The Fei-Zhu

[wytch 870]

Spoiler

 

An OOC Note:

Spoiler

This is an utterly optional culture, I made it in a few hours and plan to finish it up and make it pretty at a later date, I decided that after someone made it VERY clear that they disapproved of me 'taking control' of the Fei-Zhu culture, that its best if this is option, because personally I see the Fei-Zhu as very multi-cultural people. And this is obviously still in the works, and will take time to properly implement IG and such. Enjoy!

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The Fei-Zhu Culture

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The Fei-Zhu are a very diplomatic, religious, but somewhat tribal people. They honor their bloodlines, and value the purity of blood over-all, this of course does not mean they discriminate their brothers and sisters, they just do not mix their blood. They follow the guidance of the Court of Fei-Zhu, which consists of the Mushi, the political and religious leaders.

 

Tenants:

Said tenants, which Erto(Children), upon reaching adulthood, are sworn to abide by via oath are as follow:

 

1: Never harm a fellow Fei-Zhu

2: Never leave a fellow Fei-Zhu behind, at least not willingly..

3: Settle feuds reasonably, perhaps by debate with an overseeing Mushi.

4: Never allow anger to determine your actions.

 

The Oath:

I, ___, swear to uphold the tenants of the Fei-Zhu, to follow and ensure they are upheld, and I hereby accept any consequences that breaking these tenants may bring.

 

Ranks:

The ranks of the Fei-Zhu culture are very simple, but carry several meanings.

 

Mùshi(Priest):

This is the rank given to Fei-Zhu who fully understand the Hou-Zi religion, and have the ability to teach, basically the religious leaders. Their goal is to teach both children and the adults about the religion.

 

Sënglú(Battle-Monk):

This is the rank given to Monks who have decided to, instead of teaching, become apart of the Fei-Zhu coalition, an order of Fei-Zhu whom have dedicated their life to the upholding their religion, defending the Fei-Zhu culture, and generally aiding where necessary. They train for years in the martial arts, of using their mind and body in unison, utilizing inner strength and reaching absolute Zen, a truly neutral group. They are at peace, they focus on meditation, they are not afraid to use force to uphold peace. They, however, do not kill unless absolutely needed.

 

Sēng(Monk):

This is rank given to the group of Fei-Zhu who have decided to dedicate their lives to their religion, they train under the Mushi(Priests) to better understand, and eventually aspire to the rank of Mushi themselves, unless they decide to pursue the Battle-Monk path.

 

Lièr(Hunters):

This rank is given to those whom hunt, often together and in ‘packs’, to aid in collecting food.

 

Gaoguì(Noble-Folk/Traders):

This is a rank just a smidge higher than adults, it’s mainly for gloating reasons. But the Gaogui handle most of the trading and selling for the Fei-Zhu.

 

Cáifén(Tailor):

This is the rank that a Fei-Zhu can choose, they go through rather frustrating training, but eventually learn to tailor clothing, robes, and exotic raiment for Fei-Zhu and Hou-Zi.

 

Chéng(Adults, this is also the often undetermined rank, as they may decide to become a monk or such.):

This is a simple rank, given to the Fei-Zhu whom have reached adulthood.

 

Értó(Child):

This is the rank of the children, they are the most focused part of the society. The Fei-Zhu dedicate themselves to teaching their young, showing them the way of their religion and their culture.

 

Face-Paint:

The Fei-Zhu, being a somewhat tribal folk, often use face-paint to determine rank within their culture. These colors are chosen after an adult(undecided) succeeds trials beneath a Mushi(Priest).

 

White = Priest(or general religious figure)

Yellow = Monk

Orange = Battle-Monk

Purple: Traders/Nobles

Green = Farmers

Blue = Tailors

Black = Hunters

 

Trials:

The trials are overseen by a Mushi(Priest), they are purely dependent on which profession the Cheng(Adult) wishes to pursue.

