THE
AHRHIM
ELVES |
The Elves of the Almatrar Forest, is one of the smaller tribes numerically and they dwell at the very heart of Santharia geographically. The Ahrhim are odd by any standard - unlike any other elven tribe in outlook and aptitudes, yet their culture appears to be a mish mash of influences from neighbouring tribes. Perhaps the only truely enduring generalisation would be to say that they are a tribe full of contradiction and that's the way they like it!
|
|
|
Appearance.
The unusual apperance of the Ahrhrim is perhaps paritally a testement to the
fact that their nearest neighbours are the dark elven tribe, the
Eophyrhim of the
Paelelon forest to the North, one very
much like their own in terms of climate and flora. The two forests of these
elven tribes are only seperated through the
Heath of Cjur. Whether the similarities in appearance to the
Eophyrhim are due to a certain amount of
interbreeding at some point in the far distant past, or down to similar natural
selective pressures, is hotly debated, but the similarities are striking if not
total.
Like the Eophyrhim, the Ahrhrim are usually around
two peds in height, and unusually slender and angular, they appear at first
that they are exccedingly fragile - but this masks an incredible physical
strength, greater than that of any human
of compatible size, though an Ahrhim elf
would certainly lose if faced with an Eophyrhim of
similar size and weight.
Also, like the Eophyrhim, the Ahrhim have
exceedingly pale, smooth skin as the dense, high canopy keeps much of the
sunlight from the forest floor and
undercanopy where the elves tend to
congregate. Unlike the the Eophyrhim, however,
there is a high occurance of albanism - the complete lack of colour to the hair
and skin, producing a 'ghost' white complexion and white hair accompanied by
pink eyes. Total Albanism effects perhaps a quarter of the total Ahrhrim
population.
Unlike human albansim, where one is either
affected or not, the Ahrhim elves also
exhibit a milder, intermediate form of the condition whereby a limited quantity
of pigment is produced in the skin and the hair (usually resulting in a fair
complexion and light blonde colouring) but pigment is still not found in the
iris of the eye, so the indvidual still demonstrates 'Red Eye'. As a result,
pink eyes are not uncommon in the Almatrar, even among those who would not be
classically termed albino. This lack of pigmentation to the eyes is exceedingly
common among these elves, affecting maybe 1
in 2 live births.
Indviduals who are not affected by albinism or 'Red Eye' display the true
influence of the tribes that surround them. Hair colour commonly contains a
reddish pigment. A sort of 'brass' or copper colour seems to be the general
base, but it ranges from a deep rust brown (common in the
Paelelon and the
Zeiphyr) through the reds and
golds of the Auturian Woods. Eyes
are typically light shades that require little pigmentation - such as blue
greens and grey. But, as I mentioned earlier pink eyes are overwhelmingly the
dominant colour in the tribe.
Such colourings do lead to trouble however, unlike their neighbours the
Eophyrhim, the Ahrhim do wander abroad, and in
summer sun outside the forest can be
fierce. There is a well known correlation between Ahrhim
elves who wonder far from their forest and
dying at a very premature age. Hence they have won the title of 'Night Folk' as
they tend to wonder out of shade at dusk or night, as the daylight is not kind
to their skin.
Hair is worn short among men, and exceedingly long among females. In fact a
female may never cut her hair in her entire lifespan - typically some 600 or
700 years. The Ahrhim appear to have thick hair, but this is due to the number
of the hairs. Each individual strand is in fact very fine and there is a
tendency, especially among those with albinism or red eye for the hair to be
rather brittle. As a result, it is rare for hair to grow much longer than knee
length. After this point the sheer weight is liable to cause the individual
hairs to split and break. Cutting however, seems to be favoured should hair
threaten to reach the ankles. It seems that allowing hair to reach the shin is
thought to be untidy.
Generally hair must be worn open, but females of a certain age are allowed to
tie up their hair - often in complicated and intricate up-dos - for
practicalities sake. These traditions may be caused by imitation of
humans (the forest is exceptionally close
to the human settlements of Hog and
Yorik), or by the tendency towards patriarchal society (which in itself may
well be a human concept the Ahrhim have
borrowed). The relation between hair-length, the intricacy of the hair style
and age mean it is also pretty easy to discern between a young and an older
Ahrhim. Once you encounter an Ahrhim female with extremely intricate hair-do
then it is someone that you should show some respect.
