Aggosian

The Castes:

  Aggosian society is very hierarchical. All citizens belong to one of six castes (and visiting foreigners categorized as a seventh). The castes are hereditary, although after the Denna Tayiri Uprising (a rebellion of slaves and workers), the Scroll of Uthanitara institutionalized the ability to change castes through the Ritual of Rebirth. Procreation between castes is forbidden, and any offspring born of such miscegenation are classified as Kenna, or foreigners, essentially denying them legal status in the empire. Such children can live as outcasts, go into exile, or become Vaska (slaves), thereby becoming part of society and theoretically eligible to change to another caste through the Ritual of Rebirth.
  Foreigners must pay for a beige veil and ID microchip at their port of entry in order to be allowed access to the empire.
  The Castes are named after the color of their associated veil and are ranked as follows (from highest to lowest):
  Kuzri (gray): Priests, arbitrators, advisers, lore-keepers
  Zemna (red): Warriors and Rulers (legislative and executive decisions are made here, however these can be overturned by the Kuzri)
  Jilad (green): Scientists/Physicians/nurses
  Himnar (yellow): Merchants/Traders
  Noftha (blue): Workers
  Vaska (brown): Slaves
  Kenna (beige): Foreigners
 

Socializing:

  Over the millennia, the prohibition against miscegenation between castes has led to a degree of genetic differences between members of different castes.
  The face is considered the most intimate part of the body in Aggosian culture, and the veil is only removed around close friends and relatives. Although the eyes are left visible by many veils, it is considered poor manners to look someone in the face (this is only done in intimate situations). All Aggosians are microchipped, allowing guards to easily verify identities with a scanner. As such, the face is not a defining feature in recognizing others. Aggosians are extremely attuned to fine details of the body and can generally recognize friends and acquaintances by subtle distinguishing features in their physiques. Tattoos are uncommon among non-Vaska and are seen as crude and uncultured by most castes and as being servile by the Noftha. Vaska always have their chest tattooed with their owner's name and an identification number, so that others do not need to remember their physical details to identify them, a level of attention inappropriate for slaves. Most Vaska have these tattoos removed if they manage to move up to another caste.
  When addressing one another, Aggosians have a very hierarchical system of pronouns. The pronouns used in conversation depend on the relative ranks of those involved (for first and second person/or of those being discussed for third person). Using the wrong pronoun can be quite offensive.
  Friendships, romances, and other associations between castes are not uncommon, however a certain degree of distance should still be maintained in such relationships, and those involved are expected to share the implicit understanding that the relationship is more superficial and potentially more ephemeral than one between members of the same caste (as such, sexual dalliances between castes are acceptable and frequent, marriage or procreation is not). Relationships between castes are often encouraged by the Kuzri, who regularly organize festivals and other events designed to foster casual interaction between castes. The aim of these associations, however, is to build understanding and communication between the castes, not to break them down. Failure to maintain the appropriate distance between castes can have severe repercussions, such as demotion to Vaska or even exile. These demotions can sometimes be extended to the perpetrators' families as well, making them even more dangerous. Aggosian literature is full of cautionary tales of intercaste fraternization taken too far and the calamitous consequences for all involved.
  Generally speaking, there is gender equality in Aggos. Women are eligible for any position they are capable of doing. This does not equate to a 50/50 division of labor, however. Women are less commonly found in fields requiring physical strength (for example, Zemna women are more likely to be administrators than warriors, although there are plenty who do choose a martial vocation). The emperors can be either men or women. There have been female emperors such as the famous Empress Jeurneth who ushered in the First Era Argent, or the Rahaza Empress who led her army to crush the Erthai Rebellion.
  Homosexual relationships are considered unremarkable.
 

Religion:

