Valzahn (Species)

Species Information
Valzahn
Quadrant:	Beta Quadrant
Star System:
Planet:	Valzahn
Species Type:	Humanoid
Discovered By:
Leader(s):
Contact:	Yes
Affiliation:	United Federation of Planets

History

After a civil war that nearly annihilated their people, Valzhans as a whole adopted a strictly pacifistic viewpoint and practice. After several generations, even the idea of consciously causing harm is nigh removed from racial memory. With their joining of the Federation, it came with the caveat that there would be very little interference either in the transfer of new technologies or peoples. What trade there is has been reserved to the nearest starbase, and the capitol city of the planet. Thus leaving the general populace, if not necessarily unawares, most certainly predominately unaffected by the alliance.

Despite having once again obtained the level of technology for space travel after the reformation of their nearly decimated society, those who enabled such advancements, and continue to do so, remain a distinctly small population. Larger cities host those who would seek greater knowledge, as well as the artists and revolutionaries that do not care for the more pastoral existence that predominates most of the world. These cities are few, but enough to generally satisfy and contain those that seek out such lifestyles. Much of the landscape is still occupied by agricultural communities, typically living in loosely familial clans, referred to as Mishpak.

Culture and Society

Societal Structure

Each Mishpak is headed by a Ro'fe; a title handed to a person that is a leader, a healer, a shaman, of sorts. While it is usually more a position of a figure head, they are sometimes called upon to not only tend their own people, but to break ties in final positions, and spearhead relations between other clans and the overarching world. Every village is officially led by a council, made up of the four eldest members who handle the day to day affairs that are required to keep everyone cared for, settle disputes, etcetera.

Every member of the Mishpak is expected and required to contribute; though this can range from healers to carpenters to smiths to those who work the fields and tend the herd animals. Each village also possesses its own school; serving as both a daycare and learning center for all children from the ages four until around fourteen. This ensures all members are given the basic necessities of knowledge, allows their parents to perform their tasks, and serves as something of a sorting mechanism for what career each child may find their calling in. At the age of fourteen, children are considered to have graduated, and are given the opportunity to locate, or in some less common instances assigned to, their apprenticeships. It is also at this age in which children are allowed to seek livelihoods beyond the scope of what their village has to offer, and may be sent on to one of the cities and the institutions of learning held there.

Brief Societal Structure:

• Ro'fe
• Elder Counsel
• Elder Kin - Instructors - A'chon - Craftsmen/Artisans
• Journeymen
• Apprentices
• Children
• Shamed
• Lost or UnNamed

Adulthood And Marriage

True adulthood is considered to be reached at sixteen years of age. At this point, apprenticeship will be considered to have been completed, and the individual to have gained a journeyman status among the profession in which they have trained in. Most marriages will also occur within this year, and the transference of people between different Mishpak. The exception to this are those who have left the clan for the cities, in which they are often considered to have become Lost, and are the masters of their own lives.

Marriages, as a general rule, are arranged affairs. Parents begin seeking mates for their children when they reach the age of fourteen; once it is determined what said offspring will be pursuing for their livelihoods. Correspondences between groups, negotiations can go on for months to years; though are typically settled within six months to a year. Inter-clan marriages are more commonplace, or with villages that are geographically close. Occasionally there are arrangements that reach further; often following in line with need for greater diversity or for sealing commerce agreements. Once appropriate mates have been chosen, the collective parents will arrange for an initial meeting, and undergo a ritual of Bonding; which serves as an effective engagement. The children will be brought together thereafter once a season, always under supervision, to acquaint themselves with one another before they reach adulthood and become officially married.

The first new Cycle [Month, by their lunar calendar] after the female child's 16th nameday, the betrothed couple will be wed in a two-day ceremony. The first day is reserved for immediate family, with a feast and speeches bestowing wisdom from the older members. The celebration ending in the ritual of the Girst of Home, in which both sets of parents pledge that they will build the new couple a house during their time of Binding. The second day is a public ceremony, where the young pair speak the words of promise to each other in witness of eyes and ears of all present. If the words are not spoken before at least ten guests, it is considered null. After this, the whole village gathers to bequeath the newlyweds with gifts. Traditionally, objects that will be required to furnish a new life and home together. Also typically gently used, as it is believed that the strength and luck from whence the object came will be transferred to the new owners.

