The Andael

[chaotikal 2392]

 

 

THE ANDAEL

אנשים

(Ahn-dale)

 

 

לשמוע השאגה שלי ,ופחד

(Yaer arun arielodan, niharie)

Hear our roar, and fear

 

העמודים הריבוניים של האנושות

(Aerian valurenas Dalagar)

The shining pillars of Humanity

 

INTRODUCTION

 

The Andael are a group of people, a society based on philosophy and intelligence, but unfallen to the sobriety of vain pride and insolent haughtiness. This culture first sprung up in ancient textbooks which described certain groups within the continent of Aegis. Preferring height over width, the towering cities of the Andael were usually a sight to behold, with special care taken on the defensive mechanics of their settlements. Andael have always been known for small numbers and thriving communities.

 

These people are exotic in a visual sense, with extravagant braids and layered clothings of diverse fabrics. They usually settle in arid or warm climates, usually preferring the stability that a coastal arid plain offers rather than the harsh and chaotic weather of the mountainous areas. This culture first began as a conglomerate of small group of outcasts and some farming communities with similar dialects. Foreign to the bigger nations and societies, they thrived as a singular unique culture, undisturbed by the global conflicts.

 

Andael are usually based around codes, laws and a strict disciplinary society for a better development within the society’s small yet flexible infrastructure. Their history was recompiled throughout the years in a set of poetic eddas called חוקה (Irvalos). These chronicles also shed light on the ambiguous history behind their perceived god; ה' (Enos). They possess a code that was apparently given to the Andael by Enos himself, called the Enarum.

 

Equality is a key term within the Andael, who value everyone as a same caste, yet individuality is considered just as important; to challenge oneself to be better for the development of humanity. Science and law, the Andael cannot quite differentiate the two. They're lead by a group called the Anadim, or the Council. This council is formed by every head of family within the Andael, and the meetings usually consist of forums of discussion and voting.

 

The Andaels didn't develop a solid military until later on down their history, during the time of strife that the Daldriad caused as they settled in the shores of Anthos, close to the Horsemen. Their military is called the Oradim and it is constituted by three single ranks; Irim, Unamor and a rank reserved only for time of conflict and war, the Oravos.

 

TRAITS

The Andael have become increasingly mixed over the ages, but key traits still remain. Most Andael have dark hair, and usually have blue or green eyes. This varies along many of the families, such as a few of them having lighter colored hairs, going up to shades of golden. The Andael value physical fitness and aesthetic, hence many of them take up heavy weight lifting training and the kind, to train their muscles and look as aesthetically mighty as possible, most women train only to obtain a leaner, smoother curvaceous body frame, whilst men train for bulkier, blockier shapes. Usually being overweight is seen as something that is disrespectful, aswell a show of self loathing in grotesque proportion. Andael usually wear their hairs braided, both male and female, the latter creating intricate patterns with ornaments usually made of bronze and pure colored gems such as redstone, diamonds, lapis and so on. Men place ornaments solely on their beards, which they usually let grow in forms of beads, straight lines heading down from the sideburns.

 

The clothing in the Andael are usually comprised of layers of cloaks and tunics, usually made of wool and silk, ornamented with gems, gold, and other types of expensive jewelry. Headbands are common and most Andael usually have a varied size of color schemes, although some of them decide to adopt the fabric colors that represent their families, called Crests, and apply it to their whole outfit.

 

ANDAELAN

The tongue that the Andael use is one very ancient, using an intricate tablet language and an entirely different grammar structure. Whilst most of them speak common, it is common knowledge that the language is a part of respecting one’s roots, and thus most Andael are taught and instructed into the language since early childhood. There’s several ways to write Andaelan, as it has over than 5 written forms, common being used most often, aswell as Eledum (ילדום), the other forms are older and only used when reading ancient tablets and so on, but they’re not taught to the common public.

The language is smooth, using plenty dipthongs and seems to be distantly related to a primitive elven, with a lot of influence from the ancient language Flexio.