  The official religion of Aggos is called Enaika (old Aggosian for “religion”) and its adherents are called enaikaku (singular) or enaikakuri (plural). It is centered around the worship of Kaur, the Mother. According the Kuzri, Kaur gave birth to the cosmos when her twin children Ora, the Bright, and Kes, the Dark, tried to slay her. Reality poured forth from her wounded body drowning her wicked offspring and pulling their spirits down into two separate realms. Ora's bright spirit created the Fulgent while Kes's dark spirit created the Void. They begged their mother to forgive them, for they were two parts of the same whole and it was torment to be apart. Eventually, their entreaties moved Kaur and she allowed a little of the Fulgent to trickle into the Dark creating the stars, points at which the two penitents could meet.
  The kuzri teach that reality is profane, corrupted by Kes and Ora's sinful essence. Those who wish to transcend the foul nature of their reality must slough off their tainted essence until nothing is left except their pure soul, at which point Kaur will allow them entry into Heaven. Transcending one's corrupted reality is grueling, but each time a virtuous Enaikaku dies, he or she may be reborn in a higher, purer caste. Conversely, those who are not virtuous are pulled down to a lower caste by the taint of their misdeeds.
  Enaikakuri attempt to purify themselves through the three-fold path. They cleanse the body through daily bathing. They cleanse the mind through daily meditation. And they cleanse the soul through virtuous behavior.
  Virtuous behavior, as defined by the Kuzri, involves protecting the nation (which safeguards the faithful), protecting order (everything has a place in Aggosian society, especially the castes), helping each other (unless help would create disorder, in which case it is viewed as unhelpful in the larger picture as it would profane those involved, ultimately pulling them farther from transcendence), and spreading the faith so that more beings can ascend (this has lead to the expansionist policies since the return of interstellar travel).
  While Enaikakuri revere Kaur as the supreme being, offerings to na'er are permitted so long as they do not distract from their reverence for Kaur. Na'er are seen as an aid for mundane issues. Kaur has no interest in mortal affairs, she merely administers the paradise that all Enaikakuri seek to enter.
 

Organizations:

  Ghost: The Aggosian foreign intelligence service.
  Uzeiru: The Aggosian domestic intelligence service. Named after a fabled Aggosian beast that would never stop hunting its prey once it had caught the scent.
  The Insurgent: The insurgent is a newly created order tasked with fighting a guerrilla war inside the Rekati Hegemony using a combination of terrorism, sabotage, and raids. Unlike the conventional Aggosian military, which can no longer enter Hegemony space under the terms of the Sehuri Accords, Insurgent forces operate almost entirely in Hegemony territory. Insurgents are also unusual in that they are recruited not from Aggosians citizens but consist, instead, of foreigners.
  To convince foreigners to sign up for such a dangerous enterprise, Insurgents are promised citizenship as part of the Noftha caste with guaranteed employment upon completion of two years of Insurgent warfare. Insurgent squads report to a Zemna handler from the Starforce. The handler assigns them missions and receives their reports. If the handler feels any member of the squad is not performing adequately, they can be dismissed (or summarily executed if dismissal would be a security risk), thereby losing out on the chance of citizenship.
  Members of the Kuzri travel to slums and areas of deprivation and hopelessness recruiting for the Insurgent (given the extremely high mortality rate of Insurgents, it is generally only the desperate who join). Those who accept the call are initiated in a ceremony led by their recruiter. They are then given new Aggosian names and sent to an Insurgent training camp where they learn guerrilla tactics. The lessons are conducted entirely in Aggosian and recruits are forbidden to speak any other language, except for Kartisi during appropriate training sections. The training is intense and many recruits drop out due to stress or injury (and some die).
  The Army: The Aggosian Imperial Armed Forces (usually shortened to the Army) is divided into the Groundforce and Starforce.
 

Recreation:

  Force Tag:
  The most popular spectator sport in the empire is Force Tag. This game is played by two five-person teams in a spherical court with various floating cubes in its interior. The objective of the game is to retrieve a palm sized sphere from the center-most cube of the arena. To get the sphere out of the cube, a player must twist the engraved plates affixed to each side one by one until all six have been inverted. At this point, the cube will open revealing the sphere. The player that retrieves it must then maintain possession of the sphere for three minutes. It cannot be passed. If the player loses possession, the timer resets and will start from zero as soon as it is picked up again.
  These tasks are complicated by the opposing teams' players who will attack using waves of force (powered by Xa'an) to knock other players back and potentially stun them. The walls of the sphere are charged with a gravity field allowing normal movement across their surface (the gravity always pulls towards the wall, however, meaning that it has no common “down” point; players can run on the sides and ceiling). The gravity field only affects beings touching the wall, so once the players leap from it, they are weightless and must rely on the floating polyhedrons to redirect themselves or fire off waves of force to propel themselves through the weightless zone.
  The cubes themselves measure two meters on each vertex and are gravitically charged like the walls. As such, players can anchor themselves to the sides of the cubes. The cubes are still weightless, however, so they may be moved about the arena. Their gravity field will cause them to repel from the walls of the arena, so in the event that they are knocked into a wall, they will bounce off, rather than getting sucked into its gravity. The cube with the sphere is an exception in that it does not have its own gravity and measures only half a meter at each vertex. Spectators watch the sport on monitors fed by various remotely operated cameras that fly around inside the arena. The camera foreman, who coordinates the filming, plays a critical role in the audience's enjoyment of the sport, as it is necessary to evaluate the events of the match as they unfold and predict what will happen next if the cameras are to accurately film the most exciting maneuvers and stratagems. The best foremen are those that coordinate the filming so that the match becomes as intense and suspenseful as possible. Impacts from the force waves can, and not infrequently do, injure players. There is a softer version of the sport played by children and many hobbyist adults. In this version, instead of waves of force, the players tag each other with a laser. When the sensors on their torsos register a laser, the tagged player must return to the wall and stay there for 30 seconds before rejoining the match.
  Harmony (Aggosian Dodgeball):
  This game is only played on special holidays as determined by the Kuzri. It is a ball game played with two teams and ten balls. Five balls are black and symbolize duty and obligation. The other five are white and symbolize freedom. At the start, one white ball is placed in the middle of a round court, and the teams must race from the edge to the center to try to claim the white ball. The team that gets the white ball divides it and the other four white balls among themselves. The other team divides the five black balls among themselves. From their respective sides, they throw the balls at each other. The team with the white balls gains a point whenever they successfully hit a member of the other team with one of the white balls. The black team gets three points if it successfully hits a white ball with a black ball while the white ball is in the air. If they hit a member of the white team with the ball, they lose a point. When the black team succeeds at hitting a white ball mid-air with their ball, the game resets and teams must again try to grab the white ball from the middle. Whichever team has the most points at the end of an hour wins. Satori traders visiting Aggos during festivals in which Harmony was played have brought it back to their homeland where it is becoming a popular sport (although it carries no religious meaning for them and is played at any time).
 

