The Cauldron -- A Conworld

[Cordoma]

The Cauldron is a small conworld that I am working on, it is composed of three continents, several large islands, and countless small islands. The smallest continent is a landmass about half the size of Australia, that is home to the various fiefdoms of the Teune people. The Ezperdeite live on a much larger landmass, about a third of the size of south america, and the largest landmass, known as Niel is a gigantic behemoth about a third of the size of Eurasia, which houses vast swathes of wild, untamed land, but with no great civilizations except an extensive network of ruins that hint towards something ancient.

The largest of the islands in the north is home to a culture known as the Eklit, about which much is not known.

The teune people are tall and brown skinned, with little body or facial hair. Their clothing is lightweight, with both men and women wearing loose fitting slacks, men wearing oversized vests called Gaerbe, and women wearing light tube tobs called Vesielke. It is common for young women and girls to decorate their hair with flowers and to let their bangs grow out long, which are then tied with string and allowed to hang down and frame the sides of the face. Men typically shave their heads bald, or keep it very short.

Men typically live in mid-sized houses called Korte, which are rectangular and long, and have arching roofs. Korte are made of light wood beams fitted together like puzzle pieces and lashed with rope. They are surrounded by small wooden pathways which connect the various Korten in a village. These pathways are generally useful, as the ground is generally unstable and varies widely in hight from one yard to the next. The various rooms of a Korte are divided by silk screens that hang from rings around various beams, and can slide or be rearranged to suit one’s taste.

The Teune people keep a wide circle of personal space, which extends between four or five feet. The saying goes, if you are five feet away from a man, you are his friend; if you are four feet away from a man, you are his enemy. Touching between the Teune is considered vulgar except where romantic interests are concerned, and even then it is looked upon as a very serious action, not to be taken lightly. In situations where entering personal space is necessary, for example as a waitress or a servant, one must be beckoned forth if one is subordinate. Between equals, a quick hand gesture or nod of the head serves to indicate the intention. Usually, this only needs to be done once during the course of a social meeting, after which two people may enter each other's personal space multiple times before parting. Once parted, however, the rules reset for their next meeting.

When eating, the Teune people drink directly from their bowls of soup. Solid food, such as game rabbit or venison, is eaten with two utensils. The first utensil is long and flat, and is sharp on one end. The other utensil is a thin skewer which is used to stab portions of food that are cut off with the flatlong, and which is then brought to the mouth.

Marriages are usually made by the parents, when children are still around the age of ten or eleven, and in general the marriage ceremony is made at that time as well. The children will still live with their family, however, until their late teens, after which, one moves in with the other's family. It usually is a joint decision between husband and wife, and either the husband or the wife's family may be moved into. Naturally, connections between the two families are generally strong, and remain for life. Divorce is not even considered an option among the Teune, as marriage is considered primarily to be a joining of man and woman for life, with emphasis on the for life. Even so, the husband may acquire mistresses if the marriage is unhappy. The wife having lovers is not unheard of, but any child resulting from an affair with another is considered the relation of the other man, and is usually taken away from the mother to be raised by that man's wife or mother.

Homosexual couplings are considered acceptable if they are short flings. Things cross into the realm of queer and disturbing, however, if the relationships progress too far and too long, which can cause the lover, though not the lovee, to be ostracised by the community at large and become an outcast. Who is the lover in such cases usually depends on social status and consensus opinion. It helps to be a big man on campus, as eccentricity is more well tolerated from them. The lover, however, is usually scorned, openly if a person of lower status, and privately if a person of high status.

Two female lovers are not looked at in the same light. Two females might have a relationship of a sexual nature, and be perfectly fine. In fact, it is considered normal and healthy, as the two are looked upon as simply extremely close friends. Indeed, if a woman doesn't engage in a lesbian relationship, it can be seen as a refusal to have any intimate friends, and is almost rude, though no one will scorn the woman for her eccentricities there.

