Coeurl Tribe

Coeurl

The Coeurl Tribe, an off-shoot of the Seekers of the Sun sub-race of Miqo'te, are located over a wide range of territory in the rural desert of Eastern Thanalan, near the borders of the beastman homeland of Pagi'than with some family clans choosing to settle off the coast of the Bay of Dha'yuz. While not much is known about this secretive tribe, three large villages appear to be the oldest settlements and will be the focus here.

Race : Miqo'te	Clan : Seekers of the Sun
Population : ~200	Number of Villages : 3
Religion : Azeyma, the Warden; nature spirits; the Coeurl	Naming Conventions : C' (pronounced ka)
Location : Eastern Thanalan, near the border of Pagi'than and the coast of the Bay of Dha'yuz

History

As with the rest of their species, the Coeurl tribe arrived in Eorzea in the Fifth Umbral Era, when ice bridges were created across continents. The ancestors of the current tribe followed not only their traditional prey but also the visions of their tribal leaders and the beast that they revered, the coeurl. During the end of the Fifth Umbral Era, when the ice began to melt, the tribe migrated to the eastern portion of Eorzea, preferring the desert climate much like their tribal guide. Much of the tribe remained essentially nomadic, though each claimed their territories in various parts of the desert around what is now the city of Ul'dah.
In the last several hundred years, three villages have settled down and created a tribal culture unique to themselves, abandoning the more common nomadic lifestyle in favor of cultivation and mutual non-aggression.

History of the Coeurl Tribe with the Amal'jaa

Due to their proximity to the grasslands of Pagi'than, the native home of the lizard-like beastmen known as the Amal'jaa, the Coeurl tribe has had a history of open warfare with the beastman. Each side has claimed that their lands were invaded first, though the true first aggressor has been lost in a long history of small raids, larger battles, cease-fires, and near-massacres. At the current time, the Coeurl tribe has not been observed crossing the border into Pagi'than or Amal'jaa lands, however the beastmen have been increasing their raids into Thanalan- even so far as the city of Ul'dah- so it is likely only a matter of time before the current cold war escalates once more.

Culture

Politics

Each of the three villages in the Coeurl tribe follows a system of government whereby five of the eldest members of the village- three females past child-bearing age and two males past hunting age- come together to discuss the good of the village. It is this Council that determines whether or not to declare proper war, when to look to new hunting grounds, and mediates disputes involving other villages, disputes between the various traditional ton (vocation-based fraternities and sororities), and disputes between nunhs. It is also this Council that determines which members of the tribe will be considered as 'Ankobia' and 'Master Hunter' (the titles are the same regardless of sex) and are qualified to lead the younger warriors and hunters, respectively, through their training.

Religion

As with most of their sub-race, the Coeurl tribe worships the sun goddess Azeyma, the Warden. In her honor they consider themselves the warriors of the clouds and celebrate two large festivals annually in her honor. The tribe also reveres multiple manifestations of elemental spirits- fire and water being two of elements of greater importance due to the villages' desert lifestyle. The reverence for the coeurl has made that figure a creature of folk tales, morality stories, as well as an intercessor between the tribe and Azeyma.

Azeyma's Rest

Azeyma's Rest is the summer solstice, when the Coeurl tribe believes that Azeyma shines her brightest before beginning to hide her radiant face behind her fan. It is a day to celebrate accomplishments of the year, to show one's strength, fertility, joy, and pride to the shining face of the Warden. It is often celebrated with elaborate dances, songs testifying the accomplishments of the tribe as a whole as well as individual members, and many times it is this day when young tias will attempt to challenge the nunhs of their village.

On the day of Azeyma's Rest, the Coeurl tribe's largest number of courtship rituals are acted out. While a small number of rituals occur on other days of the year, it is considered good luck to be courted on the longest day of the year, as it is believed that Azeyma will bless the pairing with fertility and will allow the new female to join her sisters with that nunh in good harmony.

