period marked a significant shift in their willingness to engage with the outside world, proving their resilience and adaptability in times of crisis.

Native Language

Digir speak Akkadi mainly and those with greater access to learning may learn Moni. Very rarely, those Digir that venture further a field or spend prolonged time out on the Inis may learn New Moni for ease of communication with the Inis's inhabitants. This has, however, become more common as Digir migrate into acceptable settlements among the larger populace.

Akkadi in written form.

Customs & Values

Digir value, above all things, organization and compartmentalization in their society. Everything from the food that is grown to the lay out of furniture is preordained by the clerical caste and laid forth weeks, if not years, in advance. No decisions can be made without consulting the theologians and priests of the Digir peoples. Deliberation on social, economic and political topics can carry on for years at a time before a decision is finally made and yet that decision cannot be enacted without the religious auspices of ceremony. Literal, divine intervention is sometimes sought for breaking a stall in the constructive or planning processes of Digir cities. Even the commonfolk of the Digir nations refuse to undertake any departure from the norm without greatly deliberating on it as a family and then seeking the spiritual consultation of that family's favored priest.

Digir very strictly monitor the birth of new offspring in the cities beneath the mountains. Typically Digir will take excruciating pains to make certain their children are born on very specific dates in correspondence to specific star signs. This is because the entirety of Digir careers and professions are locked behind an astrological caste system. A Digir born beneath the zenith of a scrivener's star-sign, for instance, could never become a blacksmith. What star-signs are chosen are generally up to the family in question as some Digir families and cities have different evaluations for professional importance. Other times, it may be that a particular city is lacking one specific trade and families in that city are enticed away from their usual choices by promises of more prestige provided by a thankful government.

Regardless of a families reasons or decisions, the bearing of new life into Digir cities is highly regulated. Limited space and the monumental task of agriculture beneath a literal mountain demands that their society be exacting in many ways, the size of the population included. This being the case, many Digir families typically do not have more than one child every fifty years.

Digir are a pious and very spiritual people. Most of their cities incorporate sprawling temple complexes near the surface or cliffs. Here priests and priestesses fill the air with clouds of incense and large meditation groups gather to pontificate the greater mysteries and teachings of the stars. This priest caste, the Unknown, also form the ruling bodies of the Digir cities, becoming the spiritual and political core of the people.

The Digir have only two festivals of major observance, although one is observed only by the valley colonies in any strong way. Although, each god does have its own festival its up to their adherents to observe them and these are the only culture-wide festivals.

Akitum - The planting festival of Spring. This is a 12 day affair that celebrates the sowing of seeds in the valley colonies and is often only celebrated strongly there. In the city proper its treated as a minor festival at best. It revolves around simple, but large, feasts that the community comes together to share. Ceremonies lead by the local Bāru exalt the MUL and offer prayers for a fertile season.

The Feast of Marduk - Held at the end of the years just before winter. It is both a festival to remember Marduk Muranu Mul-Anu, the founder of the Digir senate and first Grand High Ordinator, and to give thanks for the myriad blessings received by the people through out the day. Vast feasts and sumptuous banquets are held through out the Digir cities where even the Unknown are offered to partake of the gods' bounty (albeit at a separate table or building).

Taboos

No Digir willingly brings an outsider through the gates of a Digir city without some express permission, often deliberated on democratically by the city's majority of the ruling body. Often such debates can go on for years and there's been more than one case where a possible outsider has expired by natural means while waiting for approval.

Digir do not pursue careers outside of their given professional caste. Those that do are treated as aberrant, shamed and often mocked openly in public for going against the will of the MUL deities. This is often a grueling and cruel affair. However, the public opinion will almost immediately revert if the individual falls back to their destined career path as if no transgression had ever happened.

Art & Architecture

Digir decorate their halls, walls and gates with great bas reliefs that display depictions of constellations, the MUL deities, allegorical scenes of historic note and the bygone leaders of the Digir people. Walls often do not contain writing with stories carved out in reliefs of startling detail across the walls. The general architecture tends to be simple. Soft sloping angles and wide flat surfaces. This is so the artists may apply sweeping reliefs and paintings to the sides of structures turning each building into a odyssey of art and history.

The Digir keep to the Ardenroots and some of the smaller nearby mountains, but never so far as the Sea Bastions. Within these mountains the Digir have excavated much of the stone and repurposed it into massive halls lining the interior of the mountains with cities and temples on a bewildering scale. Though they live beneath the stone, the Digir tend to build upwards from sea-level instead of further down where the Unseelie courts plot and older, more evil things gnaw at the roots of the mountains.

As they construct their homes, buildings and monuments towards the peak of the mountain, its not uncommon for protrusions of the Digir civilization to appear on cliff faces or the peaks of the mountains themselves and in fact most of the Ardenroots peaks have small buildings jutting from them. Some of the larger mountains even have great temple towers that rise above the coal-black clouds pouring out of the Wounded Sun.

The Digir often build small outdoor structures in valleys and along streams, rivers or springs. These typically aren't structures used for extended living and typically tend to be agricultural or recreational in nature. Most Digir cities have at least one great, metal gate that is ground-level or leads a road to the Inis below. These gates are zealously guarded by Digir who view the outside world with an extreme mistrust even for Digir.

