Category:Vendhyan



VENDHYAN "Gold? There is more gold in Peshkhauri than you ever saw… and it is but a drop of all the treasure of Vendhya."– The People of the Black Circle Vendhya is a land of ancient gods and jewels. Climate is tropical, with wide expanses of untamed jungle. Its capital is Ayodhya, the most marvelous city in this exotic kingdom. Vendhya’s jungles provide a variety of fascinating life. Elephants, tigers, panthers, cheetahs, gazelles and gorillas can be found there and beautifully colored birds fill the trees. Yaks and oxen wander through the highlands of the north. Some of these have been domesticated by the hill peoples.

Description
The people of Vendhya tend to have an olive skin tone, a slim body-style and straight black hair. They are also remarked for having large dark eyes. The Vendhyan women use make-up to enhance their eyes to further that effect.

The Himelian Mountains were pushed to their remarkable heights by this brutal crash of land mass against land mass. This hot land of steamy jungles and sweltering plains was soon discovered by the pre-Hyborian peoples and they built great cities across the land. These magnificently ornate cities were served by water supply and drainage systems unmatched anywhere in the world. They carried on widespread trade and marked their wares with certain inscribed stone seals. Their organized city-states, numbering in the hundreds, sprung up throughout the entire peninsula during the 800 years their culture flourished.

Approximately 2,500 years ago, this glorious realm began to gradually slip into decline. Trade networks slowly broke down even as agriculture was being disrupted by powerful monsoons that shifted the courses of life-giving rivers. A nomadic northern people, remnants of the Lemurians who called themselves Kshatriya, swept through Himelian passes and conquered city-state after city-state, spreading their savage domination across the Vendhyan peninsula.

Armed with swift chariots, the Kshatriya people, led by King Orissa, quickly captured and destroyed the aboriginal cities. The fascinating culture of the aborigines was utterly destroyed by the King Orissa and his Kshatriyas. The Kshatriyas, however, built up an exhaustive record of this civilization’s religious beliefs and practices. Originally passed along as an oral tradition for centuries, these beliefs and practices were compiled in four great books.

Clothing
The basic garment is an unstitched length of filmy cloth wrapped around the lower part of the body, which women mostly wear a loose fitting blouse in addition to.

Some women although uncommon wear large turbans, but almost all men do. Men and women wear jewelery, such as rings, anklets and bracelets. Many adorn their turbans with feathers. The upper castes wear gold, silver and ivory ornaments especially the women who plenty of jewelry along with clothes in vivid colors.

Red and blue are usually worn by high caste women while men usually usually wear white or black. The lower castes dress less colorful and fittingly to the professions tied to it.

Warriors dress in functional yet ornamented clothing to mark their standing.

Lower castes wear skin or more rough spun clothing. Untouchables wear little to no clothing.

Behavior and Notable Oddities
Spying is an ancient art in Vendhya but the price to pay if caught can be one’s life or even slavery. Slavery is a fact of life in Vendhya. Slaves can be of any caste and slavery is often used as a punishment.

Women, except those given to an ascetic life or born to the ruling caste, are obliged to marry by the priests of Vendhya, usually around the age of nine. Polygamy is permitted if such a practice can be afforded. A Kshatriya must marry a Kshatriya but may have pleasure slaves of lower castes. If a woman‘s husband dies, it is considered honorable for her to immolate herself on her husband’s pyre but she is not required to do so.

It is a mysterious, philosophical, religious culture but its mysteries and philosophies are geared around enjoying life. Vendhyan artwork exemplifies this love of life and much of their artwork and written literature is of an erotic nature. The highest art form is dance.

Religion

 * Asura
 * Vendhyan Pantheon

Vendhya reveres the mystical religion of Asura, a religion born of enormously complex rituals derived from four great books, the compilations of centuries of religious thought and practice. The priestly class prize their intellectual acumen and they use that intelligence to further their own aims. The people believe in a cosmic order and in cause and effect that extends beyond the physical realm. Even as the Vendhyan civilization was taking shape, the priests taught that if these mysterious and shadowed rituals were performed incorrectly, the cosmic order would be disturbed and catastrophe would follow, for Asura kept a keen eye on how smoothly the world ran. Of course, the priests were the only ones that could perform these clamorous rituals properly, allowing them to rise as a class above even the Kshatriyan rulers, at least in spiritual matters. As a result of this sense of cosmic order and justice, Vendhyans believe in a heaven, a hell and the judgment of souls.