Previously, there was a ritual enacted on Azeyma's Rest wherein a tia was chosen by the Council, sent into the wilds for 24 hours with nothing to eat or drink and no weapons. Should he return, he would be granted nunh status for that shortest night of the year and that night only and he should have his choice of any of the women of the tribe who would accept him, as they believed him to be blessed by Azeyma herself. Should a child be born of that symbolic union, they were almost universally heterochromic, a symbol of great importance to the Coeurl tribe and, indeed, the Seekers of the Sun as a whole. This ritual has largely fallen out of favor (at least publically) due to outside pressures from visitors to the tribe, who consider the practice overly superstitious.

Azeyma's Rest is considered a holiday primarily celebrating the masculine elements of the tribe, with music, dancing, and story-telling following this theme. It is occasionally referred to as the 'male's new year'.

Azeyma's Rising

Azeyma's Rising falls on the winter solstice, near the end of the rainy season, when the Coeurl tribe believes that the Warden is beginning to rise from her long period of resting and is finally prepared to draw back her fan. As compared to the more boisterous celebrations of Azeyma's Rest, Azyema's Rising is a deeply spiritual holiday and is focused on preparing of one's self and one's village to move into the brightness of the Warden's light once more- and to be worthy of it. A holiday focusing on relationships between the spirits and the 'real' world, each village's cubs perform a ritual dance for which they have practiced for months wherein they form a chain that resembled a great fork of lightning striking through the three villages, moving from one all the way across the other two, until each dwelling and gathering place has been touched by their footpads- which have been stained a pale blue by grinding a flower that grows only in the rainy season.

This same pale blue stain will be re-applied to the gates that stand at the entrance to each village, a symbolic rekindling of the bond between the Coeurl people and the lightning-bearing creature they revere.

When the sun has set, many lanterns are lit and great feasts are prepared, and the village's female shaman and bard, known as a jali, will step forward and begin to tell one of the stories of how Azeyma came by her fan. In the most popular version, the Warden's radiance was so dazzling the Miqo'te people became lost and wandered in the desert. They would have died had it not been for a great coeurl queen, who saw the brilliant goddess and took pity on the plight of the Miqo'te people, slipping between them and the shining sun's light. The coeurl's fur was burned black wherever the lady's eyes fell, like sunspots left behind one's closed eyes, but the lady was inspired, and fashioned herself a fan to shield her chosen people.

Once the story is told, the jali will partake of a drug to send herself into a light trance as the village sings and dances tributes to the coeurl and Azeyma. While in said trance, the jali will attempt to seek the elemental spirits of fire, water, and (should she be lucky) the coeurl itself to ask for a year of abundant game, healthy childbearing, and safe passage for the cubs passing into adulthood.

Given the deeply spiritual nature of this holiday as well as it's focus on beginnings, Azeyma's Rising is themed around the feminine and is considered the 'female's new year'.

Rites of Passage

When a miqo'te cub of the Coeurl tribe approaches their twelfth name-day, they are considered to be coming of age.

At this time, the youth is taken aside by the Council and the jali or jeli of their village and is taught the history of their people and the ritual songs and dances of passage. They are also placed in seclusion until they complete the ritual items that will show the villages their change in status. Males and females both embroider their vests and headscarves and both sexes must complete the creation of basic weaponry- often a bow and arrows or a spear- for the final portion of the ritual.

Once the weaponry is fashioned and the dances and songs have been learned to the Council and bardpriest's satisfaction, the youth is sent out into the desert of Thanalan for one full day and one full night. They are not given food nor water, having to find these things on their own. Many Coeurl tribesmembers relate that they are given visions during this time, shown the way to prey or to water sources by elemental spirits, by the coeurl, or by following the shadow of Azeyma's fan.

When the youth returns to the village at dawn, they are gifted with their embroidered clothing, feasted, and welcomed into the adolescent world. A small celebration is thrown in their village and the youth must sing and dance what they have learned both from the jali or jeli and on their spiritual and survival journey into the wilds of the desert. When the celebration is over, the youth is free to choose a ton, to leave the communal housing of their mothers, and to learn a trade. It is at this time that tattooing is common, with many Coeurl adolescents choosing to get tattoos on their faces or elsewhere detailing their journey into the wild.

