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Description

(this is a general overview, not an extremely comprehensive one)

The planet of Txemshi is home to many thousands of peoples with their own cultures, religions, languages and many more things of such nature. While we have mainly been focussing on the Kiskxa’li peninsula, a relatively small chunk of the planet, it would be remiss of me to only focus on them and them alone. That is why in today’s culture index, we are taking a look at the Tunnel Folk Clan.

The Tunnel Folk Clan, or simply “the Tunnel Folk,” is a vast community of many Shrith herds who live beneath the ground. Living so close to the equator, the heat of the two suns is cruel and unforgiving. But whereas most other Shrith tolerate the heat, the Tunnel Folk sought refuge beneath the ground, where it was cooler. As of now, the Tunnel Folk Clan is made up of 48 herds, with an estimated population of around 14,400 Shrith. The network of tunnels and chambers is referred to as “the hive.”

For their attire, females and kithtakols wear robes, while drones are naked. Females also have shaved heads, while the Queen has a full head of hair.

Living below the ground, where no sunlight comes through, the process of cultivating crops would seem hard, or downright impossible. However, in the transition from terranean to subterranean, the Tunnel Folk stumbled across an interesting “plant” that lived in complete darkness. This plant is a chemotrophic plant, though the Tunnel Folk don’t know that. Regardless, though, this plant would later become the most fundamental part of Tunnel Folk diet, with pretty much every meal including this plant. As the Clan grew, so did its appetite, resulting in many vast underground farms where this plant would be cultivated.

But while that solved the food issue, there was a more pressing issue: water. Finding water took priority as the tunnels were being built, and it wouldn’t be until two (Earth) months later that the Tunnel Folk discovered a subterranean river. With a large source of water now found, the Tunnel Folk could now rest easier knowing they had at least one source of water. But the Tunnel Folk were worried they may run out of water, and as a result, there was a strict limitation on how much water an individual could drink. For around four (Earth) hours, the Tunnel Folk can only drink a limited amount of water. Bathing, though, isn't an issue, as most Shrith don’t bathe.

With water and food now secured, the Tunnel Folk could really expand, and as the hive grew, a couple more subterranean bodies of water were found, allowing the Tunnel Folk to spread out even more.

At some point, the Tunnel Folk were discovered by a neighboring nation known as “Ramshi,” The Tunnel Folk and the Ramshak would later go on to strike a trade deal with one another. In exchange for any precious metals or coal found by the Tunnel Folk, the Ramshak would give the Tunnel Folk better tools, building supplies and would even offer the whole Clan protection. A result of this was the further expansion of the Clan, and the hive grew even more. In addition, the Tunnel Folk could better reinforce the tunnels and chambers with the new resources they were accruing. While the Tunnel Folk Clan has never been attacked, the protection offered by the Ramhsak has allowed the Tunnel Folk to worry more about expansion and sustainability than any potential attack or invasion.

Another consequence of the Tunnel Folk-Ramshak deal was the introduction of livestock. The Tunnel Folk, for the longest time, lived mostly off of the chemotrophic plants. But with livestock, the Tunnel Folk could indulge in new food, and new and vast farms were set up to cultivate livestock. These animals were small, about the size of an Earth cat, as it was much easier to raise smaller livestock beneath the ground.

The Tunnel Folk Clan often lives in peace and cooperation, but the Tunnel Folk Clan is a clan, and so the many herds of the Clan are not obligated to stay in the Clan, though all the herds realized that it would be better to stick together than to splinter off. But despite their cooperation with one another, the herds themselves are all their own entities with different ideas of how things should be run and what should and should not be legal. The power to work in government was invested into the Queens, though this isn’t anything special, as pretty much every other Shrith herd all over the world is led by the Queen. But regardless, only the Queens can participate in government. When the Queens are called to debate political matters, they leave their chamber, guarded by one female and two soldiers. All the Queens will meet in a large chamber, known as “the forum,” and will begin to debate over matters or complaints. However, as opposed to having a majority and a minority on the issue, all Queens must, in some capacity, be in agreement. This consensus-style of government ensures that all Queens and their herds are given consideration. But because of the nature of Tunnel Folk government, meetings can be anywhere from a couple of hours to a couple (Earth) days.

