Ranira/Saaniir

The Saaniir civilization is the oldest and most populous civilization of the Ranira species, formed around the species' ancestral breeding grounds in the city of Nalab on Continent Eight. The demonym is saanihl (singular), saaniir (plural) or saanihm (unknown).

History
The Saaniir civilization first arose from the ancient breeding grounds of the species, around where the city of Nalab currently is. From Nalab, the civilization expanded to cover much of Continent Eight.

Government
The Saaniir government is very decentralized, with its government being composed of syndicates (insert their word for it here), which are kind of like interest groups, except that they actually dictate how things are done. For example, a syndicate whose focus is sanitation would be in charge of maintaining the sewers and other related services. While these groups are open and fairly democratic within themselves, people outside of the syndicates can only influence them by doing things like attending local meetings.

There is no formal procedure for the creation of new syndicates, instead, if enough people feel that a syndicate is needed to express their concerns regarding something, a syndicate will almost certainly form to represent their concerns. In other words, syndicates live and die by how much people want them.

Legal System
The legal system of the Saaniir civilization resembles Xeer in many ways. That is, instead of the law being a set of rules dictated by some sort of authority, it is instead viewed as something natural, and must be discovered through the preservation of social harmony.

The discovery of the law is the responsibility of judges, and the law is considered to be broken if a dispute arises that cannot be swiftly resolved by the parties involved. If the case is deemed valid based on the information associated with it, the judges will put forward a solution that fits the time and place, using previous cases and decisions as a guide.

Much like xeer, Saaniir law is compensatory instead of punitive. A couple exceptions to this exist, and almost exclusively deal with violent acts. For example, in the case of murder, the murderer is branded as such, exiled, and then their possessions are either auctioned off or given to the members of the person's household.

Every six years, each syndicate puts judges forward. Out of this pool of potential judges, only some are confirmed by the community.

Public Entertainment and Literature
A very popular form of public entertainment are debates and public discussions scheduled by local groups, and are free to attend. Participants for these debates are chosen ahead of time, but anyone can join in a discussion. Theater is also very popular, with the subject of plays typically being (dramatic) retellings of significant historical events or popular fictional stories.

As a result of the popularity of debate, persuasive literature and books on logical discourse are very popular. Historical and contemporary fiction are popular among all of the castes and are overall the most popular forms of literature. A common practice in the Saaniir civilization is to produce a copy of a book you enjoyed, whether by hand or by some other method, and give it to another person you know. Many books produced this way utilize calligraphy, and occasionally, these books are illuminated if the book was produced for an extraordinarily special occasion.

Architecture and Sculpture
Sculpture produced by the Saaniir civilization is usually architectural in purpose, and almost exclusively deals with the shaping of stone.

The Saaniir civilization displays two primary architectural practices. The first can be found in Nalab, which exhibits grand structures carved directly out of the face of the mountainside. The second is that of simple one or two floor buildings made of wood and brick, which can be seen in the cities where the terrain does not allow for the easy creation of larger stone structures.

Clothing
Members of the Saaniir civilization typically only wear simple, somewhat loose-fitting fabric trousers with myriad pockets fastened to the waist by a colorful strip of fabric. The abdomen is typically left uncovered as to display elaborate tattoos which can display a wide variety of information about that person. If the weather conditions are sufficiently poor, they also occasionally wear bulky boots or heavy coats.

Since the Ranira have no exposed genitalia, there are no stigmas associated with nudity. Clothing is worn almost entirely for its utility.

Cooking
Unlike many other species, the Ranira sense of taste is almost nonexistent with the exception of being quite sensitive to naturally occurring toxins present in plants that grow across Continent 8. As a result of this, the smell and appearance of food is valued very highly, and eating is almost entirely a social event instead of something to be done solely for the enjoyment of food itself.

Food is always prepared in an area separate from where it is eaten to avoid contamination. As a result, houses have a dedicated location for eating food, and preparing it.