Clothes & Dress

Digir wear loose fitting clothes often made from silk or sheer fabrics with no noticeable difference between what men and women wear. Digir consider things of a pale or violet nature to be the pinnacle of beauty. This means that their society often drapes itself in silvery-white finery or silks ranging from blue to lavender, sometimes even deep violet. Sheer fabrics adorned with fascinating religious paraphernalia or draped silks festooned in precious gems only vaguely hide the form of the Digir. A lack of easily noticed sexual dichotomy leaves the digir an unabashed and, to other tribes, fairly shameless people. These typically take the form of robes, tunics, or even over-the-shoulder sheets of fabric.

The hair is usually worn long and braided heaped on their head in complex patterns with a liberal amount of jewelry entwined in their meticulously cultured hair. However, some Digir express themselves with plain-style hair, cropped close with intricate patterns shorn into it creating geometric patterns of a staggering nature. Almost no Digir go bald and only the most extreme expressionists would shave their scalps. Facial hair is completely unknown to the Digir species.

Foods & Cuisine

Izimutab & Bitmu - Fire Burnt Seed and Seed Houses respectively; the first refers to a dark, acrid drink that the Digir developed to combat fatigue and lethargy during prolonged religious rituals. It became a cultural phenomenon, however, and soon the Bitmu (or Seed Houses) opened in many of the trade districts of Digir cities. Many of the ruling and religious caste dislike the Bitmu for their destratification of the cultural caste systems as they are typically suspended within the Bitmu leading to many ideas and castes intermingling. More than once has a ban been levied on Izimutab in an attempt to rid the Digir nations of Bitmu, but they always end up being lifted via popular demand of the priest class.

Myths & Legends

A comprehensive discussion on Digir theocracy can be found under Unknown and more lore on their pantheon of symbolic gods can be found under Unknown. 

Funerary & Memorial

Digir reserve special places in their cities for the dead. Often large congregational chambers where rows and rows of sarcophagi are laid out. Each one crowned with a life-like carving of the digir interred within. These painfully exact replicas built into the tombs are designed to act as an intermediary between the digir who come to revere their past kin and the digir interred. This is because the digir do not believe in death. They believe the body stops working and breaks down, but the digir-spirit within is eternal. Thus they do not grieve, but instead visit their dead relatives. Many visitors to their family tombs picnic or carry casual conversations with the deceased before leaving offerings of thanks for guidance and health.

The Wardu are cremated with little ceremony, save a young Ordinator from the Bāru who whispers prayers for better fortunes as the Wardu's ashes are dispersed among the fields as part of the fertilizer. The hope is that their Digir-spirits will reconstitute in another body with a better station.

Beauty Ideals

As a highly organized and efficient people, Digir value beauty in a similar form. A well toned, fit individual shows that the digir in question is well disciplined and scheduled about their daily health and exercise. Clean, well kept clothes and stringent hygiene bely a household well-maintained which is of peak interest to prospective Digir mates. Copious amounts of perfume and incense add an almost tactile sensation of smell to the typical Digir ensemble. Digir prefer partners that are well educated and strictly religious to the MUL entities they worship. General knowledge in a partner is second only to well read theological acumen.

Gender Ideals

The androgynous nature of the Digir and the muted sexual dichotomy of the race means that Digir do not divide their society along such lines. Rather, they are organized equally with women holding comparable responsibility and importance to men in the same fields of work and study. Were one to even question a Digir on the matter of divisions of culture along a gender line they wouldn't even know how to formulate an opinion on the matter.

Courtship Ideals

Digir arrange partnerships almost exclusively by design. Though, how that design comes about is fairly varied. Some Digir prefer to have omens and oracular visions manifest to assure them the MUL are in agreement with their lesser kin over the matter. Some prefer to arrange their marriages through their destined professions and still yet some simply marry for the financial and political gain their partners might bring. Although its not unheard of, Digir almost never marry wantonly or for emotional attachment as these things are considered unorganized and detrimental.

Relationships

Digir typically enter a union for a very prolonged term. Most partners having been together for decades. However, as time goes on, many will find themselves in a sort of polygamous arrangement where they meet with other couples and friends in order to alleviate the monotony of their prolonged engagements. This is viewed as healthy with none of the associated stigma that other tribes may assign it. Some families even tend to adopt these consorts and bring them into their own homes for convenience and for the genuine enjoyment of their companionship.

Celestial Senate of the Digir

From its beginning the Celestial Senate has been a ponderous and awful thing that takes decades to effect any real change, save times of crisis like the Year of Invasions. Their outlook colored by xenophobia and religious concerns, the senate of the Digir peoples is surprising at first to outsiders. A gathering of bureaucratic leaders, functioning more like in-hall governors who report to their Bāru or priests. Theoretically, this style of governance means that the affluent people of the Uru-Ká gain a voice even in concerns of state through the senators their priests elect.

Toscaire of Dòchas Ùr

The Toscaire at Dòchas Ùr, also known as the Council of Dòchas Ùr, are the ruling body in Inis Mona. Here, representatives from all the tribes that have agreed to join the council convene to discuss, deliberate and conduct matters of state under the watchful eye of the Ard Righ or the Ard Banríon.