My sweet girls Marigold and Danyah (who finally has a proper design and colour scheme) yey go and run towards each other my pretties.
Marigold was a member of a travelling group of artists who came to Danyah's town to perform, which was when Danyah caught sight of the golden-haired beauty on the stage and fell in love.
She is also the fifth prophet, whose symbol is the Red Petalled Sun. A Light Era Prophet and favoured by Solei, Dragon of the Sun.
"Marigold and her lover, Danyah, took to travelling the continent in their lives together, where Marigold realised her gift of prophecy and draconic favour and aided those in need together while embracing their shared adventurous spirit and discovering the land."
- a short excerpt from writings about prophet Marigold.
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Anyways, I made a relationship chart for the Elders of the Yusi Dey Afian tribe. Altan is the chief and as the chief, he can have multiple spouses. Akari and Sarnai are his spouses. Taro is the tribe healer/shaman. Like I mentioned, healers are celibate and that is the only reason Taro is outside of the marriage and feels partially bad about being in the polycule, at least when they were younger.
The kids resulting from this are Zaya, Idalius, Fay and Nerri.
I've actually made the chart a while ago but I'm posting it only now and it's still accurate so whatever
The council of the seven!(I did say I like politics)
The council of the Seven (also called simply the Seven) is the highest governing body of Ben-gian. It's made up of the heads of the seven most powerful families. Those families are the descendants of the Seven siblings who came to Ben-gian and founded the city. Each family handles an industry(not really but idk what to call them) and the heads have titles corresponding to this.
Zefu: Grand Judge(justice/courts), here it's Vervar
Chien: Grand General(war), here it's Yao
Tao Thuy: Grand Shipmaker(shipmaking but also port matters), here it's Itari
Khoa: Grand Scholar(education, keeping records), here it's Kira
Nua: Grand Trader(trade), here it's Viyen
Took: Grand Medic(wellbeing of the people), here it's Yanna
Vette: Grand Guardian(wellbeing of the city and island), here it's Nayika
The Chiens, Thao Thuys and Nuas prioritize men in their succession, the Khoas, Tooks and Vettes prioritize women and the Zefu prioritizes whoever the court approves of.
The Seven are the lawmaking authority.
Because of the prestige those families carry, they often intermarry with one another or with mainland nobility and royalty. Basically they are all cousins and it's encouraged for the families to spend time together to foster cooperation within the council. If the council doesn't get along, the city will feel the consequences.
Also, the others aren't really that short. Vervar and Yao are simply horrendously tall. Maybe Viyen is that short but. Y'know.
There is also the secondary council, made up of minor nobility. The membership of that council is more mobile and they have far less control, mostly focusing on directly overseeing the administration.
The families are all colourcoded. It's tradition and the Seven are required to attend the meetings in those colours. In their everyday lives they often do not follow those rules. For example, Vervar wears a shade way darker than he technically should(the light colour on his cuffs) and he wears a mix of the Zefu and Chien colours, which he is allowed to do as the ex general.
The Ben-gian court structure:(specific to the city of ben-gian, it's generally similar in other cities though)
The Grand Judge. There is only one and they are the head of the Zefu council family. The position is semi-hereditary, as it's directly tied to the family. The heir must be approved by the entire court but the choice is only between the kids related to a judge within two generations(DK how to better translate it), so if kids parent was a sibling to a judge they are eligible, if it was only their grandparent they are not. The position is available to any child of the Zefu family, no matter the gender(hence the use of they, it's the only family that does that). The Grand Judge is the overseer of the court, they also handle the affairs of the Seven, between them, they are also the mediator of the Council, being the only one there devoted to the dragon of Justice, Yustiia.
The Judges ordinary are all the other judges in the court, they handle regular affairs between small nobility and common folk. They are regular members of the court who have advanced to the position. Judges are positioned across the city in their own smaller courthouses, accompannied by their Judge Ceremonial and a couple of Maidens and Adepts.
The Grand Judge Ceremonial and Judges Ceremonial Ordinary. To each judge, a judge ceremonial is assigned, handpicked by the judge from the Court Maidens. Judge ceremonial helps the judge keep order in the courtroom, they announce the verdict. They are the one that carries the most regalia and symbols— in their staff, in their make up, on their foreheads.(As seen in Linh's design)
Court Maidens and Court Adepts. They are the office workers of the courts, keeping everything organised behind the scenes. They enter the courthouse at 15 and this is the first stage every member goes through and many stay at. Their work is crucial to keeping the court going. They are some of the most important members of the court even if they go unnoticed. They can progress to become Judges, Judges Ceremonial or Court Ladies(in Ben-gian's outposts on the continent+ only Court Maidens).
And also— Courthouses function like monasteries to Yustiia. The name is simply different because of their function, the same way monasteries(&nunneries) of Solei function as hospitals, for an example.
Another thing is that while the Judges are the ones responsible for the verdict, it is loudly discussed and decided communally by the whole courthouse during communally shared meals. The members all live together with the exception of the Grand Judge(and often Grand Judge Ceremonial), who lives in the Zefu household.
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Pov: the way the Yusi Dey chief looks at you when you say that she kidnapped her wife and attacked her tribe.(also pictured: said wife)
Design notes/lore under the cut.
