Dvadi

Introduction

The Dvadi are a resilient people, borne out of the coalition of cultures known colloquially as the Zusko. Split on religious lines, the Dvadi have grappled with their dark past of enslavement, and their unstable future under the influence of the Cult of Alexander and the Church of the Trium. They are led by a strong line of Kings and Patriarchs, trusted by their people who have long resisted the grand politics of Reveia, for the purpose of protecting their own. Still, internal strife and tensions abound, and the dark past rears its head as that of a snake.

Physical Appearance

The Dvadi first and foremost are of lighter skin tones than their Zusko counterparts, but do show more variety at the extremes. Some Dvadi resemble the tan of the Zajouni, the Q’omshars, or even the Jazirene. Most Dvadi range at an average height between 5’3 and 5’8, with women hovering around the lower end of the spectrum. Very rarely, a Dvadi is seen with blonde hair, but most of the time their hair is black or a dark brown. Beards are very common to see among Dvadi men.

Society

Dvadi society is notable for their attachment and reverence of music. Old myths of the conversion of their lords tell of the beauty of Saint Aldo’s Chants, a recorded list of chants that are a part of Dvadi Liturgy and their church doctrine. They believe that the creation of the world, the Trium, and their connection to creation are bound up in song, and that they are capable of connecting closely to the Trium through singing. Their society is also known for its theater and love for performance. Tales and stories are didactic in nature, telling stories and narrating through rich choir songs and the theme of the penitent man. Suffering for the sake of faith is a deeply rooted virtue, and some attribute this to the strife and toil of the Dvadi to discover a faith that would unify them. To this day, a plurality of Dvadi still hold to the Cult of Alexander, worshiping the family and praying for their return despite the aristocracy’s turn toward the Trium.

Dvadi are individualistic, to a degree one would find abhorrent if they had grown up around the related peoples of the Perenians or the Rosti. This is largely in part due to the understood peace required to hold the Dvadi people together due to their religious variety. They understand a system of localism as necessary to govern their lands. Towns and villages, rather than the King, control the laws and mandates that the people follow. Still, the many faiths have tried to encroach upon the territory of the others, and this has led to disputes in their checkered history.

The moral and cultural norms of Dvadi custom elude most outsiders. They are highly exclusive within their enclave villages, even to other Dvadi. An observer once said that a man of Trium faith from another village was barred from opening a stall in an adjacent town market, because the former refused to join the congregation of the target town’s church. It was a strange affair indeed, but a common one within the lands of the Dvadi. To live and be welcome in a community, one is expected to adapt and join together with their customs. It’s a strange mix of communitarian and individual ethics, but one in the Dvadi culture that does not produce tension. Each member of the community, due to the community’s independence, is expected to contribute and cultivate a strong work ethic.

Excommunication and scapegoating is a method used to excise members of the community who stray from the local moral consensus. It is a serious matter, but one that is given almost religious significance. Each community differs by faith in how they handle it, but the end result is always the same. A member is exiled and sent out into the wilderness.

Societal structure relies on a crude form of feudalism, run by the elders of each village. Each elder answers to a Baron who manages a collection of villages, who then answers to the King himself. The Dvadi do not possess a large kingdom, and as such their political structure is simplified accordingly. The King maintains a council of officials from the villages under his rule. These officials advise and run administrative affairs to the extent they are necessary. Since the conversion of the aristocracy to Triumism, the King tends to keep a bishop in court for religious matters. These bishops are rarely zealous, having to balance the need to press the Church’s influence with the need to keep the peace.

Folktales and Stories

Dvadi stories are written to uplift and to inspire civic ties between the villages. With the Zusko long gone, the Dvadi have lacked a common spirit to unite the men of diverse backgrounds. In its place, the Dvadi rely on a strong story culture of the “Parbarek” Stories. Parbarek are community heroes, those who sacrifice greatly for their villages and towns for the sake of their benefit, even when creed differs. The first Parbarek was Saint Aldo himself, who gave his life to save an eastern Dvadi town from the vicious ambition of Moravan Vampires. The theme of sacrifice has united Dvadi across religious lines, and led to an uneasy loyalty established among the towns to the Dvadi feudal structure. They believe, though their faiths differ greatly, that their children and families are blessed by their sacrifice to live in peace.

Religion

Dvadi religion is established within the Kingdom’s government, but is not readily enforced due to the intense religious tensions laden within the population. They are Triumites, converted by old missionaries from the Reveian mainland. Most of the aristocracy holds to traditional Trium doctrine, with little syncretic flavor. Others within the Dvadi population juggle between several faiths, including some stemming from the Vemics in the east, and the Sadafi in the south. A small Dvadi minority worships Anaghik, considered to be a cognate of Alnaari and a culturally transmitted version of the desert faith. Anaghik is a warlike god to the Dvadi, guiding their horselords as they wage social struggles against the Triumite aristocrats. Others have delved into old Vemic witchcraft, taking on their curses and religious obligations and hiding as a persecuted minority.

A plurality of Dvadi citizens hold to a version of the Cult of Alexander, and once served the Zusko Empire against the Reveians in the past. They despise both the Triumites and the other faiths that have taken root, but generally work with the Triumites to undermine the power of the other two.

The Cult of Anaghik believes in the power of the old Magus of the Dvadi, mystics who held ritual authority in the old villages. They believe that Anaghik will vicariously speak through these Magus, rather than through dreams as the Sadafi believe. Anaghik is believed to be a manifestation of good, against the evil of Malthas. This faith is analogous to the Faith of the Flame, revered by the Sadafi.

A key figure in the Triumite history of the Dvadi people is Saint Aldo of the Cliffs, who is said to have been responsible for converting the aristocrats after the Zusko Crusades ended. His death marked the major shift of Dvadi culture to one influenced by Triumite traditions and faith.