Culture Focus: Jarbah

[Username17]

This is the third in the Cultural Focus series. It focuses on Jarbah, a desert plateau populated by water mages who specialize in apathy.

Jarbah: In the Absence of Need

Lay of the Land:
Nestled firmly in the rainshadow of Kinoc's Spine is the Jarbah Plateau, a stark mesa named after the tribe which makes its surface their home. The land is very flat, the nights are cold and the days are hot. If there were ever any plants growing on this mesa, they aren't there anymore. The bare hard ground is water repellent and even when the rains infrequently fall upon its surface the droplets run right off and create some brief-lived but spectacular waterfalls on the Southern end of the plateau (where the natural drainage points are).

With nothing to eat, the beasts give this lifeless spire a wide berth. Only humans make this land their home.

Major Cities:
There are no major cities on the Jarbah Plateau. The entire region nonetheless is estimated to hold some fifty thousand humans. What few structures there are are mostly roofless and are clearly designed more for privacy than any possible defense against the elements. A circular designated area has been cut about two meters down into an area roughly 150 meters across in the center of the plateau. This location is called alternately “The Stage” and “The Observatory” - in reference to its primary uses. By tradition, anyone who happens to be in or around this area can be approached and spoken to about absolutely anything by anyone without preamble.

Group activities of various sorts are common in this area, and when rains infrequently fall the pit fills up with water. Usually the majority of Jarbahn can be found in or around The Observatory when that happens, unless something else really interesting brings people away.

Economics:
The Jarbahn people have an extremely minimal economy, mostly thanks to the fact that most members of society have no demands. That's not few demands, or extreme poverty, they simply don't consume anything at all that can be economically mediated. From the time of their weening from breast milk, a Jarbahn is able to consume only water and survive in a healthy and content fashion. Further, their magical talents allow them to collect what water they need from dew deposits on the ground. With their special magical talents they are able to circumvent the dangers of heat, cold, and exposure. Most Jarbahn do not wear clothes or particularly use tools.

The Jarbahn have only one meaningful export and that is ideas. Many Jarbahn spend a lot of time thinking about new ways to do things – but it is undeniably difficult to get other Jarbahn to actually do anything about these new ideas. More than one Jarbahn has left the plateau in order to attempt to affect some new political idea or magical ritual which could not be performed at home due to the massive social inertia of Jarbah.

Law and Order:
There are no formal laws of the Jarbahn people. The traditions are simple: if someone is near the periphery of the plateau, leave them alone. If someone is near the center of the plateau, expect them to interact with you socially. Everything else is handled by the extremely fickle rule of mob. Absolutely anyone can make an argument for absolutely any course of action from The Stage, and if their argument convinces enough people to carry out that course of action the only possible appeal is a counter argument. Bribery and threats are considered a form of argument. In extreme cases capitol punishment has been applied for ugliness or even amusement. While these extreme results have occurred, most often any appeal for action of any kind is considered and ignored by the crowd.

Magical Traditions:
Using the principles of Water, the people of Jarbah do not eat. Every adult member of society has mastered the art of disavowing food. In fact, children continue to drink breast milk until they have done so (often until they are nine years old). The Rites of Forbearance are the only thread that is even vaguely uniting the Jarbahn. There exist rites to bypass virtually any need that an individual might have. With the Rites of Forbearance one can survive and avoid discomfiture from heat and cold, from privation, from fatigue, and even from thirst - although there must actually be water around for this last use to function, the amount of water can be very very small indeed.

With little demands upon their time, many Jarbahn simply spend night and day philosophizing and performing magical experiments. Many secrets have been uncovered by the Jarbahn. Rather, individuals from Jarbah have uncovered all kinds of secrets. However, Jarbah as a whole doesn't permanently or meaningfully change from just about anything.

The Rites of Forbearance are a part of the childhood of every member of the Jarbahn people, however it is rumored that there are additional Rites that build off of them that would overcome boredom, loneliness, and old age.

Government:
Leadership roles among the Jarbahn are as simple to achieve as simply convincing someone else to do what you want. There are no qualifications on that. Any combination of bribes, threats, trickery, or reasoning are “allowed” and in times pursued. However, while anyone can potentially gain the compliance of one or more Jarbahn, there are no traditions of loyalty or patriotism to exploit for the would-be master. The Jarbahn have never had a king or mayor in written history. At any given time, small groups of various philosophical adherents or mutual-benefit organizations or even thievery rings operate all over the region. These organizations largely ignore each other, as do unaffiliated Jarbahn. Eventually, even large organizations of Jarbahn usually break down from apathy.

-Username17

[Neeek]

How does one make a bribe without an economy?

[rapanui]

There are "assets" that aren't necessarily material. There sexual bribes for instance. I guess you could call that seduction though.

[Username17]

Indeed, but it also extends beyond that. Any object in the society is essentially a unique resource. There are no forges, so there can't be any new hammers. But there are some hammers in the society because they've been acquired through international trade or theft.

So if someone has a shirt, it's because it came from another society - but it can still be used as a form of leverage over other people. "If you help me with my astromony project, I'll let you have this cool hat." That sort of thing.

To a very real degree, their neighbors regard these people as extremely pliable. You can give them stuff that your culture produces at some continuous rate and it will be treated like the art market every time. That means that there is essentially a limited and high-price market for pretty much anything your society produces. Weird but true.

Of course, it's very hard to actually get anything out of the Jarbahn, even if your set of tongs is mysteriously valued as a unique art object by them, few of the Larbahn have anything you want.

-Username17

[User3]

These are awesome, just the right balance of magic, reality, and absurdity.

Consider them stolen

[Judging__Eagle]

Yeah. This material is great.

In fact, this is just the seed I need for a problem that I have in my own campaign world; all of the powerful necromancers all live in the north pole (it's all solid land up there though) and use their armies of freezing cold undead to subjugate the Goblin Empire, human steppes-riders and Giant kingdoms that occupy most of the territory south of the arctic circle (note: although the PCs travel in this northern hemisphere, it's considered the boonies by most people; while the Goblinoids wage war with orcs to their south, humans and giants on their sides and undead on their north, so goblinoids aren't the enemy as seen in most worlds).

In anycase, cold = necromancy; and that's why the necromacers and their raiding undead armies stay there; until it's winter time. Then they travel south to acquire booty, new bodies and perhaps kill each other so that the ones that win are tougher when they return in the late winter before spring shows up.

[Username17]

Yeah, I should really do some more of this...

-Username17

[technomancer]

I've got an idea about a society that consists of a necromantic intelligence, I think I'll have to use this as a template to fill in the detail.