The 'Ton'

The ton are the communities within the villages of adolescent male and female miqo'te that are learning a trade. All of the ton are open to both sexes, however living arrangements are divided into male and female communal housing with an elder member of the ton so as to discourage courting or unsupervised pairings. The ton are used much like the outer world uses their various schools- there is a warrior's ton where the adolescents will learn the arts of war, tactics, how to weild various weapons, and how to work in a team, a hunter's ton that focuses on archery and tracking, a cooking ton, a weaver's ton, et cetera.

The only profession that does not have a ton is that of the jali or jeli. This profession is passed down strictly through bloodlines due to the extensive amount of training required to learn the songs, dances, and rituals. The adolescent progeny of the jali or jeli in the villages are encouraged to join other tons, however their studies as the future bardpriest in the village take precedence.

The warrior's ton is an excellent example of how tons work in Coeurl society. An adolescent joins at the lowest level, the Sword Bearer or Afena. At this level, the adolescent warrior is given a mock wooden weapon and is typically treated as a runner, expected to learn by being silent and watching their elders. They perform many of the chores of the communal housing in order to learn discipline. They typically spar only with other Afena. In war, the Afena are camp runners, thus the title sword-bearer. The next level is Apprentice or Adum. Upon graduating to apprentice level, the warrior has been taken under the wing of a older student and is given a blunted metal weapon and begins being taught tactics, the way of fighting that the Coeurl tribe favors. Adum are allowed to request sparring sessions with members of their own rank as well as the rank above them. They still perform chores but usually only do those related to attending to their mentors. In war, the Adum act as squires, sticking close to their mentors and providing for any and every need. The next rank in the ton is Warrior or Asafo- these are the bulk of the fighting force of the village and are adults in the tribe that have undergone their adulthood rite of passage and returned to become mentors in the ton. Very rarely a nunh will be a part of this rank, however it is mostly made up of tias and females not currently bearing cubs. The final rank is the head of the warrior ton as well as the de facto general in times of war, the Ankobia. This rank is chosen by the Council from the best warriors in the ton and is typically held until resignation or death in battle.

The non-combat focused tons, such as the weaver's ton or the cooking ton, have slightly different structures and graduation standards, however they generally hold to the same idea as the more martial tons. The biggest difference is that the heads of these tons are not appointed by the Council but are chosen by the ton in an internal vote held among the adult members of the group.

Family Structure and Children

As with other Keepers of the Sun, the Coeurl tribe keeps to the traditions of having a limited number of males who breed, known as 'nunh's and a larger number of non-breeding males known as 'tia's. In the three villages, the number of nunhs is never greater than four and currently sits at three in each village, with approximately ten to fifteen tias per village.

The number of tias include adolescent boys and old men out of their prime but still technically of breeding age and so may seem inflated. It does not include the two males on each Council, nor the males of extreme age, as they are no longer considered competition for the nunhs.

Each nunh typically is mated to roughly ten females of breeding age, though that number is somewhat fluid depending on the females of the village and the nunh's efforts to maintain the relationships beyond simple breeding.

Typically, the females live in communal housing, sharing the hunting, gathering, cooking, and child-rearing duties amongst one another, with the very young and very old tias assisting. Each member of a nunh's household is considered family despite previous blood ties, with the females of a household referring to one another as 'sisters' or 'mothers' and the tias of a village either 'little brother' or 'uncle' depending on youth or age. The council members are always 'grandmother/father' depending on sex. The nunhs are typically not referred to in this familial manner, whether due to incest taboos or due to some honorary status attached to their names it is not clear.

Childrearing is a communal process that begins after the baby's eighth day after birth. Prior to that day, the mother and baby are separated from the rest of the tribe and visited by the jali or jeli daily so that they may rest and be kept safe from negative influences. On the eighth day, the baby is presented to the tribe and the jali or jeli performs a brief ritual so that the elemental spirits will reveal the child's name. The name is then typically not used in daily life, most Coeurl preferring nicknames or petnames until the child is old enough to undergo their coming of age ritual.

Courtship

The courtship rituals of the Coeurl tribe are varied but are based on exogenous systems- it is taboo to join with a nunh within one's village. Therefore, holidays such as Azeyma's Rest and Azeyma's Rising are extremely important cultural exchanges wherein the females of the villages meet the nunhs and tias of their neighbors.