Ancient Moigthe

This article is an outline of the society and customs of the Ancient Moigthe which flourished until the Yophenthean Conquest of Pytharnia. Some customs persist to this day, but by far, the Ancient Moigthe Civilization has passed away into legend and history.

Depiction of an Ancient Moigthe Warrior

Social Status

• The Moigthe place a great deal of value on personal ability—this is an important factor in measuring unofficial social status—war and poetry are crucial.

• Official social ranks include one’s tribe and familial status. The Eabh Lahoir, descended from the craft god, Mamuhan, the Amosgirts, descended from the god Smidgurt, and others deemed demi-mortals were considered the de facto nobles of the Moigthe Tribes. The King Mehailgisionneabh was grandson of the god Smidgurt, but not an Amosgirt.

• The wife has supreme social status within her household—her husband is considered the standing guest of honor.

• People of greater social status are expected to adorn themselves more richly or more flamboyantly.

• Social Classes of the Moigthe:
  • Royalty and Nobility
    • Priests—who must have some royal or noble blood
  • Free Moigthe
    • master freemen—have attained mastery at warfare, poetry, or a craft
    • common freemen
  • Outlaws [Anyone of Non-aristocratic blood who has been banished.]
  • Enslaved Moigthe
  • Non-Moigthe

Cultural Values

• The Moigthe love most in this order:

1. ability in warfare [sports and hunting can reflect this ability]
2. magical power—particularly as a means of gaining the others in this list
3. poetic ability: the gifts of wit and storytelling are highly prized
4. social power: influence, reputation, and many kinsfolk are valuable
5. wealth: wealth is considered of great worth, but only as it can provide the above.
6. ability to do a craft, especially artistic ability, is valued, but more so among the peasants than the nobles

Gender Roles

• Men are considered the leaders in war; women in household matters. Though exceptions exist, these are the norms. A wife is quite within her rights to arrange, direct, and otherwise control the expenses and affairs inside the home, even if they conflict with the husband’s implied wishes. The household goddesses are inherited from the wife’s side.
• The husband is free to leave and enter the home when he pleases—if the wife infringes on this, she’s saying she’s unfaithful. The wife is free to leave and enter the home when she pleases—if the husband infringes, he’s saying she’s a slave—and this is a great insult to her family which will result in retaliation.
• The wife is free to invite female guests as she chooses—if the husband infringes, he’s saying he’s impotent. She has no right to invite adult male guests (except her blood relatives)—if she does so, she’s saying she wants a divorce.
• The martial gods are inherited from the husband’s side. Outside the home, and very often inside, the father has direct control over the affairs of sons. The son is not legally his unless, he gives him a name. If the father refuses to name the son before the age of maturity, the child becomes the legal slave of the mother without any kinship rights.
• The mother has direct control over her daughters. She has complete say in the naming of daughters. She can also banish daughters from the household without the father’s consent. A son cannot be banished from the household without joint consent of both mother and father.
• The wife has virtually no direct control over sons, even when in the house, as they are considered under the protection of the father. She instead goads the daughters to taunt the sons, particularly with regard to martial prowess. This is mainly to get the sons to leave the household—a perfectly acceptable redress against naughty boys.
• If the husband’s profession is not war, then he may have a separate building for the practice of his craft. The wife’s household goddesses do not extend to this building, nor does her jurisdiction.
• If the wife is a warrior, then her roles vary. Her oldest daughter (or an unmarried younger sister) is the mistress of the house.

Slavery

• Only women may own household slaves.
• A woman may not purchase a slave—she can only receive them from her male relatives. If she purchases a slave, even through barter, she’s considered a brazen hussy.
• The more male slaves a woman owns, the more powerful she is considered. The more female slaves she owns, the richer she is considered.
• To get around the rule of ‘only women may own slaves,’ an Moigthe wife may assign a slave or slaves to her husband. Lecherous husbands, in turn may pay their female slaves symbolic coins to show they were not slaves. These coin-slaves would be housed outside the wife’s house, of course.

