Classical Taot people

The Classical Taot people are an ethnic group native to the Koolpallal and Central Noco.

History


At the start of the 9th millenium, during which the second peak of the World Glaciation starts to end, the Classical Taot culture became well established around the basin of the Bixšar at the western base of the Koolpallal. The main written language was Classical Taot, but the people spoke a group of closely related dialects with various influences from other Koolpallalian languages and neighbouring language families.

After a few hundred years, most people lived in small towns clustered together and governed by groups of aristocratic families, who asked for taxes in return for protection, as expansionist policies were starting to emerge. People in small villages continued to live with the old system, sharing resources among neighbours. Some of these town clusters, called chiefdoms, began rapidly expanding and conquering other neighbouring chiefdoms. Ultimately, most of the southwestern Koolpallal was governed by two chiefdoms, resulting in the dialects spoken in this area being clearly divided into northern and southern varities.

These chiefdoms continued to expand westwards and split into hundreds of smaller chiefdoms until they reached the western coast of Noco. At this point, many of these town clusters had become so big that they could be considered cities.

Marriage
Marriage in Classical Taot is relatively simple. Once children reach puberty they are taught to court by older individuals ad they then go in search of a partne. A couple is considered married the second both agree to it, and divorce is akin to a breakup in Western cultures. The Classical Taot people practice polygamy, often taking various spouses for life, and anyone apart from one's nen ('mother, aunt, grandmother'), tot ('father, uncle, grandfather'), seenta ('sibling, cousin') or paol ('child, nibling') is considered elligible as a partner, although there is a strong bias towards wooers from villages other than your own. Homosexual relationships are not frowned upon and are often just as common as heterosexual ones.

Family
The Classical Taot people do not have a concept of family as a unit, but rather as individual lineal and collateral relationships characterised by the prohibition of marriage. The functions of families are instead fulfilled by the concept of small villages as a unified group.