Telion (TELL-ee-on)
Telion is the diarchy in the Southeastern part of Vilatia. It holds an important place within and beyond the south of Trasa: it forms the southern bounds of the Lyrian Sea, with partial control over the Crindon Strait, and is the link between the western continent and Tauranga, with access to the Center Sea beyond. The center of the peninsula is filled with the Painted Hills. A dense region of hills, swamp, and forest, it is thinly populated and largely uncontrolled; generally as long as its inhabitants don't make trouble, the Telioni are happy to toll them on the roads out and extract what they can in the medicinals and rare woods they trade for supplies. The outer rim of Telion is rich farmlands giving way to the coasts. A patchwork of Corae, small states ranging from cities to petty kingdoms, have alternately been independent rivals and useful subdivisions of some larger state.
With rivals to its east, west, and north and plenty of internal friction it is often embroiled in conflict, from raids and piracy to full-on invasion and empire-building. However, the hills and swamps at its center have always been hostile to foreigners and Telion has never been fully pacified, helped by its unusual diarchy. In its most dire straits, one king appeases the invader while the other melts into the labyrinthine interior, keeping the nation alive with the secret support of nominally subuded people of the plains and coasts.
The capitol of Telion is Meera, in the Northwest of the Painted Hills. It has close access to both the Lyrian and Center Seas and the western isthmus to the mainland, and oversees a wide expanse of coastal plains. The Sulcon Palace, Circle of the Gods, and Assembly Hall are all in the city, along with significant trading interests. Above the city is Camarone's Reach, a fortress built on one of the few stony outcrops breaking out of the hills. Built by the semi-legendary warlord, it has supposedly never been taken, a claim which is not hard to believe. Two sides hang over sheer rock, and a third backs to thick fens that allow for access even when besieged by fellow Telioni.
Government
Three institutions make up the government of Telion: the dual kingship, religious Symphothessa, and a Concilium. This carefully balanced structure was developed after generations alternating between dictatorships and anarchic squabbles between fragmented Corae. Two brothers, Dunis and Valen Sulcon, took advantage of popular unrest and a theocracy weakened by rebellion to sweep from the remote Northeast over all of Telion. Once they held the peninsula, they firmly established themselves by making good on their rhetoric to establish a government that could promote peace and stability and that did not place all powers in the hands of one man. While changes have been made to their structure and Sulconi government has been only loosely constant, the Telioni revere the brothers nearly as highly as the Hexarchs themselves.Dual Kingship
The Sulcon brothers established themselves as coequal kings over Telion. There was no division of territory or responsibility; each was fully sovereign, though as a check against power either could veto the other's actions or laws. Otherwise they have full military and executive authority, submit laws to the Concilium for approval, and have the right to try cases for serious secular crimes. Outside of significant political or religious events, only one king is in Meera at any time, actively leading the country. The other tours the countryside or retires to their family estates, typically switching roles every six months. The kingship was originally hereditary, being passed to the sons of Dunis and Valen. After the Year of the Child Kings, the Assembly forced reforms on the kings, particularly making the kingship elective. Upon the death of a king, the Assembly elects a new king. The other king and Symfothessa may nominate candidates; the Assembly may select others, and often does, but to not even consider those nominations is considered a significant rebuke.Symphothessa
The Sympothessa is the religious authority of Telion. Telioni state religion is a semi-independent branch of the Six-Fold Temple precariously layered over older local practices. The Temple was introduced and re-introduced to Telion in successive conflicts with the North, but their geographic and political distance resulted in significant drift and independence from the Archonate. Within the state, they are responsible for overseeing the most important rituals, local priests, and calendars and histories, as well as presiding over trials for religious crimes. They are advisors to both the Concilium and kings, providing auguries and more mundane counsel. Beyond this, their power is largely soft, resting on their credibility as intercessors for the people and their leaders. They hold the right to select their own members, typically from lower priests or elite families.The Concilium
