Ah'La (Culture)

History
The Ah'La were originally a group of nomadic seafarers who travelled along the coasts and rivers of the world trading with the landbound peoples they met. The exact details of how they became landbound are not clear, according to their legends a great storm blew up from a clear sky and wrecked the jhorum on the coast. Although the storm passed quickly the vessels were all but destroyed and the Ah'La were forced to stay on land whilst the jhor were repaired.

By the time the repairs were complete many people had become accustomed to life on shore and were unwilling to return to seafaring. Many Jhorum were split at this time as some members wished to stay and other wished to return to the water. Eventually those who wished to continue sailing left and the those who stayed began constructing the settlement that would become Ah'La'Ki-Ken.

Despite the differences between the settled and traditional Ah'La the ties were too strong to break. Those who returned to nomadic seafaring would often return to Ah'La'Ki-Ken to visit friends and former Jhor-brothers and sisters. Over many visits the traditional Ah'La slowly stopped seeing Ah'La'Ki-Ken as a place to visit and started seeing it as a home port. Some traditional Jhorum acquired land in Ah'La'Ki-Ken and built houses where they could rest between voyages and the ties between the traditional and settled Ah'La strengthened until the rift that had once split the people of the water was healed.

Societal Structure
The basic unit of Ah'La society is the Jhor. A Jhor is usually composed of 4-5 families that share a common trade and often own a tangible piece of property related to that trade, traditionally that would be a boat (hence the term Jhor) due to the seafaring heritage of the Ah'La but now the Ah'La are settled on land it could be a farm or shop. Among the Ah'La, nautical Jhorum are held in greater regard than landbound, those that go to sea are higher regarded than those who sail the rivers and those that travel far are higher regarded than those who fish off the coast.

Status among the Ah'La is primarily earned by respect, although the prestige of one's Jhor contributes to an extent. If a young daughter of a relatively new landbound Jhor regularly speaks wisdom and acts for the good of the community she will quickly rise to a high position among her people while an elder from an ancient seafaring Jhor will gain no standing if he speaks foolishly and acts selfishly.

Religion and Ritual
The Ah'La are an animistic society, referring to their faith as Oranto Lek Stenum (doing honour to the spirits). As might be expected given their history the spirits they most venerate are the spirits of the water (Ah'Stenum) who they believe are the givers of life and death. Also revered are the spirits of the winds (Kam'Stenum) and the spirits of the fishes (Polam'Stenum). The foremost spirit revered by the Ah'La is the Ah'Ki-Sten - the Great Spirit of the Water - who has dominion over all seas, rivers, oceans and lakes and all the spirits that dwell within. A more recent development among younger Ah'La is reverence for Ah'La'Ki-Ken'Ki-Sten, the Great Spirit of the settlement of Ah'La'Ki-Ken.

Water is essential to all Ah'La rituals. Newborns are briefly submerged, children earn a name once they can swim unaided, marriage is celebrated by the couple sharing water and the dead are buried at sea or placed in a small boat that is set to drift on a large body of water.

Carving
The primary form of visual art among the Ah'La is woodcarving. It is believed that the first carvings were done on the prows of ships as a manifestation of the jhor'stenum (ship spirits). Although the available tools are primitive, consisting mostly of flint and bronze knives, the most accomplished woodcarvers are able to create highly detailed works. Some have recently begun applying their techniques to other mediums making sculpture an emerging art form.

Storytelling
Storytelling is a popular artform, Ah'La children are brought up on tales of their ancestors and the spirits. Even when grown the Ah'La tell stories as a community activity to bring peple together. The ability to tell a good tale is highly regarded and the best storytellers earn themselves a great deal of respect and great prestige for their Jhor.

Singing
The Ah'La do not consider singing to be an art, so ubiquitous is it among their settlements. Whenever someone starts doing some work that will take more than a couple of minutes to complete they will inevitably begin singing to pass the time. When one person starts singing it is more or less guaranteed that someone working nearby will join in and soon the entire Jhor will be singing. It is not unheard of for an entire settlement to end up singing the same song which can be quite disconcerting for visitors who have little first hand experience with the Ah'La.

Ah'La songs are working songs with simple lyrics and metre. Accompaniment is not neccessary but it is usual for someone with no particular job at the time to take up a drum and provide a rhythm.

Architecture
When the Ah'La first settled they had no experience raising buildings, but plenty of experience building ships. Because of this their first houses were built like inverted ships, with the keel and ribs providing a structure and planking creating the walls. Building methods have improved since then but the basic shape remains the same. It is also common for for a jhor'sten to be carved into the top of the main doorframe.

Ah'La Nations

 * Ki-Ah'La
 * Het-Ah'La