Culture of the Tarsins

The Highlanders
It is said that long ago, the highland kingdoms were united in battle against some terrible enemy. Archaeological evidence revels hominid skeletons far bigger and heavier than any human, so perhaps there is merit to this myth. Regardless of what happened in those distant days, the highland Tarsins were always a xenophobic people. They did not like outsiders, and they preferred the company of their own. It is not known what part they played in the Old Coalition, but their genetic sequences were rare beyond Tarsis in the days after the cataclysm, so it is likely few ever left home.

Like all Tarsins and Thyrendi, the cataclysm left the highlanders with a deep hatred for artificial intelligence and other "thinking machines," which they gave the name "demons." It was the highlanders who preached of the dignity of work to their lowlander brethren, which the lowlanders turned into the idea that it is better to play your part in the divine order of the World rather than to consort with the evil spirits within the constructs which had brought ruin to their race.

Highlander culture was, and still is, preoccupied with morality, order, and distrust of outsiders. To foreigners, the highland Tarsins seem a cold and uncaring people. Married men and women do not so much as even hold hands in public, while more affectionate acts are only allowed in the privacy of one's home. Conversation on the street is held quietly, formally, and politely; to raise one's voice in excitement or wrath is viewed as rude when not behind closed doors. Only leaders, nobility, and heralds are given free reign to speak loudly, for they must be heard by all. Showing any skin but hands or face is considered indecent for both genders and is only acceptable if absolutely necessary, while the subject of sexuality is completely taboo outside of the bedroom. Foreigners have called highlander Tarsins "monolithicly repressive," however the repressiveness is only apparent in public. With family and friends in more secluded places, it is not cared what people do, and most anything is allowed so long as it is not spoken of outside.

A strong family is considered the core foundation of society, by not only the highlanders, but all Tarsins, even the Sarthîm, to a tiny extent. A husband, a wife, and two to four children is considered normal; and it is also considered normal for children to continue living with their parents indefinitely. It is not uncommon for a highlander household to contain three generations within it: A grandfather and grandmother as heads of the household, their sons and their wives bringing income and maintaining the home, and their children doing whatever it is that children do. Highlander men are expected to leave the home around sixteen to twenty, and make themselves a viable living. Once they have built up wealth and experience, they can marry, generally around the age of twenty-five to thirty. Tarsin women are expected to stay with their family and learn all the skills of maintaining a home and raising their own children; before marrying after the age of sixteen. Once married, they join their husband's household, and either become a part of the greater family, or the foundation of an entirely new one. Generally, women do not go too far from their own homes, as family ties are important. The two exceptions are service in the Archive or Imperial Navy.

War and strife have always been a part of the highland culture. But for all their disdain for "lesser" men, the highlanders never backed down from working alongside others in battle. The Zaian faith did much to calm the Tarsin's bloodthirsty heart, but even then, it just redirected their fighting spirit into the noble task of fighting for what good their is in the World. Despite their racial superiority complex, the highlanders would gladly stand shoulder to shoulder with their lowland kin in valiant holy war against the threats of the alien, the mutant, and the degenerate. Women too are allowed to do their part, but from the relative safety of the Imperial Navy; front-line combat is only expected of them in the direst of emergencies.

Today, the highlanders are alive as ever, though family ties are harder to maintain with the crumbling of the Empire. To replace so many noble bloodlines that have been lost, many more common highlanders have been elevated through close observation of merit. The Zaian faith is either adhered to loosely by most highlanders, or is zealously followed. Results may vary from person to person, especially when one considers just how deep their hands are in the ongoing corruption of the Empire.

The Lowlanders
Myth has it that the lowlanders are the descendants of the slaves of the ancient highlander kingdoms which ruled Tarsis in its infancy. This is obviously no longer the exact case though.When the Imperial Era began, the lowlanders found themselves as something of an underclass. Not that any of them knew it though, the Beacon Cataclysm had reduced everyone by thousands of years of development, for dozens of generations. The reconquest of the Coalition brought them relative safety, stable rule, and a better economy, but not much else.

But that is not a problem for the lowlander. He is a hardy, lively soul. While the highlander is quiet, dignified, and solemn; the lowlander makes his thoughts known and stubbornly refuses to bow to fate, time and again. Lowlanders make up the majority of almost every demographic, from soldier to farmer to mechanic to mason. In fact, the only places were they aren't the majority are the professions of merchant, banker, military officer, and government posting, hereditary or not.

The Coalition had undergone many ups and downs over the long years, and the lowlanders take them all in stride. Even in these modern times, their music remains warm, homely, and almost cheery at times, in contrast to everything the World has thrown at them. Lowlanders have no fear of affection in public, and have no fear of showing skin besides their hands and faces. While they do follow the patriarchal model of the highlanders, the lowlanders usually make the newly married couple start their own household, instead of becoming part of a much larger one. Like the highlanders, lowlanders don't particularly care about what goes on behind closed doors, though it's more due to the fact they don't actually care rather than not wanting to know about it. For many years, it was the lowlander way to stay right where they were, content with what they had and seeking nothing more.

Lowlanders are not as xenophobic or tradition-minded as their highland rulers, though they are much more tradition-minded than most Earthmen. With the conquest of the Earthmen, many lowlanders decided to pay their cousins a permanent visit, and attempted to bring them into the fold. This succeeded on some planets, entire bands of Earthmen merging into lowland culture to create very unique hybrids. On other planets, this ended in dividing the world in question up between the two races of humans. When the highland nobles caught up to their enterprising kin, most were forced to accept what had already begun; though segregation was always preferred to integration. The revolution that ended the Kingdom of Sôl left these Tarsins to an uncertain fate. On the more segregated worlds, the Tarsins were often the targets of genocidal campaigns, generations of resentment and subservience boiling over. A handful of these planets had a large enough minority of Tarsins that they managed to fight off the Earthmen and force a more favorable peace. The integrated planets had no troubles, and simple switched allegiance from distant Tarsis to nearby Earth.

Despite nearly a century and a half having passed since these events, the "Tarsin question" is still a big issue in certain regions; every world under the traditional model of Tarsin rule had it's Tarsins refuse to take place in democracy, their highland rulers refusing to give the same rights that apply to them to their lowland underclass. The Earthmen who share those planets know that something will have to be done, and sooner rather than later. In the meantime, the lowlanders do what they've always done: live as best they can, despite whatever odds they face.