#firestorm peacemaker

The Shandar are mainly nomadic tribes scattered through their lands, except for the winter solstice when they gather in the Sun Keep for anything between 2 to 6 months. Their children are all taught by tribe elders the months they are away from the Keep, but taught communally while they are in the Keep. This helps make sure the tribes all have access to the same knowledge, and the friendships the children form of course makes the bonds between the tribes stronger. Knowledge is taught largely through practice when possible and no area is considered of limits. Magic is taught to anyone with the gift and if someone wishes to learn about it, they are welcome, gift or not. Poverty is not something present in the tribes, neither are orphans, which means every child is taught.

The Enniate are farmers and settlers. Their society system is much more segregated and school is not available nor affordable everywhere. The Order controls, under the King’s decree, what is and isn’t taught, and magic is considered both a privilege and a threat. A child showing an aptitude for magic or even demonstrations of a gift, will be given or taken to the Order for schooling.

The Shandar begin teaching their children from the earliest years, around 3 to 4 years old, whereas the Enniate schools start at 6 to 7 years old (but only if the parents pay for it).

The length and content/scope of education differs greatly.

Enniate civilians are typically taught for 5 to 7 years, with the primary focus on the fundamentals of reading, writing and counting, and their myths and legends and the deities. After these years most are expected to work at around 13 years old, unless exceptional ability is shown in some area. Then they are taken for further schooling in the capital. Skills such as farming, cooking, crafting, or any other trade, are expected to be learnt at home or under the tutelage of a master artisan. The Enniate (more specifically the nobility and the Order) believe nature is a wild-thing that must be tamed and controlled and that their villages and towns are safe havens from natural chaos.

The Shandar believe that learning is never over and a life-long experience. However, expected schooling is finished whenever a student/child can prove they have grasped the fundamentals of reading, writing, and counting; have an adequate knowledge of their body and of nature; have the specific knowledge of how to survive in their tribe’s primary living area, including cooking and mending skills as well as general way-finding; and finally, are well-versed in their myths and legends, the deities, and why they live like they do (structure of society).

Both societies have doctors and masters in counting or writing or smithy or horsemanship, but any Shandar would be able to read or tell you how to live with nature or help you set a fracture.

Coolest plant

Ohh, tough one! I would say that the moon-nest, a messy vine that stores the beams of the moon and always glows faintly silver. It is poisonous at it is, but has incredibly potent healing properties if you know how to handle it.

Food supply process

The Enniate are farmers, mainly. They grow all kinds of crops, from sweet sugar beets and fruits in the suit, to hardy rye and potatoes in the north. There is active trade between farmers, various villages, and towns. A farm is expected to be able to carry itself if necessary.

The Shandar are mostly gatherer-hunters, but they also keep livestock. They rely on the lands and move around as nomads, and trade whenever they cross paths or during the winter gatherings. Any overabundance is stored for the winter months at the Sun Keep.

There are elements of either tribe in the other, but these are their main ways.

All nouns and descriptors are altered in respect to how the person was addressed while alive, and especially the later part of the third sentence is subject to change.

(I freely admit that I’m not good at rhymes, please bear with me)

The Resting prayer

"Himes, we give you [name], to watch them sleep.

Forever, Eternal, yours to keep.

Themselves first and foremost, but friend, lover, teacher too.

Himes, unbind them from life's chains,

ease their aches and pains.

No more struggle, regret, or sorrow,

await them in the morrow.

No one is them testing;

Eternally they are resting.

They sleep with you, Himes.

They sleep, with you."

Writing the scenes this spawned from kind of hurt, and my protags aren’t too happy with me at the moment.. (^～^;)ゞ

His parents would survive him staying outside, especially as his Ma had been saying he could very well do so for the last moon, if he wanted. His Pa was less enthusiastic about the idea, worrying about so many big and small things it made Sunbud tired, so she had not actually had him stay outside with her or on his own yet. She just made sure he packed some extra food whenever he went off. While Sunbud had not been overly excited at the prospect of sleeping outdoors - he liked his warm, cozy bed, thank you kindly - he was not bothered by the idea either. After all, his three sisters had all done it before him and they were fine. Come to think of it, he barely saw Winterkiss the last two moons, she was always out exploring, coming back with bruises, torn clothes and wild stories of her exploits that he loved hearing. It made their Pa and their older sister Honeynose fret, but their Ma just laughed. She said she had been just like it when she was a child. Clearfrost, who was the eldest of them, just sighed and mended Winterkiss' clothes for her.

Sighing, Sunbud pulled himself out of his thoughts and focused on his work again, weaving the way Clearfrost had taught him. It made robust, neat, and nearly waterproof mats. A bit of wax and they would be, not that he had any. Finishing, Sunbud got up and carried it over to where he had stashed the other ones he had made. There was a huge spruce at the edge of the meadow, and below the thick burrows there was a nice, wide space. It would make a great base for their hut and Sunbud tossed the mat in under the branches, wondering how many more he would have to make before the ground was covered.

"Sunbud!" a clear but hushed voice called and he nearly jumped out of his skin, tearing around with his heart in his throat, hands fumbling for the knife in his belt. "Sunbud? Are you here?"

Relief and joy flooded him when he recognized the voice and he straightened from his half-crouch, waving as he called,

"Amberheart! Over here!"

The boy turned towards him and came running over immediately, and Sunbud wondered at his anxious expression when he got closer.

"I'm sorry, Sunbud, did you wait long?" Amberheart worried and he shook his head. He would have waited all night if necessary.

"I thought you were mad at me."

Amberheart's expression shifted into confusion and surprise and he tilted his head, long hair falling over his face as usual.

"Why would I be mad at you?" he questioned and Sunbud blushed and fidgeted, fingers tangling in the fringed border of his tunic.

"I mean, I did kiss you even though we aren't family or clan? Isn't that weird?" he asked and Amberheart stared at him in stunned silence for a second then rolled his eyes.

"The only one who gives out kisses at home, that I know of, is mother. I don't think we do the same things as your family does, Sunbud. Anyway, hold still," the boy ordered and Sunbud did, nervous. Amberheart stepped forward and pressed a kiss to his cheek then declared, satisfied, "There. Now we're even. What were you doing?"

Sunbud grinned, both at the gesture and with excitement. Lifting the branch of the spruce, he pointed out the grass mats in the dim light and said,

"I was making grass mats! I was thinking we could build a hut or something here. The branches are really thick; look, the ground is dry!"

"Didn't it rain earlier?" Amberheart questioned, crouching down with him to pat the ground, and Sunbud nodded.

"Yeah, at dawn! So, right here, or should we climb up?"

"I would prefer the ground," Amberheart admitted and looked relieved when Sunbud nodded readily.

"Okay! Come on, let's find some dry branches for the walls!"

If you’re wondering, they’re about 7 here, and Amberheart is definitely not supposed to be anywhere near Other Forest. Other Forest cares very little for human rules, and more for the secret voices of their hearts.

Tagging (let me know if you want on or off): @concerningwolves​ @adorhauer​ @weaver-of-fantasies-and-fables​