[@isotope][@monkeypants]


[hider=Roshad]Insulated from the armies of Koshar by the other Cradle states, Roshad boasts the most learned academics of them all. It is known for its great library of texts uncovered from pre-eruption ruins, and has sent many expeditions into these depths. Roshadite culture revolves around astronomy, and their rituals and ceremonies align with certain stars and calendar dates. Outsiders view these customs with some suspicion, quick to blame sorcery and dark rites. The Roshadite pantheon is an integral facet of their artwork, the most famous of which are the great stone heads and ziggurats that feature so prominently in their lands.  

Roshad attire tends to be tight and close to the body, with various tanned skins and furs being the medium. As the winter grows and the summer shrinks, brilliant cloaks and capes come out of the wardrobe to dazzle the whitening world, with each families eldest bearing the familial cloak, an ancient tapestry depicting the families greatest moments, or most dire situations. These tapestries are threaded with the best materials the family can afford, and every new name is stitched with care. The greatest insult is to be removed from your families cloak. 
Beyond the cloaks of winter, the scholars and temple priests of Roshad are known to wear totem-like hats during ceremony, so that their very gods may watch over them during the most sensitive of times.

Roshad’s mighty walled cities of Ziggurats and statues are ruled by a complicated web of individuals, where a Patron assumes responsibility for all the males of the city, where as he is supposed to present the perfect role model for the male citizens and instruct the city on male social cues. Likewise there is also a Matron to represent all the females of the city, and to serve as a role model. These elected individuals join a city wide council of further politicians, including the temple priests, who inherit their spiritual position from their parents, and the city “Thinker” a esteemed position that presides over all meeting, represents the city during intercity relations, and is to act as an unbiased voice.

The Thinker is chosen from the cities Library harems, a large pool of esteemed men and women deemed capable of producing gifted offspring. While these people live ordinary Roshad lives, their children are continuously inspected from birth to determine if they will be eligible to be the next Thinker, a life long position. Those who don’t make it tend to either become matrons, patrons, or a respected and educated member of the city, and often joining the harem themselves. Admittance to the harem is done through inspection by the priest caste on the applicants, with the priest caste unable to apply themselves. 

Unlike most of the other civilizations, Roshad has a very rigorous marriage system to match their complex political make up. Families often have written ledgers depicting their family trees and all its accomplishments to go along with their cloaks. The point of this is that during proposals of marriage, the couple must present themselves to the matron and patron, while the two families debate on if the union will produce great children, or not. Because of this, people with bigger, grander family ledgers have a better time finding spouses, than those who have subpar, or a stained family.

Along with marriage and politics, religion also plays a mighty role in Roshad society. Ever since the dawn of time, the leader of the Roshadite gods, Zxorel of the Stars, has promoted research, study and knowledge. It is written on the stone figures of the land and told in the skies that people were birthed to advance, and learn, at all costs. And so the priests look to the skies to learn the will of Zxorel and the other deities, and the people look to the books and artifacts stored in the great libraries for the duty of mortals in their studies. Virtue is measured by intelligence, and any activity that showcases it is encouraged.

[/hider] 

[@Nib] [@Crimson Raven]

[hider=Kothar]This is the most warlike of the Cradle’s civilizations, and is frequently at odds with its neighbor, Mennon. Several historical incursions have only been defeated by the combined effort of several states. Kothar has annexed smaller tribes in the past, growing fat on tribute from these peoples. Its soldiers are very disciplined and well-armed. Kothar pioneered the dreaded pike phalanx, specifically to counter the cavalry of Mennon. The martial inclination of Kothar has bred many heroic personas, and many more of its people aspire to their legendary status. The denizens of Kothar believe in a manifest destiny to conquer all of the Cradle. 

Kothar was formerly a loose collection of city-states, each ruled by its own warlord. These city-states were as likely to fight each other as foreign civilizations, each vying for supremacy. It was only the conquest of Phedas the Great that brought them under a single banner. Since then, Kothar has evolved into a unitary state, dominated by a ruler called the Archon. The Archon’s position is often, but not always hereditary. Some warlords are elevated to the station by their peers on account of merit and reputation. On a local level, villages and towns are governed by elected officials, who report to the warlord who holds power in their respective province.  

Kotharans worship a single deity, known as Lekos. Formerly, each city-state had its own patron god, but belief in these was abolished after Phedas’s conquest. The patron god of Phedas’s city-state, Thedus, was deemed the only deity fit to revere. Lekos is a stern and martially-inclined figure. He represents war - both physical prowess and strategy - and purity of body and spirit. His symbol is a burning torch - just as fire devours everything it touches, Kothar’s might devours lesser civilizations. “Purity through fire,” is a common Kotharan motto. Fire is so and such revered that executions are often done through drowning, deeming the criminal unworthy of a cleansing fire, which often is used on the respectfully deceased. 

In Kotharan society, masculinity is aspired to by both sexes. Both males and females hold traits in high regard that other cultures might reserve for men: physical strength, mental fortitude and acuity, fighting prowess, hard work and the ability to provide for one’s family and society at large. This results in a largely egalitarian society, as both sexes have the same rights and privileges. Women are allowed to own property, fight as soldiers and participate in athletic competitions. It isn’t uncommon to see women performing “masculine” jobs, like smithing, construction and other physical labor. When it comes to family, it is the women who actually do the lion’s share of running the household. Childbearing is an important motherly duty, but raising an infant from birth to adulthood is a burden shared equally by the mother and father. Homosexuality is not strictly taboo, but same-sex relationships do not hold the same weight as heterosexual marriage. Birthing the next generation is regarded as a duty, one strained by a same-sex-couple’s inability to reproduce. 

Kotharans favor simple, drapey clothing. An undergarment and cloak of linen or wool, fastened with bronze clasps or pins is common attire. Little distinction is made between male and female fashions. Kothar’s appreciation of the human body is apparent in the meticulous wrapping of clothes around the body, to accentuate the wearer’s form. Fabrics are often gossamer or transparent, plain white or accented with very basic colors. Sandals are worn on the feet in public, and Kotharans are usually barefoot at home.[/hider]   


Roshad, Kothar and Baccum now complete.

EDIT: Adding more to Kothar actually