The culture of Symphia (WIP - Tentative Title)

[Sansato]

If anyone peeked into that thread in C&C Quickies talking about facial hair, then you might already know that I'm working on creating a culture out of paste and old newspaper clippings. While I am nowhere close to having a presentable form, I find it easier to revise as I go whenever possible.

For the time being, my culture will be called Symphian. This is because I need to call it something, but I haven't yet worked out a conlang to go with this culture (although I am working on a proto-language at the moment). I'll try to limit the use of names, but any names I do use (people, places, or otherwise) will probably be subject to change later.

Feedback is very much appreciated. Lord knows I don't know jack about history, culture, or how to make a polished and well developed idea.

Face Hiding
Early on in the history of Symphia, prisoners were made to wear masks at all times. The masks were intended to aid in identification in the event of an escape or jailbreak, allowing gaurds to apprehend escapees more quickly. In response to a growing ideological movement, the royal council determined that prison masks should only be used if prisoners are deemed particularly violently.

Because masks have commonly been associated with captured criminals in the past, hiding one's face is considered to be an admission of guilt in Symphian culture.

Family Structure
The typical Symphian family structure involves members of the extended family living together. This includes aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, nieces and nephews. When a woman gets married, she moves in with her husband. Both the groom's family and the bride's family are considered to be united through the marriage, thus becoming one family in spirit.

When a child is born to a married couple, members of both the father's family and the mother's family are expected to help care for it. Older children often play games with younger children or tell stories to them. This helps them develop strong relationships as they grow older. The adults share their responsibilties, providing care and mentoring whenever necessary.

The Structure of Symphian Government
The Symphian Government is led by the royal family as a whole. The men who are of age form a royal council that votes on the issues presented before them. The royal council makes the final decisions on matters facing Symphia. There are also councils at the municipal level.

Citizens are allowed to cast ballots voicing their concerns. The councils will only vote on matters that appear to gather enough interest or outrage from the public. Although the royal council is not corrupt in and of itself, it is often accused of being out of touch with the needs of the citizens and corruption among councilmen at both the royal and municipal levels is not unheard of.

[Ketumak]

Face hiding
I don't see why this shouldn't work, but you need to have all the prerequisites in place. The technology needs to be available to make masks and keep (lock?) them in place. You'd also need to be able to make a secure jail and you'd need a stable and organised state to arrest, try and hold people, and to collect the taxes to pay for all that. Until those conditions were all met, I'd expect cheaper options like enslavement and excution to be more widespread than imprisonment.

Family structure
Sounds like a patrilinear and patrilocal system. These are attested on Earth. See:

http://www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/arts/ ... index.html

Particularly the pages on the Igbo system. Note that the relatives in the extended family home/neighbourhood would only be those on the father's side.

Government
The extend royal family sounds like Saudi Arabia to me, so, yes, why not? Again, I guess this is a patrilinear royal family. When you say citizens are allowed to cast a ballot voicing their concerns, how does that work? Do you mean they can raise a petition?

[WechtleinUns]

I didn't know that the Royal Family of Saudi Arabia operated in this way, Ketumak. That's interesting to now. Symphia seems, to me at least, kind of similar to venician cultures during the time of the renaissance. Well, the stereotypical italian culture, I suppose. I'm very likely completely wrong in this.

I do like the masks idea. Maybe you could have the masks be carved in representation of some evil diety? Or perhaps the masks are in the likeness of some famous criminal, a la Guy Fawks style. Just some thoughts, is all.

[Ketumak]

Yeah, the Saudi system is odd. There's about 15,000 members of the House of Saud and perhaps 2,000 in positions of power. The top half dozen ministries are reserved for royals and others have lesser government positions or roles in local government. Family wealth is shared.

There's never been a strict order of succession like in European monarchies. Each monarch used to name his successor, but a recent change means future Kings will be chosen by a committee of princes.

[KathTheDragon]

but a recent change means future Kings will be chosen by a committee of princes.

Why am I reminded of Pirates of the Caribbean?

[Ketumak]

There's been so many "Pirates ..." films now, I can't remember for sure, but yes, I think they did that, too.