Saber and Shadow
Page 34
Siege weapons are complex; durcret-made machinery, including huge coil springs and flywheels, is common. Models mounted on forts generally outrange mobile types, and include the functional equivalent of machine-guns. Flywheel-powered machines can throw tonne-weight blocks up to a mile.
Modern fortifications—the types used in Fehinna and adjacent kingdoms—are rarely taken by assault. Starvation and treachery are the most efficient agents for taking walled cities and castles.
Incendiary compounds—based on organic resins and alcohol—are widely used; mobile flamethrowers, glass balls of “clingfire” and heavy ship- or wall-mounted flamethrowers are all known.
The Fehinnan art of war is sophisticated, with disciplined full-time armies and a long military tradition. All-out war between the advanced states is rare because it is unlikely to be decisive; long sieges, economic warfare (devastating the enemy’s countryside) and complex maneuvering are the rule.
5. Metallurgy: Equivalent to early 19th-century usage, but metals are relatively much more expensive. Steel alloys are made by crucible (wootz) process.
6. Materials: Materials include organic synthetics. High-quality glass fiber (produced by spinneret method) is used for reinforcement in organic resins—”fiberglass” and in concrete. Concrete-type compounds are also made with infusions of fiber and silica gel (durcret) to produce materials of quasi-metallic qualities. Ceramic bound with fiber (carbon fiber derived from rice husks) is also used, and “unbreakable” glass is common. Wood laminates used extensively. (Plywood, laminate beams, etc.)
7. Mechanics: Very advanced gear-train machinery, mostly made of durcret or treated wood. Fairly complete understanding of force ratios, sophisticated leverage, etc. Includes clocks, chronometers, adding machines (although the abacus is most common), power-looms, etc. Power sources are wind, water and animal power; some recent experiments with hot-air piston engines.
8. Optics: Fehinnans understand the wave theory of light, and are capable of grinding lenses and optical mirrors for complex telescopes.
9. Chemistry: Strong acids known; rule-of-thumb use of hydrocarbon chemistry from organic feedstocks.
10. Ships and shipping: Fehinnan ships are built of wood, wood laminates, and occasionally fiberglass for special uses. Sails are of linen canvas (with some glassfiber reinforcement) and cordage is of hemp or sisal. Larger ships are built in slipways or—for the very largest—drydocks, to blueprints. Merchant ships may range up to 2,500 tonnes, although most are much smaller.
11. Mathematics: Positional arithmetic, algebra, and the calculus. Sliderule in common use.
Food and Cuisine
The laboring majority of Fehin-nans live primarily on bread, usually corn-bread, with additions of soya meal; the other staples of their diet are fresh and preserved vegetables, e.g., tomatoes, greens, and fruit. Protein is provided by lentils, peas, beans, eggs, occasional poultry, dairy products—butter, cheese, yogurt—and more rarely meat, mostly pork or mutton. Coastal and river dwellers eat more fish.
Soups or stews are the staple of the working classes; soup or stew of potatoes or roots with other vegetables and some meat or meat stock, with bread on the side, and salads and fruit in season, is the typical main meal. Breakfast is generally wild-herb tea, with bread and perhaps porridge; the midday meal is peas or bean porridge, possibly with a piece of fat pork added.
Festival-day foods include grilled or fried meats, and Various sweets and pastries.
Upperclass cuisine is far more elaborate and includes much more meat, fish and dairy produce. Fish is occasionally eaten grilled, but large lumps of meat—roasts, steaks, etc.—are regarded as uncouth and barbaric.
Currency and Banking: The currency is on a gold standard, the 50-grain gold “bit” being the basic unit. Silver is fixed at l/25th the value of gold. Coins are rectangular, made by stamping an image (the Sun for gold, others for silver) on flat wire, which is then issued in fixed-unit coils. Individual coins are broken off at the perforations as needed. Small change is in copper and bronze.
