Araquar Clan

The Araquar Clan is called this in Common, based on aur(gold) and auq(water). It is called this because they collect gold and other precious metals not from the ground but from bodies of water. Most Araquar are Amber Dwarves, but some exiles from Blond and Gold clans are present.

The Araquar Clan lives in various deltas, where many small streams are to be found. Using arrangements of nets in the paths of the streams and sometimes panning, the Araquar capture their two most important resources, fish and gold.

Mining
Bits of gold are collected in the nets, which become smaller and smaller in order to filter by size, and at the end of every day are hauled to the village smeltery, a hexagonal outdoor kiln with a large metal bowl on the inside. Below, the fire is heated, and when the gold is placed into the smeltery, it is, as the name suggests, melted. A tube is inserted into a valve on the west-facing side of the kiln (the Araquar worship the Golden Sunset, an all-powerful deity), and molds are connected to the tube. The valve is opened and all molds are filled. The following day, at the same time as new molds are filled, old molds are cracked open. This gold is usually filled with sediments and will sometimes be of a greenish or bluish shade. Once all of the gold is removed from the bowl, the top of the kiln is lifted (there is a stationary winch mechanism) and the captured fish is placed onto the bowl for two minutes. It is instantly fried and is of just the right temperature when all of the villagers return from their daily prayer. Each villager eats only a little bit of the fish, as a ceremony of fealty to the local stream deity.

Religion
This brings us to the religion of the Araquar, called Occasism. The main deity is the Golden Sunset, who is the ultimate god. Smaller regional deities of streams are also worshipped, but mainly by the miners for the streams to fulfill their service to the Golden Sunset and bring gold, fish, and luck to the nets on that day. Worship of the Golden Sunset is every day, when the sun is setting, with everyone thinking of what they wish to achieve while standing in the town temple. The temple is a large circular tower, with one jut-out to the west, which is the pulpit. The rest of the area is filled with benches. Temples will usually have two to three stories, all of them facing the pulpit. After everyone has thought of what they want, the priest reads off a sermon on the mythology of the Golden Sunset, and everyone but the miners leave. The miners stay for a second sermon on the saga of how Clay-man tried to steal Golden Sunset's prized gold nugget.

Longhouses
The Araquar live in longhouses, large clay affairs with stones and bricks mixed in. The walls are reinforced with pebbles, and there is a fireplace for every pair of people in the house. The entrance is a storage area, with crates of supplies and piles of blankets and cloth. The next room is the commons room, with a large dining table (from pebbles held together with clay), and a kitchen. The next room takes up the rest of the house, and is called the Somnig. It is a long room lined with bunks for every member of the family. The bunks are four high, and are assigned based on seniority. The oldest live closest to the commons room, while those with smaller family members live farther back in the house. Fireplaces are spread evenly throughout. Just to give the reader a sense of how large these are, there are houses where the population is like that of a small village – sixteen great-grandmas, sixteen great-grandpas, eight grandmothers, eight grandfathers, four mothers, four fathers, perhaps thirty or so offspring, twenty cousins, andten in-laws. The houses can reach up to two hundred meters in length, one hundred and forty of those being the Somnig.

Patriarch
The Araquar culture is not strictly patriarchal or matriarchal, but both patriarch and matriarch have their domain. The patriarch, the oldest able-bodied man, will be the one to find work for all twenty of the men and teens who follow him. It is his job to make sure that everyone works well.

Magpatrig
The oldest man in the longhouse will be the spiritual leader of the family, known as a magpatrig. It is his job to reprimand those children who do not follow the family's values, the values of Golden Sunset, or the rules of the village.

Matriarch
At the longhouse, the matriarch is in charge of the kitchen.Now, I hear you saying "but that means it's patriarchal". It doesn't. The matriarch has to command twenty to twenty-five girls and women in order to cook a meal. Silverware for over a hundred people must be set out, food must be cooked for breakfast and dinner, and bread must be prepared. Drinks must be ready to be poured, blankets placed out for the family members to take when they go to bed. The dishes from the previous meals must be washed and stored, and fires must be crackling in order to keep the evening chill out of the house. All the supplies for tomorrow's meals must be bought, usually including several bags of rice, grains, beans, or flour, two barrels of mead, three jugs of milk, and at least three creatures to be eaten.

