1. Clans for preserving Sylvan Culture and Identity
2. Why do Sylvans all have long hair?
3. How long do Sylvans live?
4. How is Sylvan society structured?
5. What happens at clan meetings?
6. How does a sylvan child come of age?
6.1 How does a sylvan child become a leader?
7. Clan Membership and Activities
7.1 Can non-Sylvans join Sylvan clans?
7.2 Can non-Sylvans participate in Sylvan activities?
8. Sylvan Clothing
8.1 Why do Sylvans wear so much clothing?
8.2 What's with the hats?What hats? Where did our hats go?
9. Sylvan Language
9.1 What language do Sylvans speak?
9.2 What language resources are available?
9.3 What common phrases might I hear?
10. Sylvan Customs and Rituals
10.0 Engagement
10.1 Marriage
10.2 The Passing - foreknown and final death
11. Sylvan Continent Geography - Outline of Clan Classifications
11.1 Eastern Continent - dryadic fey
11.2 Northern Continent - high sylvans
12. Female MattersFuture topics I need help with...
Importance of hunt to culture?
What is a sylvan funeral like for those whose death is unexpected?
What do sylvans do with their dead?
Importance of tree, sky, moon, and water symbols in sylvan culture.
Sylvan strengths and weaknesses, physical, social, spiritual attributes
The moon holds a special place in the life of a sylvan, it's silvery haunting light luring many Sylvans into the forest at night. Why???Please send me mail if you wish to contribute. PLEASE do!!!
Last updated 7/22/99
1. Clans for preserving Sylvan Culture and Identity:
E'Las Loth'mon Ferendril ....Tav'reil Ferendril!!! Meets Sundays 2PM Pacific Time around the campfire in the East Forest
2. Why do Sylvans all have long hair?
For Sylvan males and females, hair is very important. It is a symbol of pride, identity, and age. Sylvans only cut their hair in moments of great upheaval in their lives. Sylvans often wear a hairpiece pulling the bangs back on one side or in the back which signifies their clan affiliation. Recently males got a bit of a haircut. Most of us are still unhappy about this!
3. How long do Sylvans live? What are the stages in their lives?
Lifespan is not fixed. Most die in battle, or, when all of life has forever lost its joy, they wander off into the woods to be with the trees. Sylvans mature quickly, reaching adulthood by age 14. They may marry anytime afterwards, but usually they do not marry until later years. On some Sylvans, hair begins to turn white after five centuries or so, but for others this does not take place.
4. How is Sylvan society structured?
Sylvans dwell with several family units together in a grove. One or more groves compose a clan. Clan leadership is not heirarchical - every adult has equal standing. Officers in the clan are in a position of service more than honor. Clan leaders do not seek authority. They seek consensus. Age is valued as with age comes wisdom.
5. What happens at clan meetings?
Those interested in attending a "gathering" discuss clan goals and experiences. A number of very important rituals may also take place. Music and poetry are very important to Sylvans, and they denote a great deal of time to preserving their traditions through these forms. All members of a clan love to participate in the gatherings.
6. How does a sylvan child come of age?
By joining in "the gathering" whenever they make initiative on their own.
6.1 How does a young sylvan become a leader?
On special occasions, and always under midnight of a full moon, special gatherings are held with only elder and leader clanspeople presesnt. Sylvans who find it in their spirit to find and join one of these special gatherings become clan leaders. Some say it is an owl, a Sylvan harbinger of wisdom and service, that brings this calling at least once to every young Sylvan, but only those with a heart full of wisdom, courage, and a desire to serve will follow. The sound of the owl's call in the night haunts the mind and the dreams of many Sylvans.
7. Clan Membership and Activities
7.1 Can non-Sylvans join Sylvan clans?Sylvan clans are living groups, not clubs. To be a part of any living group you must totally embrace the culture and values of that group. Sylvans are not exclusive. Study our ways carefully if you are not Sylvan yet feel you wish to give up your entire cultural identity and embrace ours.
7.2 Can non-Sylvans participate in Sylvan activities?
At all times, "outlanders" are always welcome, unless the clan is discussing matters of competition or strategy against other organized groups. Interestingly, other rival clans in the realm seem to object to outlanders participating with Sylvan clans in Dun'ilsar activities, though the Sylvans usually don't mind the extra help from their non-Sylvan friends! During a gathering, feel free to come and watch, but please be sensitive to our culture when present! And please be willing to step away should we need to discuss private matters. But as to an example of openness, at a recent ELF Dun'ilsar practice, SDC challenger officer Afrit (of The People) was invited to join the practice as well! Just goes to show you how Sylvan clans often welcome others into activities.
8.1 Why do Sylvans wear so much clothing?Sylvans are not only modest but practical. They are used to cool climes and off-trail bushwhacking or above-ground travel through the trees. The skirt is tough, quick-drying, resiliant, yet cool in action, and it often takes the place of a giant towel as well. Do you know where your towel is? It's always good to have one handy, and Sylvan women have mastered how to keep one around conveniently without carrying it.
The equal amount of modesty between males and females indicates the degree to which males and females share equal standing. There are exceptions, particularly among the dryadic fey (link and info needed - ask Dierdre), where females vastly outnumber and dominate the males.
