Tatla Lake

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A small community of wolfdog hybrids mostly descended from Irish Wolfhounds, they are heavily focused on growing crops, raising sheep, and trading. Craftsmen are highly prized and their work as carpenters, metal workers, and weavers is widely traded across the local region. Located along the coast of British Columbia in Canada, they are generally a peaceful group, geared more towards defense then waging war. Their religion is practiced by every member of the settlement. Any skepticism or blasphemy is punished instantly and heavily, absolutely unacceptable to the ruling Council.

Tatla Lake

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  • Location: British Columbia, Canada
  • Status: REQUEST. More Information
  • Demonym: Tatlan
  • Languages Spoken: English, Irish Gaelic
  • Influences: Wiccan/Pagan Religions, Bronze Age Cultures, Celtic Mythology
  • Archetype (Group): Faith, community, harmony, and security
  • Archetypes (Individuals): Powerful women, religious canines, craftsmen, and traders.

On this page... (hide)

  1.   1.  Essentials
    1.   1.1  Geography
    2.   1.2  Climate
    3.   1.3  Flora and Fauna
  2.   2.  Culture
    1.   2.1  Species
    2.   2.2  Luperci & Shifting
    3.   2.3  Languages
    4.   2.4  Technology
    5.   2.5  Practices & Traditions
    6.   2.6  Outsider Relations & Travel
  3.   3.  Structure
    1.   3.1  Leaders
    2.   3.2  Law & Justice
  4.   4.  Religion
    1.   4.1  Creation Legends
    2.   4.2  Deities
    3.   4.3  Festivals
    4.   4.4  Symbols
  5.   5.  Significant Families
    1.   5.1  O'Byrne
    2.   5.2  McGowan
    3.   5.3  Kilduff
  6.   6.  History
  7.   7.  Notes & References
    1.   7.1  Quick Reference Index
    2.   7.2  Notes

1.  Essentials

1.1  Geography

The settlement of Tatla Lake is situated on the southern bank of the lake it is named for on the coast of was once the human Canadian province of British Columbia, about 450 miles from what was once Vancouver. Surrounded by thick boreal forest, with wide-open meadows on the edge of the lake, the wild beauty of the place is ever-present. There are very few traces humans left, as most structures and the wide asphalt highways have been reclaimed by nature.

1.2  Climate

Located on the warmer Western coast of Canada, summers are mild and winters are relatively mild, though rainfall can be rather high in the spring. Extreme weather of any kind is a rarity.

1.3  Flora and Fauna

Most of the area is heavily forested, particularly by cedar and fur trees, save for the wide-open meadows along the coast of Tatla Lake. Aside from the spectacular event of the yearly salmon run, common prey include mule and white-tailed deer, moose, the occasional herd of caribou, and very rarely bison. However, competition for prey is high with bears, cougars, lynx, and various feral wolf packs roaming all over the area.

2.  Culture

Tatla Lake is heavily dominated by the female residents, as their religion teaches is natural. All males are required to show the proper respect to their superior counterparts, through both word and action. This is usually expressed through lowering their eyes to all strangers and addressing every female they are not related to by their proper title, though different modes of address may be used in private dependent on the female's request. There are only two ways for a male to gain respect and status, either bonding with a higher ranking female or becoming a skilled craftsman. This is marked out by the simple fact that all males use the surname Lochlan, taking on the name of their mate after bonding.

2.1  Species

Irish Wolfhounds
Most of the group descend from Irish Wolfhounds

Almost all residents are descended to some degree or another from the Irish Wolfhounds who originally settled near Tatla Lake, mixed freely with the local British Columbian Wolves. Coyotes rarely travel into the area, having been driven away shortly after the fall of humanity, and when they do they usually stick to themselves out of fear being attacked. As a result, almost no interbreeding has occurred.

2.2  Luperci & Shifting

Every member of the community is Luperci, and anyone who is not looking to join the community must be turned. Shifting is mostly used for hunting, as the rest of daily life is geared toward a humanized lifestyle.

2.3  Languages

English is most widely used during everyday conversation, with Gaelic reserved for various titles, religious and social ceremonies.

