Family and Culture
The whales of Athas have similar social structures to those of whales across the many worlds of the Prime Material Plane.
The basic social group is the Family, a matrilineal group headed by the eldest female. Around her are her sons and daughters and the offspring of her daughters. It is rare for a family to consist of more than 3 generations before splitting into separate maternal lines.
Each family’s matriarch is skilled in either the Way or in life shaping (but seldom both). The first born son of a Matriarch is almost always the Protector of the family, modified by the Sodality to be a warrior and defender of his mother and siblings.
Above the Family is the Pod, which consists of up to half a dozen Families, usually tracing their lineage back to a single great grandmother.
A dozen or so Pods will belong to a Sodality, which shares a more distant matrilineal descent, as well as a number of unrelated males and females.
The Sodality
The Sodalities are the keystone of Ghesh society. Where Families and Pods will by necessity roam large tracts of silt to hunt, a portion of the People are sedentary, based at one of the legendaryTidestones deep under the silt sea. Each Tidestone is led by a triumvirate – the most puissant warrior, most skilled life shaper and the most attuned psion of a Sodality assume the positions of Preceptor, and lead their branches of the People based at the Stone.
The Preceptors and their lieutenants comprise the best and brightest of all Ghesh, and teach combat, life shaping and psionics to the People of their Sodality. They are responsible for life shaping Family members for specific roles (such as the Protector warrior caste) and creating most of the grafts used by the Sodality.
The Sodality selects the Ghesh within its families that have the greatest talents and aptitudes and educate them in the higher arts. Some of those students will remain within the Sodality they were born to, while others will be assigned to distant Tidestones, to share their knowledge and family lines and thereby bind the disparate strands of the People together.
The most accomplished Ghesh-utuil of a Sodality will be appointed as a Master to the Court of the Withered King, based at the Prime Tidestone, the capital of the Parched Realm. There they take up roles suited to their talents.
The most renowned warriors become Royal Protectors, defending the King, Council and capital. The greatest life shapers apprentice to the Darkened Masters, working great life shaping rituals in the service of their race. The most accomplished Masters of the Way split into Conclaves based on psionic discipline, each dedicated to delving into the mysteries of the Will.
Although many Ghesh based at the capital will visit their home Sodalities every few years, it is rare for a member of the Baen-Usaer to leave the Prime Tidestone, and rarer still for the Withered King, the immortal Speaker of the Seas, to do so. When the Withered King does travel, it is never alone and always portends great events on the horizon, whether for good or ill.
Holidays & occasions
During each year, families and pods will celebrate the birth of new calves, mourn the passing of those who die, and mark the transition when a Matriarch is replaced by her daughter or granddaughter. The social changes these represent are honoured and shared during Renewal, allowing the members of each Sodality to share in the news.
Renewal
Every year, at High Sun, each Family returns to their Sodality’s Tidestone for a week-long festival, known as Renewal. News will be shared, old acquaintances renewed, and new relationships established. It is the time of year that most courting takes place and the next generation of calves conceived.
Proximity to the Tidestones boosts the fertility and health of the People, subtly reworking their genetic structure to optimise the chances of a successful coupling and pregnancy. This uplifting reinforces the effects of the Great Remaking and undoes any mutation wrought upon the People by the unforgiving Athasian environment in the preceding year.
It is at Renewal that the instructors of a Sodality choose, alter and educate the next generation of Ghesh. For example, the eldest son of a family that has come of age since the last Renewal, will be life shaped to fulfil his duties as Protector, and taught how to defend his Family. Aspiring psions or life shapers will begin their education, carrying on their lessons via long distance telepathy and song.
Every 11 years, when Ral and Guthay meet in the heavens and mark the end of the Endlean Cycle, festivals of Great Renewal take place. This is the most frequent occasion when Ghesh based at the capital will return to see their families, mourn those who have passed, and work the rituals that maintain the Tidestones. Great Renewals are also when visiting Masters choose the next iteration of Masters to join them in the capital.