While Sylvans do not like to be viewed as objects of desire, Sylvans are not ashamed of their nude forms either, as is often displayed at certain rituals, often wedding dances. Sylvan women may also take off their "towel" readily if it is needed for some immediate task, or may wring it out in a river to clean it and shake it dry.
A Sylvan's cap protects the roots of the hair from exposure, which is very important for healthy Sylvan hair. At the moment our roots are being damaged. A great wind must have blown all our hats away. We miss our hats.
9.1 What Language do Sylvans Speak?Ilsarindish. Some ancienct documents and ceremonies are written in High Sylvan as well. Ilsarindish is colloquial and fun, and is in common use. High Sylvan is complex, large, and well documented.
9.2 What language resources are availabe?
The definitive guilde to Ilsarindish is maintained by Okasa
High Sylvan is linked to by Toad. (From an ancient wise man named Tolkien, who must have himself been Sylvan)
9.3 Common phrases you may hear
H'loi - Hello
Tanki - Thank You
Ev'lei - Good evening
Lei'tar - Goodbye
Min <MaleName>'sar - Good <Name>... (honorific)
Min <FemaleName>'shin - Good <Name>....
Tav'reil Ferendril! - Long live the Elas Loth'mon Ferendril!
10.0 EngagementThere are different traditions for engagement. In many sylvan clans, the man presents the woman with a necklace, often woven of fine hyssop or hemp fibers and embedded with jewels and stones from the forest. This necklace symbolizes a never-ending ring of life on which rests the radiant face of the bride-to-be.
After accepting the necklace, to formalize the engagement, the bride to be likewise crafts a matching bracelet, to be worn by the man. It becomes her quest to acquire for her future husband's bracelet the same type jewels and stones as are in the necklace, as a demonstration of her devotion to her husband to be. When this task is complete, the engagement is formal.
There are two varieties of marriage in Sylvan culture - an eternal marriage, and a community marriage.
An eternal marriage is irrevokable. It permanently links the souls and spirits of those married. Health and strength are shared. Thoughts are not shared, but there is some conveyance of sensations, both of pleasure and pain. When one dies, the other soon dies as well, as without the other there is no feeling, no reason to live. Spirits and souls are tied together. A true eternal marriage can only happen between Sylvans, as it involves the linking of two being's souls - it just doesn't work between species, though those who have attempted it report that there is some benefit to the attempted union. Reports of such marriages are rare. An eternal marriage must be officiated by a Sylvan Mystic Sage. I do not yet have a description of the ceremony or ritual, but I do know that the inner ceremony, where the permanent spirit linking occurs, is very secret and very private, and involves some sort of painful surgery.
A community marriage is more common - Two agree to share life together and be faithful and loyal one to another over all others. Terms of community marriage are revokable at 10 year intervals. The marriage of Sleipnir and Babajaga follows the ceremony closely, done in High Sylvan. It was a beautiful ceremony from all accounts. I would like to know how to order the beer in advance for the party afterward...
The wedding followed the following stages, which from all accounts seems to be traditional....
The Gathering (in the meadow for Sleipnir and Babajaga) - this is often a Sylvan Clan GatheringA Groom Hunt - mostly by females present
The Ceremony - pledges to one another - officiated by a healer - with much singing...
Females on the bride's side, Males on the grooms side, gathered in a circle around the couple
Ceremony is at midnight under the light of the full moon in a verdent forest or gladeThe Party - in the park afterwards - with numerous kegs provided for the merriment of all
10.2 The Passing - a foreknown and final death
I know of only one account of what is known as "the passing" - in this case it is the death of a husband whose wife passed from disease... They were eternally married. But their story is offline right now.
Here is the ceremony:Close friends and family gather at the place where the death will actually occurThe site is prepared with flowers and boughs in advance
Clanspeople and friends line up in two parallel lines, forming a path to the place of passing
The Sylvan to pass slowly walks between the lines,
with the clanspeople "folding in" and raising arms behind.
A chant song may be prepared in advance to honor the soon to pass.Close friends and family say final words of parting.
The soon to pass lays down on the boughs and breathes one last time.
Clanspeople depart in silence, often to meet in a place where rememberance occurs
This rememberance usally turns into a celebration,
remembering the life of the passed.
11. Sylvan Geography - Outline of Clan Classifications
I need more information here. Please correct any errors!11.1 Eastern Continent - The Pine Forests of the SouthEast
These Sylvans are heavily influenced by the dryadic fey. 95% of all Sylvans are female, and they are dominant. I need more information on the dryadic fey. It seems this area borders the Thooms along the southeastern coast.11.2 Southern Continent - The Great Mountains of the Sword of the World String...
High Sylvans very removed from other species inhabit these parts. The language is a bit different. Most have never seen humans, but interaction with Dwarves is common. They heavily resist outside influence. Many ancient trees grow in these parts, and the people live up in these trees. The further South you go, the more remote and isolated the sylvans are, with the sylvans inhabiting the more equatorial highlands more in frequent contact with the dwarves, humans, and even the Ghorak Zo. .
Sylvan females ovulate just prior to the full moon and are most fertile when the moon is full. The time of gestation is 8 months.