Okay, so those are Zaya (shorter) and Isa Darai(taller). Zaya is the chief of her tribe, the Yusi Dey and Isa Darai is her wife. Isa Darai is from another tribe and she was the daughter of their chief but wasn't a trained warrior. Most Afian tribes only allow warriors to be chiefs so when her father died alongside his warrior-trained heir, it was Isa Darai's warrior husband who inherited the position. Unfortunately, he turned out to be a dick and a mediocre leader.
In general, Afian tribe leaders are allowed to have multiple spouses. Zaya's father for example had two wives (plus he romanced the healer). However the way this is set up is that this is a communal decision. Made by the chief, his already married spouse(s), the families, the council and other tribe members.
Meanwhile, Isa Darai's husband decided to sneak behind her and the council of elders' (and the council is very important) back and take his bros to where the Yusi Dey camped, demand a meeting with their chief, Zaya and demand Zaya's younger sibling's hand in marriage.
Said sibling, Fay is the tribe healer. Healers are supposed to be celibate. That's why Zaya's dad cannot marry his healer bf.
And Zaya gets super pissed at the audacity of this man. To come to her tribe and demand to meet her. To then demand her little sibling. To demand her sibling break their vows for him. Like I said, pure audacity. She kicks him out, outraged and mad(but that event specifically is a story for another time) but doesn't think much of it really, she's just happy this guy is gone.
Until the next morning at dawn, when a worn out Isa Darai in travelling clothes and with a horse, telling them how it was her husband who went behind the tribes back to request Fay, who was only chief because of his wife and who was a disrespectful little prick to everyone. And Zaya can't just ignore it.
Long story short, Isa Darai stays with the Yusi Dey and marries Zaya(with agreement from the whole tribe because Zaya does things the way you are supposed to). Then, Zaya attacks the other tribe and defeats them pretty swiftly with the chief dying. Does Zaya kill him or does he die in combat, I have not yet decided. But they are left without chief and elect one of their own, a young warrior whom Zaya shall now train. The two tribes are now presenting as close allies. It is however, a source of controversy because a tribe just conquered another tribe and imposed their rule over them. And that is when the invites for the Kurultai, the grand assembly of all the chiefs of the steppe arrive.
Design-wise, both Zaya and Isa Darai are dressed very fancy here since it's the Kurultai.
The red dress Zaya is wearing and the cape Isa Darai has are both made from the Red Alpaca's wool. The Red Alpaca is the most sacred animal in all of Afia, only living in the suddern part, close to the mountains. It's of the same genome as the regular Alpaca. If a red one is born in a herd, it's nurtured until it's grown enough to be let gone free. It's it's the dragon of war's sacred animal. Marsya is associated with the colour red. If the Alpaca is spotted, the tribe is supposed to shave it(if it has enough wool), feed it and let it go. Usually they are also adorned with expensive decorations.
The wool is sacred to the dragon of war and only chiefs, as the head warriors of their tribe. In "formal-wear", the chief's spouses are also allowed, mostly in form of such capes as Isa Darai is wearing.
The gold is a common decoration even in everyday Afian-wear, because gold is a natural resource in the region. In fact, the only settled communities of the Steppe are centered around gold and precious stone mining and treatment.
Blue is another rare pigment. It's rare in real life too so I just kept it. There are plants that produce it but most grow in the suddern region of Tris so it has to be imported. It's a pretty common rare dye though.
Both of them have very long hair as per Afian tradition. Every single Afian character has very long hair, either in one braid or in two. Women usually wear two braids, men two.
Isa Darai's sash is based on the sashes/belts that was a part of the Polish Sarmatian outfit.
The little circle decoration Zaya has is the symbol of Prophet Andah, the white-petaled sun. It's a symbol that Zaya, as a politician, has managed to gain from the nunnery of Andah.
The little blue stone Zaya has on her forehead is the symbol of Yustiia, the dragon of Justice. In Afia, it is usually worn on shoes as a decoration in the shape of the eye, however it can be worn on the forehead like she is but shoes are mostly worn because of the hats they tend to wear. The blue stones are not present in Afia and have to be imported from the suddern regions. Which is why suddern characters have a lot of them. They are usually worn by people related to dealing justice. Chiefs are the judges of their tribe and are therefore allowed to wear The Mark Of Just. If you see me talk about lore relevant eye boots, this is what this is about.
Both of them are pretty old here, hence the gray hairs.
In-universe, Zaya's hair decor is inspired by another character, Corah, daughter of Prophet Vervar. She is the archetype of the daughter in Klarnei and that's why metal decor for hair is popular for young women. There were... some issues between Zaya and her dad when she was little so he felt he had to reward her and got her the hair decorations. Her mother has similar ones. Out of universe, they are inspired by the Mongolian queen's headpiece but I got some things wrong when first designing her and got attached.
Alright, I think this is all! I always try to design characters with the world in mind so writing it all down was pretty fun!
I tried out some hairstyles for Marigold. I think the one on the bottom is gonna be "the one". But I also like the one where she has her prophetic symbol in her hair. It's also canon, she's just older and also visiting Torika. The page had some more doodles but I didn't colour them.