The main banking center is the Sun Temple, which makes loans through its network of parish temples; usually these are secured against land or other real property. Commercial banks exist for financing trade; private lending (usually between relatives) is the general means for manufacturing finance.
Interest rates from the Sun Temple run between 5 percent and 12 percent per annum; commercial bank rates are much more variable.
(Note: Kinfasts can pledge members or children as security for loans, on written terms. If the loan goes into default, the persons involved become debt-bondsmen or slaves depending on the terms originally noted.)
Family Structure
Fehinnans of all the free classes practice the “kinfast” form of marriage common, with variations, to most of the peoples of Almerkun. Marriage is to multiple spouses, in Fehinna usually between four and eight, with up to twelve in some cases. Once established (usually first by a couple) a kinfast is “closed” when the desired number is reached; divorce and remarriage are possible but rare, and regarded as extreme misfortunes. The kinfast name of an established group is carried on by the children of the marriage. Generally, the daughters (or some of them; usually the firstborn pair) of an established kinfast form the next generation of the family, marrying males they either court themselves (generally in the lower classes) or which are found by their elders (more common for the propertied). Exchange of daughters between kinfasts exists, but is more rare than the converse. As the elder generation of the kin-fast ages, they gradually hand over management of the family affairs—sometimes ceremonially—to the younger.
Among the propertied, sons are sent with a dowry to their new kinfast; when a daughter marries in to a kinfast a gift is made to the young woman’s parents.
Blood descent is, of course, “matrilinal.”
Authority within the Fehinnan kinfast is by a mixture of consensus and seniority, with seniority being more important among the upper classes. The “head” of the family is usually the eldest member of the kinfast, or the one so appointed by the parental kinfast.
Marriage is usually at about 22 for women and 26 for men; the lower classes marry earlier.
Children are regarded as children of the kinfast in common; there is a special bond between mothers and infants, but not nearly so exclusive as in monogamous cultures (e.g., small children will be suckled by any female spouse who has milk).
Virtually all land and most productive assets in Fehinna are owned by kinfasts, and descend through the generations to the next “phase” of the kinfast of name. Within the kinfast personal property is usually limited to clothes, ornaments, etc., although money and other goods may be owned individually.
The kinfast is the basic unit of Fehinnan society, and marriage links between kinfasts are the most important means of social interaction. Farms and businesses are customarily owned and managed as kinfast units; in urban areas, kinfast members may work at separate locations but will pool their resources. Related kinfasts form semi-clan groups, generally aiding each other, and relations of dependence and clientage will endure from generation to generation between noble and commoner kinfasts.
Adoption is quite common; a kinfast which produces a surplus of males or females will often ‘ juggle” with related kinfasts of appropriate degree. Unkinfasted females who have children commonly give them over to their sisters’ or parents’ kinfast for adoption and rearing.The very poorest of the free population often have no opportunity to form kin-fasts and their reproduction rate is much lower than the rest of the population.
Slaves may not marry, and have a rather low birthrate. In modern times male slaves are usually vasectomized; anciently they were infibulated or castrated; this is still the case for those sentenced to the mines or other mass employment. Female slaves are bred at the discretion of their owners; house-born slaves are substantially more valuable than foreign-born or bought.
Sexual Mores
Incest: Sexual contac
t between parents and children (or members of the kinfast of the parent’s generation) is regarded with horror and is quite rare; the punishment for the adult is death by stoning.
Sex between siblings is not regarded as incest, but reproduction is so regarded. Sex-play generally begins in childhood between siblings and neighbor-children, and is regarded calmly as a natural thing; adults keep an eye out to make sure that no violence or harmful behavior occurs. Once puberty is reached the main concern is to prevent pregnancy; Fehinnans have advanced herbal contraceptives, and also employ barrier methods. (Nonreproductive practices are also encouraged among the young.) It is expected that as adolescents grow there will be a fair degree of experimentation, increasingly with non-siblings. Pre-marital pregnancies are usually terminated by abortion, and increasingly severe scoldings and other measures if they recur. When the time comes for marriage, the core of the next generation of the kinfast is generally two or more sisters, who marry and then court or are found an appropriate number of spouses from outside their sibling-group. Males always many out, and care is taken not to bring in males of an inappropriate degree of blood-relation.