The most famous portrait of an Ahrhim elf that clearly shows these typical
features is the portrait of their first, and to all extensive purposes
(discussed later) only áann, Axiastras.
Thought to have been produced around 160 b.S. by an unknown (and judging by the
pigments used, human) artist,
Axiastras shows the typical pink eyes
and long uncut brass coloured hair. Interesting to note is that the
Ylfferhim bard Elothis made the observation in his
journal that Axiastras' pallid
complexion "was often marked by a distinct yellowness that I would normally
attribute to a failure in the digestive system". Indeed, such digestive
problems are common among the tribe, that are not threatening in any way, but
produce prolonged periods of jaundice in affected individuals.
Coat of Arms/Sign.
The Ahrhim believe in the strength of the soil and the sanctuary of the forests
and their own indestructible association with it. As a result green and brown
are the Ahrhim's tribal colours, and this is reflected on their coat of arms as
well.
The coat of arms is composed by an oval brown field, rimmed with copper. Across
it, diagonally, climbs a singular sprig of the
false heart vine (cár'réóll
eferí), its deep green leaves sprawl gracefully across the metal which is
usually enammelled onto the metal using sand and pigments obtained from trade
with the Sanhorrhim and
Quaelhoirhim and the red rim inlaid with polished red stone that
humans call arhnite, as it matches the red
eyes so commonly associated with the tribe, which can be found in an around
both the Almatrar and the Paeleon.
Tendrils climb artistically around the shield in a pattern that is never the
same on any two shields. The yellow flowers are also portrayed in copper. The
number of flowers and their position is also highly variable and seems to be
the signature mark of the elf that crafted
it, each elven smith in the tribe seemingly
having their own mark.
The brown of the field represents the strength of the
earth and of the trees. While in
Elving I, like many others who have
written on the subject, was informed that the
false heart vine is chosen
because the tribe considers it to represent the balance of all elements except
the earth. It is associated by legend
to the Fire Gods, and the human name
carries this association. And yet, where it grows on the edge of the Almatrar
it falls from the canopy like a waterfall. And it also require the
wind to carry the seeds.
This however commonly held belief is false! When I did finally meet these
people on my way to the Thaelon, many
leaf fall past; I found that their reasoning was far simpler than the myth that
the Quaelhoirhim peddle. Like my own tribe, the
Ylfferhim and many other tribes, the Ahrhim use the
plant to guard their forest borders, being poisonous and bearing thorned stems
and barbed seeds that are projected like missiles at the slightest vibration.
This plant is, in essence one of the strongest preservers of their forest
sanctuary, and the perfect emblem of their thankfulness for their home and
their safety within it.
|
|
Picture description: The location of the Almatrar Forest, home of the Ahrhim Elves. Map by Artimidor Federkiel. |
Territory.
Like many of the Santharian tribes the
Ahrhim elves refuse to live outside of
their forest confines - 'the open', as they refer to it, is a lovely place to
visit - but they wouldn't want to live there. Besides, in the special case of
the Ahrhim to live in the open would be seriously deprimental to their health!
Their forest, as mentioned earlier, is the Almatrar, in the province of Sanguia
- some two or three days ride North East of
New-Santhala and about half a day
from the Paelelon.
People.
The first thing to mention about the Ahrhim is that they are not fussy about
the hours they keep. I think I am going to find this very difficult to explain!
In this I mean that they do not have a set amount of time that constitutes
their waking hours. They don't really divide the world into the 24 hours that
would constitute one day to anyone else. They are aware that this is the unit
of time elsewhere, they just choose not to use it. In the gloom of the forest
floor, there is little need to divide between day and night, and the Ahrhim
don't. Again, they are, of course, aware of the concept of "day" as opposed to
"night", and see the sun rising and
setting, but this has little meaning to the Ahrhim when they are in their
forest. An Ahrhim elf will simply be awake
until they are tired and then they will sleep until they wake or are woken.