 

For Senglu/Mushi:

These trials take, by far, the longest. It takes intense training, it entails two different sub-types. And the trainees are thus named Seng(Monks)

 

For Mushi:

The path to become a Mushi is long, tiring, but upon succeeding one reaches absolute Zen, and can fully come to peace with existence. It is seen as the highest honor, to ascend to within the Fei-Zhu, and the Mushi are people of power in the culture, both cultural and religious leaders. The trials involve meditating, often with incense and tea to aid in ones utter concentration and removal from the normal world, to find their center and begin to learn to control their emotions, for when you become a Mushi, anger, envy, and all the likes are irrelevant. You are at peace, but it does not last. It requires constant meditating, training of the mind, body, and soul. It takes many years to accomplish, and many are just simply not cut out to be a Mushi. A Mushi is in charge of speaking with other Mushi, whom form “The Court of Fei-Zhu”, a council of leaders that make political choices and such.

(This is mainly an RP aspect, I’ll be speaking with KBR and Leo and expand on this.)

 

For Senglu(Battle-Monks):

This path of training more focuses on physical and mental training, learning to use your mind, thoughts, and body in unison for utmost precise actions and proper decisions. They train their body to be fit, tone their form, train with weaponry, their most common weapon being a Quarterstaff, most often a custom wooden Quarterstaff. Although wooden seems less than ideal, it is often deceiving, and with training, this deception can be used against the target to allow underestimation, to than said opponent. This does not mean, of course, that certain Senglu prefer other weapons, and weapons of all kinds from quarterstaves to bows, swords, etcetera. The Senglu focus on upholding peace, often bearing leather raiments and small, tattered capes often covered with orange paint.

(Will expand upon more, these are basically soldiers beneath the Mushi, will be making a strictly Fei-Zhu guild for this probably.)

 

For Lièr(Hunters):

This is rather simple, the Mushi will usually assign a current Lièr(Hunter) to accompany the Cheng on the hunt, they will not aid unless the Chengs life is in danger, they come simply to oversee and make sure that Cheng kills whatever beast they find, and returns with it. However if a Lier isn’t available, the Mushi may send the Cheng off to do this task alone.

 

For Gaogui(Nobles):

The Gaogui are rather simple, to achieve this rank a Fei-Zhu must show that they are able to sell, trade, and negotiate such for profit, trading say, perhaps food from the Fei-Zhu farmers or unique tailoring from the Fei-Zhu tailors or so forth. This is more choice than trial

 

Family:

The Fei-Zhu respect family, families are seen as close, they either work together, hunt together, or so forth. They however, often do not teach their children. The Mushi often teach said children of religion, and of the Fei-Zhu way, as the Mushi are seen as ‘Elders’, they are often seen as the wisest, this is of course optional and any Fei-Zhu family may do their own thing.

 

Traditions/Rituals:

The Fei-Zhu have many unique traditions/rituals, some of which include the following;

 

From Erto to Cheng:

This is a rather simple, but meaningful ritual. It involves bringing the Erto before the Court of Fei-Zhu, and the Mushi begin to question the Erto on things they have previously been taught, about their culture, religion, and so forth, should the Erto pass this trial, they will receive a stripe of red paint across the forehead from each of the Court, and the Erto will be brought before a blazier, and will bear an offering for Hou-Shen, upon tossing the offering into the blazier, the Court will name the Erto a Cheng.

 

From Cheng to Seng:

This is more simple, if a Cheng decides to become a Monk, they will once again be questioned upon their Religion, and should they pass they will be given appropriate attire and receive two white stripes beneath their eyes, and given a silver chain with the ancient symbol of Hou-Shen, the Monkey King hanging from it.

 

Diet:

The Fei-Zhu are rather slim, fit people, and therefore they often do not eat all that much, they traditionally eat a form of herbal soup, with bread or fruit and occasionally meat, however they are rather vegetarian.

 

Soup:

Mushroom Soup, Beetroot Soup, etc.

 

Fruit:

Bananas, Apples, Oranges, Coconuts, etc.

 

(More to be added. I just wanted to get this out there, so that people can maybe get interested and start joining.)

 

(Credit to Leo and SorrowBallad for tips and such, and to SxperPlatano and Zilldude for looking at it and giving me their opinions.)

[Parker 390]

This looks pretty nice.

[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.