Because the Tunnel Folk live underground, they have no way of seeing the suns, moon or stars. Because of this, they cannot calculate what day it may be, or when they make a full rotation around the suns. To them, the concepts of what we may consider to be days, weeks, months and years hold no meaning to them. As opposed to running on a fixed, objective calendar, the Tunnel Folk base their time around themselves. In other words, a “day” is unique to the individual. But that is where it stops. While the Tunnel Folk have individualized days, they do not have individualized weeks, months or years. Time, to them, is subjective, not objective, which has led to many Tunnel Folk “living in the moment,” with little focus put on the past or future.

While no light ever enters the hive, the Tunnel Folk are able to see pretty well in the dark. This is largely due to their eye structure, which allows Shrith to see in the dark with as much clarity as they do in the sunlight hours. This condition of superb nighttime eyesight is a result of the 41-hour long nights the planet has, with many terrestrial creatures evolving eyes capable of taking in as much light as possible. However, such impressive night vision is useless in an environment completely devoid of light. Initially, torches were used to light up the tunnels, but it wouldn't be long before the Tunnel Folk would discover luminous grub-like creatures. These creatures live in small networks of tunnels and chambers, like the Tunnel Folk, and use bioluminescence to help navigate through their labyrinths. Shortly after they were discovered, the Tunnel Folk would tie them to sticks, essentially creating a biological "torch," if you will, allowing the Tunnel Folk to do away with fire torches. Over many years, the Tunnel Folk would breed grubs with brighter luminescence, and in the modern day, the grubs are very bright, and are kept in lamps all over the hive.

The Tunnel Folk, like most other Shrith, are a religious people. But while many other Shrith religions have gods, the religion of the Tunnel Folk is godless. In a similar manner, Tunnel Folk religion holds no idea of “heaven” or “hell,” as opposed to some other Shrith religions, and the Tunnel Folk do not have a creation myth. But while the Tunnel Folk religion lacks gods, spirits or creation, the religion is built upon the notion of eternal enlightenment through reincarnation. The concept of reincarnation is quite common throughout Shrith religions, but that’s beside the point. While the Tunnel Folk don’t believe in gods or spirits, they do believe in an “energy.” The Tunnel Folk believe that the purpose of Shrith existence is to become one with the energy, which then brings forth the enlightenment the Tunnel Folk strive for. When a Tunnel Shrith dies, though, the process of enlightenment starts all over again, whether or not the individual has achieved enlightenment in their past life or not.

Because the Tunnel Folk have no gods, there are no places of worship. Rather, there are “places of serenity.” Places of serenity are open to all, and many will frequent the many places of serenity, often to meditate, which is seen as a way to become closer to this mystical energy and to, hopefully, one day achieve enlightenment. Meditation is also used to calm oneself down, to relieve themselves of anger, pain or sorrow. In some ways, stoicism is encouraged in Tunnel Folk society.

Tunnel Folk language is very, very synthetic, and sentences in English can be shortened down to a few words, or, in more extreme cases, a single word. The language of the Tunnel Folk relies heavily on infixation. The infixes, way back when, used to be suffixes, and suffixed to the end of a word. Back then, Tunnel Folk words were strictly CV, but as the language evolved, word-final vowels were lost, leaving the last consonant of the word next to the onset of the suffix, which, at that time, was illegal. To remedy this, the suffixes became infixes so that there were no consonant clusters. However, in modern Tunnel Folk language, consonant clusters are very common.

Some pastimes of the Tunnel Folk include smoking in special “smokehouses.” Other pastimes include dancing, signing, meditating, playing an instrument, painting, engaging in casual sex (for females and drones), and, quite surprisingly, reading. In contrast to the cultures discussed elsewhere, Tunnel Folk kithtakols and drones are granted the ability to read. In a region like the Kiskxa’li peninsula, males reading is forbidden. The reason for letting males read, for the Tunnel Folk, has to do with enlightenment. The Tunnel Folk, in this respect, are quite progressive. Much of the books read by the Tunnel Folk are philosophical literature given to them by the Ramshak.

(that’s about it for this general overview)

Description

(this is a general overview, not an extremely comprehensive one)

The planet of Txemshi is home to many thousands of peoples with their own cultures, religions, languages and many more things of such nature. While we have mainly been focussing on the Kiskxa’li peninsula, a relatively small chunk of the planet, it would be remiss of me to only focus on them and them alone. That is why in today’s culture index, we are taking a look at the Tunnel Folk Clan.

The Tunnel Folk Clan, or simply “the Tunnel Folk,” is a vast community of many Shrith herds who live beneath the ground. Living so close to the equator, the heat of the two suns is cruel and unforgiving. But whereas most other Shrith tolerate the heat, the Tunnel Folk sought refuge beneath the ground, where it was cooler. As of now, the Tunnel Folk Clan is made up of 48 herds, with an estimated population of around 14,400 Shrith. The network of tunnels and chambers is referred to as “the hive.”

For their attire, females and kithtakols wear robes, while drones are naked. Females also have shaved heads, while the Queen has a full head of hair.

Living below the ground, where no sunlight comes through, the process of cultivating crops would seem hard, or downright impossible. However, in the transition from terranean to subterranean, the Tunnel Folk stumbled across an interesting “plant” that lived in complete darkness. This plant is a chemotrophic plant, though the Tunnel Folk don’t know that. Regardless, though, this plant would later become the most fundamental part of Tunnel Folk diet, with pretty much every meal including this plant. As the Clan grew, so did its appetite, resulting in many vast underground farms where this plant would be cultivated.

But while that solved the food issue, there was a more pressing issue: water. Finding water took priority as the tunnels were being built, and it wouldn’t be until two (Earth) months later that the Tunnel Folk discovered a subterranean river. With a large source of water now found, the Tunnel Folk could now rest easier knowing they had at least one source of water. But the Tunnel Folk were worried they may run out of water, and as a result, there was a strict limitation on how much water an individual could drink. For around four (Earth) hours, the Tunnel Folk can only drink a limited amount of water. Bathing, though, isn't an issue, as most Shrith don’t bathe.

With water and food now secured, the Tunnel Folk could really expand, and as the hive grew, a couple more subterranean bodies of water were found, allowing the Tunnel Folk to spread out even more.

At some point, the Tunnel Folk were discovered by a neighboring nation known as “Ramshi,” The Tunnel Folk and the Ramshak would later go on to strike a trade deal with one another. In exchange for any precious metals or coal found by the Tunnel Folk, the Ramshak would give the Tunnel Folk better tools, building supplies and would even offer the whole Clan protection. A result of this was the further expansion of the Clan, and the hive grew even more. In addition, the Tunnel Folk could better reinforce the tunnels and chambers with the new resources they were accruing. While the Tunnel Folk Clan has never been attacked, the protection offered by the Ramhsak has allowed the Tunnel Folk to worry more about expansion and sustainability than any potential attack or invasion.

Another consequence of the Tunnel Folk-Ramshak deal was the introduction of livestock. The Tunnel Folk, for the longest time, lived mostly off of the chemotrophic plants. But with livestock, the Tunnel Folk could indulge in new food, and new and vast farms were set up to cultivate livestock. These animals were small, about the size of an Earth cat, as it was much easier to raise smaller livestock beneath the ground.

The Tunnel Folk Clan often lives in peace and cooperation, but the Tunnel Folk Clan is a clan, and so the many herds of the Clan are not obligated to stay in the Clan, though all the herds realized that it would be better to stick together than to splinter off. But despite their cooperation with one another, the herds themselves are all their own entities with different ideas of how things should be run and what should and should not be legal. The power to work in government was invested into the Queens, though this isn’t anything special, as pretty much every other Shrith herd all over the world is led by the Queen. But regardless, only the Queens can participate in government. When the Queens are called to debate political matters, they leave their chamber, guarded by one female and two soldiers. All the Queens will meet in a large chamber, known as “the forum,” and will begin to debate over matters or complaints. However, as opposed to having a majority and a minority on the issue, all Queens must, in some capacity, be in agreement. This consensus-style of government ensures that all Queens and their herds are given consideration. But because of the nature of Tunnel Folk government, meetings can be anywhere from a couple of hours to a couple (Earth) days.

