Cultural Practices/Traditions of Argonians

[KuKulzA]

just some of my ideas


[TITLE]Communal Ceremonies[/TITLE]
Naming Ceremony
In order to have a deep connection with the Hist and recieve a soul-name, an Argonian youth, once out of his communal hatchling stage will go with young ones around his/her age and recieve a name by licking their ancestral Hist tree of their tribe.
Wamasus Thunder Ceremony
The wet season is always begun by the roaring of Wamasus as they sense the coming storms and roar and spit lightning. According to Argonian myth, the great Sun-wizard's magic was so strong that it upset the balance and began drying up the land, and so the mighty Wamasus roared lighting at the sky to bring the great rains. And ever since the Wamasus do so to greet the wet season which their ancestors supposedly help bring back. Some Argonians make pilgrimages to Wamasus springs near the Taansha Bog. Others all gather for hours kneeling and facing in the direction of the Wamasus Springs and all rising in unison when they sense the Wet season is almost upon them.
The Great Burning
In the Parchlands, where deforested savanna and miles of tall sawgrass in shallow waters meet, it is often healthy to cause small controlled fires to consume much of the rotting grasses to help promote growth of the vegetation and thus the wildlife. Argonians rarely use fire, but the Parchlands, being the driest part of Black Marsh, benefits from the ashen layer caused by this burning ceremony. This ceremony is always done a day or two before the wet season begins. The fire is carefully controlled, and this practice is unique to the Parchland tribe but occasionally other tribes will come to watch this ceremony.
Tribal Basking
On some quiet and hot sunny days, Argonian of a tribe may drop everything they are doing and simply bask together and converse quietly. Elders will teach hatchlings about nature, news will be exchanged and this seems to reinforce clannish bonds. Often Argonians will bask alone or with a few family or friends, however this large-scale basking does occur. This happens mostly in the interior tribes where a hundred basking Argonians will not get slaughtered by armed foreigners.

[TITLE]Religious Festivals[/TITLE]
Dry Season Festival
In the drier times, when the water level goes lower, fish swarm into the remaining large creeks and ponds in order to have enough room to survive. At this time Argonian will have a great gathering to have a feast on the fish who are easy to catch, temporarily bunched up as they are during this short time period where the land gets driest, compared to other places it is still quite wet, but for this province, and its intensively water-dependent ecosystem, the drop of the water-level is significant enough for these creatures... and thus it is Argonia's dry season.
Wet Season Festival
In the wet season, just after the drier season, wildlife booms in the Black Marsh for a short itme before normalizing (until the next short span of gradual drying). Great rains come and the great reproduction of wildlife is celebrated with a festival.
Feast of the Sea
Eastern coastal tribes will on this day, whenever they sense a great boom in sealife, hunt turtles, shark, salt-water crocodiles, and wrestle with Dreugh. Shellfish and fish are gathered and there is a feast and story-telling of how their people came to the sea and learn to live by its rythmns.
Mangrove Blessing Day
The mangrove inhabiting tribes of the south had a ceremony where they would collect hundreds of mangrove seeds and release them on the coast. The roots of the mangrove collects silt and dirt, building land, and it is no wonder that the Argonians call the mangrove the land-maker. This ceremony is conducted when tides begin to rise abnormally high, and the hope is that the seedlings will all grow and provide more sheltering mangroves and protective sandbars.
Z'en Day
The god of toil, Z'en, is an import from the Kothringi. Apparently this is practiced by the settled Argonians on the outskirts of civilization. The practices of these Argonians include pilgrimages to Hist, worshipping Z'en, and paying respects to various Aedra and Daedra. They are an oppressed people, unable to break from civilization and retunr to their old ways, but unable to and not allowed to fully integrate into civilization. They take this day off from work, and enjoy themselves. Most governors, Archeins, and ranchers will not prevent their peons from having one day off, since this has become a very important day where the laboring class of Argonians gather and find their cultural identity. Past attempts to snuff out this event has resulted in rebellion.

