Human Culture
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Humans in Felarya can be currently considered the most sophisticated and thriving culture of the continent. Their main city Negav is a bustling and prosperous metropolis with people coming from many corners of the universe. It has naturally become the most important cultural pole in Felarya.
Contents
In Negav
The Negav Eye Journal
A tall, oval-shaped building is the housing place of the Negav Eye, the best-selling newspaper in Negav, and probably in all of Felarya as well. The paper has been accused of relying on sensationalism to attract customers, publishing stories of crazy conspiracies, hidden treasures and dubious reports on predator behavior. It is also the only paper in Negav that will run stories on events outside of Negav... no other company is willing to go through that many employees each year. This work has paid off, as apparently some reporters have succeeded in actually getting interviews with predators! A very famous expedition was the horrific failure of an attempt to interview the Naga Anna Demorah.
The great Sumdam Auction
This yearly even represents the biggest fair in Negav. Taking place in the Grand Market District, It lasts a week where many off-worlders arrive in large numbers in Negav, in order to buy some of the most exotic, unique, or finely crafted items adventurers and merchants have to offer. It's a famous event, known in many corners of the universe, culminating in the great Auction, where the rarest items are bought, often for outrageous prices.
Mirror Day
It's called "Cal-Chanim" in ancient elvish: "Deadly reflections". It's a yearly occurrence where the influence of the mirrors of Milkadis are at their peak. On this day alone, creatures from the mirror of the temple can travel through every mirrors of Felarya. Places that aren't prepared can be literally overrun by strange and deadly creatures coming out from mirrors, on which conventional magic is often useless. Even the Isolon eye seems to have little effect on mirror denizens. The solution to the problem is very simple however: just cover every single mirror with a blanket and they will be ignored by the mirror monsters. With time, Mirror Day (Cal-Chanim) has become a sort of festival with inhabitants of Negav parading colorful figures representing mirror lurkers or crysaltinos around the streets. In Negav, carrying a mirror during Cal-Chanim is an extremely serious offense that can be deemed sabotage and punishable by death in certain cases. It's interesting to note that the mirror denizens can use any surface that is flat and reflective enough to be considered a mirror as a gateway during Cal-Chanim. It's said that they've even exited from the surface of a lake once!
The Blinded
Blinded ones, are criminals in Negav. When someone is caught after having committed a serious offense such as treason, theft, or murder in Negav, they are either sent to the New Chargate Prison, or branded with the image of a closed eye. It shows that they have commited crimes of some kind. Depending on what they did, they'll be sentenced to work in the Ascarlin mines, be a servant for the rich and the elite, or even be banished from Negav altogether, without any equipment, and with a brand that make them repelled by the Isolon eye , which is basically a death sentence. Some Blinded who commited minor crimes are just released in the city, but the brand tells Negavians that they are criminal, and they are treated as second class citizens. Moreover, the brand is magic and can't be hidden by any means, and anyone with a hint of magic can sense the presence of a Blinded from a distance.
The O.A.D.D.
Founded nearly a century ago by an eccentric, but exceedingly wealthy, doctor from the planet Verimar, the Organization for the Assistance of the Dimensionally Displaced (O.A.D.D.) aims to "Bring a little bit of mercy to a world full of horrible, horrible deaths". From its HQ in Negav, the O.A.D.D. runs a small safe-house/clinic for those who have found themselves in Felarya against their will. They take in refugees that have survived their dangerous trudge through the jungle to Negav, or have been found by other expeditions into the jungle. Upon being handed over to the Organization, the refugee is taken to a safe-house where they are given a good meal, a warm bed, and medical and psychological help if needed. If the refugee's world is part of the network that regularly trades with Felarya, they are sent back home through Negav's dimensional gate. If their world does not trade with Negav, they are aided in finding a job in Negav, with the O.A.D.D, or given the option of being taken to another world to make a new start. The O.A.D.D has been fairly successful in its mission, and has several divisions on a few of the more prominent worlds that regularly trade with Felarya. It gets most of its funding from donations from wealthy sympathizers, or from the dedicated employees chipping in with their own money to keep it running.
Felarya museum
Ironically, the first and only known Felarya museum is not situated on Felarya but on the world of Arlinic. It's a huge collection of treasures from various temples of Felarya and data on its fauna and flora, all of them brought by the talented veteran adventurer Ranilla. The museum is very famous for some unique pieces in its collection, and for the data collected by her. The museum uses a part of its income to pay for the next of Ranilla's carefully planned expeditions.
Neo-Sagolian style
Neo Sagolian style start to appears in Negav in 1995 A.U. After a tense period of trouble that saw a near civil war break out between the Ps'isol magiocrats and the Vishmitals, the city breath a sea of relief. Pulled by a new momentum, its richest parts start to flourish and thrive. Culture surge forward as the city seek to find its identity. At this time, new discoveries about Ur-Sagol fascinate Negav. The Sagolian tragedy is celebrated and idealized in several famous pieces such as the play "the fall of our fathers"
Many new buildings start to use references of that idealized Sagolian style; Massive structures with lot of ornaments, large columns, arches and vaults. Many of these structures are toped by hemispherical domes and typically crowned by small cornice and horizontal molding displaying various motifs and decoration, often floral and plant-derived forms.
The style progressively extended to tapestries, sculptures and furnitures as well. It then came to a stand still as people started to find it too rigid, then merged with various others influence. Structures became less symmetrical and orderly arches gave way to more dynamic curves and whiplash
progressively creating a unique style that could no longer be called "Sagolian" and thus became Neo-Sagolian.
- Credits goes to Jaette-troll for the idea of the Negav Eye Journal, to Silent-eric for the blinded, to rcs619 for the OADD, and to French-snack for the museum.