There are not "opening hours" that you will find in
Elving or
New-Santhala. If an
elf is awake he is around. If he is asleep,
then he is not. The Ahrhim do not all sleep at the same time. The amount of
sleep and when it is taken also varies wildly not just from
elf to elf,
but also for one elf over a lifetime. As
such the Almatrar is always alive with tribal life, and there are always
elves awake, no matter what time you visit.
It has been suggested that this odd system of waking was developed as a
defence, so that there was always a pair of eyes watching, a way to protect
themselves when the drow first moved in next door, or some have even suggested
that this odd tendency developed after the creation of Alvang as a base by
Saban Blackcloak, although this
seems a little late. Early documentation by other
elves and
humans note the tribe as being nocturnal. Outside forest bounds, it is true
that the Ahrhim keep strict nocturnal hours - after all the
sun can do terrible things to
unpigmented skin. Reports of nocturnal behaviour in the forest at night
probably only refer to the fact that the elves
happen to be awake at all times, even in the middle of the night. There are
several Ahrhim elves who live in Elving
and Salóh and here they keep
Quaelhoirhim hours of daylight, being careful,
however, to stick to the shade on bright days.
While most elven tribes hold a certain - if
not preference, then - reverance for the Wind Gods - the element from which
they believe themselves to have been created, the Ahrhim shun this concept. Not
that they do not accept conventional mythology as laid out in the
Cárpa'dosía, they do and accept
it as gosple truth; it is just that in their eyes wood elves are as different
from light elves as they are from humans,
halflings of
dwarves! The Ahrhim believe that the
moment they tied themselves to the soil and the forest, took physical form and
gave up their immortality, then they left behind that closeness to the Wind
Gods.
As mentioned before the core of Ahrhim belief is the strength of the soil and
the sanctuary of the forests and their own indestructable association with it.
As a result, the tribe members find themselves drawn towards the Earth Gods -
to Arvins, representative of the
careful balance of their forest habitat, to
Querpur as they have chosen finite
life and to Urtengor for forging the
soil that gives their forest life. While all
elves understand and appriciate the Earth Gods, such an allegiance to them
is unprecedented among any other wood elven tribe in
Sarvonia. To the Ahrhim, the other Gods
seem almost surplus to requirement. In the Earth Gods they find the Creation,
the balance of life and the renewal respecitvely... - so what need is there for
any other God?
One practical consequence of this is that status in society is often expressed
by how close to the ground you live, a trait shared by the
Eophyrhim. However, in course of fact, this
difference in philosophy may simply be regarded as a matter of theological
debate for there are few other excessive differences in Ahrhim lifestyle or
religious practices and those of the neighbouring tribes - when one considers
how different the Quaelhoirhim are from the
Tethinrhim, for example. But there is no doubt
about it, the tribe is certainly rather odd.
Possibly the oddest thing is that the tribe is obsessively patriarchal, unlike
most tribes where females tend to hold the most important positions. This is
unique to the Ahrhim and academics argue over the cause of this patriarchal
society. The majority favour the influence of
human society - the forest is close to two large
human settlements and dozens of smaller
ones enclose the forest. Human society is
patriarchal, but not to the extreme that the Ahrhim take it. Other academics
argue that this theory doesn't hold water
because this patriarchal behaviour seems not to have existed prior to the year
900 b.S. A scrap of parchment in the Quaelhoirhim Tomes, thought to date from
the very opening of the Age of Awakening reads: "And all the Great Ladies of
the Almatrar made their long way to Elving..."
Sadly little more remains of one the oldest fragments within the Tomes. It does
not explain who the Great Ladies are - but many leading minds on the subject
maintain they must be the tribe's leaders or at least advisors to the Leader.
However, as any other tribe will confirm, by the formation of the
Elven Circle by
Cárimuá, the idea of a female
leader of any kind seemed quite unpallatable to the tribe.
The other suggestion is that the patriarchal nature of the tribe might have
developed by the occurance of a peculiar fluke of biology. Somehow, there seems
to be an oddly high probability among Ahrhim women to bear a son rather than a
daughter. In fact, the royal line is disproportiantly male, which has
occasionally led to the Ahrhim males looking to suitable mates in other tribes.
