Southern Jardo

 

Southern Jardo:

     These fishermen can be found along the northern-most shoreline of the sea.  While there are various fishing villages along the sea, the Southern Jardo are seen as the best.   Southern Jardo is nestled against the Tear river as well as the Northern Jardo.   Technically, the Jardo is one nation, but the people living there have split the nation in half.

     The Southern Jardo is in a rocky area; thus, regardless of what small number of crops are planted, the ground is not fertile enough to support the population.  The Southern Jardo depend on crops from the more fertile land of Northern Jardo.

 

Social Structure:

     The guilds rule the Jardo.  The higher up in a guild you are, the more power you have.  Everyone has a voice in a decision which will affect the general populace, but generally, it is the richer merchants who decide whether the decision stands.  The ruling guild in Southern Jardo is obviously the Fisher's Guild.

     Everyone works; men, women and children.  A lazy person is an unproductive person and that is frowned upon.  The only people who are not expected to work as hard as the rest, are the elders.  The elders are seen as founts of information and wisdom; afterall, they've lived longer than most everyone else, obviously they've done something right.

     As hard as they work, they play as hard.  There is a celebration after an amazingly good bounty from the sea and the whole town will join in the party. 

     Families take care of their own and their reputation can be tarnished or pumped up by the actions of their relatives.  If one member of the family is a bad 'seed', then the whole family is tarred with the same brush.   Deviations from the  'norm' are dealt within the family and can be very harsh.

     Women are the homemakers and it is rare to see them within the guilds.  They are not openly discouraged from becoming a guild member or merchant, but neither are they encouraged.  Depending on the family, women in a business may be seen as deviant or daring.

     Men are generally the ones who go to sea and fish.  There are a few women who also do so, but they are from the more progressive and open minded families.  There are still quite a few men who absolutely will not go out on a boat/ship with a woman, considering it is seen as bad luck to have a woman on board.

 

National Relations:

    The Southern Jardo are a pragmatic race with one slight 'flaw'.  This 'flaw' is the almost irrational paranoia that is brought against the Northern Jardo.

     The relations between the Southern and Northern Jardo are tense to say the least.    There seems to be a mutual dislike between the two.  Although each relies on the other, they trade grudgingly with each other.  Prices for supplies, fish,   vegetables, etc.  fluctuate wildly as both sides try to extract an outrageous price from the other. 

     Violence often erupts between the two, especially when trading.   Interestingly, there is a low mortality rate, even with all the fighting.  The Essalee has attempted to step in, but both sides protested against it.  The feuding is seen as a private, national thing and outsiders have no right to stick their nose where it doesn't belong.

    While both sides cannot seem to stand each other, there is a large amount of patriotism beating in their hearts.  If one side is threatened, the other side will come to their aid, irregardless that the day before they would have cheerfully beaten each other senseless.   This unity does not last long unfortunately.  As soon as the threat is dealt with, the side which came to other's aid is most likely to gloat about having to help their 'poor, pathetic' neighbors.  The unspoken truce will rapidly disintegrate, with the 'helpers' being unceremoniously thrown out of the 'helped' side.

 

Physical Characteristics:

     The Jardo are a swarthy race, whose skin looks to be leathery from the exposure to the sun and sea.  Their hands are well callused from the hard work. 

     The men and women of the Southern Jardo tend to be average all over; average height, weight and body structure.  The only fat people amongst the Jardo are the richer merchants/guild members, who can afford to have others to work for them.

     Size ranges from 5' to 5'10" for the women and from 5'3 to 6'2" for the men.  The men's hair is cropped short, while the women's can be of many lengths.  A moustache is seen as a handsome feature and very few men do not have some type of mustache.

     Their clothing is a durable and long wearing cloth.  The color of choice is all different shades of blue.  The only accessories worn are earrings that both men and women wear.

     Eye color is generally a dark brown.  There have been isolated incidents where a child is born with a lighter pigment iris.  That child was brought to the Northern Jardo border and left to be found by a passing by Northerner.  Their hair is black or dark brown with a natural curl to it.

 

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