Category: gotêvi

Gotevian food?

~ mnransdellgreen ~ 2 Comments

Someone recently asked me what kind of food Gotevians eat.

Gotêvi is one of the countries within Quarios–a continent but also a kingdom, of sorts. It is in the southern hemisphere of Aeniith, with its north near the equator and its south becoming more temperate and even quite cold at times. Much of the land of Quarios is either a. forest/jungle in the north, or b. steppe and grasslands, which are where most of the agriculture takes place. Traditional foods are based on crops grown, which include grains and legumes. Spices abound in the north, which are used all over the country.

So typically, you get stews with carbohydrates and proteins (e.g. grains, beans, peas) flavored with spices. Veggies might be separate but most would be included in the stew itself. Food is pretty flavorful and trade is very common within the country itself, so everyone pretty much can afford spices from the north.

See here a map of Quarios. The equator of Aeniith is to the north of Naeglitan, the port city that brings in a lot of trade from the rest of the world. Down in Teger, the land of the Teg people, it can get quite cold. Quarios is a large continent.

Map of Quarios, a fantasy continent in the world of Aeniith.

Gotevinurae mar e nielo thanne maiad. ‘We are Gotevian and our food is tasty’

~ mnransdellgreen ~ 4 Comments

Welcome to Quarios!

Map-10

The second of my regional maps of Aeniith (please click here for the full version!). The first was Izoi, which has actually been a BIT modified since then to make it more geologically plausible. We go for accuracy in worldbuilding when it comes to systems like geology, economics, etc. 😛 Anyway…

Quarios is a single state nowadays, run by a consitutional monarchy, which is currently headed by Queen Inacaporia. The continent was, until pretty recently, made up of two sovereign states: Lomilin and Gotêvi. Incaporia was the Queen of Gotêvi and married a Prince of Lomilin, and they merged their lands.

In the north of Quarios, the weather is warm and humid most of the time, with mild winters. This is because Quarios is in the southern hemisphere. The southern most islands are frigid and cold. They are home two some ethnically distinct peoples known as the Teg and Phuli. These peoples speak their own languages (Teg and Phul) in addition to Gotevian. People living on the Lomilin side of Quarios (the west side) speak Lomi.

The northern port city of Naeglitan is where Elucuna arrives when she first getsto Quarios from Orikrindia (island nation to the north). She then travels with Glohitan to Valley of Voagry just to the southeast of there.

Gotevian wedding customs

~ mnransdellgreen ~ 1 Comment

I’ve been filling out cultural or customs “gaps” for Gotêvi, trying to balance it out and make it a little more “complete”. Here’s a blurb on traditional wedding customs:

Gotevian Marriage Customs

Marriage in Gotevi is a legal practice rather than a religious one, though religious marriage ceremonies can be held nonetheless. Weddings must be over seen by a magistrate (irftennir) in order to be considered legal. Usually they are held in a public building—some buildings exist constructed specifically for matrimonial purposes. Both parties usually invite their friends to the ceremony, sometimes even the entire neighborhood wherein they live will come, if only to eat and drink for free.

Traditionally, wedding clothing is bright yellow, for both bride and groom. Their clothes are similar in cut and style as well—usually shin-length tunics with long sleeves. The similarity of clothing symbolizes the binding and thus likeness of two people.

First, there is a party with food and drinks and often some type of music. Fervent dancing is traditional; this is perhaps the only case in which tradition suggests unruliness in Gotevian culture. It is considered appropriate that the woman and the man both socialize with their friends of the opposite gender to emphasize the trust of their partner. There are many traditional games played during wedding parties, including lots of gambling, though these are recent developments and are often scorned by the older generations.

After the festivities, the magistrate arrives and the people to be married sign a contract to each other. Everyone attending is technically a witness, but the magistrate’s presence is still required. After this, the couple is tied together facing each other with ribbons by their friends, and they must untangle themselves without any other help. This supposedly symbolizes the fact that now they must rely on each other to get out of trouble and have the ultimate trust in each other.

 

 

Gotevian pipe melody…

~ mnransdellgreen ~ 2 Comments

This is a short melody composed by my husband Eric (who is a professional musician and composer) based on some ideas I had for Gotevian music involving pipes. It’s still in a baby stage and he said he wants to expand on it, but here it is for now! Also see the musical notational system he came up with for Gotevian music.

gotevianmusic