#crown cynozepali

[serpentface]

Hi! I love your work! I’m curious about Cynozepali architecture and social structure?

Just going to go with the Crown Cynozepali people here.

Crown cynozepali culture can be described as a feudal system. It is not even remotely territorial contiguous (and exact territorial boundaries mean little to flighted people) but rather are scattered habitations built on cliffs and mountain ranges.

The social structure is as follows

King and the kingslek (a king's wives, usually dozens). Historically the region was divided into many kingdoms, but is currently united under one royal family. The royal family only rules with the support of their lords, who provide them with labor and warriors. This position is historically fraught, and it is quite common for royal families to be overthrown by discontented nobility.

Nobility- ruling class who 'own' cliffs and prime grazing lands and are also considered the owners of their herds and the serfs who tend them Mercantile- this could be subdivided into several classes but generally speaking are free laborers and traders who are paid for their services. This class has the most upward mobility, and some especially rich mercantile families become noble houses. Warrior- a difficult social class to place. They are sworn to service of their lords and do not have freedom of movement, but are paid handsomely and provided upper class homes and occasionally obtain lordships. Servants- people who directly serve lords (and rich warriors/merchants) in domestic roles. They are paid for their labors. Serfs- the lowest class, who tend their lord's herds and fields of textile crops. As with most forms of serfdom, these are not paid for their services and are functionally slaves, and are considered attached to their lords. It is imagined and excused as a compact where service to their lords and king is repaid in protection, food, and 'safe' places to live. They are sometimes conscripted into battle as footsoldiers, wherein one of few possibilities for upward mobility (VERY occasionally) lies- serfs who prove skilled combatants may be enlisted as warriors, with all entailed benefits (and consequences) Monks- Lunar emissary monks exist somewhat outside this social structure. They have few possessions and live in small nests in white pines on high cliffs among the serfs, but are highly respected figures.

Social class is indicated most strongly by 'height', with the upper classes building homes nearest to the ground and serfs building homes high on cliffsides (not having to fly is considered a privilege and show of wealth). It is also indicated by the ability for polygamy. Caelin social structure is naturally polygamous, but male serfs are typically only allowed (or can only afford) one wife. Having multiple wives/being a wife with many others is a strong indicator of wealth and class.

Crown cynozepal is an interspecies culture, though built by and for caelin. The caelin majority does not translate directly into social structure. Nobility is restricted to only caelin and delkhin due to interfertility (though upper class delkhin are rarer), while most crown qilik are merchants or servants. The serf population is almost entirely caelin. Delkhin serfs cannot fly and mostly live in tents on the outskirts of their communities.

The homes of Crown Cynozepali serfs are built into cliffsides, taking advantage of naturally occuring outcrops and niches in the rock. The basis of the structure is usually built around the roots a tree (often the white pine, which grows on cliffsides and is sacred). A thick structure of twigs and grass is woven amid the roots as a foundation and forms the skeleton of the home. Clay, lime, straw, guano, and other materials are mixed to form the walls and are flown up mouthful by mouthful.

These houses are usually very small and crowded, formed of two narrow levels (an 'upstairs' where a fire is kept and food is cooked, and a 'downstairs' containing the sleeping quarters and a 'bathroom' window)

Cliff homes are relatively resilient (especially given most of the region has infrequent rains) but still require constant and endless maintenance. It is not unknown for heavily populated areas to experience mass deaths when the weight of dozens of homes collapses a cliffside.

The homes of Crown nobility and royalty are built on the ground, usually at the base of the cliffs in a naturally shielded area (such as in the mouth of a cave or under an outcropping. These are predominantly large, domed structures made out of bricks and reinforced with clay and plaster and richly decorated with fine pigments and frescoes.

The homes of the middle classes tend to be built higher up, but on solid ground (rather than cliffsides) and are structurally similar to those of nobility.

[serpentface]

The Blue Cliffs Shining With Meltwater, (Of the Matronage of Buffalo Crossing, Dragonbride and Regent of Cynozepal, Kingmother to the Rising Griffin) Aka Blue Cliffs (left)

He Has the Hare’s Fortune (Third Falseling to the Diving Dragon, Lord of Buffalo Crossing, Usurper King of Cynozepal, First King of the Rising Griffin, Long Live His Name) Aka Haresluck (right)

and their young son:

The Young Tyger Stalks the Sky, (King of Cynozepal, Firstborn Prince of the Rising Griffin) aka The Young Tyger (center)

demonstrating hybridization between caelin and delkhin, (as well as the length of names of nobility in Crown cynozepali culture)

Caelin and delkhin are the only two sophonts closely related enough to reproduce. Hybrid eggs are often non-viable, and the majority of viable young are infertile, with rare exceptions. The incest common in Cynozepali royal dynasties is partly rooted in the desire to preserve such rare fertile hybrid bloodlines. All dynasties of the Crown Age claim lineage from one legendary hybrid hen, a giant and flighted kingmother remembered as The Dragonsbride (who may or may not have actually existed).