Tattoos
In the Saaniir civilization, tattoos serve as a major way for individuals to identify themselves. As a result, they typically display a wide variety of information about a person, including significant accomplishments in their profession, their household's icon, and occasionally, information about their lineage.

Tattoos are usually bilaterally symmetric, and made by scarification. Tattoos are made by removing skin where the tattoo will be, and the pale tissue that grows back make the markings very easy to distinguish from normal skin. While the area where the skin was removed is healing, the wound is kept clean with the regular application of a saline solution.

Gender Roles and Sexuality
Due to the fact that the Ranira are hermaphrodites, there are no gender roles or concept of gender like there are with other species. When an individual is in heat, they are directed to a location in the town or city they are currently in to await a mate. The eggs they lay, and the hatchlings that come from the eggs are raised with the help of the entire household of the individual they're in.

Economics
Within the Saaniir civilization, business is done entirely by cooperatives. These are businesses that are owned entirely by its employees, and its interests represent its employees' interests. Aside from how they are organized though, businesses in the Saaniir civilization are not much different than businesses in other societies with market-based economies.

Public services like the public bathhouses are maintained by a variety of methods ranging from membership fees to donations to money collected from people's wills. A person can specify that they wish to donate a portion of their money either in their possession or money produced by selling possessions of theirs that they did not specify in their will to a charitable organization of their choosing.

Agriculture
Most farming is done by settlements generally not far from major cities, and are maintained by cooperatives. The most common crops grown in all regions of Continent 8 include hardy crops like peanut and flax. In the warmer climate of the northern regions of Continent 8, fruit trees and other crops that cannot survive the seasonal extremes further south are very common. These settlements are not self-sufficient, are typically run by farming cooperatives, and rely on their parent city for many supplies.

Since the Ranira cannot digest things like meat and milk, animals are only bred to help transport heavy loads and assist with farming.

The Saaniir civilization is also widely known for the production of bee-related products. In fact, beekeeping is ubiquitous in the Saaniir civilization, with many households having their own small apiary used to produce a small amount of honey, or for pollinating flowers. Almost every farming settlement also tends to have an extensive setup to help with crop yields and also for selling bee-related products.

Manufacturing
The Saaniir civilization is a leader in the production of stone, literature, and advanced technological goods, including things like the Nalab glowbulb, which is essentially a lightbulb that operates with the aid of magic.

Trade and Transportation
Within the civilization, most trade occurs between the various cities, and is generally meant to keep cities running. For example, if a city is running low on fabrics, and they cannot easily increase their production of them, they may trade with another city for something they may need.

Due to the location of Continent 8, all external trade is conducted through shipments on boats built for incredibly long journeys across the massive ocean that isolates the continent from the rest of the world.

Religion
The dominant religion in the Saaniir society is a nontheistic religion they refer to as The Path Among Stones, a set of moral and philosophical teachings first compiled in a book by the same name.

Theology and Beliefs
Since the religion lacks gods or any similar divine figures, the concept of divinity in the religion is considerably different from those that do have gods. For practicers of The Path, their idea of divinity is best described as an intangible force that permeates all things, maintaining harmony in the world. They believe that their part in the world is the maintenance of this "force" through maintaining personal balance and collective harmony.

More specifically, they believe that in order for someone to play their part in maintaining the "force," there are elements of balance in oneself that should be maintained, so that they may behave justly in the community. This helps the community find balance, productivity, and happiness. It does, however, acknowledge the competing needs of the individual and the community, and the tension between the two. The teachings of The Path address this by asserting the importance of swiftly resolving conflicts, no matter how small, and that the betterment of the community benefits both the individual and its members.

Structure
The Saaniir religion is devoid of any central structure, but in each city numerous temples exist, each featuring a depiction of the author of The Path, which they usually refer to as "The Balance." Regular services are held in the temples by the members of the local syndicate that maintains them. During these services, teachings from The Path are discussed. When there are no services going on, a lectern containing a copy of The Path is available for anyone to read.

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