[TITLE]Individual Rituals[/TITLE]
Beast Quest
Some tribes believe every one of the tribesmen has a spiritual beast that they connect to. After taking some Dragon's Tongue plant to invigorate their endurance, they go out and seek out the spirit. When they feel they are tested and ready, they go to the Hist who guide them through their dreams before they find their spirit-beast. This is a practice found mostly in the northwest and north of Argonia.
Hist Visiting
Traveling shamans of the Circle of Sages will travel throughout Black Marsh to check on the Hist that are not cared for by a tribe. They try to ensure its safety and communicate to ensure its needs are met.
Hist Meditation
A troubled or pondering Argonian might respectfully pour water on the roots of a Hist tree and shit by it, touching or not touching it and meditate. Oftentimes the Hist will subtley and quietly respond both with chemicals secreted and spiritually and give the Argonian some peace of mind and help guide and advise them.
Naga Hist Licking
For Nagas interested in entering the spiritual world to empower their tribe, they cut themselves a little and let their blood run on a Hist tree and begin a spiritually rigorous quest to commune with the Hist. Nagas, being much less in-tune with the Hist but sentient nevertheless, have fewer spiritually connected individuals, but they serve a very important role in Naga society. They are the spiritual guardians of Naga society and unlike shamans of the People of the Root, the Naga shamans serve mainly the strengthen the spirits of the Naga and make the fiercer rather than more harmonius with nature. However despite their violent nature, Nagas still stay within the balance of nature, not hunting more than they need, and having a very innate sense of the environment. Nagas tend to never stray from their lands since they feel lost and agitated outside of them, whereas Argonians can adapt to man/mer-ish life more readily, but in that sense, they are more easily corrupted from natural life.

[TITLE]Cultural Practices[/TITLE]
Alligator-wresting
Warriors will commonly test their strength by wrestling alligators, caiman, or crocodiles to show off their prowess. Most common in the south-central areas where these crocodilians are most common.
Headhunting
A practice only in the Naga and Arnesian Argonian tribes, it seems to have stemmed from a southern Velothi practice of skinning dead Argonians as a war-trophy. Argonians apparently decided to use enemies' heads as menacing war-trophies to counter the Dunmeri psychological warfare. However, in naga societies, the skulls and preserved heads of fellow Nagas, as well as fallen enemies are said to bring good fortune to their tribes. Whether this is true is not known, however the few Naga shamans that exist are said to be able to see through the dead eyes of the heads of long-dead ancestors... maybe the shamans have a connection with the ancestors. They certainly have a different way of worshipping the Hist.
War paint / Feathers / Claws
Much of the war regalia of an Argonian warrior, if any includes painting to make oneself more fearsome or more stealthy, and feathers and claws theat are worn are often just aesthetic or have personal significance. Many of the armors are light and made of natural organic materials, and often adornedin the same way the Argonians might adorn themselves.
Sacrifice of Enemies
War-like tribes will sometimes sacrifice captured enemies. Usually the victim is tortured to test their strength. Normally their flesh is eaten. It is considered an honorable death for the enemy and also an honor to eat their flesh. To the Argonian there is no honor in warfare, it is simply hunting, except more strategized and against equals. To them, there is little distinction between combatants and non-combatants as their own people have not been shown mercy during wars, and every individual in a Dunmeri or Cyrodiilic colonization effort is another threat. Afterall, the wife cooks the meal that feeds the soldier who will later burn villages, kill warriors, and rape women. The Argonians do not see warfare in the same way and thus the sacrifice of enemies is very widespread amongst war-like tribes.

[Deeza]

Just found this stuff. It's rich in lore. I think I will convert it into a series of books. Could you please shift this to the literature section Ibsen?

[Deeza]

Wow, I'd completely forgotten this. Come to think of it, I might just move the thread and write those books myself...

[Ibsen's Ghost]

I must have missed it first time round. Moved as requested. :check:

[Deeza]

Having had a look through these, I think they still need work. Some of them are straight-up rip-offs from real world cultures, and need to be converted into something less familiar. It shows promise, though.