2.4  Technology

The only real human items used or desired by the pack are the remains of metal, which is melted down and used to forge basic tools needed by the group's craftsmen, and books, either scavenged or Luperci made copies. Otherwise, all that is needed is gathered from nature or made with their own hands.

  • Woodworking, from carving to carpentry used in home construction, is one of the most widely practiced trades. Often, skilled craftsmen will be hired out to build various buildings in return for livestock or large amounts of foodstuffs.
  • Every member of the community is taught to read and write from a young age so that they can read the Word and create copies as needed.

Animals & Companions


A few members of the flock
  • The community raises a small flock of about 20 hardy sheep for their wool and meat, occasionally trading their lambs as well.
  • A dozen or so horses, mostly of cob and draft origin, have been traded for and bred to be used to pull trading wagons, assist hunters, and to herd the sheep flock.
  • Golden eagles can be captured and trained as hunting companions by any full member to the Tatla Lake community. Hunting with an eagle is a status symbol, and is an unofficial way for males to prove their worth as potential mates.

Style and Fashion

  • Basic clothing is usually made of rough spun wool dyed dull shades of green, red, or brown. Bright or bold colors are considered garish and those who wear them pompous, often marking them out as outsiders and marks for unscrupulous trading.
  • Ornamentation is limited to simple gold bands around the throat or wrist to show if one has a mate and golden eagle feathers woven into their hair.
  • Branding is very common, nearly every adult has at least one brand, though tattooing and scarification are rare.

Agriculture

  • The only large scale crop grown by the group is wheat, grown collectively and split equally amongst the group, depending on rank and contribution.
  • Each family have a small garden of vegetables and medicinal herbs for their use.

Residence

The village is made up of small wooden structures such as this.

Tatla Lake is made up of a small settlement placed between the wide-open meadows closer to the lake and the thick forest it gradually turns into. Livestock is allowed to roam across their territory in search of the best grazing, shadowed by their young shepherds, while large crops of wheat are grown in one of two fenced-in fields, switching from one to the other from year to year.

  • The settlement is small, a few dozen wooden cabins arrayed in a circle around the center clearing wear ceremonies, festivals, and religious services take place.
  • Each pair of mates and their children have their own home, though widowed grandparents sometimes move in with their eldest daughters.
  • Single males live in communal cabins that are more like barracks until they find a mate or gain enough status to be allowed to build their own home.

2.5  Practices & Traditions

Rights of Passage

Various ceremonies surround becoming an adult and being recognized as a full member of the group. These are following strictly and considered vitally important.

  • Membership: Full membership to the group, both for pups born into it and potential new members, can only be obtained when the eight key tenants, called the Dlí, of the Word have been memorized and been branded with the Cross of Eight, usually on the chest or shoulder.
  • Printíseach: Once a young member has learned the skills required of all youth (hunting, sheep shearing, writing, horse riding, and self-defense), they go through the Printíseach to formally choose their future trade before the group, whatever that may be.
  • Bonding: When two canines decide they would like to become mates and start a life together, they must bring a bonding potition to the Máthar, who will evaluate their lineage, status, and what skills each would bring to the new family. If they are not too closely related (siblings or half-siblings), have enough status to earn a home, and are skilled enough to support themselves, there bonding is permitted to go forward. The community will gather with the couple as the Saoiste cuts their palms with a sacred scythe, then binding them together with a length of white cloth. Their hands will stay bound until after the feast in their honor ends. From that point on, they are considered a new mate.

Gender and Sexuality

The group is very matriarchal, with the Saoiste always being female. Females also lead individual families and focused on continuing their line to bring honor to their name.

  • Males use the name Lochlan all their lives until taking their mate's name after bonding, and so aren't truly considered part of the family and leave the home shortly after attaining full membership to live in the male's quarters.
  • Female homosexuality is considered completely normal and widely accepted, but male homosexuality is considered odd, as females are supposed to be the most desired mates, but is reluctantly accepted.
  • Adultery is heavily reviled, as bonding is considered almost sacred, as much a promise to the gods as to a mate, though female pairs will sometimes take unbonded males as donors.

