Aši people

Aši people are an ethnic group that is native to the Aši Kingdoms.

Gender roles
The Aši society is matriarchal and matrilineal. Women hold the political, judiciary, cultural, religious, economic and matrimonial powers, and men war, build, grow crops, hunt and raise children. Both genders partake in the religious power, as religion is seen as the crossroad between the godly and animal essences of humans.

Men are seen as heir providers and lawful soldiers.

Intersex, transgender and non-binary people, or in general those who do not fit into the gender structure of the Aši culture, are seen depending on their biological sex positively or negatively. A woman having manly occupations is seen positively, a man with womanly occupations is almost always seen negatively.

Marriage
Aši women are often polygamous. They can have up to 5 husbands. However men are not allowed to swear fealty to multiple women. Polygamy is not mandatory, and religious codes require that women love every single one of their husbands.

Same-sex relationships are accepted by society. It is very common for women to have homosexual biromantic men as their husbands.

Adultery is seen as a capital crime for both men and women.

Crimes
Capital crimes require execution and ritual cannibalism, as an Aši saying goes, "A crime committed in the flesh must be consumed in the flesh". Non-ritual cannibalism, which is illegal, will cause the execution of the criminal and the seizure of their husbands if they are a woman or compensation if they are a man. The most common form of compensation for men is taking away the son of the criminal and raising them until the until their coming of age ceremony at 20 years old, during which they must give an heir to the wife.

Horses
Like other Xi cultures, the Aši people consider horses sacred, though they do not ride them anymore because of the very uneasy terrain of the Red Peaks.

The taboo around horse meat also exists in Aši culture. It is one of the most gruesome crimes one can commit. Unlike in other Xi cultures, it is common to use the bones of a dead horse to build tombs, altars and memorials. Materials found on horses are valued as precious clothing elements, but they must be taken from dead horses that have not been killed for that purpose.