Hybrid individuals will usually be relatively uniform in overall phenotype for each combination of parents, and may be larger and more robust than both (as in other animal hybrids). Most other physical variations (coloration, patterning, etc) are small differences in phenotype and are inherited as they are in non-hybrid individuals. Virtually none are capable of flight.

The Crown cynozepali phrase for such hybrids translates to 'Firstkind', due to a belief that caelin and delkhin were once of one kind, (with the latter being stripped of its wings during a mythic age).

There is no uniform stigma against Firstkind, with their social status depending more on class than anything else. Firstkind have particularly high status when born to wealthy Crown families, but face ostracization and are often pushed to the periphery of society when born into poverty. This is partly due to the outsider status given to most delkhin who are not of assimilated mercantile or noble families, and partly due to the peasantry relying on flight to perform their labor.

[serpentface]

First Goose of Spring: What was it like living in Cynozepal?

"...I haven't actually seen much of it, but the kingslek had the most stunning view of the mountains. They rise higher than anything you've ever seen, I'm sure, all the way up to the clouds. And our serfs actually live up there! It must be awful, braving the heights and fending off those little qilik barbarians. But we are a very strong people, so they manage just fine.

But the kingslek was the very best place in Cynozepal. It had everything you could possibly want. There was a garden with a little herd of horses living in it, and a spring to bathe in, and musicians and singers, and plenty of good food and wine, and the finest cushions to sleep on, and a HUGE library that had every book in the civilized world, probably? And there were always tons of servants around to care for us. My handmaid, Gray Gull Comes Home Wealthy With Fish - may her next birth be prosperous - lived in the kingslek too. Because she used to be a concubine, I guess? And she was the best of all. I never learned to read like my older sisters did - may their next births be prosperous -, but she would read to me whenever I wanted so it was okay.

So obviously I never wanted to leave. But my sisters and I had to leave the kingslek sometimes. Like when our mothers and father had very, very important guests, or when there was an execution, or for the solstice songs. And this was always a dreadful bore. But Gray Gull Comes Home Wealthy With Fish would always bring my favorite books along, so it wasn't TOO bad. And she would always, ALWAYS carry me there on her back. Until I got too big, but we have litters for that.

And now, I am expected to walk everywhere. EVERYWHERE! Or fly like a serf, sun be swallowed. I hate it here."

---

Notes:

-Goose is the absolute worst source to to ask about life in Cynozepal. First and foremost, she's a young child and hasn't been on this earth all that long (she's cognitively equivalent to a human preteen, and is 5 years old). As the third youngest princess among 39 daughters, Goose spent the vast majority of her life both cloistered in the kingslek (which is a privilege) while experiencing little to no pressure to excel and being minimally educated (as she was exceptionally unlikely to be married into an important political role). She would leave this space only infrequently, and never once stepped foot outside of the palace grounds prior to her dynasty's fall.

...And she LOVED it. Now she’s out seeing the world firsthand, breathing the fresh air and feeling the ground beneath her feet, and it fucking suuuuuckkkkkssssss, man.

-The kingslek refers both to the collective women in a royal family (wives, concubines, daughters, all of whom will typically outnumber the men at LEAST 20:1) and the domestic space in which they live. This is a massive section of the palace (as it houses most of the members) complete with its own amenities, gardens, etc. It is functionally the center of power and politics within the palace (the culture itself is not outright matriarchal, but the institution of the kingslek effectively has more political power than the king, and tremendous sway on his actions).

-Honeythief is translating for her. He frequently manipulates his translations to make her sound a little more down to earth (but still regal and far, far more important than you) and less like an exceptionally ignorant, spoiled child, but his translation here is accurate.

-Crown Cynozepali language is (and a majority of caelin and delkhin languages are) predominantly tonal in nature, supplemented with rapid clicks and deep booming 'drum' beats (it is these aspects that are physically impossible for humans to accurately reproduce). To a human ear, these languages often sound like vaguely musical but discordant barrage of sounds. I'm attempting to represent this visually with dots and squiggles.