It is speculated that this may explain the myriad of influences one might note
in they're apperance and culture, in the earliest times, it may perhaps have
been common practice to find a mate from the surrounding tribes. However, this
outbreeding has been, throughout recorded time, frowned upon. To marry from
outside the tribe is to risk being made a social outcast, perhaps because it
increases the probablity of a child (and to the Ahrhim the first child and heir
is the most important thing) being female.
Axiastras herself is the most famous
example of this, her mother was Aellenrhim. To
hide the fact that his first born was female, or so the story goes, it is said
that he swapped her for a human child.
Quite how one passes a human child (who
grows somewhat more rapidly than an Ahrhim child) as an
elf, I personally am not sure, but there is
evidence that such 'changlings' did occur.
Human tales of 'changlings' and the havoc they create may be exaggerated
out of all proportion over the years, both in occurance and truth, but they are
commonplace among the Serphelorians,
a tribe of humans who had more than their
fair share of elven tribes in their
territory. However, this human changling,
if in reality he ever existed, never lived to inherit the throne. Some scholars
hold that the 'changling' was in fact a young cousin of
Axiastras, given to the parents to
hide the first born daughter and save Auenviere, the
Aellenrhim elf, the disgrace that would
have been associated. The first born was said to be a sickly child, seldom seen
in public. He died at an early age, so the lore tells, although if the child
really was human it is likely that the
poor man had simply lived his human years,
doubtless isolated and alone. It was his younger brother who took up the Ahrhim
throne. Axiastras, however, certainly
grew up outside the forest with human
foster parents, of whom there are many stories, but few facts. She knew she was
an Aellenrhim, with her distinctive 'red eye'
colouring how could she not! Her arrival in close knit tribe caused a storm and
as close to a civil war as there has ever been in an
elven tribe. All it took was some maths to
work out exactly who her parents were. Most of the tribe held that these were
her ways, but some championed her rights as the first born, regardless of sex!
In the end her brother stepped down to save their tribe bloodshed, thats how
close the tribe came to imploding. The Ahrhim were closer to actual war over
one elfling raised as a
human, than the
Quaelhoirhim, with all their splitting and rejoining have ever been.
There has never, effectivly, been another Ránn since
Axiastras. Some saw, and rather cruely
in my own opinion, for she made a very impressive figurehead for the tribe, her
imprisonment by the Móh'rónn as
judgment against her. Besides, her son Serveran, was raised first by the
Maeverhim and then taken in by the
Quaelhoirhim as the Ac'rónn, their prince in
waiting - effectively breaking their royal line. This left a hole where the
succession should be. Axiastras'
brother, having stepped down as an elfling
refused to take the throne in her absence, and his children did likewise. In
the end Axiastras' first cousin
Un'jeín (lit. "Dawn") took the throne. But she only ruled for four days, as it
soon became clear, or so said the tribe elders (who had always been rather
anti-Axiastras in the first place)
that she did not have her predecessors tactical ability, nor her simple force
of temper and aggression. And so Un'jeín was replaced, in turn with her first
cousin, unrelated to Axiastras, Efér
Tómór (lit. "Fire's Storm") became Rónn and males have ruled since.
From such a story it is obvious that social structure is much stricter than at
many other elven tribes and is obviously
more closely related to the hierarchical world of the Tethinrhim than the freer
and slightly more chaotic social set up of the
Quaelhoirhim, Aellenrhim or
Ylfferhim.
The hierarchy of the Ahrhim can be summarized as follows:
The
Royal Line
At the top of the tree is the Royal Line.
Gardners,
farmers and those who tend to the soil
Below the royal line are, and this will seem very odd
I am sure, though consequential as well: gardners, farmers and those who tend
to the soil. The Ahrhim are keen cultivators of rare plants and most new breed
of existing plant come from hybrids bred by the Ahrhim. To care for the soil is
considered perhaps the most important task in the
world of Caelereth
by this tribe. To create a new life, a new species to dwell in it, puts you in
the tribe's highest esteem. Roses are thought to have first been bred and
cultivated, at great personal risk, by the Ahrhim - turning the venomous wild
rose into and Axiastras,
who refused all her life to carry the tribe's
shield, instead carried a blue shield with the Almatrar
rose - a black red flower, that was created by
crossing wild roses with rowans
and carefully selecting for the redder colour, and the lack of poison.
