Sreksian

Amongst sreksians, little differentiation exists between female and male roles within the tribe. Sreksian women tend to stay closer to the tribal nest and work to defend it while the males more often are found hunting, fishing, and cultivating the few crops which sreksians can digest. While this trend holds for each the Boli, Pawlas, Qitsal, and the Xolpah, Tsali women traditionally do more of the hunting and thus the men stay home and guard the unborn young.

This is not to say that most Sreksian women are more docile or less trained in combat. Because Sreksian tribes are mostly sedentary, staying in one place with their eggs for most of the year and only migrating during the spring if necessary, the security of the tribal village is of utmost importance. As such, the women who stay with close to the nest are usually the most skilled warriors, while the men tend to be the more able hunters.

This division of responsibility creates an egalitarian outlook as the women serve as protector of the people while the men feed the tribe. Both sexes are seen as having vital importance to the tribe and if one's skill set or natural ability lends itself to a role which goes against this generality, the tribe usual welcomes such difference. Sreksian tribes are usually small enough that it is more important that everyone contribute than that customary roles be strictly enforced.

Tribal Sreksians practice a form of communal polyamory. Romances are allowed to play out over their natural course and most Sreksians usually have more than one sexual partner at a time. On occasion, two sreksians may form a monogamous relationship and their tribe will respect this choice for as long as the pair chose to continue their relationship but advances and inquiries are still expected from others, they are just casually turned down. For the most part, however, lesions are fluid and seen as more of a indulgence of desire and attraction than a fulfillment of "Romantic Love". Homosexual encounters between sreksains are common and seen as totally natural within traditional sreksian culture, with long-term homosexual coupling being about as common as heterosexual pairings. All such notions are very upsetting to Enlightened who encounter such sreksian relationships, which are invoked by the Enlightened as proof of sreksian barbarism and sinfulness.

Because sreksian women may have numerous male partners while in estrus, when the women do lay their eggs, they do so in a communal nest which is usually located in the center of the village in a large hut or structure where the temperature is carefully controlled and monitored by the villages defenders. This nest-hut is the most important building in the village and is completely off limits to any visitors. The contents of the nest-hut is usually not even discussed around outsiders, as it is taboo to acknowledge the eggs as young before they hatch.

Once the eggs do hatch, child rearing is seen as a communal responsibility. Parentage the young is not seen as important: the children are the children of the tribe and all protected and loved by all. Occasionally, men do show jealousy and are aggressive toward children who do not resemble themselves but such behavior is not tolerated by the larger and more physically dominant women. Any violence towards sreksian children is seen as the highest of sins and taboos and anyone committing any such acts is exiled from the tribe or even put to death.