-'Little qilik barbarians' is not referring to qilik of the region as a whole. She is referring disparagingly to the Cu-Chukka, which are a people that traditionally inhabit the higher reaches of the Azure Mountains, and do not frequently interact with the Crown Cynozepali sphere outside of land conflicts with serfs (who build their homes at high altitudes and often encroach on Cu-Chukka territory). 'Barbarian' in this context is a racist and xenophobic insult that groups together all qilik, caelin, and delkhin peoples that do not speak Crown.

Honeythief is Chit-Sut-Susit (a nationality native to parts of eastern Cynozepal and the Ch'Chen plateau, most of whom exist within the Crown cultural sphere), and is not receiving a microaggression in this particular context.

-Crown Cynozepali personal names are descriptive phrases. Song and poetry is of central cultural import, and naming conventions are rooted in these poetic traditions, designed to be beautiful and evocative turns of phrase. This is often lost in translation, and the names take substantially longer to speak when translated into most human languages.

-There are taboos surrounding speech that evokes the recently dead (defined as within a solar year), that require additions of placating phrases that will dissuade the dead from attaching to the speaker and direct them towards a good rebirth. "May her next birth be prosperous" is one example. Goose's handmaid and most if not all of her sisters (among other relations) were killed in the coup.

-The 'solstice songs' refer to traditional 'boomsinging' performed at the summer and winter equinox to call down the Solar Dragon. (boomsinging is an artform utilizing the deep, thunderous vocalizations caelin and delkhin can produce- sounds like a combination of throat singing, drum beats, and a noise kind of like a sage grouse display but deeper. The sound can travel for miles)

-'Sun be swallowed' is a translation of a phrase used to (often hyperbolically) emphasize the horror and depravity of a situation. Kind of saying 'what's next? the end of the world?'.

-Kingslek members and royalty as a whole are transported from place to place in litters and carriages, but they aren't carried literally Everywhere (they do like, walk). Goose recalling constantly riding on the back of her handmaid is describing a time where she was a tiny 5 lb child (a phase in life where most caelin and delkhin children will ride on their mother's backs).

[serpentface]

Is Cynozepal on the same supercontinent as Wardi or on one of the other continents? I'm remembering a post from a bit ago about lunar missionaries showing up Godsmouth(?) - can't find the post but it and the map you posted recently are making me think about the distances involved in the different stories.

Yes it is (though technically they are not connected by land, a geologically recent land connection between the eastern chunk and the rest of the landmass has been lost to rising sea levels) Here's both of them on the map (map has been adjusted slightly and given a tentative equator)

I cannot emphasize enough that these places are very very very very far apart and are BARELY in contact. The two regions have some connection via a series of sea trade routes, but there is very little flow of goods (the only Cynozepali goods that make it to Wardin on any regular basis is kvanneg, which is a luxury textile produced with the soft undercoat of a native camala breed) and even less flow of people (there is no Cynozepali diaspora in Wardin whatsoever). These two region's common knowledge of each other is based in secondhand accounts at best, if not pure fantasy. A single group of Lunar Missionaries making it all the way to Wardin is a massive outlier situation (it's already rare enough for Any Cynozepali traders to make the entire journey (rather than just their goods), much less missionaries from an apocalyptic religious sect).

Also should be noted that Cynozepal is a MASSIVE region and politically organized unlike anything irl due to most of its people being capable of flight. Actual Crown Cynozepali culture is organized around scattered city hubs (mostly in hilly/mountainous areas, rivers, and the coastlines) and their surrounding grasslands/pasture (which supports mass animal agriculture upon which the obligate carnivore population relies). There are vast spaces in between on the steppes that are sovereign territories of a litany of nomadic pastoralists (mostly delkhin) and scavenger-nomads (mostly non-Crown caelin). The particularly fragmented area in the northeast is the Cynozepali Highlands, with Crown culture there being limited to areas surrounding river valleys that can support mass grazing.

[serpentface]

In your White Calf universe, are there any kind of noodles or pasta?

Oh yeah definitely (you can just assume that most basic forms of food preparation like this have been invented Somewhere)

Noodles are ubiquitous as a concept among the Inner Seaway trade powers, but vary by place and people in their centrality as a food item. They're more characteristic of the cuisine of the northwestern parts of the seaway (where they are basic staples) than the southeastern parts where the story takes place.

A foodstuff analogous to pasta (distinct from noodles in terms of preparation methods and variety of shapes) has been independently invented a couple times. The eastern variant on pasta was developed in Askos- it's made with wheat and mostly made in small, chunky shapes (twists and tubes). In its native range, it's most commonly eaten cold with garlicky yogurt sauces and warm in a thick squash based vegetable sauce.

Pasta is a staple food item for the peoples in the 'tail' region of the Viper seaway (Askosi and Ubiyans mostly). It's spread as a concept across the northern side of the Viper, but has not been widely adopted on the southern side.