 

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COMMON-TO-ANDAELAN

Andael = אנשים (Andael)

Good Morning = גוד צםרמןמע (Elesim ven)

Good Day= גוד אודוסים (Odosim ven)

Good Night= גוד עקב (Ahim ven)

Hello = היגו (Atim)

Goodbye = אנדטים (Andatim)

Yes = ענו (Ino)

No = נל (Nil)

Us / We / Our = השאגה (Arun)

Thank you = נלחם (Nalahim)

To Hiraum with you (Insult) = היהום נסעדאוחים (Hiraum Nisadohim)

You = אוחים (Ohim)

Me = נים (Anim)

Seven thoughts to you (affectionate farewell) = פחים בהבלאס סבתא (Ohim ba-habelas seveth)

Lion = אריאל (Ariel)

Enos = ה' (Enos)

 

 

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ANCIENT HISTORY

 

AEGIS

Spoiler

The Andaelan folk were once a group of people assembled dispersely over the southern Oren Kingdom. A group of farmers unaware to much of the looming threat of Iblees. this collection of different farfolk societies was centralized by a single council of people fluent in all of the dialects that were spoken in the settlement. The creation of a singular and trade-oriented language was one of the council’s first action, and such ילדום was created, an uniting language that at one time joined the seven languages that comprised the primitive farmer village. The council went on to develop a single language from the seven, thus creating Andaelan, which would substitute all the original dialects. As the settlement grew, the terrain in which they farmed grew sterile, and they moved down west in a massive exodus of epic scale. This is where the Andaelans met, after a long time, with their northling brethren, the Orenians, who found themselves running amok from the uprising Daemon Iblees. They were suddenly thrown into the refugee camps in the land known as the Verge, as they were nearly forced to follow suite wth the other of similar kin, which the mainstream Oren culture had dubbed as a collective, the “Farfolk”.

ASULON

 

Spoiler

 

In Asulon, the Andaelans lay dispersed, confused, and above all, completely lost. Losing their sense of direction after an insanely long trip, the sun seemed to tilt upside down and their entire harvesting techniques proved futile... The seasons had changed their timelapse. They settled Northeast of Salvus, where they populated in tranquility, attempting to scrape knowledge of their new sorroundings.  They became fluent in Common and most forms of their language were reduced to simply ילדום and Common. While there was no violent clash amongst the newly founded Renatian Kingdom and the Andaelans, it is known of certain hostility upon religious differences, as the first had grown rather zealous over their faith whilst the Andaelans had a much loose belief, holding intelect and wit above those other-worldly beings.

 

 

 

 

ELYSIUM & ANTHOS

 

Spoiler

 

After events of transition from one land to the other thanks to the Lysitrata and a fiery untamed volcano, the Andael finally settled in the offshores of the eastern Orcish empire, where they began a loose relation with a neighbour settlement, the Daldriad. Whilst first interactions with the Daldriad were brief and oriented for trade, soon the horse riders were raiding left and right, ransacking the small village of Andaelans daily. The folk then formed a guard, forming up walls the likes of their ancestors and formalizing the military, the Oradim, this lead to an increase in militar training, which ultimately became a negative trait, as the Andaelans became a stricter society, with vindictive behaviour and overall idealistic punishments given with no lenience. The Daldriad attack became relentless as the Orcs waged war with other nations aswell as the threats beyond the Northern depths. The Oradim dispersed the marauding efforts of the Daldriad who switched their attention to the wars. Following their dissapearence from Anthos, the Andael followed through after the Siblings, as they made their way to the Fringe.

 

 

 

FRINGE & THALES

 

Spoiler

 

The heat of the Fringe made any harvest next to impossible, and so most Andaelans joined fishing settlements and mainly focused on the Oradim, as it offered it’s blades to the service of the better bidder in the continuation of the Dwarven and Human war that had begun in Anthos. After making small coin, they relegated alongside the folk of the fringe, so called “Red People”. They shared secrets between, and both cultures learnt a lot from one another, as it seemed the Redfolk did not interact at all with the other cultures, out of fear and isolation. Whilst difficult to understand one another, but it smoothly came to be. However, the intrusion of the Paladins into the Red Realm with the intention of piercing the being known as Setherien with the mythic weapon “Golden Lance” interrupted their interactions, as soon the realm responded to the outburst of magic with an increasing wave of heat and disease. Many red people died within weeks of the plague, and many Andaelans perished, isolated from the other more advanced folk who had developed a cure early on. The handful that survived moved on towards the city of Vekaro as refugees under House Carrion, where they became much more low key and lost a lot of their heritage in this small converge to the Raevir culture. Following the brief stay in Thales, in which the Heat Wave appeared to follow the descendants, The Andael arrived to Athera, the so called “Promised Land”.

