Aesthetics

• The Svanihk are earthy people concerned with the harvest and the health of the land

• Sun-kissed skin with diverse hair from dark curls to Ysse-soaked pastels

• Smells of vegetables, petrichor, and the fall of crystalline olivine dust

• People sing in the fields

• Animals roam freely through the streets

Last Names

In the Aftokratoria, last names are typically indicative of one's profession rather than one's family -- though it isn't infrequently that one inherits their profession from their family.

Children's Drawings

Svanihk drawings are inspired by their rag dolls. They're either drawn or embroidered in an abstract way.

Affection and Romance

Most of the humans show romantic attraction fairly similarly throughout the world, despite their separate over time and space: They give compliments, then do favors, then give gifts, have long talks into the night about their childhood traumas, and then blurt out a confession with their propinquity is high enough. That being said, Southerners are lot more likely to touch you and hug you, even if you don't know each other, to show affection. Certain Svanihk subcultures do the kiss-near-the-cheek thing common in Europe--both romantically and platonically.

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In the South, marriages are legally outlawed--you're not supposed to be in such an exclusive relationship and instead value the needs of the whole state and the world above any individual family. However, this philosophy originated in Telethens and is wildly less prevalent throughout the rest of the continent.

Previously, a marriage ceremony would be prefaced by both sides bathing and wearing their nicest, white clothes. Women's hair would be put up in a fancy headdress and veiled, men would not typically do this (though in marriages between two men, hats would be substituted or sometimes, one or both of them would wear veils anyway). Then, they would then go to the nearest shrine to receive counseling in their marriage and blessing from the Illuminator there. Then, the veil/hat would be removed, symbolizing that there is nothing hidden between life partners. As many people as the couple can afford witness this bond. Typically, afterwards, there would be dinner and music, and then the two would sleep together that night.

The Ecclesiastical Inquisition Command Structure

The Inquisition has a relatively horizontal and loose structure -- it is NOT very militaristic, all things considered. That said... some think it should be. The ranks are (with their literal translations and rarities):

• Inquisitor General -- Kalespari (Perfected-Inquisitor, there is 1 one of these)

• Inquisitor Lieutenant-General -- Kanespari (Exalted-Inquisitor, about 10 of them)

• Inquisitor Captain -- Sarespari (Ruling-Inquisitor, there are maybe 50 of these in the whole country, they oversee a specific region or town)

• Inquisitor (1st) Lieutenant -- Amespari (1st-Inquisitor, this is a rare rank, you usually just delineate your 2nd as a Captain)

• Inquisitor (2nd) Lieutenant -- Sirespari (2nd-Inquisitor, this is a rare and usually temporary rank, Captains only do this when they are not around)

• Inquisitor -- Espari (Inquisitor, the vast majority of Inquisitors are this rank)

• Inquisitor Apprentice --Rekriatespari (Subservient-Inquisitor, there are less than 1 of these per Espari

Vowels in Svanihk

Svanihk didn't have written vowels until Demons introduced them. They also once had a pictography but then, they pulled a Japan's Hirogana when more people needed to be literate to vote. But it really took over (unlike Hirogana) and Telethenians made a concerted effort to convert all Svanihk writing to the new form.

That being said, it wasn't that hard: they primarily use their language for signs and permanent things-- that's why their writing goes top to bottom, east to west. A much greater amount of their knowledge is passed down orally.

Their written characters have not morphed or changed as much as ours have over the years because Seeresses and Witches literally see them in Ysse and teach them to people as ways to conduct magic. You can't just lose a stroke to make something easier to write because you need it to teach magic.

Calendar of the South

Time passes by the Stars which divides the year into 14 "months", each different lengths (though they do recognize that a full moon cycle is the length of a normal month). It begins and ends in spring--meaning there is one season that the South is behind the North by 1 year. Weeks exist as 7 day chunks, but fortnights and half-fortnights are more common--measuring the 14 major arcana.

In the south, it is the year of our lady, 1453 - as it has been that many years since Yeulia was first discovered in the world. Since she has been alive, on-and-off, all these years, their history is much cleaner over these eras. They have a loose 200 years of recorded history before that which is very sketchy and everything before that is estimated.

Svanihk Astrology Names

Over 2000 years ago, in Kivihkya, the Demons ran the world and worked with powerful witches to farm humans for their blood. Demons, thus, named humans based on the constellation overhead when they were born in order to keep track of when they would be best to eat, breed, train, etc. Since they had a large amount of humans, the day of the week tag on their name indicated which day the human needed to be groomed and inspected and other extra care. Certain connotations fell on certain months of the year -- such as children being weaker if born in midwinter versus being born in Spring.

However, after the fall of the Red Monarch and the many years since then, the naming conventions have become a symbol of star-blessings and destiny instead. Children born in the midwinter are going to be "hard workers" whereas those who are born in the Spring are "lucky" -- as the connotations have simply shifted over the years and reinterpreted by different sub-groups of Svanihk people. Today, it is a tradition in the East of the Aftokratoria, but less so in the West. Today, they are called "star names" or "witch names".

Names are formed from the following three segments:

NUMERICAL DAY (CV) + Apparent Sex (l = Male/r = Female) + MONTH (VC) + DAY OF THE FORTNIGHT (CV)

Numerical Day

1. Yi

2. Rih

3. Se

4. Nu

5. Ye

6. Ro

7. Ha

8. Za

9. Kih

10. Te

    • Teens == Insert "S" (or T if "Se") in between C and V (i.e. 11 = Ysi, 12 = Rsih, etc.)

    • Twenties == Insert "V "in between C and V (i.e. 21 = Yvi, 22 = Rvih, etc.)

Apparent Sex

• L for Male

• R for Female

• RL or H for Gender Neutral (modern)

Month Names

• Dyeus --us

• Magicians --ihn

• Demons --ov

• Priestess --al

• Maiden --is

• Queen --av

• Burned Man --ihk

• Serpent --av

• Knight --ev

• Squire --on

• King --ar

• Philosopher --iv

• Earth --an

• Abyss --el

Day of the Fortnight Suffix

• Dyeus --di

• Magicians --ra

• Demons --ti

• Priestess --yu

• Maiden --na

• Queen --ya

• Burned Man --ki

• Serpent --sva

• Knight --she

• Squire --ve

• King --tsa

• Philosopher --fi

• Earth --na

(THERE IS NO ABYSS DAY OF THE WEEK)