Finally, the guests escort the couple to a Binding hut; typically a small, one-room building set well apart from the village proper, arranged with enough supplies to last until the new Cycle to endure their Binding. During this time, the couple cannot leave the immediate area, or be disturbed, unless it is of utmost emergency. Once the month has passed, they are invited back to the village proper as a true married couple and given their own home in which to continue their lives together.

Intimacy and Procreation

Sex is not held as taboo or distasteful among the Valzhan, but neither is it a prolific topic of conversation. What happens behind closed doors is simply accepted. Given that most couples are hardly familiar when they are joined, it is completely dependent upon personalities; if it is a subject of enjoyment or simply a method in which to fulfill their reproductive duties. Extramarital affairs are not unheard of, but are kept incredibly discreet. To bring Shame on oneself, or one's marriage is often considered not worth the risk.

The Valzhan physiology is inherently restrictive when it comes to procreation. Females entering fertile periods only two to three times during the average lifespan of 120 years; typically between 16 to 18 and 30 to 35, with relatively uncommon potential for a third around 50. Fertile times are heralded by various indicators, and often celebrated as a sort of holiday in which the married couple will devote all of their energy into ritualistic practices in effort to create life. Valzhan women are inherently aware the very moment conception occurs, and of the life within them. Each pregnancy is treated as something almost sacred; after countless generations of low birthrates and various other factors leading to possible difficulties in bringing a child into the world.

One or two children are considered normal, where a third or the very rare occurrence of twins is taken to be a great blessing upon that lineage.

Gender Roles

Valzhan hold both genders in equal esteem in almost all aspects. Both are expected to maintain their own method of contribution to the clan. Outside of the home, a woman's things are hers alone, and a man's are his alone. Inside the home, all is to be shared without question, including chores and the efforts of child-rearing. School-age children are all dressed identically. They are not divided by gender or capability, and have equal expectations for performance. Regardless of what skills or interests that are shown or pursued, the child will have support in such.

Only during pregnancy is there any difference in how men and women behave. As soon as the female is aware of her state, she will take leave from her work. For the duration of gestation and the following six months after, the woman will be allowed, and expected, to devote her time and energy into the child in question. After this time period, the child will be cared for by elder kin, allowing the woman to return to her duties to the village.

Naming

A child, when born, is given a single name, suffixed by a title of birth order within the family. The remainder of their name is made up of their lineage, creating the individual's “Full” name. In most cases, the singular first name is all that is required, unless found in a formal occasion. In rare happenstance, primarily reserved for only the most serious of societal undertakings. While scarcely used, every child is required to learn and recite their ritual name.*

Examples:

• Casual: Zivit

• Formal: Zivit, first born of Heruta, sired by Agron.

• Ritual: Zivit, first born of Heruta, third born of Isma and Natan, sired by Agron, first born of Jessa and Marso.

(In the case of the UnNamed an individual will retain only their first name. Lost may still use their formal names, but it is considered to mean very little outside of a Mishpak.)

Dietary

“To inflict harm upon a beast is as to harm oneself. To consume the flesh of another is to bring the violence of its death into one's own heart.” -Valzhan proverb

Valzhan are strictly vegetarian, believing that the consumption of meat to be akin to poison, both on physiological and spiritual levels. Domesticated animals are used for what products they are able to produce naturally, such as milk, wool, and eggs, or for labor in tending fields, travel, or hauling. The animals are always treated well, and with respect. Vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds, grains, berries, fungi, milk, cheese, and so on are the primary staples in a Valzhan's diet, with the common modes of preparation being raw, roasted or baked goods.

Medicine

The idea of healing is often of almost two separate worlds on Valzhan, depending on where one is. Cities are bastions of progress and technology, of scientific method; possessing fairly current information and tools through their limited interactions with the Federation. Taken and modified to their own designs, genetic make-up. In the rural stretches of the Mishpaks, however, most peoples still rely on ancient traditions of holistic medicine that have proven effective over generations, overseen by their individual Ro'fe. Over time, there has been more bleed-through of approach into both factions, but they still remain to be considered separate entities.

Ro'fe are the true doctors of each village, as well as their leader. They are assisted by a large group of apprentices on their A'chot, what would commonly be known as nurses. The A'chot are heirarchal in their own order, the eldest of such becoming the successor when the current Ro'fe must retire or passes away. In rare situations a younger, more skillful A'chot may be given the title by nomination and subsequent vote by the village Counsel.