Shanidan

Shanidan
Capital	None
Ruler	Multiple
Government	Direct democracies
Demonym	Shanidanii
Adjective	Shanidan
Languages	Eshehi; Aanar; Ukkarak
Religions	Whispurn urn worship

Shanidan (pronounced SHAH-nih-dahn) is a nation in the Stormlands in the northern Ilara Plateau. In its democratic temple-communities, veneration of ancestors is central to both culture and governance, with the great halls of whisper urns places for contemplation and counsel.

Geography

Shanidan lies between the Tcheren Mountains to the west and the Amanas Mountains to the east in the northern-most part of the Ilara Plateau before the ranges converge into one and continue north. It is separated from the rest of the plateau to the south by Erei's Passage, a difficult to traverse stretch where the mountains nearly converge, becoming less than ten miles distant in some parts.

The plateau in Shanidan is no less hospitable than it is to the south - though less bitterly cold, it holds other dangers instead. The many deep canyons that cross it, carved by long-vanished rivers, are home to many dangerous beasts best avoided, and as a result nearly all inhabitants of Shanidan reside in communities nestled into protected valleys in the mountains' foothills. For a great many thousands of years, prior to the known arrival of people to the region, these rivers that begin in the Tcheren and the Amanas have instead flowed directly down into the earth in immense waterfalls that are believed to eventually connect to the Depths far below. They are generally avoided.

Most of Shanidan is effectively a cold desert. Rain falls rarely - any precipitation nearly always comes in the form of winter snow - and temperatures can swing wildly. As midday nears in the warmer months it is typical for the people of Shanidan to retreat from the heat into their homes or to rock outcroppings that serve as some of the little nature shade, yet nights bring no relief, for then the frigid air descends. Summers are short and winters are long.

Most vegetation in the region comes in the forms of shrubs or grasses well-adapted to the cold, arid climate. Trees are exceptionally rare and always diligently tended to and protected.

History

The earliest inhabitants of Shanidan were the descendants of the Shenii, a tribe that once lived in the forested lowlands of Bohaar to the northeast but almost a millennia ago migrated over the Amanas Mountains and into the plateau. Driven away from their traditional lands by incessant conflicts with the hobgoblins of modern-day Kad and Vukararn, they settled in the plateau, where they were forced to adopt their old ways to a landscape very different from what they knew. Over time they became the modern-day people of Shanidan, joined on occasion by new arrivals, mostly those fleeing the oni-ruled lands to the west.

Demographics

Nearly all Shanidanii are human. Hobgoblins, dwarves, tengu, and others are not unknown in the region but are quite uncommon.

Culture

Religion

See also: Whisper urn

Core to faith in Shanidan is a form of ancestor and ghost worship that centers around a type of funerary urn known as a whisper urn. These house not only the remains of the deceased but also their ghost, who are willingly bound to the vessel in order to serve as advisors for the living.

Upon the death of an individual in Shanidan, their remains are taken in a procession of their family, friends, and community to one of the temples nestled into the foothills of the mountains, the largest and most significant of which are the Temple of the Whirling Sun in the north and the Temple of the Daytime Moon in the south. Once there their bodies are cremated in sacred chambers while one of the temple's master woodworkers sets about carving the whisper urn, a process that can take weeks. Once the cremains cool they are placed in the urn, and a ritual is begun to summon the individual's ghost, allow those who attended the procession to speak with them, and receive their permission to bind them to the urn. When complete the urn and ghost are housed in vast libraries of other urns in the temples with hundreds or thousands of others, where the ghost can then be sought for their wealth of knowledge.

At its core, the worship of the ghosts of the whisper urns is based around the knowledge they retain after death. The people of Shanidan revere these ghosts for their ability to preserve history, culture, and expertise throughout the generations, frequently consulting with them in times and situations where information has been lost to the living. The urn-libraries are tended, protected, and maintained by the keepers of the temples, who, though their actions are greatly appreciated, are not considered to be religious figures - the ghosts themselves occupy that role. The ghosts are not uncommonly visited by their descendants, or by the caretakers of the temples, simply to allow them to converse with others even when specific information is not sought, but for the most part they are left to rest in the afterlife.