The upper classes are called Butten, and they can be recognized by the fact that they wear padded sleeves around their arms. The sleeves are put on like gloves, and do not connect with their vestments, but rather go up to just below the shoulder. Butten tend to be a warrior class, and both males and females are highly trained with the longbow and a weapon called the Priedte, which is a large double edged sword that stretches about 4 feet in length and is about 3.5 inches in width. Other weapons include a chain with two heavy iron balls attached to each end called the Maetvol. The Maetvol is incredibly deadly at short to mid-range, and usually results in a kill when contact is made. Accuracy rapidly diminishes after a short distance, however. Female Butten may use the Priedte and Maetvol, but generally don’t due to their heavy weight. They do, however, carry shorter swords that can be thrown and that have blade catchers on their sides, which are called Kaetse. And of course they have long, lightweight spears that can easily be thrust into flesh, which are called Kudte.

The Teunen are prolific writers of poetry and verse, and their culture has given rise to some of the greatest poets on the cauldron. Poetic themes often center on the dynamics between mortality, power, and law. These types of poems are called Skeuten, and they usually follow a certain format of four stanzas of four lines each, with the first and third lines composed of eight syllables, the second line composed of seven syllables, and the fourth line composed of either eight syllables or optionally, six syllables. In addition to all this, A Skeuten is usually introduced with a rhyming couplet at the beginning of the poem that consists of eight syllables for each line in the couplet, or, optionally, four syllables for each line in the couplet. The four syllable couplet is considered more avant garde, while the eight syllable couplet is considered traditional.

The Teune people love to hunt game. In addition, they are the creators of several unique and valuable spices in the cauldron. Their main courses of food consist of stews of spiced pork and a tangy mashed up potatoe-like vegetable called a Briete. The stews themselves are called Tsielkome, and there is an endless variety to them and their subtleties of flavor. Other types of food consist of cooked pig-fat and a sweet or spicy paste wrapped in cabbage and large square noodles called Nielte. These can be served hot or cold, and are generally a very filling delicacy.

The teune people are famous the world over for their wine, which is made from a special wild-grass that grows rampantly in their environment called Grastieke, and is quite edible. The wine is called Viengrastiek, and is very smokey, thick, and bitter. It will definitely get you drunk if you swallow it all at once.

The Ezperdeite people are much shorter when compared to the Teune, and their skin tones range from pale ivory in the north to dark brown moreno skin in the south. They generally have an abundance of facial and body hair, especially around the armpit section, where hair is commonly arranged in braids amongst women.

The Ezperdeite people live under a sort of state-sponsored capitalism, with the heads of nation states acting as rulers with various powers in each kingdom, ranging from despotism to constitutional monarchy.

What unites these states and their rulers is the Ezperdeite religion. Ezperdeite are known as Merzate, and their religion is headed by a patriarch that has the express power, granted by the object of Merzate religion, the Goddess Benadia, to perform spiritual rites and to implement others with the ability to perform these rites.

The administrative faculty of the Merzate is not dissimiliar to that of the Roman Catholic Religion. Indeed, there are a variety of Merzat Saints and other spiritual beings. Although one crucial difference might be the lack of a charismatic messiah figure, and the more prominent allocation of monastical resources over popular masses and faith healing. The Merzat priests, called Padera, are among the more learned men in the Ezperdeit world, and are often employed in government, resulting in a closer bond between religion and Nation States, though the political Nation-state is regarded as subordinate.

There is another race I have plans for, the Avos, who aren't necessarily human, but are more like water spirits. They are an important antagonist in the conworld. I'm still developing them though.

If you have any questions about the Cauldron, please, let me know! Also, I'm currently working on making maps for The cauldron. I'm trying to be as scientifically accurate as possible, so it might take some time. Expect a political map among them, though!

[Cordoma]

A political map of Teune, which is only part of the Cauldron.

[anacharis]

Men typically live in mid-sized houses called Korte

So where do the women live?

Also, why's it called the Cauldron?