Family Structures

  • Family is mostly considered a bonded pair and their female children, who stay with their parents until they have enough status to have a home of their own, learning the family trades and skills from their mother.
  • Male children are viewed with distant affection but are mostly taught by their fathers, as they aren't important enough to warrant a lot of effort from their mothers.
  • The family name is considered vitally important, and the honor of a good name is heavily associated with the status those who carry them can earn.

Branding

Branding is very important to the group, and many rituals and rights of passage involve undergoing it. Part of its importance is the use of fire in the process, considered purifying. The pain is also important, those that can bare it without too much complaining are viewed with respect.

  • One family, the Kilduffs, are responsible for all scarification needed and the trade is passed down from mother to daughter.
  • The brands used are fairly simple, but they are able to build more complex images by using several small brands, often single lines.
  • Healing is carefully monitored by the Leighis, who uses careful attention to the process and salves used to hopefully prevent infection. Deeper, bolder designed are achieved by irritating the wound with ash.

Hedonistic Behavior

Hedonism is heavily discouraged at any time outside of festivals, as the focus should always be working hard to benefit the community.

  • Alcohol is carefully regulated and only leaves storage during feasts. None is produced by the group, it is considered unseemly, but is instead traded for as needed.
  • Gambling is strictly forbidden, and any who are discovered doing so are punished heavily, often with a sharp reduction in status.

2.6  Outsider Relations & Travel

Travel

The community trades extensively with various local communities, often traveling down into the former human states of Oregon and Idaho. Occasionally males who are unable to build status or find a mate within the group will travel with the trade caravans to new communities to try and build a new life, as they know they are always welcome to return.

Outsiders

A tightly knit group that always strives for harmony, outsiders are viewed as odd, perhaps even a bit naive for not recognizing the Faith as true. Though anyone is welcome to visit and trade within Tatla Lake they are expected to move on within a few days or weeks at most. Only those who conform in all ways to the culture and religion of the group after mating with a member are allowed to stay for long periods, usually joining the group.

3.  Structure

The community is governed by a council of eight, led by the greatest warrior in Tatla Lake, called the Saoiste (always female).

3.1  Leaders

  • The Council: The community is governed by a council of eight canines, each associated with a particular god. They work together to make any major decisions that will affect the entire group and try all crimes.
    • Saoiste: The head of the council, heavily associated with the Morrigan, is always the best female warrior of the group, usually the daughter of the previous leader who trains her in all of the duties and roles required. The current Saoiste is Alannah O'Byrne.
    • Athair: The oldest male member of the group, he is heavily associated with the Dagda. He is responsible for record-keeping, the making of books, and religious services. The current Athair is Arawn Devlin.
    • Tionlaic: The head shepherd of the group, they are heavily associated with Epona. They are responsible for the keeping and management of all livestock. The current Tionlaic is Cleena Gallagher.
    • Máthar: The eldest female member of the group, she is heavily associated with Danu. She is responsible for the education of all children, directs major ceremonies, and approves of potential bondings before they can go through. The current Máthar is Fidelma Hughes.
    • Leighis: The head healer, they are heavily associated with Brighid. They are responsible for all healing and serve as a midwife when needed. The current Leighis is Deirdre McGowan.
    • Ceardí: The head craftsman of the group, they are heavily associated with Lugh. They are responsible for building and repairing all structures and monitoring all trade. The current Ceardí is Donovan Kilduff.
    • Fiagaí: The head hunter of the group, they are heavily associated with Herne. They are responsible for regulating hunting, butchering and tanning all hides as needed, and approve all attempts to capture Golden Eagles. The current Fiagaí is Nora O'Leary.

3.2  Law & Justice

The laws of the group are fairly simple and clear cut, following clear right and wrong. Any breaks in the law, or indeed custom, is judged by the council, and suitable punishment, ranging from the surrender of goods to beatings, whippings, banishment, or even execution.