Here's the range of pasta as a staple on the map:

Askos is the pair of islands, Ubiyaland is territory along the tail of the Viper and the eastern ocean coast

There's also some examples of Noodle Adjacent Materials. There's a kind of rope sausage in Crown Cynozepali cuisine that is very long and thin, cased with the intestines of a small rabbitlike grazer and loosely stuffed with ground meat or liver pate. It's not actually noodles in any real sense of the word, but it's served in a way that looks like a plate of very thick and chunky spaghetti. So.

[serpentface]

a sampling of domesticated arthropods

(focused on those domesticated and/or used by qilik peoples in the western half of the supercontinent)

BROOCH BEETLES- About 8 species of beetle bred in captivity selectively for color morphs (some shown here) and dozens of wild species used for the same purpose. Upon pupation, they have a metal clasp adhesed to their abdomen to which a chain or ribbon can be attached and the beetle worn as living jewelry. This practice is widespread, especially among qilik peoples, though the exact origins of the practice and the established domesticated species is unclear.

JEWEL TICKS- a captive-bred species of tick with bold, colorful patterning. They are induced to bite the exposed skin on a wearer's face, where they will feed for about a week before falling off. This is a form of self-decoration among the Chit-Sut-Susit primarily, and has caught on as a beauty trend among Crown Cynozepali. Captive-bred jewel ticks rarely carry or transmit diseases to avian or other reptile hosts, so the risk of disease is fairly negligible (though not unknown).

KING LOCUST- A species of grasshopper bred to be fat, slow, and flightless. They are herded and grazed like tiny sheep to be harvested as food. 

CAVIAR ANTS- A domesticated species of ant bred to produce massive quantities of eggs (via up to two dozen queens per colony). Their eggs and larvae are a staple food for many qilik peoples, and their farming can become lucrative business around major cities. A well tended captive population has the majority of its eggs consumed and stays at a constant population size, and their queens and drones are wingless and rarely capable of forming new colonies without intervention by their tenders. Abandoned or feral populations are ecologically devastating. Acres of forest may be stripped of anything edible before an uncontrolled population collapses.

SILK-ORCHARD SPIDER- A colonial spider species kept for silk production. These spiders are bred to produce substantial quantities of silk, covering entire trees in the process. Small-scale production can occur without active intervention, so long as the environment is buggy enough to nourish a colony. Large scale production (such as a silk orchard) requires active feeding to maintain large colony sizes, typically by placing maggot-filled animal carcasses in the tree's branches so the emerging flies are caught and eaten). The harvesting of their silk is more labor-intensive than silkworms, but the finished product is an incredibly strong fabric that can be made into an ultra-light armor. 

[serpentface]

A young drake and new bride of the Moonfall Steppe Horselords (a pastoralist people with great wealth in trade) at the Great Shrine of the Earthmother, where they may pray for the fertility of their union and of their horses.

The Moonfall Steppe is a region of grassland in southern Cynozepal, whose peoples are culturally distinct from the northwestern Singing Steppe. It is home to the Great Shrine of the Earthmother, an unusual and out of place rock carved in the form of the World-Serpent and the egg of the earth. 

The World-Serpent takes on a venerated role in the religion of the Moonfall Steppes, (while she is cast in a more antagonistic role in Crown and Singing Steppe Cynozepali Dualism). Here she is the god of death, decay, rebirth, fertility, the waters, the grass, and the underworld.  She is known by the epithet Earthmother in addition to World-Serpent, as she is honored for laying the egg that is the earth and hatched all living beings.

Most peoples of the Moonfall Steppe bury their dead in great barrows, thus committing their dead to the Earthmother (instead of the Sun-Dragon's distant lunar lands, as is custom to the Crowns and the Singing Shepherds). The spirits of the buried dead rest in the underworld, where they are close to the living world and can continue to interact with their relatives. People here experience a landscape filled with the spirits of ancestors and legendary figures, who may help or hinder the living and must be honored and appeased.

The giant stone that forms the Shrine is highly unusual amid the flat grasslands. Tales of its origin varies, with some stories claiming it was carried there by giants, others claiming it is a piece of the Broken Moon (the smallest of the moons and asymmetrical in shape) having been torn apart in a fight between the deities.

Either way, no one knows for sure who first carved the stone, nor its cousins, the monuments of serpents marking the Five Daughters of the World-Serpent (five great rivers of the steppe). Master stonecarvers are periodically dispatched to retouch details worn away by the erosion of wind and time.

Summary of Cynozepali Cosmic Dualism + the story of the moon theft here