gannea CULTURE

Return to Gannea Species Directory

overview

Gannea clash greatly with Siablan’s culture. They primarily live sedentary, monogamous lifestyles with close-knit family units, either in small Gannea-only villages or mixed cities with Crysalla.

• Gannea have a first name and a surname.

galla

Galla has the numeric characters of 0-10 and 35 alphabetic characters: A, AA, B, C, D, E, EE, F, G, H, I, II,  J, K, L, LL, M, N, NN, O, OO, P, Q, R, S, SH, T, TH, U, UU, V, W, X, Y, Z. It is written right to left, and capital letters are distinguished only by a larger type size.

How to use Galla/Gallan: Gannea speak Galla. Birds are sacred in Gallan culture.

culture

• Gannea of any phenotype can live anywhere on Siablan. Gannea are not indigenous to any biome and were often traded around the globe in their early years on Siablan. Gannea do not have a societal concept of race.
• Hygiene is very important in Gannean culture. Gannea settlements will often have running water, clean drinking fountains, bathhouses, aqueducts, and sewer systems. Gannea use toilet paper and lotas for bathroom hygiene, and miswaks and tooth powder for their dental hygiene. Gannea shave their underarms, but no other parts of their body. Gannea males will keep their beards neatly trimmed, not long and unkempt.
• Gannea regularly marry! It is custom for both parties to continue to wear an engagement ring on their right ring finger and a wedding wing on their left ring finger after the wedding.
• Brightly colored Gannea or Gannea with metallic markings are considered more attractive.
• Despite Crysalla having no concept of gender, Gannea will often gender them anyway.

clothing

• Gannea will often have piercings, most commonly one or multiple earrings!
• Gallan fashion typically matches or complements their natural coloration. Mismatched or different colored clothing is considered ugly and a sign of poverty, as the Gannea is unable to afford expensive dyes.
• Gannea always wear pants in their outfits, including under dresses, with the front panel and button along with a slit in the back and button that attaches above the tail, creating a high-waisted appearance. Longer Gannea garments typically have a slit in the back to provide free movement of the tail.

life

• Birds are considered sacred animals in Gallan religion, and Gannea do not consume their flesh, only their eggs. They have domesticated several bird species for eggs.
• Gannea first domesticated animals on Siablan, as Crysalla previously only domesticated the Sialli Silkworm. Gannea keep various pets, beasts of burden, as well as livestock, including bees.
• While Crysalla domesticated multiple fiber producing plants, Gannea were the first to domesticate and cultivate medicinal, food, and cash crop plants.

laws and society

• Gannea have a currency system of copper, silver, and gold coins. 10 coppers = 1 silver, 10 silver = 1 gold. Due to a widespread lack of minting and legal power, coins are not a standardized size or quality. Counterfeit or merely plated coins are a rampant issue. Gannea have difficulty trading with Crysalla, who value precious metals by amount and their ability to be used as smithing material, and it can cost tens to hundreds of Gallan coins to purchase one item from a Crysalla.
• Gannea have three main sins in their religion: pedophilia, incest, and rape. Incest in Gallan culture is defined as sharing a common ancestor within three generations. I will reiterate: don’t write sex crimes for your characters’ stories. I feel like this should be obvious.
• Siablan’s many natural disasters and native fauna make it highly inhospitable to Gannea, and Gannea need a patron Deity for protection. Gannea may have to offer regular sacrifices to patron deities for protection, which can vary from animals, crops, artisan goods, or Gannea themselves.
• Gannea hold no political power in Siablan. It is frequent that they are either eaten, murdered, or taken captive as pets or slaves by Crysalla.
• East’s domain holds the largest population of Gannea, where they enjoy more civil liberties and safety.

EDUCATION

Unlike traditional Crysalla education of individualized apprenticeships, Gannea highly value education and almost every settlement will have a school of some sort. 

• Gannea school grades are roughly 50 years each, beginning at the age of 50, consisting of primary 50-100 (elementary), secondary 100-150 (middle), tertiary 150-200 (high), and quaternary 200-250 (college) level courses.
• Gannea schools teach a variety of subjects, including combat, all four types of magic use, math, science, history, reading, writing, arts, religion, language, and social studies. Schools of tertiary-quaternary levels will also offer trade programs directly; assigning a class to a master to apprentice under (for example, smithing).

RELIGION

The Gannea keep their own religion. They follow the Faceless Goddess of the Gallaeri, Vyrone. However, the Crysalla Gods highly discourage this, and there are few temples dedicated to Vyrone. Most Gannea are forced to worship at private altars in their own homes. Gannea cities will have temples to their patron Deity as well as their patron God to worship in public.

• Gannea will pay tribute to their Goddess at an altar of blood, wine, coin, food, or flowers. They clean it away the following day to prevent rot, which desecrates the altar.
• Gannea with the Dark elemental affinity are considered ill luck, and often ostracized from society.

GALLAN HOLIDAYS

In addition to the five Crysalla holidays of Siablan, Gannea have two more that they celebrate.

Exodus

The Exodus is not a great celebration like the Crysalla’s, but it’s a very important one. It’s a time of remembering and recounting the story of the Gannea’s arrival on Siablan, and remembering their lost home and who they used to be.

It takes place in the early fall in the Northern hemisphere/early spring in the Southern hemisphere.

• It’s common for a family to sit together and listen to hours of stories about Gaella, often with puppet shows for children or theater performances for adults.
• It’s practice to fast for the entire 54 hours, only drinking water. Children under the age of 150 or those who have medical problems are exempt.
• Gannea are encouraged to donate to the poor and do various acts of charity.

Gallan New Year

The Gallan New Year is actually a minor holiday celebrated once every 5 sub-years.

• Gannea will practice divination privately.
• Gannea will wear red for luck.
• Gannea will often gamble.