  • Minor Crimes are usually punished by the surrender of prized goods (eagles, rare hides, horses, etc).
 ** Gambling, shirking duties, disrespect for one's betters, etc, are considered minor crimes.
  • Major crimes are punished in increasingly severe ways, ranging from whippings to execution.
    • Theft, depending on the severity, can be punished by anything from banishment to death.
    • Adultery is almost always punished by banishment if it comes to the Council's attention but is usually carefully concealed.
    • Rape, or indeed sexual assault of any kind, is always punished by a severe whipping, then crude castration followed by banishment.
    • Murder of a member of the group is always punished by death but is incredibly rare. The killing of an outsider is viewed with indifference, as they do not have any worth to the community.

4.  Religion

All members of the community are required to be full and active participants of their religion, officially called Creideamh, but usually referred to as the Faith. Stories, folklore, and the worship of their eight gods, each associated with a festival, is passed down through careful study of their written text, called the Saothar or the Word. Each member of the tribe chooses which god to focus their worship on at each festival, generally the god associated with the aspect of their life they wish to work on during that time. They do this by making offerings to a carved representative of them as often as possible.

4.1  Creation Legends

Once, the world was empty, wandered only by a single canine of dual natures. The right half of their body is light, with the unchanging strength of the earth, the left half is dark, with the ever-changing surface of the sea. As they wandered the world, the right began to pull away from left, forming two creatures of opposite natures. Female and male, life and death, creation and destruction, Danu and Dagda. Always striving to fulfill their nature, as one became two, blood was spilled and the first Luperci sprang fully formed from it. From the first breath, they followed Danu and life across the word, Dagda behind them always out of sight, waiting to guide them into death, as it is for every creature.

4.2  Deities

  • Dagda: Represented by a completely white skeletal male, he is the god of darkness, death, and the moon, associated winter. Festival is Yule, a favored offering is ever greenery burnt with a portion of meat.
  • Danu: Represented by a deep brown hunched crown with white eyes, she is the goddess of creation, motherhood, and prophecy, associated with women. Festival is Imbolc, a favored offering is blood from which springs all life.
  • Epona: Represented by a slight feminine figure with long, flowing gold hair, she is the goddess of livestock and domestic animals, associated with horses. Festival is Ostara, a favored offering is a small cup of water poured over the earth.
  • Brighid: Represented by a female with a crown of flowers holding a babe, she is the goddess of the home, children, and healing, associated with the earth. Festival is Beltane, a favored offering is flowers, particularly those with medicinal properties.
  • Lugh: Represented by a heavily muscled male holding a hammer and chisel, he is the god skilled workers and craftsmen, often associated with the sun. Festival is Litha, a favored offering is an item made by the giver, burnt before figurine.
  • Herne: Represented by a green male with antlers, he is the god of the hunt, wilderness, and shifting, he is associated with the stag. Festival is Lammas, a favored offering is a scrap of fur burnt before figurine.
  • Aine: Represented by a pregnant female holding a scythe, she is the goddess of the harvest, and fertility, associated with fall. Festival is Mabon, a favored offering is bread shared from the giver's meal.
  • Morrigan: Represented by a female with an eagle on her shoulder and sword at her side, she is the goddess of war and power, ruler over all others, associated with golden eagles. Festival is Samhain, a favored offering is a golden eagle's feather.

4.3  Festivals

There are eight yearly festivals, each dedicated to a particular god and mark different time periods.

  • Yule (Dec 20-23): Celebrated at the height of winter, this festival is dedicated to Dagda and celebrate a season of plenty. Evergreenery (such as holly, ivy, mistletoe, yew, and pine) is often brought into the home. As the settlement feasts together, gifts are traditionally exchanged among family and friends.
  • Imbolc (Feb 2): Celebrating the beginning of spring, this festival is dedicated to Danu and celebrates the first stirrings of spring and new life. Wine is heavily consumed during this festival, for its resemblance to the blood had Danu spilled to raise life from the earth.
  • Ostara (Mar 19-22): Celebrating the birth of new livestock, this festival is dedicated to Epona. The first lamb of the year is traditionally slaughtered and shared among the group, providing all with youthful energy for the new year.
  • Beltane (May 1): Celebrating the planting of new crops and the beginning of summer, the festival is dedicated to Brighid. The last of the year's bread is shared among the group, and children are given special treats at this time.
  • Litha (June 19-22): Celebrating the height of summer, this festival is dedicated to Lugh. Craftsmen show off and trade their best wares at this time. Fresh wood is traditionally gathered for new construction at this time.
  • Lammas (Aug 1): Celebrating the beginning of rut, this festival is dedicated to Herne. Stags are hunted often in the days leading up to it, and their lucky antlers are piled high in the center of the village as all feast on the bounty.
  • Mabon (Sept 21-24): Celebrating the beginning of the harvest, this festival is dedicated to Aine. As she is also the goddess of fertility, this is considered a very romantic festival, and many children are born a few months after this festival.
  • Samhain (Nov 1): Celebrating the beginning of winter and a time of plenty, this festival is dedicated to the chief goddess Morrigan. Game hunted by Golden Eagles is highly prized and the birds often join the feasting.