Military
personal, priests and
magic users
Finally there
come military personal, priests and
magic users (though those who practice
Xeuá and earth
magics may be
elevated), then merchants and traders, sages and below them comes pretty much
everyone else including bards (who do not have the same high status that they
have in say Ylfferhim eyes).
The Arhrim accent is noted for
its guturalness, with many sounds coming from deep in the throat. Some of these
peculiarities are shared with the Eophyrim, others
are totally their own. But it gives the
Styrásh a more abrupt,
angular, sometimes more threatening sound. Perhaps this explains the derivation
of the word the 'Ahehari' and the Quaelhoirhim
and Tethinrhim fondness for using it in context of
the Ahrhim, which is roughly 'heathen', or 'uncultured'. Where an aspirate 'ch'
is required the sound comes from deep down the throat - tounge starting behind
the teeth from where it rapidly raised, the sound ending in a roll so that the
aspirate 'ch' becomes more a 'chrrrr' sound. A double 'L' rather than being a
'ull' sound as it is in standard
Styrásh becomes 'cll'. Oddly the feminine endings suffer more from this
hardening than male ones: '-ách' sounds rather more like '-rrack', again
produced from the very depth of the throat, '-erá' becomes '-araa', '-iár' is
pronounced '-irer' by the Ahrhim. Also of note is the tendency of the Ahrhim
not to ommit the doubled vowel, so that compound or the decliniation of words
are spoken exactly as written. For example the ablativ plural of carpá, meaning
"beginning", would result in carpáa and is transformed to carpá in standard
Styrásh. The Ahrhim seem to
be more comfortable with the more correct and more difficult pronounciation of
the double vowel. This again breaks the flow of the
Styrásh giving the Ahrhim
accent a more angular sound.
The Ahrhim are known for their straight talking. The Ahrhim dialect has
essential done away with certain unnecessary niceties. For example the word for
"please" is seldom used in converation. It is simply assumed in a request.
Neither do they have seperate turns of phrases to say "hello" that imply either
respect or familiarity. Such divisions are unnecessary. Respect is implied far
more effectively by actions than by words. They aren't noted for their
diplomacy. Ahrhim say exactly what they think and are noted for being brutally
honest. By many tribes this is taken for rudeness and perhaps it is in part
responsible for the on/off relationships they hold with most tribes, especially
the Eophyrhim. They have a peculiar love-hate
relationship with the drow tribe. The Ahrhim seem to have a clearer
understanding - and tolerance for - the Eophyrhim
ways than most of the other tribes in
Santharia. At times they are the closest of allies - it was the Ahrhim who
insisted on the drow's prescence at the High Elven Alliance when it was formed
by Cárimuá prior to SW I. But they
can also be the most competitive of foes. Prior to the third Sarvonian War,
relations seemed to have been stable and almost exclusively warm. Since that
time relations have been cooler, and far more on/off, and seems to rest soley
on what the leaders of Eophyrhim make of the new
monarch! If the Ahrhim monarch is worthy of the respect of the leaders and
shows them the respect they deserve, then that friendship is firmer than any
alliance in Santharia and endures for
the lifetime of that monarch. If the monarch is disrespecful in any way then
the realtionship is quite definitely on ice until such a time as the leaders
seek to review the decision!
The Ahrhim are also notably the creators - or so it is said - of
soap! Many tribes now have similar
materials for cleanliness, but it is thought that
humans aquired the idea for
soap from the Ahrhim, who along with
the Goltherrhim, living in the shadow of the
Argor and Hèckra volcanoes respectively are known to make a thick, jelly-like
cleaning fluid by mixing ashes and oil. It smells rather unplesant, of sulphur,
predominantly - but its ash content helps to smooth the skin and the sulphur
rids the body of any would be parasites and has the added advantage of repeling
biting insects. Likely it would also repell other
elves if it weren't for the inclusion of
rose petals by the Ahrhim in the mix, which made the whole concept more
palatable to humans, who use essentially
the same recipe to make soap bars.
Housing.