Government
Ruler: Devi Yasmina

The government of Vendhya is efficient and organized. The people, other than the aboriginal "untouchable" caste, are treated well. They have free medical care and all from the highest government official to the soldiers to the servant are paid regularly. Artisans, be they craftsmen or poets, are paid a stipend from the government so that they have the free time to devote to their art. People who labor on public works are also paid by the government instead of just strong-armed into it, as would be the case in Aquilonia or Nemedia. Even the poor are fed, for the towns and cities each have a large, central building for storing communal grain. Few Vendhyans are selfish enough to store their own grain. Food is for all to enjoy, not for hoarding.

Vendhya is a stratified society with the the ruling/scholar caste. The Brahma on top, the nobility; below them is warrior caste, or Kshatriyas who rule and serve in the armies; below them lie the craftsmen and townsmen, called Vaisyas, who provided the backbone of the Vendhyan manufacturing economy; and finally, The Sudra, or peasants, the most populous caste. Below all lie the Harijans (or untouchables), technically outside the caste system, created for the conquered aboriginal people. They are left with the most dirty tasks such as cleaning up garbage and corpses and are treated with contempt and scorn by the higher castes.

Vertical mobility in Vendhyas caste system is impossible.

Economy and Common Professions
Vendhya is largely self-sufficient. It boasts abundant mines of precious metals and a well-developed agricultural base, including textiles such as cotton and silk. Vendhyan steel is light and nearly unbreakable, so Vendhyan swords are in demand in the eastern nations. Vendhya trades with Iranistan and Turan, although Vendhyans never trade their best items. The best work of Vendhya’s artists, farmers and craftsmen go to Vendhyans. Anything left over is for trade.

A popular wine, both as an export and within the nation, is Shirakman Wine, a Vendhyan scented wine. It is unclear whether Shirakma is a region in Vendhya or the name of a vineyard, or even just the type of wine.

In addition to wine, Vendhyan meals include warm tasty wheat bread served with barley, rice or peas. Vendhyans raise fruit such as dates and melons. Farmers raise cotton and keep herds of sheep, pigs, water buffalo and zebus. Fish is also popular in both the rural villages and the cities.

Common Professions:
 * Priest/Holy Man
 * Dancer
 * Spy
 * Warrior
 * Scholar
 * Noble

Sex Roles and Marriage
Women, except those given to an ascetic life or born to the ruling caste, are obliged to marry by the priests of Vendhya, usually around the age of nine. Polygamy is permitted if such a practice can be afforded. A Kshatriya must marry a Kshatriya but may have pleasure slaves of lower castes. If a woman‘s husband dies, it is considered honorable for her to immolate herself on her husband’s pyre but she is not required to do so. Certain stones are set up in a shrine after a woman performs this ceremony and these stones are worshipped as holy.

Slavery
Slavery is a fact of life in Vendhya. Slaves can be of any caste and slavery is often a punishment. In addition, people can be intimidated into slavery; they are simply scared into accepting slave status.

Influences
Architectural influences: Mythical India described in the Vedas.

Except for the palaces and the temples, Vendhyan homes are cut from the same mould. Each one is made out of brick, stands one or two stories high and has a flat roof. Built around a courtyard, each Vendhyan home has windows facing into this central open area; the exterior walls have no windows, for privacy is prized. Every home has its own well and a privy.

Beyond the impressive art, much about Vendhya’s culture is different from Hyborian culture. For example, Vendhya does not have inns as might be found in Shadizar the Wicked. Instead, the Vendhyans prepare guest houses for travellers, as pilgrims to and from their numerous cities are many. Taverns exist and are a good source of information.

More Information
RPGS:
 * Return to the Road of Kings (Vendhya, p 226-233)
 * Faith and Fervour (Religion in Vendhya, p 83-86)