#bastlore

Her Hands have always been secretive, cult members who do their work in the shadows- Individuals play different roles, and not always ones as gentle as Arjenn's. Some, for example, don't just take those marked for death, but mass murderers and those who tamper with soul and life energy.

There are souls who remain in her realm, but rarely for eternity- Because of the close proximity to the realm of life, the place feels comforting to some, a place where they can pretend for a moment that they are alive again. To others, it feels forlorn, a reminder of the life they cannot go back to.

Deadsong's Charons, her servants in the afterlife make an effort to comfort or appease these lingering souls, and guide those passing through.

The proximity to the realm of life is also what allows Deadsong her influence there, allowing her to recruit Hands who do her bidding in life, and then move on to serve her as a Charon, or serve Death directly as a Soulweaver. Her realm also has close proximity to the void, and her influence extends there as she seeks souls that have managed to lose themselves there.

The Record is a collection of legitimate historical record from across Alternia and has not been rewritten or tampered with. (Read: Everything was parsed and rewritten by Conqueration’s historians and the original documents destroyed. Also, a lot was just outright destroyed.)

This history is heavily enforced in schools, public libraries, and other places of learning to ‘maintain clarity’ on what is supposedly true.

Pretty much anyone who'd be at home in a traditional (read: no electricity, internet) village setting.

The villagers take care not to lose sight of their duty, which is to preserve the Tanikar way of life. They don't even really have access to materials from outside of Ikana Valley anyway and, in fact, have access to less than the average Tanikarite did because there was stuff being imported into Tanikar.

For craftsperson roles, you'd have people making ceramics for everyday use. Weavers collecting silkworm cocoons, deer fur, and plant fibers for cloth. Making dye out of insects, plants, and stones (like lapis lazuli) available in the caverns. Stone carvers who'd be the primary builders of the caverns, repairing or replacing damaged structures and statues and carvings within the village or the abandoned kingdom.

Then for food-providers you'd have the fishermen who'd primarily breed and take care of the fish living in the subterrean lakes and rivers and making sure the water is clean and everything is healthy, since that's also everyone's drinking water. Farmers who'd grow crops which had been bred to grow in the underground conditions- Rice, tubers, fruits, tea.

Some people had no particular role or weren't specially trained, like you'd have guards that only had some combat training rather than the full warrior training like Okahni.

The Garo have no currency and, at most, trade. Things like fine jewelry would usually be given by the craftsperson as a gift OR given by the village elders for, usually, things like contributing to the village's duty by excelling in a traditional skill or other exemplary behavior. Food is also given out similarly; If one person had excess they'd give it to their neighbor or someone they knew might not have a steady supply of food. One fish might be passed through multiple people's hands before it's eaten because it wasn't needed that night.

The caverns have an extensive ecosystem of unique plants, animals, and insects, which all have developed to feed off the heightened magic within the caverns. A lot of things (esp crops) were brought in from outside during the earlier nights of Tanikar, like the deer aren't native but have evolved into a unique species.