Fashion:

  Due to the need to wear a veil in public, the Aggosians have developed a lightweight fabric that breathes easily and only minimally muffles the wearer's voice. Loa Silk, as this fabric is called, is created by a genetically modified creature called the Loa Worm. Loa Worms are roughly 30 centimeters long and are fed various leaves. The worms have been engineered to constantly produce silk from an organ in their bodies which is then directly harvested by the silk farmers, rather than being spun into a cocoon for the worm.
  In warm weather, Aggosians of both genders typically go topless and wear a knee-length wrap skirt of the same color as their veil. Light sandals or slippers are the norm, but those involved in heavier labor wear sturdy footwear while on the job. Decorative bracelets and anklets are commonly worn by both genders. As no one looks at each other's faces, the cosmetic industry is based primarily around improving the appearance of the hair, limbs, and torso, and various procedures—surgical, herbal, and mystical—exist to increase physical attractiveness.
  In cold weather, Aggosian seilu cover up with backless shirts, loose fitting trousers, and shoes or boots. They keep their wings furled and wear cloaks if the cold is particularly strong. Non seilu wear shirts with backs.
  Soldiers in all climates wear armor when on duty.
 

Interactional Norms:

  Compliments:
  Indirect compliments are the most common way to show appreciation in Aggosian culture. These take the form of a tacit acknowledgment of the person's prowess. Such an acknowledgment could take the form of a gift, invitation, or offer. For example, a supervisor might offer a worker a bonus for resolving a difficult situation in an exemplary way (the supervisor would not include any praise with the offer, saying something along the lines of “I've read your report on the situation; please accept this bonus of 10,000 Taels). A friend might offer to help another friend get his child into a special school for the gifted, rather than explicitly complimenting the child's academic acumen. A shopper, pleased with the quality of the service might invite the sales associate to dinner. Decorum dictates that such indirect compliments must be declined. Their purpose is to show appreciation, and the recipient should respond by politely thanking his or her interlocutor for the offer, but stating that it is unnecessary.
  Compliments are rarely given directly, and when they are, it is seen as a deep show of respect. Direct compliments are generally given in private or even intimate situations, rather than in casual conversations. A co-worker might pull another worker aside to compliment her on having the courage to stand up to the management and saving their jobs, but it would never be said in open conversation (although an indirect compliment might: “hey, now that the danger of layoffs has passed, we'd like to take you out for dinner”). It would be rude to give a direct compliment in company.
  As direct compliments are not given lightly, there are two acceptable responses: the recipient may accept the compliment graciously (the common choice when the recipient does not entirely agree) or the recipient may upgrade the compliment (the common choice when the recipient agrees). Downgrading the compliment is extremely rude, as it is seen as an attack on the sincerity of the person paying the compliment. Repaying the compliment is unusual, although possible if the recipient genuinely has a compliment ready to give and has already accepted or upgraded the compliment received.
  Pointing: When Aggosians want to indicate something with their hand, they point with the open hand palm upwards. This can be done with either hand.
  Passing Objects to Another: There is no etiquette for handing someone of the same or a lower cast something (other than that it should be done with at least one hand). When handing something to someone of a higher caste, two hands should be used to show deference.
  Gifts: Flowers, in sharp contrast to the Irresisphere, are not given as gifts.
  Apologizing: