The Culture Column
Records
Despite the lack of sure knowledge about how the preceding civilization collapsed (or more likely because of it), there is a high value put on knowledge of the past. Books are a form of "high currency." A traditionally-bound hardcover book with a given number of pages is worth an exact sum and is as admissible as a form of payment as any other kind of currency. In order to make it easy to tell the difference it is illegal to apply a hardcover binding to modern books (pages are instead tied together with string or, in cases where wealth is available in enough quantities, given a spiral binding).
There is an emphasis on records and stories, and not just old ones. Even in the smallest village someone is responsible for meticulously writing down every turnip that grew, every apples tree that was planted, and every cow that got sick and for how long and from what. These records are copied and filed and the originals are then sent upward through various channels. Perhaps it can be hard to find an exact piece of information in the central records but the point is, so they say, that it is there. Every possible detail about their civilization has been and will continued to be preserved. New stories are also welcomed. Poets don't have a hard time finding noble patronage, nor do other creative types. Assuming of course that they're actually good. There isn't much patience (or patronage) to be found by those who aren't made of high-quality stuff.
This preoccupation with history comes up with family matters too. Most children spend time attending memorization schools, whether these be expensive tutors, academy halls, or small classes whose teachers are paid in part by room and board. They are designed not just to impart information but to provide skills to use in order to retain volumes of knowledge. Books can and have been written listing the many mnemonic techniques devised. These schools are especially important to parents with daughters- the more educated that a woman is, the higher the bride price that must be paid to her parents. It is not unheard of for a wife to have had a better education than her husband.
Something that the memorization schools focus on is genealogy. Family lines are traced bilaterally and even the poorest man knows all of the notable facts of his family's history on both sides for at least the past five generations. These histories usually also give attention to other academic subjects like mathematics and biology by inserting them where relevant (it's easy to talk about the surrounding wildlife when the topic of the day is your grandfather, who was known for hunting). Other learning is given to round it out but wherever possible the lesson does tie into the student's lineage.
The Monarchy
The country is ruled by two kings, one who is physical and rules over this land (the whole world, in fact, although the rest of the world understandably disagrees on this point) and one who is spirit and rules over the spirit world. Upon the death of the living kin, his secondborn son ascends to the throne of the living world. The firstborn son of the king is given a much greater honor and responsibility. Exactly one year after his father's death his arms and legs are bound, he is placed on an altar, and while he chews on hallucinogenic roots his mother, eldest sister, or other close female relative kills him with hammer blows. First his limbs are struck and then his chest and finally his head. Breaking the arms is symbolic of breaking the restraints which keep him tied not physically but spiritually and shattering the rib cage and the skull allows the prince's soul to more easily depart from the brain and the heart (the two places where the soul resides in life, which is why damage to one of these areas is so deadly).
The act of being sacrificed and the exact process involved allows him to travel to the spirit world and be recognized as the rightful heir to the throne there. In the spirit world the king has authority over the beings which call that place home- the great spheres that sing storms into existence, mottled-purple spinal column worms that spread disease, misshapen gremlin-like hominids that steal small unattended objects, and more. His predecessor, meanwhile, abdicates and proceeds to the underworld, where he will reign for a time over the dead until he is once again replaced.
Authority is a responsibility, not a privilege. Princes are raised on stories about how, if they do not serve their people uprightly, they will be appointed as governors in the underworld instead of being able to retire and be concerned purely with personal affairs. Many kings still grow too used to their power and develop a feeling of entitlement but such things must be accepted.
The governors are a generally hereditary institution like the monarchy itself. They are appointed by the king to manage districts of the Pegdu land as they see fit. The governors and their families do not truly own anything nor is it even legal for them to do so. All of their property is actually on loan from the king and can be recalled at any time. Any gift made to them is added to the property which is in their possession only at the sufferance of the king. This doesn't deter from people from being active participants in Assassination Day.
The day only comes once a year as with most other holidays and it is eagerly anticipated by both those who think they can make it work to their advantage and those who look forward to hearing the inevitable stories. On this day only, it is not only legal but also rewarding to kill a governor (but certainly not his family). Whoever does so may take his place, elevating herself and her family and receiving all of the authority and possessions of her predecessor. She will be responsible for caring for the late governor's family and will be removed from her position if she does not adequately fulfill this duty. The actual rate of successful murders on Assassination Day is surprisingly low, but the royal bodyguards and inspectors are skilled to begin with and knowing what day the attempt will occur helps a great deal when you're trying to prevent it. The overall rate of successful assassinations is lower than comparable countries because they are concentrated on this day.
Soldiering and the Guilds
The governors and the king see most of their power rooted in the guilds, organized merchants who are given licenses to deal in goods at every level from the acquisition and processing of raw materials upward. Guild licenses are usually the same except for minor details. A governor might arrange it so that a guild has exclusive logging rights to a forest in his forest that nobody else has been able to touch for decades and the king might demand that, except for one guild, all renewals of licenses include the specification that the guild in question cannot deal in diamonds. It's possible for a governor to give exclusive rights to work in his district, which will ensure that all the guild money that flows there is at some point passing through his government's hands (guilds must pay a certain amount of their profits, specified in the license, to the district which sponsors them) but this will be met with retaliation by the other governors. Licenses cannot be changed once they are given but no license can last for more than twenty years.
The guilds are not only responsible for the movement of goods throughout (and past) the kingdom and a not-inconsiderable amount of the income that the districts require to stay running. One guild may be responsible for maintaining the Great Roads in this district and taking tolls there while another runs all of the academy-halls of the northern half of that district. There's something that every guild does, though, and that's form an army for the benefit of the kingdom. Guilds have the right to conscript men into their service for four years. The guild's fighting men protect their employer's interests, are contracted to enforce laws, and in times of war they march out to battle under the banners of the king and governors. Guilds which refuse to help in times of war will never be able to renew their license in any district and they will have just as hard of a time getting that renewal if their armies are not up to par in both size and quality.
Religion
In mainstream religion of the Pegdu kingdom is similar to many other monotheistic religions in the world. The Lady rules supreme over the universe with the Lord-Consort standing at her side. Evil is the natural consequence of existence. Just as everything casts a shadow, the existence of anything good demands the presence of evil, which occurs naturally and, as a shadow, is not as potent as good. Good and evil are not proportionately distributed throughout the universe or even time, which can give the illusion of there being more evil than good.
The most distinctive thing about this religion in comparison to its neighbors that also worship The Lady is its doctrine that the The Lady's children do not simply guide and assist humankind but sometimes are born into physical bodies. Great men and women will not merely be hailed as heroes but will be considered gods- sometimes even before they have died. After their deaths they continue to intercede on behalf of those who venerate them.
The Royal Family does not share this belief. They are followers of a different religion which shares only a few common elements with the other. According to the royals, godhood is the eventual result of each being's existence. The kings worship their ancestors because their ancestors will in time become gods, and because the limits of time mean nothing to a god this means that even though the first men to walk the Earth are still progressing to godhood, one's own father is still a god though he died only yesterday. At times in history this has inspired some of the royals to worship themselves or even their as-yet unborn descendants since by this logic they are also gods now. Only the royal family is permitted to follow this religion but it also exists, barely, in very rural areas.
Scavenging
The kingdom rests on the remains of a long-dead civilization and their ways reflect both this and the period following that civilization's destruction when resources were scarce. Nothing is taken for granted and everything is conserved. If something is broken, it is repaired. If it cannot be repair then it is broken down even further so that its parts may be used. Sometimes all that is holding something together is string and rubber bands (the kingdom has many rubber trees). Wisdom is respected and a man cannot hope to be followed by all in his town until he is at least sixty years old, enough to be called a white-beard no matter if his hair still has vitality in it. Raw knowledge is worth its weight in bottle-caps (another useful currency since supply is limited and their connection to earlier ages gives them spiritual significance). The library-palace of the kings is unmatched by anything else in the world, and the Great Roads made by that long-gone older civilization have required only minimal work to stay functional. A widespread form of art which has received significant royal and gubernatorial patronage involves the manipulation and arrangement of metal wires to create sculptures. Corpse-rendering factories make efficient use of the dead for everything from glue and leather to candles and lubricant.
Next Month: A Closer Look at Domestic Life gives a look at education, marriage, and family relations.