 

 

 

 

ATHERA

 

Spoiler

 

Far from a vision made truth, Athera was a ravaged war field with dark forces left and right. With the final intent of avoiding the wars that were increasing in magnitude and consequence, the Andaelans settled ruins in the southwestern deserts, where they’d later meet with Khalestine, a very peculiar culture that sprung a new enlightment in the Andael culture. While varying vastly, the Andael became much looser as they began trades with the Qalashi, who proved to be appeasing and friendly, unlike the war-like crusading nation of Oren and Aesterwald. Following the fall of the latter, Oren became a mighty force, and the Andaelans became more intrigued in global matters, losing their common trait of being isolated and outdated. While still few in numbers, they began some intrepid exploration of Athera, lead by the Oradim. They joined the efforts of many explorers as they uncovered secrets and treasures, such as Urguan’s Hall amongst other findings. The inns in the King’s Road became a commonplace for Andael, but following the rise in strength of the Saint Amyas order, under Guy de Bar, the Andael became more reclusive, self-aware of their own ideologies, deciding to have controlled visits to inns, and live mostly in their own settlement and in Khalestine, which continued to accept them with open arms. When a giant worm infested upon Athera, The Andael joined Khalestine in their boat towards the new lands, an island that was  known as Vailor...

 

 

 

 

MODERN HISTORY

 

(To be roleplayed...)

 

CULTURE

SOCIETY

Society in the Andael is superficially equal. Every citizen is free, independant and equal to the eyes of the goverment, thus it is usually considered a linear democracy, with every member being part of the same caste; the People. The Council (ANADIM) is the governing executive entity; a representative group of people from every family. It is informally accepted that wealthier families have more influence over the council, which holds meetings whenever is needed and for however long is needed. Decisions are usually taken by votes from each representative, and a resolution may only be obtained if there’s a majority. If a majority consensus can’t be reached, the two most voted options go through a second run of votes, if it turns out inconclusive once again, there will be room for a series of forums and discussions where representatives of each sides of the voting will defend their opinions. This form of democratic discussion is something unheard of in human culture, and is usually attributed to the first families of the Andael, who were not royalty or nobility, and everyone was the same; farmers.

 

Children in the Andael are considered youth until the age of 16, in which they may decide to take on jobs and proffessions, such as a craftsman, a gatherer, huntsman, a political career or a military life. In some instances, an Aridael may choose all of them, and there’s no social stigmata on being more than one job. “You are your own machination, you do as you please” Is a very common motto said to young adults who are indecisive with their career options.

 

Females play a key role in Andaelan society just as men do. Women are considered equal to men and their opinion carries as much weight as a male’s. Since the rights of an Andael are inherited by blood, and not by gender, all women possess the same social and humane rights.

 

The Andael society is usually shallow, with personal care given to aesthetic and visage. Braids in both genders is a common practice, and the grooming of one’s body is usually taken with such importance as breathing or walking. It is incredibly unusual to see an overweight or unproduced Andael whilst on the streets, as it is heavily looked down upon, seen as a form of self-damage.

 

Religion is a loose subject within the Andael, with some upholding the Enarum in a zealous fashion yet others going for a more loose unbound life. In any way, it is usually accepted that it is ignorant to not believe in Enos, wether they believe on the Enarum or not, as the other-worldly influences have been an obvious evidence of a grand creator being, wether he is Enos or a being that is almost identical to him.

 

Families within the Andael are usually marked by a Crest, which is the equivalent to a coat of arms. This one however spreads to the entire family, and can only be changed if the council votes on the proposed new coat of arms, or if the council honorously modifies the sigil to represent a great deed. Crests also have patterns of colors, chosen by the representative of the house and put forth to the council for legislative registry to be taken each time a change is made. Andael Crests are usually comprised of a circle with symbolism within which gives a visual cue of what the family does mainly; wether it’s a politic family of lawyers and chancellors, or a group of farmers, or even an entire lineage of warriors, the Crest speaks volumes, and so it is considered a key part to the society, and is used as an identification within the settlements. It should be noted that belonging to a house of farmers does not bind an Andael to be a farmer, they can decide on their own what they will follow.

BEHAVIOUR

The Andael are usually seen as kind people, cultured with traditions that seem to be dated back before any other culture. Their old fashioned way has stayed relatively untouched, and can be an accurate depiction of what ancient cultures were like.

 

The paramounts of Andael culture are equality and intelligent supremacy. Kindness and honor are merely aesthetical traits in the eyes of the literate Andael, and they value wit over vigor. Andael usually are kind to those of their own kin, but are distrustful of other cultures, with the exception of the Qalasheen. This is because Andael are not quite sure of the intents of other cultures and races, and has seen their fair share of the savagery and barbaric tendencies of their brethren in the Oren kingdom.

 

Andael usually behave in a stoic fashion when in public, favoring a visage of cold rather than warmth and hearth. Cloaked in “intellect” is social disparity as those with higher intellect outdo and most obviously end up reigning over those less fortunate, this leads however, to a form of pride that is not vain, but is extremely pretentious and present throughout most of the council of the Andael. Following their clashes with the Daldriad, the Andael also became much more strict in their social demeanor, generally becoming very inclusive in their culture, as a form of safekeeping.