The grandest buildings of the Ahrhim are built on the ground, usually using a
wooden or wicker frame work and then doused with mud, which can then be sealed
and painted in bright colours, the same pigments that are used to dye their
clothing. More rarely, and only for those of the highest rank, rock is used,
unpainted, as the rock in these parts are generally red, due to high contents
of copper, ahrhite and ferros materials, who also vein the rocks with shades of
blue and green, ensure that the dark forest floor is colourful, but the shades
are not strong enough to ever be guady. These buildings also normally
incorperate and use the tree trunks around them, as props and pillars to
support grand ceilings, trunks and branches are hollow or have nooks which are
built in to provide storage space.
Other buildings are found only in the lower reaches of the canopy and are much
like those found in the Auturian
Woods, Zeiphyr and
Quallian, being tree houses constructed
of whatever their location has to offer - hollow logs, mud-lined wicker
structures, finely worked logs - linked by bridges constructed of carefully
trained interlocking tree branches, a worn log, or rope bridges slung casually
from tree to tree. Ladders can be seen around the forest, though main
staircases are usually worked into the trunks of the largest trees, and most
elves in this forest are strong and agile
enough to clamber up a tree quite without any help from such things - thankyou
very much!
Clothing.
In this respect the Ahrhim are most like their drow neighbours, the
Eophyrhim. They are known for their brown cloaks
with fur lining - as though they needed anything to make them appear
distinctive. It is thought that it was the Arhrhim's insistance on these brown
cloaks, even in battle, that gave rise to each tribe wearing one cloak colour,
when uniting as one nation under a common cause. To the best of my knowledge
this has only happened three times. It was begun at the Oath of the Young,
where instead of carrying war banners out to meet the
humans, each tribal representative that
accompanied the young Ránn wore a cloak of a certain colour to honour their
tribe and to show their tribe would honour the agreement as she was taken to
meet her human counterpart. The second
time was under Anthioullsn during
his battle with the Móch'rónn and stealing of Serveran, a symbol of defiance of
the whole elven nation, and thirdly at the
coronation of Santhros, again a sign of
elven unity where
elven war banners were not appropriate. But
I digress...
Most accessoires like buttons, buckles, hair implements and so forth are made
of red metals like bronze and copper, sometimes even gold, which is brought by
Quaelhoirhim merchants. Raw silks (not the fine
type that you see among in New-Santhala
or Elving) are common and warm, as
silkworms are abundant at certain times of year in the forest. Cotton, flax and
furs are the next most common materials for dresses, as they are either found
in the forest or can be traded for with humans
or the Quaelhoirhim traders. Wools can be
obtained from the Eophyrhim when relations are
good. Undergarments tend to be trousers suits for both sexes, better for
clambering around in, made of hardwaring materials such as leather or wool both
of which the Ahrhim must trade for.
Diet.
Food is generally based on roots and berries that grow in the forest, though it
is supplemented with meat hunted in their own forest or by food that they trade
for. The Ahrhim have a taste for fish that was once supplied by the
Goltherrhim and is now supplied by local
humans. The
Quaelhoirhim also supply vegtables that would never grow in the forest in
return for worked metals and metal ores.
Weapons.
Weapons are usually those that can be
classically fashioned from metal. The southern region of the forest is rich in
metal ores, especially copper and ferrous metals. Any
weapon you can think of, the Ahrhim
smiths make. They are a quick study and have a love of the new, they have seen
a few orc blades in their time and make
copies and adapted them, loving their ingenuity and simple effectiveness for
the kill - after all the Ahrhim are a no nonsense tribe and
orc blades are all kill and no show.
However, orc blades don't trade well.
Knives, daggers, shortswords, longswords and armours do. Hence these are most
commonly fashioned for export. In the forest,
bows and spears are the most popular
weapons, as hunting is the only primary cause for using a
weapon. Traditionally hunting among
Ahrhim is a pack activity performed by forming a circle, making a noise to
scare the animal down and then closing in quickly and noislessly, prey is
generally small - so there is no need for anything fancier.
Occupations.
