Sheesh, it seems that the longer this topic goes on, the more difficult it's becoming to make up my mind as to what to do with my character's particular tribe.
There's quite a few questions that I'm trying to answer as I go along:
1. How, exactly, are challenges for the title of Nunh handled?
2. How much influence to women have over who becomes a challenger?
3. Are the challenges a straight-up fight? Or are they most like contests, such as "who can hunt the most game in a single week?"
4. Is the loser killed? If not, is there a punishment associated with failure? (Shunning? Exile? Castration? Etc.?)
5. If there is a particularly fatal or gruesome punishment, how does this affect the morale of the rest of the tribe? If there isn't, what factor prevents the challenges from occurring very commonly?
6. How do tribal Miqo'te, in general, view other races and cultures? Do they prefer to be traditional or open to outside influences/technology?
7. How are the relationships within the tribe defined? Do they consider the entire tribe to be their "family?" Is it extended only to those who were sired under the same Nunh? Is it only their immediate family?
8. Does romance play a role anywhere? If so, how common is it? How many partners are culturally acceptable? Does romance include a sexual element with the relationship? Is this okay with the Nunhs, or does it have to be in secret?
I'll probably bump into many other questions as I go, as well. It's no wonder why most people would opt to just be a "city-cat"--these are hard to answer! If the culture leans more towards the more primal and "barbaric" side of things, it puts a strain on the definition of "community" among the tribe (i.e. if someone eats all of your children, even if this is the accepted norm, your morale and sense of community would surely plummet). But at the same time, if their culture is too gentle (Tias and Nunhs fight over a game of checkers), it might seem too sun-shiny, happy, and generic. I'm trying to strike an "exotic middle-ground" among them all, to give them a unique, cultural silhouette while ensuring that it doesn't go too overboard simply for the sake of that. Different--but not to the point that the other races would see them as vile (which doesn't seem to be the case as far as NPCs are concerned).
There's quite a few questions that I'm trying to answer as I go along:
1. How, exactly, are challenges for the title of Nunh handled?
2. How much influence to women have over who becomes a challenger?
3. Are the challenges a straight-up fight? Or are they most like contests, such as "who can hunt the most game in a single week?"
4. Is the loser killed? If not, is there a punishment associated with failure? (Shunning? Exile? Castration? Etc.?)
5. If there is a particularly fatal or gruesome punishment, how does this affect the morale of the rest of the tribe? If there isn't, what factor prevents the challenges from occurring very commonly?
6. How do tribal Miqo'te, in general, view other races and cultures? Do they prefer to be traditional or open to outside influences/technology?
7. How are the relationships within the tribe defined? Do they consider the entire tribe to be their "family?" Is it extended only to those who were sired under the same Nunh? Is it only their immediate family?
8. Does romance play a role anywhere? If so, how common is it? How many partners are culturally acceptable? Does romance include a sexual element with the relationship? Is this okay with the Nunhs, or does it have to be in secret?
I'll probably bump into many other questions as I go, as well. It's no wonder why most people would opt to just be a "city-cat"--these are hard to answer! If the culture leans more towards the more primal and "barbaric" side of things, it puts a strain on the definition of "community" among the tribe (i.e. if someone eats all of your children, even if this is the accepted norm, your morale and sense of community would surely plummet). But at the same time, if their culture is too gentle (Tias and Nunhs fight over a game of checkers), it might seem too sun-shiny, happy, and generic. I'm trying to strike an "exotic middle-ground" among them all, to give them a unique, cultural silhouette while ensuring that it doesn't go too overboard simply for the sake of that. Different--but not to the point that the other races would see them as vile (which doesn't seem to be the case as far as NPCs are concerned).