4.4  Symbols

The Cross of Eigh, Masculine Moon, and Feminine Sun.

The most prominent symbol used is eight intersecting lines inside a circle, called the Cross of Eight. Every adult member of the group has it branded on them, and it is a common decoration and lucky symbol. Also used are a basic sun, associated with females, and a moon, associated with males. Other minor markers of luck and good fortune include antlers, golden eagle feathers, and horses with golden coats.

5.  Significant Families

5.1  O'Byrne

The most prestigious family within Tatla Lakes, most of the groups Saoiste have been members of this group, and have something of a secret tradition of "breeding" particularly skilled warriors into the lineage, regardless of any pre-existing bondings.

  • 10 living members, the current head is Alannah O'Byrne.

5.2  McGowan

Widely respected, the female members of this family traditionally become healers, many even becoming a member of the council as head healer or Leighis.

  • 8 living members, the current head is Rhiannon McGowan.

5.3  Kilduff

The group's branding experts, the family are also often skilled metal workers as well, creating both their own tools and those required by other trades. They are heavily secretive about their trade, and often only teach it to those related to them in some way.

  • 5 living members, the current head is Mary Kilduff.

6.  History

  • 1995: Beginning from a small pack of about 10 Irish Wolfhounds, including the now prestigious family of O'Byrne, claimed the territory of what is now known as Tatla Lake and founded the current settlement.
  • 2000: Shortly after the first dozen homes have been completed, the group is attacked by a small band of marauding wolves. Three homes are burnt to the ground before they manage to fight them off. This leads to the construction to a tall wooden palisade around the village and a guard tower next to the gate to keep watch. The promotion of fighting and self-defense as a required skill for all youths also becomes a requirement.
  • 2005: As the group has become more established, the have started to trade and even breed with the local woods, eventually acquiring the start of their current flock of sheep.
  • 2010: The first horses arrive in Tatla Lake at this time, and are used to carry carts farther and farther abroad to trade. Over time, palominos and various other "golden" coated horses become higher and higher prized.
  • 2015: The community begins to grow wheat as it grows larger and needs the extra food to feed the many young mouths now filling the settlement. This also adds the last of the current festivals celebrated by the group today.

7.  Notes & References

7.1  Quick Reference Index

Essentials

Isthmus of Tehuantepec
Define areas, practices, beliefs, etc. quickly down here. This helps you in roleplay if you only need a momentary reminder, and it helps others especially if you use a tonnage of foreign words in your area's culture or whatevers. ;_; Isthmus of Tehuatepec

Religion

Momoztli
("altar") The single deity revered by Eternian religious canines.

7.2  Notes

Status

  • Creator: Players — see Wiki page for contact information.
  • Status: CLOSED.
  • Status: REQUEST.
  • Status: OPEN.
    • (NOTE: This text applies to CLOSED areas. Replace it if you're doing Request or Open). I have approved characters from this area in the past; however, please ask first. You will need to adhere to the information within this document and show me you have a strong understanding of the area and its culture in order to be approved.
    • You can also check out PLAYER's Adoptions to see if I have any available Families characters.

Inconsistencies

  1. something you maybe fudged from reality knowingly?

References

  1. any references not included in the index here?

Name Meanings

  1. define a name here if you want, or replace and rename this section
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