Because the Tunnel Folk live underground, they have no way of seeing the suns, moon or stars. Because of this, they cannot calculate what day it may be, or when they make a full rotation around the suns. To them, the concepts of what we may consider to be days, weeks, months and years hold no meaning to them. As opposed to running on a fixed, objective calendar, the Tunnel Folk base their time around themselves. In other words, a “day” is unique to the individual. But that is where it stops. While the Tunnel Folk have individualized days, they do not have individualized weeks, months or years. Time, to them, is subjective, not objective, which has led to many Tunnel Folk “living in the moment,” with little focus put on the past or future.

While no light ever enters the hive, the Tunnel Folk are able to see pretty well in the dark. This is largely due to their eye structure, which allows Shrith to see in the dark with as much clarity as they do in the sunlight hours. This condition of superb nighttime eyesight is a result of the 41-hour long nights the planet has, with many terrestrial creatures evolving eyes capable of taking in as much light as possible. However, such impressive night vision is useless in an environment completely devoid of light. Initially, torches were used to light up the tunnels, but it wouldn't be long before the Tunnel Folk would discover luminous grub-like creatures. These creatures live in small networks of tunnels and chambers, like the Tunnel Folk, and use bioluminescence to help navigate through their labyrinths. Shortly after they were discovered, the Tunnel Folk would tie them to sticks, essentially creating a biological "torch," if you will, allowing the Tunnel Folk to do away with fire torches. Over many years, the Tunnel Folk would breed grubs with brighter luminescence, and in the modern day, the grubs are very bright, and are kept in lamps all over the hive.

The Tunnel Folk, like most other Shrith, are a religious people. But while many other Shrith religions have gods, the religion of the Tunnel Folk is godless. In a similar manner, Tunnel Folk religion holds no idea of “heaven” or “hell,” as opposed to some other Shrith religions, and the Tunnel Folk do not have a creation myth. But while the Tunnel Folk religion lacks gods, spirits or creation, the religion is built upon the notion of eternal enlightenment through reincarnation. The concept of reincarnation is quite common throughout Shrith religions, but that’s beside the point. While the Tunnel Folk don’t believe in gods or spirits, they do believe in an “energy.” The Tunnel Folk believe that the purpose of Shrith existence is to become one with the energy, which then brings forth the enlightenment the Tunnel Folk strive for. When a Tunnel Shrith dies, though, the process of enlightenment starts all over again, whether or not the individual has achieved enlightenment in their past life or not.

Because the Tunnel Folk have no gods, there are no places of worship. Rather, there are “places of serenity.” Places of serenity are open to all, and many will frequent the many places of serenity, often to meditate, which is seen as a way to become closer to this mystical energy and to, hopefully, one day achieve enlightenment. Meditation is also used to calm oneself down, to relieve themselves of anger, pain or sorrow. In some ways, stoicism is encouraged in Tunnel Folk society.

Tunnel Folk language is very, very synthetic, and sentences in English can be shortened down to a few words, or, in more extreme cases, a single word. The language of the Tunnel Folk relies heavily on infixation. The infixes, way back when, used to be suffixes, and suffixed to the end of a word. Back then, Tunnel Folk words were strictly CV, but as the language evolved, word-final vowels were lost, leaving the last consonant of the word next to the onset of the suffix, which, at that time, was illegal. To remedy this, the suffixes became infixes so that there were no consonant clusters. However, in modern Tunnel Folk language, consonant clusters are very common.

Some pastimes of the Tunnel Folk include smoking in special “smokehouses.” Other pastimes include dancing, signing, meditating, playing an instrument, painting, engaging in casual sex (for females and drones), and, quite surprisingly, reading. In contrast to the cultures discussed elsewhere, Tunnel Folk kithtakols and drones are granted the ability to read. In a region like the Kiskxa’li peninsula, males reading is forbidden. The reason for letting males read, for the Tunnel Folk, has to do with enlightenment. The Tunnel Folk, in this respect, are quite progressive. Much of the books read by the Tunnel Folk are philosophical literature given to them by the Ramshak.

(that’s about it for this general overview)