Creature:Pnolthane/Culture&History

"For it is how we treat our fellow daughters and sons that defines our own worth."

- Empress Charlina

Primitive Stone Tools
The first few million years of cultural evolution of species in the Avemina genus, including those ancestral to the modern Pnolthane, consisted of primitive stone tool cultures. As the forearms of ancestral Pnolthane species developed to have better power an precision grip, this allowed better production of tools. Early stone tools were made by hammering small flakes off a stone with another stone to create a sharp edge. These stone choppers were likely used to break open boned too thick to be crushed in a Pnolthane's beak in order to give access to the nutritious marrow inside. The choppers and other similar primitive tools are only found in Ezerona and are radiometrically dated to be the oldest tools manufactured, acting as the strongest evidence that the Pnolthane evolved in Ezerona and did not disperse to other parts of the planet until later.

At the time these simple tools were produced, the Pnolthane were geographically isolated to Ezerona due to the ice age that was occurring at the time. Lower global temperatures combined with the shading effect of the planet's rings near the equator created a massive wall of ice that cut off the Ezeronan penninsula from mainland Aglasia. This persisted for tens of thousands of years allowing or several distinct tool cultures made by different ancestral Pnolthane species to develope.

One ancestral species, Avemina dacharis used the abstract thinking power afforded to them by their brain which were larger and more complex than their ancestors' to select types of rock that would flake more easily than others to make their tools out of exclusively. this lead to them develping a wider range of tools such as hand axes with different shapes for scraping the meat off bones. Additionally, dacharis developed tools called lugs which were heavy stones with a sharp point at one end. These were used to kill large prey by a Pnolthane flying up a short distance and dropping the pointed end onto the head of the prey. This was a short range strategy and could only be used after the creature was cornered as the heavy lug meant that fast pursuit-flight was impossible.

Ancestral Pnolthane species were nomadic and used only the stone tools described above. This persisted for 3 million years and through much the the modern Pnolthane's history until their superior brain capacity and manipulative ability of the hand lead the development of tools make from other materials such as bone fishing hooks and bakes make from the talons and horns of megasaurs and other creatures. These tools were lighter and could be made sharper, allowing for further technological development.

Agriculture
The beginning of Pnolthane civilization in its current form occurred approximately 14,000 years before the modern era. This was stimulated by the invention of agriculture which allowed nomadic Pnolthane to settle down around an area where crops were being grown and build more permanent settlements. One of the first flora farmed was a species of grass called Frugio nubes, the small seeds of which were contained in a hard outer rind. I is well accepted in the anthropological community that these seeds were eaten by heating them in the fire so that the water within the grain would boil, causing the interior of the seed to puff up and burst through the rind.

This plant and the resulting food is colloquially known as 'darch' and is still farmed and used as a major cereal grain in modern times. Evidence for large darch fields has been uncovered in Ezerona, indicating that this crop was domesticated early. Over time, through selective breeding, darch was modified by farmers to be larger, have more layers of seed and a higher seed yield and to have a larger cob.

Early Civilization
The first civilizations emerged in river valleys as these rivers would flood, allowing for agriculture to easily occur in these places. The first Pnolthane civilization to emerge was not built by the modern Pnolthane Avemina klartae but by a cousin species called Avemina cognata in the Ezerona region. Archaeologists determined that this Cognatan civilization existed for several thousand years until the cognata went extinct, likely because their brains were less complex than A. klartae and they were fewer in number and so they were out competed.

The first civilization built by Modern Pnolthane was the Alvarian civilization, named after the Alvari river around it began. The Alvarian civilization existed approximately 5000 years before modern times and persisted for several hundred years. The Alverians built small but complex cities on the edges of forested areas as creatures hunted in forests were still a crucial source of food at the time with large buildings dedicated to their Gods and leaders. The Alvarians also were the first to make important innovations such as the invention of the wheel and rudimentary mathematics. It is likely that the Alvarians had a spoken language but had no written language so it is unknown what their language was like. The Alvarians had access to copper out of which they made tools mostly used for hunting and farming as well as gold which was used as a symbol of wealth and as a direct currency with the first gold coins.

A few centuries later, around the second major river in Ezerona; the Char river, the Charan civilization arose. This civilization became more advanced than the Alvarians as time went on and was the first to develop

Celestism
The predominant Religion on Pnolthanus is Celestism. This religion is practiced to varying degrees of dedication by 80% of Pnolthane and is divided across several denominations varying by region. Celestism is monotheistic with Al'aria as its central deity.

Creation Myth
'Before the world', it is said that the universe was purely divine, containing only Taharah. Taharah is both the name of the realm of Al'aria and also the name of the perfect, divine white light that composes it entirely. The universe existed this way for an unspecified length of time that is described as 'an age' in the mythology until Al'aria saw that there could be more that although her self and her realm was perfect, its perfection could be increased by others experiencing it.

In the Creation Myth, Al'aria laid a single 'Cosmic Egg'. Within this egg is contained the world and surrounding stars/celestial bodies as experienced to the naked eye by the Pnolthane with Pnolthanus as the yolk and the moons as other tiny particles that float within the black albumen of the egg. Stars are said to be Taharah leaking in through the pores in the shell of the egg. The Pnolthane themselves are a mere embryonic form that will develop over time, hatching from the egg once they have reached a high enough level of social, intellectual and spiritual development, fully formed as divine creatures that will take their place with Al'aria in Taharah. The time when this happens is called 'Soaration'.

Afterlife & Significance of Celestial bodies
In Celestism, the rings of Pnolthanus are called the 'Celestial River'. One of the most fundamental beliefs to the religion is that after death, the soul or 'nila' of a dead Pnolthane will have to sail down the Celestial River to the afterlife in Gayle. Gayle is place where the next stage of life is said to take place, further preparing a Pnolthane for Soaration. As part of this belief, the Pnolthane funeral custom is to place the body in a wooden boat with provisions for the journey to Gayle and let the wind carry it over the horizon where the transition from the nila being bound to the body to independent from it takes place. On this journey, those who you have been good to in life will manifest in the boat as 'Ykri' which are projections of their essences formed from the Pnolthane's memory of them rather than their own souls or bodies being present. As many ykri as there is room for on the vessel will appear and assist the Pnolthane's nila in their journey to Gayle in proportion to how well they were treated while the Pnolthane was alive. For example, the Pnolthane's best friend or spouses will likely act as constant supporting companions while those shown kindness only on one ocasion may appear to assist with one obstacle for a few minutes. However, any people a Pnolthane has wronged in life will manifest as karmir which will act to hinder the journey in proportion to how they were harmed in life. For example, person who was stolen from once may appear to steal provisions. The exception is those who one has murdered or have died as a direct result of the Pnolthane's actions. If they made it to Gayle, they will return to the boat from Gayle to hinder the journey as powerful nila rather than karmir, likley resulting in the sinking of the boat. Those that do not make it to Gayle will simply stop existing in any form and will not be further punished but will be denied Soaration.

Gayle itself is said to be a divine city made of fine white stone on an island called Kayna Tol. The name Kayna Tol literally means "Island of the dead/ascended". In reality, Kayna Tol is the smallest and closest moon of Pnolthanus which was thought to be an island in the Celestial River by the ancient Pnolthane as the planet's only slight axial tilt means that it appears close to the rings in the sky at all times. The Island itself is said to be perfect with lush forests filled with friendly creatures and edible and useful flora and with beaches with friendly currents that carry a person to shore when they wish. Gayle is a city positioned on in the center of the island and at its highest point. The city is large with sprawling streets and and buildings, often with architecture considered to be impossible or prohibitively expensive such as "walls of solid pure silver" or "A roof of glowing tiles". The illustrious nature of Gayle serves as an additional incentive for a Pnolthane to be good in life so they are more likely to reach Kayna Tol. Gayle is ruled over by 'The Empress Eternal', a prophet of Al'aria's plan for the Pnothane

The larger but much further of the two Pnolthanian moons also plays a role in the mythology. Rekulaar is another island in the celestial river. Due to its very long orbital period of approximately one Pnolthanian year, Rekulaar has very long phases and is shaded by the planet for months at a time, invisible in the sky in the Pnolthanian spring. Rekulaar is 'full' in the sky in autumn, even though it appears as only an unusually bright star to the naked eye from the ground. However, the moon's red color means that is absorbs much of the ultraviolet light that shines on it from Karr, allowing it to easily be distinguished from a regular star by through color by the Pnolthane eye. This time also coincides with when Rekulaar appears the physically closest to the rings in the sky. In earlier spiritual beliefs, a causal connection was made between Rekulaar's greatest brightness in the sky coinciding with many trees losing their leaves, leading to the belief that Rekulaar was evil and caused death. In Celestism Rekulaar is said to be an island that is under the water of the Celestial river for most of the year. This protects all of creation from the great evil that was imprisoned on the island by Al'aria early in the worlds history. it is told that Al'aria originally created equal amounts of good and evil in the world but, as summed up in the proverb "evil breeds evil but good must be worked for", the evil quickly began to overwhelm the good and coagulated and conjugated "as evil always does" into one individual mass called Hark'tharoth that attempted to destroy the rest of creation. But, Al'aria was much more powerful and imprisoned Hark'tharoth on Rekulaar inside a giant crystal sphere called the Carcerum. Every year, Rekulaar, in the mythology, must rise above the waters of the river to release the evil pressure that builds up on the island over time as "evil breeds evil". This is used to explain why there is still evil in the world even though Al'aria vanquished Hark'tharoth. There are many stories in the Celestic holy text that tech specifi moral lessons like the dangers of being too trusting or the importance of teamwork by using a warrior of Gayle venturing to Rekulaar and being confronted by one of the many evil creatures that live there like Pseuthek the shapeshifter or Rubrumex the colossal laser-breathing dragon that guards that base of the Carcerum.

There are many complex social consequences to belief in this afterlife. The individuals likelihood of making it into the next stage of life being directly related to how they were in the first stage is reflective of the less forgiving nature of the Pnothane while concept of the karmir and nila returning to take revenge on those who wronged them in life shows the Pnolthane psychological propensity for vengefulness. Of course, this increases the amount of charity and kindness in pious societies. Also, as the size of the ship one in one's funeral is proportional to their wealth and larger ships can carry more ykri and more supplies this encourages monetary and material success in life in addition to kindness. This belief is not necessarily dissuasive of suicide, but if a person dies you they will have less ykri to help them. In many cultures societal attitudes developed where those who committed suicide were not given a boat and were simply sent out on a raft or plank, decreasint heir chance of reaching Argia and so dissuading the behaviour.

Some Pnolthane dedicate themselves fully to religious life in order to be as prepared as possible spiritually for the journey. There is rich cultural significance placed on how this journey is the ultimate trial, revealing a person as they truly are and preparing them mentally for Soaration.

Origin
As for millennia, Pnoltane civilization was isolated to a very small geographical area due to the glaciation, this allowed Celestism to spread very easily among populations and quickly become the dominant religion. Celestism remained dominant in the modern world because all modern populations descended from this smaller one and over the millennia, the religion became so ingrained in the culture that alternate religions were unable to take hold. Celestism itself was developed at this time from the fusion of concepts from older spirituality as well as knew invented concepts.

This was the work of the leader of one ancient Ezeronan city-culture called Empress Charlina of Giltarah. Charlina wanted engineer the society of Giltarah to promote a greater degree of kindness between citizens to allow for greater civil peace and at the same time also promote industry and expansion of enterprise to increase the power of Giltarah against the neighboring Ezeronan city-states. Over a period of decades Charlina constructed the afterlife myth to achieve this goal, informed by a few advisers. To the general populous, she asserted that this was the true religion and that it had been divinely revealed to her by Al'aria in order to move the Giltari closer to being ready for Soaration. In order to make the claim seem more credible, Charlina incorporated the notion of the Cosmic Egg, Rekulaar's evil and Al'aria herself from an older, previous spirituality practiced in Ezerona.

Charlina was held up by the people as a prophet, the increase in her control and influence over the populous leading to her conducting missions to to neighboring city-states to spread the faith and as a result, her control over them. Eventually, driven insane with both power and paranoia that the truth about the faith would be discovered, Charlina ordered the execution of any of the advisers who worked with her in developing the religion and then eventually killed herself, the last remaining person who knew of the truth to cement the religion forever. This was conveyed to the people by the high members of the clergy out of necessity as Charlina "Having accomplished her maximum divine duty in the world, having no further place here and ascending across the Celestial river, supported by the ykri of thousands". This is when the idea of the Empress Eternal was created with Charlina assuming the role in doctrine to further teach and carry Al'aria's will to the nila of all Pnolthane in the afterlife. In many modern Pnolthane cultures, the date of Chalina's ascension is celebrated as a holiday although it shifted over the centuries to the winter time to be more seasonally convenient.

Practice
To suit the new religion, Charlina ordered the construction of a massive temple. In the many chambers of this temple, the basic tenants and myths of Celestism were carved into tablets on the walls, making them permanent. The temple was heavily decorated with gold both to show the wealth of the nation but also the importance of the religion to them when seen by neighboring states. The temple remains a popular destination for many Pnolthane to visit in modern times to see the beginnings of Celestism and is one of the most sacred and protected sites on the planet. The Chronicle inscribed in the temple was then transcribed and re-transcribed into book form over later centuries to make it easier to transport. This, along with numerous translations lead to the exact letter and sometimes meaning of the myths to change by region as the Pnolthane dispersed throughout the Aglaisian continent and later after the planet warmed and the ice wall receded.

Trivia

 * The original origin of Al'aria and the creation myth is unknown

Behind the Scenes

 * Originally, the Pnolthane had a steampunk design.
 * The many concepts in the Celestism afterlife myth are named after the elemental color energies in the Chromaticraft Minecaft mod.