Under Fehinnan law and custom, “adultery” is defined as bearing a child to a male outside the kinfast without the consent of the other members; sex as such, unless k leads to pregnancy or to alienation of affection, is not adulterous—although it is considered good manners not to have affairs of which the other spouses disapprove. Kinfasts may, and fairly often do, decide to have one of their members bear a child to an outside male; for eugenic reasons, or as a means of establishing a link with another kinfast. Within the kin-fast, persistent sexual rejection is regarded as extremely impolite.
As might be expected, Fehinnans consider bisexu-ality as the norm, with heterosexuality and homosexuality regarded with mild disapproval. In fact, in the Fehinnan language the fundamental distinction is between sex-for-pleasure (regardless of the gender of participants) ana reproductive sex. Sex-for-pleasure is a matter of no great importance, but reproduction is very important indeed. There are few taboos on any form of sexual activity that does not cause physical harm; sadism is regarded as a perversion, except among some circles in the upper classes. In general, rape between social equals is regarded as a serious crime of violence, usually punished by enslavement or mutilation.
Public sexual activity (that is, where strangers can see) is regarded as vulgar, and is avoided except by the lowest classes. Public display of affection—hugging, kissing—is not disapproved of, except by some of the starchier nobility.
In the home there are no particular restrictions on sexual activity by couples or groups. In terms of actual sexual acts, oral sex is more common than in 20th-century Western culture, and intercourse less common. The usual positions for intercourse are side-by-side or female atop and astride, except when pregnancy is desired; in that case, “missionary” positions are preferred.
Exceptions: Class distinctions are very sharp in Feh-inna. Slaves are at the disposal of their owners, and have no right of refusal; sex with slaves is regarded as a legitimate pastime of those lucky enough to possess them. In law all the free classes have a right of refusal, but employers or landlords often have the de facto ability to compel their subordinates or tenants, particularly in the countryside, and coercion of that nature is quite common.
Prostitution exists, although largely in towns and cities; it caters mostly to specialized needs—e.g., sailors, travelers, those with extremely repulsive deformities—or to upper-class entertainment. It is regarded as a rather low-status occupation, but no more so than, for example, shoe-shining or other service jobs.
Racial Types
Of The Fifth Millennium
Demographics: After the disaster of 2044, the human population of Earth was reduced from more than 8 billion to less than 1 million in about a decade—in effect, to pre-neolithic levels. Recurrence of the tailored viruses released at that time, together with ordinary disease, starvation, and the climatic upheavals accompanying the geological disturbances caused by gigatonne mines and crustal disruptions reduced the population further, to about 500,000 by the end of the 22nd century. Total population fluctuated at roughly that level for the next five centuries; humans died out over wide areas, and only luck and the profound toughness of Homo sapiens sapiens prevented extinction.
After roughly 2500 AD the return of ecological stability, the exhaustion of the viral plagues (many of which were designed to lie dormant for long periods) and the evolution of new social and technological forms permitted a recovery in numbers. This was very gradual, with fresh setbacks from time to time.
Population Table (approximate)
2100 AD
500,000
2600 AD
700,000
3000 AD
1,000,000
3500 AD
40,000,000
4000 AD
250,000,000
4500 AD
450,000,000
5000 AD
600,000,000
North and South America (Almerkun and Coylonta) accounted for roughly 100 million each, Africa for 50 million, Europe and North Africa as far as the Brezhan valley for some 120 million, and monsoon Asia and east Asia roughly another 100 million each, with scattered populations elsewhere. Within each region population densities varied widely—the relatively dense populations of the Mitvald Zee (Mediterranean) basin contrasting with the sparse areas of northern Europe, for example.