Like most tribes the Ahrhrim run a full gauntlet of professions that make a
tribe function. Firstly it must be pointed out that an
elf may have more than one function within
the tribe. Apart from where the profession requires many years of training or
apprenticeship - such as smith, mage, soldier or plant breeder - an
elf is usually simply employed in whatever
task is required. One day an elf my be
building or repairing residences, the next hunting for the tribe, the next he
might be trading with a merchant or running an errand to a
human town.
The only thing of note is that the Ahrhim are more divided down lines of sex
than any other tribe. There are tasks that females may not perform - dealing
with individuals from other races and tribes is one odd example. Females may
not be employed in physical labour, the army (though since
Axiastras, the rule has relaxed a
little to those with obvious tactical ability) or in the smithies. However,
they may oddly enough take up high rank jobs such as tending plants and
breeding them and many of the tribe's best mages are female. Similarly, it is
not acceptable for a male to be in sole responsibility for a child, though this
is seldom a disability to a female as child care is an incredibly communal
thing - as one would expect with a tribe that is essentially one extremely
extendened, large family. Females are responsible for cooking and this will
probably seem odd - all food procurement except where it involves trade - and
this includes hunting! Hunters are exclusively female. Bards and singers may be
of either sex, but female Ahrhim are generally expected not to leave forest
bounds and are viewed with suspicion if they do - and labelled headstrong and
unruly, though the punishment is not much greater than that!
Government.
I feel that perhaps I have covered much of this before. But if you missed it -
here goes! The Ahrhim are patriarchal and hierarchal. They have a strictly
organised, hereditary monarchy as is found among the
Tethinrhim and the Sanhoirrhim. However, the
heir is always male, and in days gone by great efforts were made to conceal a
first born that was not male. In modern times, a female firstborn is simply
passed over in line to the throne as is the case in most
human monarchies.
The tribe is not overly numerous, and quite closely interrelated in most cases,
so the term monarchy might not be quite correct. The Rónn gives the orders, has
power over the tribe's warriors and makes the decisions that affect the whole
tribe, but the term "monarch" implies regality - and there is little regal
about a Rónn. Usually he is cousin four times removed to even the lowest of the
elves, so while he wields respect and power
most of the time, there are few of the perks associated with
human kingship.
Production/Trade.
Raw silk is produced by the tribe, but they also have an abundance of silkworms
and an ability for breeding them! Unspun silk and silkworms which in the hands
of humans or the
Quaelhoirhim can be turned in to silk of the
highest grade also fetch a high price that provide the
elves with food stuffs and materials that
their forest do no provide.
Natural Resources.
Despite their lowness of rank - those who gather metal ore from the forest edge
and the smiths, who work it, they are the very center of trade through the
forest. Ore itself is a valuble comodity that gets the tribe much of what it
needs from outside, but the Ahrhim Smiths are perhaps the best
elven smiths in
Santharia, especially in bronze,
copper and gold, but they will fashion anything if you bring them the ore
simply for the challenge of it. Ahrhim items are plain and functional if made
for home use, but are beautiful, intricate and finely fashioned for export. The
elves often make enchanted items to order -
either enchanted within their own forest or for export to
Salóh to be charmed there.
Holidays,
Festivals and Observances.
Like the Quaelhoirhim - the Dawn and Dusk Song
are the main tribute to the Gods. Clerics for the God of that particular month
lead the first song and then are joined by the rest of the tribe for the second
and third. The first day of Leaf Fall is the day of
Avá and the Creation of the
world is recounted by all the clerics
and singers in a number of indvidual and interlocking solos.
The only feast day that the Ahrhim observe, they share with, and probably took
from, is one of the Eophyrhim. The
Arvins Festival is held, like at the
Eophyrhim, in the autumn, every 25 years, but this
is about all it shares with its parent festival. It involves the hiding of
weapons for
elves that are about to come of age that
have been fashioned especially for them. They must 'hunt' the
weapon and pick only the one fashioned
for them or their weapon is forefit on
the mercy of the rightful owner. Obviously only a selected generation gets to
undergo this festival and this generation usually becomes the next clerics. A
feast is then held after the Dusk song. The celebration is as much a festival
of Urtengor as it is of Arvins and
so perhaps it is incorrectly named.
History. No information yet.
Information provided by
Wren
|