The Concilium is the third leg of the Telioni government. Its most important role is the election of a new king when one dies. It has a limited legislative role; it debates and approves or rejects the laws submitted by the kings and may pass its own non-binding decrees, though these are often accepted by the kings anyway. They also try any criminal cases the kings decline to pursue. Royal officials, especially for prestigious posts, are often chosen from the ranks of the Concilium. In the case of misconduct by any part of the government, only a Councilor can make such a denouncement and the case is tried there. Its members are appointed by the kings, the Symphothessa, and the local assemblies of each Cora. Each appoints one-third of the Concilium, with the kings splitting their "bloc," for a total of 108 members. Councilors are appointed for life; while their official duties cannot be delegated, those who were old, infirm, or otherwise indisposed often used a Prolocutor. They could not vote or make denouncements, but could take part in debates and informal negotiations on behalf of their patron. When circumstances allowed, Councilors might select a Prolocutor to indicate their chosen successor. As with the nomination of kings, this was often but not always respected.Corae
The Corae are the traditional polities united by the Sulcon brothers to form Telion. They range from cities and their immediate surroundings-typically coastal and rich or backed up to the Hills and well-defended-to wider holdings of powerful families, usually taking up swaths of the plains. The 36 Corae enshrined by the creation of Telion fall largely along traditional boundaries that were already in place. Some few were broken up to weaken competing influences or combined create power bases and ensure viability. As the Sulconi government is a formalized, constructed version of traditional Telioni governance, the corae are ruled by similar structures. A group representing the body politic, whether all citizens of age, or a group chosen by lot, vote, or wealth; a magistracy either subservient to or controlling the assembly; and a religious contingent. The numbers, powers and balance of these elements vary significantly, even between neighbors. The Cora is a source of great personal pride for the Telioni. While most are happily loyal to the nation as a while, the first allegiance of each is to his homeland, going as far as making it a part of their full, formal name. The government, people, history, and goods of one's Cora are certainly better those of any other, and those of Telion as the whole just as clearly superior to the rest of the world.Naming Traditions
Family names
Full Telioni names are long, reflecting both their family and place of birth. After the personal name comes a patronymic and matronymic; if, as is the case with many of the elite, either parent traces their lineage back to a historical or mythical notable, that is noted as well. Next is their toponym, referencing their village or neighborhood, Cora, and-since its unification-Telion. Outside formal situations, these are shortened as necesary based on the location of introduction and familiarity of the other party. One might identify themselves only as being from Telion in far-off lands, but would reference only the neighborhood when meeting a Meeran in Meera.
So the full name of the founders of modern Telion are Dunis and Valen, of Paridosthen Fabicis and Lumella Arionis, in Catarubrum in Sulcon in Telion. Paridosthen and Lumella were their father and mother. Their father claimed descent from Fabic, the legendary founder of the the Cora of the same name and their mother from Arion who famously slew Camarone. They were born in the Catarubrum district of the Cora of Sulcon in Telion. Among Telioni in general, they would identify themselves by their Cora, which also attached itself to their government and became the name by which they were more widely known.
Culture
Major language groups and dialects
The Telioni speak a local dialect of Vilatian which is influenced by the older language of the Mechlum, who were likely the original inhabitants before migrants across the Strait and Isthmus hemmed them into the Painted Hills. These influences are particularly seen in toponyms, non-Temple religious practices, and natural phenomena unique to Telion.
Beyond that, there are three rough subdivisons of accent, usage, and slang. In the Southeast, the language tends to the informal but archaic and the influence of the Mechlum is most strongly felt. Language in the North is the most formal and foreign. Other Vilatians, Rutaka'ga, and northerners all find their way to the region, so the locals have become merely up-front compared to the more typical Telioni directness to avoid the worst of diplomatic incidents. Closer and exclusive contact with wider Vilatia across the Lyrian Sea and the Isthmus means the Southwest has kept most consistent with "standard" Vilatian.
Shared customary codes and values
The Telioni are a fiercely independent, self-reliant people. They seek to stand on their own two feet and care for themselves and those in their care. They rarely ask for help, and when help is forced on them feel the need to make good, even if it may sometimes be a token gesture. Should this need for balance stop, one can be sure they've made a true Telioni friend. On the other hand, they freely offer aid to any who might need it; hospitality for friend, stranger, and enemy is held in high regard.