 

The Andael were formed around the life of the farm, and so they are usually known as hard-working tradesmen. Their farms have evolved from simple wheat to a plethora of plantations such as a form of rice known as dry rice which does not require as much water as it’s distant ancestor to bloom into an ingredient. They prefer the breeding of small animals such as fowl, chickens and doves as they can mass breed them and later use their eggs to further their cuisine.

CUISINE

The Andael have a very special local cuisine, with a major use of onion, fowl (Amongst other birds) and beans. Colorful and usually mixing more than one spectrum of taste into their meals, the Andael cuisine is known to be specially tiring, for their strong contrast flavor and overall neutrality of difference between meals throughout the day. A very common dish that has become tradition is the “Ulhoom”, which translates to Skystew, which consists of fowl stuffed with stew of potatoes, garlic and a touch of red wine, usually accompannied by a portion of dry rice.

 

Ulhoom, a traditional Andael dish.

 

FESTIVITIES

A traditional Gondos mask, made of polished silver.

 

Andael are very festive people. They usually celebrate four cycles of festive stages throughout the span of 4 years. (1 Week OOC = 1 Year IC);

 

• Gondurihim

Gondurihim means Frost’s Dawn. The coldest year of the cycle, aswell as the year that is host to the Gondos, a series of parties and feasts where the Andael wear masks of bronze, silver, wood and so on, usually depicting heroes of Andaelan mythos and deities of other cultures in an Andael artsyle.

• Gondolim

Gondolim means Winter’s Dusk. It is a year usually defined by heavy rains. It is considered a generally calm stage of the cycle, as harvest becomes priority. Near the end of the cycle, to open up Andurihim, there can usually be a festivity known as Haraumin, where the Andale as a populace is expected to be invited to a friendly foreign town to enjoy and celebrate the year of Harvest’s end.

• Andurihim

Andurihim means Summer’s Dawn. It is the hottest year. Andurihim is usually an overall festive year, where the Andaelan settlements see the most out of market stalls in the streets, and lines of fabrics are hung from the city walls to greet the summer in an ancient tradition.

• Andolim

Andolim means Summer’s Dusk in Andaelan. This time is often spent working and saving the grain to endure the coming winter. It is often that families host their private parties during this year.

 

ATTIRE

A collection of traditional attires, from wealthy tunics of strong colors, to more common single tunics held by a single common belt.

 

Clothing within the Andael is quite unique. Most of the times, males and females will wear tunics of colorful variety, made of linen, silk and other woven fabrics. They will often represent their Crest, which is a sigil unique to their family. While more military Andael will be seen more often than not wearing duty lamellar and armor, it is looked down upon by the culture to be wearing armor within times of peace, and specially within the city. The tunics are usually padded in the inside and the use of ornaments, necklaces, and otherwise additions composed of gems, gold, bronze and silver are not only commonplace, but encouraged.

 

More expensive clothing may also contain tunics padded entirely with feathers, aswell as coronets and crowns. Since there’s no concept of monarchy in the Andael, crowns and coronets only show a position of wealth and vehemency.

 

A wealthy Andael woman poses with her expensive gold coronet and feather-padded crimson dress, amongst other expensive attire choices.

 

The more enpoverished Andael wear simple dull colored tunics, loinwraps and otherwise simple clothing with little to no ornament. This is the preferred clothing to work with as it can be stained and still have a formal change of clothes clean for more formal instances.

 

ARCHITECTURE

Andael usually build in hardened sand stone, with colorful ornaments as detailwork. Meaningful buildings usually are ornamented ostensibly with lapis and other colored stones to give it relevance and to highlight it’s substance. Tall walls with towers usually mark the landscape sorrounding Andael settlements, aswell as viaducts to induct nature into the settlement, having several pools, streams, inner rivers and to give possibility of gardens, which the Andael have proven to grow plentiful and beautiful in color and heft.

The settlements of Andael are usually referred to as the Ur, which means “Citadel” a word commonly given to cities, settlements. The Urs are usually ring-like in formation, with districts like docks, marketplace, council area, temple area, military district and housing area. It is also known that Andael place advanced outposts scattered across the sorrounding regions of the Ur.

 

The architects of the Andael usually think more in blocks of buildings held by pillars than whole buildings at a time, hence making terraced buildings with modular designs for flexible modifications, aswell as safe for the builders.

