Continuing on Tuesday’s post, here are some more culture notes for the Chezbah.
Oaths
Being a very ritualized society, oaths play a large role in Chezbah agreements and contracts. Oaths are usually announced to the community. Going back on an oath or failing to perform on one can be very humiliating.
Tricks and Thievery
If a person is fooled into agreeing to something, it is viewed as a legitimate way of getting them to do what you want. This can be a little jarring to outsiders because a Chezbah will be required to stick to an oath even if they were tricked into it.
In business, spying is rampant because of this. If secrets are stolen or even if goods are stolen, it is looked on as a failure of the business man. It is considered his responsibility to keep his knowledge and possessions safe. Failure to do so is not the spy’s moral shortcoming but the owner’s. This means that most robberies of intellectual property or physical goods are covered up. If the owner knows who stole from him, he may even announce that he has given a gift to that person as an act of charity thus covering up any dishonor.
However a thief who is caught in the act often suffers greatly for their actions.
Tapestries and Rugs
The residential buildings that the Chezbah live in are cold and for the most part uncomfortable places. The Chezbah are restricted by religious law from altering these structures. This includes permanently anchoring anything to the structures. They are allowed to tie cords around pillars and there are some clever fasteners that the Chezbah have developed to hang tapestries and even full doors to doorways.
The Chezbah hang tapestries from walls for insulation and as dividers to form rooms. Thick woven rugs also help to make cold floors more comfortable.
A good number of tapestries and rugs are woven by machine. Only the most expensive are hand woven but almost all are story telling aids. Pictures on the tapestries explain important events, relate legends and tell jokes.
Welcoming
Chezbah will clap to welcome a person, often three times is enough but more if they are very important.
The Free RPG Blog