Matriarchs also are in charge of getting fuel for the numerous fires that burn in a longhouse. Typically, gold is traded for wood with other dwarven clans, but occasionally peat or lichen is used. Some species of mangrove also grow where the Araquar live, so they harvest the wood when the tree dies. Each family in a village will have a plot of water in any nearby bodies of water, and usually mangroves are cultivated. Mushrooms are grown in the sticky mud of the delta, and sometimes rabbits can be trapped.

Magmatrig
There is also a magmatrig. She is typically the oldest female dwarf in the clan, and it is her job to manage the outfitting and budgeting of the clan. She will keep record books, and have a small office in a loft at the far end of the longhouse, with shelves and shelves of books on the family's finances for centuries before. She must make sure that there are kitchen and dining implements ready for use at all times, that the tool shed has all of the necessary items (picks, hoes, shovels, pans, axes, chisels, hammers, mallets, knives, machetes). When a man under the patriarch needs new boots to scoot through the mud of the delta, the magmatrig will make them from available leather, rubber, fur, and cloth. Every member of the family needs (usually) skis, snowshoes, coat, snow boots, mud boots, mud pants, hat, mittens, mud mask, and mocassins. All of this she must store in lockers in the floor of the Somnig, make sure that it fits, and that it works. She is not responsible for the everyday clothing of the family.

Marriage
When two Araquar decide to get married, there is a large celebration with much feasting and praise of Golden Sunset. They then decide in whose longhouse to live. Usually, they live in the longhouse of the family which has less members, but this is not set in stone, so to say. The feast will have all of the members of the clan, all of the members of clans which are somehow related to the soon-to-be spouses’ clans, and all of the villagers of the village where they live. This typically totals to about two thousand people. If it is a marriage where they are the children of Thimotejs or higher, the total can reach triple that. Temporary longhouses are built out of bamboo and canvas, and a village can grow tenfold for about six weeks.

Legislative & Executive
The government of the Araquar villages that are scattered throughout the landscape, and the Araquar Nation as a whole (part of the Dwarven Domain), is very byzantine, with numerous sub-officials and bureaucrats. Each village has an assembly that meets every week, made up of the magmatrig and magpatrig of each clan in the village. They vote on rules, with discussion moderated by a hereditary mayor, known as a Thimotej (j pronounced as y in Araquar Khuzdul). A Thimotej also has the right to ask for rules to be made. Several villages are then united under a Magthimotej, literally "Great Thimotej", and he rules a township. The assembly of the township is made up of the Thimotejs of the villages in the township, and is simply a larger version of the village assembly. Townships are united into counties, ruled by a Grathimotej ("County Thimotej"), and have an assembly with the Magthimotejs of each township. This pattern continues, with counties united into districts ruled by Krolthimotej ("King Thimotej"), then districts united into states ruled by Emberthimotej ("Emperor Thimotej"). Finally, at the highest level, all of the states send their Emberthimotej to the national assembly, called the Raigrup ("Raised Assembly"). The Raigrup also has representatives from the guilds of every profession, and two representatives from the King of the Dwarven Domain. In general, guilds also have structured systems within them, and the Domain Council has three representatives from the Araquar, all of them also electors.

Judicial
The judicial is only on the level of township, and the judge is the Magthimotej’s wife, the Magthamotaj. There is no jury, and it is her decision on who to sentence to prison. There is a small township prison, with three cells, but most of the time punishment is in the form of fines. If an argument can’t be solved at the township, it goes up to county, or then to district, then to state, then to the Prince of Araquar. If this does not work, the trial goes all the way to the King of the Dwarven Domain.

Military
In general, the Araquar are not a militaristic group, but they do have defensive measures. In a village, the Thimotej is also the village militia captain, with the patriarch of each clan as a sergeant. All Araquar males are trained in combat, as are some females. In the case of all of the men being gone from a city, the females will take control. Matriarchs (during the Araquar-Dwarv War) were known to fortify longhouses and surround them with traps, holding off attackers for weeks to months.

Usually, the Araquar will canoe to the nearest Dwarven Domain Army base, as they do not make good infantry – very weak flank defenses. If it is a naval attack, they will use longer canoes, with enough space for two-thirds of the men to sleep while the others row. They use the standard-issue Dwarven Domain Army light infantry gear, with a short sword and dagger on the left hip and a short bow on the right. Their helmets are distinctive due to the yellow circle in the center of their forehead, intended to bring luck from Golden Sunset.