While those who venerate the ghosts of the whisper urns do not have any concept of clerics, champions, or similar type of figures, they do have the ghost speakers, those who are particularly adept in communicating with the ghosts, who often talk in unusual ways or in archaic tongues.

Languages

Despite their relative isolation, the people of Shanidan are often proficient in multiple languages. Nearly all speak Eshehi, their own tongue descended from that of the Shenii, but it is not unusual to additionally know Aanar, the most common language of Bohaar, or Ukkarak, the language of the northern hobgoblins.

Architecture and urbanization

The Shanidanii long ago abandoned their nomadic roots and now overwhelmingly live in settled communities, though many herders return to their homes infrequently. These settlements are primarily small villages located in valleys and other secluded areas in the foothills of the mountains, away from the open flatlands and canyons of the plateau. Larger communities, of which there are few, are clustered around the more prominent temples of the region.

Most home and other structures in the communities of Shanidan are built of stone in a distinctive conical shape, though with their tops usually rounded off. Inside heavy rugs line the walls for warmth and decoration, while long woolen banners are often draped over the outside. In homes the first level is divided into areas for sleeping and eating, with any levels above serving as storage. Temples are constructed very differently, however. While they too are made of stone they instead have a ziggurat-like appearance, with multiple square levels stacked on top of each other, each layer's walls sloping slightly inward.

High in the ranges around Shanidan sit watchtowers, large cylindrical towers topped by enclosed canopies where individuals from nearby communities keep a cautious eye on any large movement of peoples through the mountains. These serve to guard against the encroachment of the oni from the west and the hobgoblins from the east - though the latter has not been a major concern in centuries, they are diligent nonetheless. The towers are also used to communicate vast distances across the plateaus, the bonfires in their top levels manipulated to direct messages visible to other watchtowers far away.

Food and cuisine

In the dry and often desolate landscape in which they live, growing crops at scale is infeasible, and therefore though many families, households, and communities have gardens they rely heavily on their livestock. Herds of yaks and sheep are moved around the plateau to graze, often at quite some distance to the community that is responsible for, and benefits from, them. Meat from these animals is important, of course, but no less valuable is their milk and the various foodstuffs that can be made from it. The diet of the Shanidanii is largely dairy and meat, supplemented by tubers and certain grains that grow well with little water and at the high altitudes.

Fashion

The most characteristic of Shanidan clothing are their long robes of heavy yak and sheel wool, typically died bright shades of yellow, red, and pink, the exact shades of which, and their combinations, a matter of local pride in each community. These practical garments protect well against the elements, though during summer days they are sometimes shed in favor of lighter robes.

Despite the relative abundance of precious metals that are known to exist in the surrounding mountains, the Shanidanii largely do not mine or process these, and therefore jewelry is uncommon. Dress during important occasions is instead emphasized through elaborate headwear. Large turban-like headgear of sheep's wool - the more brightly white the better - are especially favored, tied in place with equally brightly colored bands of fabric.

Arts

Woodcarvers are the most respected artisans of Shanidan, not least for the spiritual significance of their work. The material they work with can be difficult to acquire, however, imported at great expense from the lands over the eastern mountains.

Government

The people of Shanidan govern themselves in a democratic manor, albeit one that relies heavily on the wisdom and advice of the ghosts of their deceased. Community councils, or circles, commonly convene in the whisper urn libraries of local temples, allowing them to consult the dead when matters arise in which the living lack confidence or knowledge. Though the advice of the ghosts is generally only meant to be taken under consideration and given the same weight as the input of any other, in many though not all matters what they advocate is often the route taken, such is the level of deference. Participation in the circles is open to all adult members of a community, an opportunity nearly always taken by all when their availability allows, and they can become quite packed and raucous as the voices of the people and the ghosts all intermingle.