 

MILITARY

A councillor guarded by an Unamor.

 

Military-wise, the Andael have centralized all their strength on a single guild lead under the council’s executive power; the Oradim. Oradim’s means “Heralds Of Peace”, and that’s their duty. To mantain peace throughout the Andael and to patrol for potential threats. The Oradim are divided in;

 

• Irim

Irim are the infantry soldiers. They represent the close quarter force of the Oradim. Most of the Oradim are part of the Irim.

• Unamor

The Unamor are the cavalry of the Andael. Riding mares of terrible visage the more experienced Oradim belong in this rank, leading the infantry and commanding battles and patrols.

• Oravos

The Oravos are the siege and naval ranks. the Oravos are extremely dangerous in any situation, and often formed only in times of war. Off-duty, Oravos are part of the naval shipyard, or part of the infantry.

 

The Oradim usually dress according to rank. The Unamor are usually the most prominent, coated in full lamellars of mail and plate, whilst the infantry wears lamellar that only covers their chest. The Oradim are divided into small groups called Defenses, filled exclusively with infantry and lead by an Unamor.

 

An Irim stands fast, ready for action.

 

RELIGION

In the Andael, ה' or Enos is the ultimate and supreme creator of all things, the creator of Order and Chaos, and the one who tips the balance ultimately. Andael believe Enos to be an almighty overseer, who wishes not to influence the actions of anyone, and instead has given basic resources so that his creation may uncover all mysteries; law and science. These two, along with the Anadim, are inseparable, such was created the Laws of Enos, or Enarum.

Whilst there’s no organized guild within the temples of Enos, there are priests who pray and encourage all to uncover their true selves through meditation and self-discovery, according to the Enarum, under the righteousness of Enos.

 

Enos is an all-mighty being in the eyes of the Andael, but he has reached an intellectual level impossible to even comprehend for the mortal likes of the Descendants, and thus has decided not to interfere, but to oversee their progress, sending in help when beings such as the Daemon Iblees wishes to infer and corrupt the races. Andael have found Enos to be a direct parallel to God in Canonism, and to Subhanallah in the Qalasheen. However, Andael are much free-spirited as per their own sets of canon laws that explain the intent of further development in technology and science; thus, Enos becomes a figure of veneration, rather than stagnating worship. The Enarum are kept safe for all councillors to share upon their families, but they’re written in languages only known to those wealthiest and oldest, thus it is impossible for common folk to understand them even if they were right in front of them.

 

 

 

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OOC NOTE & CLOSING STATEMENT

Spoiler

 

The ANDAEL are a culture based around Babylonians, Greeks and ancient Aramaics. Lead by a council that would accurately represent the people’s needs, this culture is a self-manageable group. If you wish to play one, do not hesitate and contact me either here via a PRIVATE MESSAGE, or my SKYPE (Chaotikal1), I can help you get set up.

 

Hey!, I’m glad you got down here, hopefully you’ve read it all and are not expecting a TL;DR. I’ve been working on this culture since back in Anthos, the idea of a babylonian / Aramaic / Greek and just overal mesopotamian culture that had similarities with B.C. type of society always intrigued me. I don’t expect this to blow up, it is a very specific type of culture and I can’t imagine many wanting to leave cliques of medieval ASOIAF-like roleplay to join in with something they’ve hardly ever seen in fantasy before such as this culture. You should know, that while some of the history in the lore is made up and bent, some of it actually happened and this has existed as is since early Anthos. This has been a long way coming and I’ve been procrastinating to finish it all. I hope you enjoy the read and hope you check back often, as I’ll be fixing any errors, editing it plenty, and so on.

 

 

 

 

 

[The Templar 195]

Absolutely amazing! Can't wait to see it take off!

[chaotikal 2392]

Snip

[Delenda 2]

I love the detail in this, man. Great stuff. 

[Sujamma Addict 514]

Well written! I enjoyed reading this and it has a lot of potential to add something great to the server!

[Imam Faiz Kharadeen 3167]

I like this a lot, looks super promising and interesting!

[Guy d'Yood of Mann 39]

Fancy stuff, there. Gotta say, you can never have too many decently written cultures.

[herculean_wud 3662]

"aurum znatchaz" said wud

[_Sug 2809]

Yep! Supported!

[Dragonslayerelf 654]

I like this! It makes another more middle eastern nation, so that the Khalestine Caliphate isn't the only one! I'd love to have a character here if possible.

[Elad™ 560]

Moved to The Great Library. It shall be sorted into the appropriate category shortly.

 

If you feel this is a mistake, please contact myself or any FM and we'll restore it.