This independence rises through every level of civic involvement, which is a basic expectation of Telioni adults. Even prior to the Sulconi government, the Corae were almost always governed at least in part by their people. Every Telioni believes-some deeply, some more transparently-that their plans, schemes, and ideas would be the ones to lead Telion to its greatest glory, if only someone would put them on a throne. To shirk those civic duties is to let down yourself, your family, and your Cora. They are stubborn, hardheaded, and occasionally viscious in debate, but once a matter is settled they throw themselves to the work.
Telioni can be parochial, even to the point of chauvinism. Beyond their own ideas and abilities, their neighborhood or village is the best of the Cora; their Cora has better lands, people, goods, and government than its neighbors; and Telion outstrips the rest of the world just as clearly. This is usually good-natured posturing, but has turned into more serious disputes, often with outsiders who don't understand the apparently hostile approach. On the other hand, some use the Telioni reputation for jocularity to spit real venom at their enomies.
Birth & Baptismal Rites
Presentations of children and offerings on their behalf are made to spirits of increasing breadth. First, on the day of their birth to the spirits of the home and family. This includes gods of hearth and family write large-Clamina and Heperus, respectively-the tutelary deities of the particular home, and the After three weeks, to the local spirits; this is also when the child is formally, publically named. Similar rites are carried out the first time a child visits the chief temple of the Cora and the Circle of the Gods in Meera, though these are carried out only when and if those visits happen to occur. The offerings are made to introduce the child to the spirits and ask for their protection and blessing.
Temple of the Six rites are also followed by many families, particularly more elite, urban families. Those less connected to culture beyond Telion have little to do with their practices in general; a handful of more chauvinistic Telioni make a point of performing only the local rites, publically spurning the Temple and its practices.
Funerary and Memorial customs
Funereal rites are the one place where the Telioni have most strongly held to pre-Temple customs. If properly carried out, they believe their rites allow the spirit of the person to pass as a protector first to the household, the town, and the Cora. Without the rites, on the other hand, the shade of the deceased wanders the area of their death as an agent of chaos. Eventually they find their way home, where they become a curse upon their household until they can be properly passed to their protective role.
The Telioni practice cremation, believing it to incorporate the six elements of the Hexarchs, gaining their aid and blessing in the transition of the soul. The foundation of the pure is a perasma, or passage stone. The most common form is a generally rectangular or oval shape with a shallow depression in the middle. Simpler perasmae could be simply a bed of cobblestones, while others more deliberately formed and decorated. Where wood is harder to come by, enclosed chambers may be used to make more efficient use of wood. Ultimately, a foundation of stone is the important element.
The pyre is built in top of the stone. Wood is strongly preferred, but other fuels are used if necessary as long as some wood is included, if only so much as a twig. The fire is lit by the youngest of the deceased's relatives or companions. Immediate family and close friends-generally no more than a dozen or so-hold vigil over they pyre. Throughout this time, they share stories and memories of the deceased in as close to chronological order as can be expected. When the flames have all but died out, the eldest of the mourners sprinkles water over the remains, marking the ending of their physical existence. The cremation is therefore intended to mirror and reiterate the physical life of the deceased, providing an anchor of memory for their spirit to help ensure their strength.
Larger bones are collected and returned to the household of the deceased, where they are kept in a shrine or ossuary with older remains. Small bones and ash are collected into a metal urn-thus representing the final Hexarchic-in a local communal columbarium.
Once the space is full, or after one year, the remains are commingled into a larger urn for the whole of the community; these remains are similarly combined in the Cora.
This procession represents the sublimation of the spirit from a local protector to one with wider, if less personal, jurisdiction. Thus the individual urns are called taphouri, or watchtowers, and the communal urn is an arx, or citadel. Each year during the spring Korif Festival, remains are brushed onto border markers, monuments, shrines to local spirits, and other places of note or significance. This is intended to call the particular attention of the spirits of the dead to the defense of the district, town, or Cora and to the support of the local spirits and deities.
One of the final signs of the legitimacy and acceptance of the Sulconi government was for the Corae to commingle their respective arces into one for the whole of Telion. The people and Corae pledged not just their own loyalty but that of their ancestors and protectors to the existence of a single, united Telion.
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