Patterns of Survival: Initially, survivors of the disaster were scattered in very small communities, randomly assembled from individuals and small groups. Many of these remained out of contact for centuries, from the sheer difficulty of travel and also because the plagues implanted a deep taboo on contact with strangers. (For the same reason, there was a strong incentive to preserve elementary sanitation and medical knowledge. Groups which did not tended not to survive.) These early groups of survivors were often, due to sheer chance and the greater survival-potential of the rural and isolated, untypical of the predisaster populations. Inbreeding within small populations (made possible at all by the rigorous culling effect of the harsh environment) often produced very uniform gene distributions, and combinations of features unknown before the disasters.
The prolonged period of slow growth or nonexistent growth in population preserved many of these eccentric features, although the gradual return of trade and other contact tended to produce regional rather than strictly local breeding isolates. Once population growth resumed—often quite rapidly in a given area—small and eccentric local populations could spread quickly and become characteristic over quite large areas.
Note: The following listing is of examples and is by no means exhaustive; descriptions apply to typical individuals. Recent centuries have seen a good deal of mixture and travel.
Groups
Kommanza
Location: North-central inland Almerkun, originally in the Komman of Granfor (central Red River Valley of Minnesota). Now common in northern tall-grass prairie zone running in a crescent from northwestern Iowa to the Rocky Mountains in north-central Alberta. Rarely seen elsewhere.
Origin: Mainly europoid, amerindian (Lakota Sioux), some negroid and oriental. Original group in the 200-300 range.
Description: Tall, averaging 5'8" for females and 5'11" for males; extremely pale skin, often freckled, but usually capable of tanning. Hair color most commonly light, in variable shades of ashblond, blond, brown, red and black. Eyes usually blue, grey or mixed-light. Scalp hair is invariably straight, usually fine-textured and dense. Body hair is scanty. Limbs tend to be long in proportion to the torso; hands long in proportion to width, and feet are long and high-arched. Dolichocephalic skulls (index 72) with moderately robust bone structure. Narrow faces, high cheekbones, eyes slanted with partial folds, chins usually pointed, noses long and often curved.
Comments: Given to berserkergang, but it is uncertain if this is cultural or genetic in origin. Often star-tlingly athletic, but this (an
d the high average height) may be due to cultural patterns and the characteristic high-protein diet.
Fehinnan
Location: Eastern coastal N. America, Virginia and adjacent areas.
Origin: Europoid-negroid mixture.
Description: Average stature 5'3" for females, 5'6" for males; olive- to brown-skin color, eyes brown to black, hair black and wirey to straight, features oval and somewhat blunt. Local variations, with more caucasoid admixture in western highlands.
Most Fehinnans are somewhat stocky.
Zak
Location: Upper Brezhan river, pockets elsewhere, (central Russian Republic).
Origin: East-Baltic europoid, some mongoloid.
Description: Extremely small average stature, 4'2" for females, 4'5" for males. Pale skin, often incapable of tanning, predominantly dark hair of black or brown shades, generally straight; dark eyes. Light hair and eyes usually indicates outside admixture; body hair follows standard europoid pattern. Gracile bone structure, low sexual dimorphism.
Some evidence of dark-adaptation (e.g., very good night vision, extremely depigmented skin). Low natural metabolic rate, and at very low temperatures blood-flow to the extremities is spontaneously reduced, a cold-adaptation similar to the pre-disaster Yakuts and Samoyeoic peoples.
Mesocephalic skulls (index 80), broad brow and cheeks but triangular faces, small regular noses, pointed chins.
Comments: Unusual degree of uniformity; the small size of the average Zak and the small pelvic arch (low even for the size-range) make interbreeding with ethnic groups of much larger average size problematic. Average size seems to be spontaneously increasing in recent periods, but slowly. Rumors of psychic powers.