Warfare

• Taunting is a typical pre-battle activity. It’s how you pick out the bad guy you want to fight with. A taunt is essentially an elaborate challenge. Moigthe excel at taunting so much that they occasionally have taunting-matches during peace just to exercise the artform.
• It’s considered an honor to be the first one to taunt the enemy—and it’s a greater honor to receive that taunt—and still an even greater honor to accept that taunt.
• A ‘cool-tongue’ is a powerful warrior who happily accepts and bests all who taunt him.
• Refusing to reciprocate a taunt means that you accept the taunter’s challenge.
• It’s perfectly acceptable to accept the challenge of one who has less ability than you.
• Only a king may attack a king. If you (assuming you’re not a king) attack the enemy king, your own king is expected to put you to death. Often the term king can be extended to royalty in general. If your own king doesn’t not put you to death, he has personally insulted the enemy king.
• Employing a champion is considered a sign of weakness and tyranny. Employing members of one’s household or family, however, is perfectly acceptable—even if the application is the same as a champion.
• The Moigthe favor heroic warfare that focuses upon individual prowess.
• Ululating—different from taunting—is typical during an assault. A warrior develops his own peculiar cry.
• You wear colors and fashions that appropriately demonstrate your prowess in war. The more rich and elaborate, the more powerful you are. On the other hand, it’s perfectly tasteless to over-advertise or under-advertise your ability. These rules differ for wizards who prefer the least elaborate clothes.
• If your foe surrenders, he becomes your wife’s or oldest sister’s or mother’s slave. If your foe refuses to surrender, even when you’ve bested him, you may slay him with impunity or send him scuttling back to his leader or family.
• If you enslave a foe, all of his slaves (assuming he’s not Moigthe) go to whomever the enslaved foe now belongs. However, if any of the foe’s slaves are your relatives or wife’s relatives, they have the instantaneous right to freedom.

Courtesy

Introductions

• Ideally, the inferior should introduce his superior to others.
• When an inferior and a superior meet and nobody else is available to make introductions, the inferior is expected to approach the superior and introduce himself. This is perfectly acceptable. The inferior should boast about his primary strength. He’s considered pretentious if he does not. Wizards, however, are exempt from this custom.
• If you are introduced to an inferior, you should boast lightly about your primary strength—or if the inferior is greatly inferior, refrain from boasting at all. This is not modesty, but rather restraint that confirms your superiority.
• If the tribe or people of the one to whom you are introduced are at peace with each other, say something along the lines of, “may our household gods commune in harmony.”
• If the tribe or people of the one to whom you are introduced are at war with each other, say something along the lines of, “may your household gods be strong.” This suggests they will need strength to survive against your people’s onslaught.

Praise

• It’s considered proper to boast about one’s primary strength when meeting a new person—and the new person should reciprocate by boasting about his primary strength—unless a difference in social standing exists. You should pay attention to the boasting—it shows courtesy and friendship.
• Verbally praising a superior is considered bad-form, particularly in front of the said superior—a clear sign that you’re kissing up for favors.
• To praise properly a superior in person, you must ask him to demonstrate his ability or to teach you how to do what he is accomplished at in front of others.
• Bards and minstrels of course may praise a superior in his presence in the form of poetry.
• Generally, equals are expected to praise equals in the presence of others, particularly strangers.
• Putting one’s self-down can sometimes be seen as a false front—a sign that you’re faking weakness only to take advantage later.

Hosting-Guesting

• A guest must refrain from asking questions about anything unusual of a host—just pretend everything’s okay. If the guest must know, he should ask one of the servants or younger children outside of the house.
• On the other hand, a guest is supposed to ask questions about the usual aspects of a host or the household—this is a sign of interest and possibly gratitude.
• A guest should always ask for seconds of the host’s supper specialty—it is a form of praise, even if it’s not eaten.

Rules of Exchange

• ingratitude and lack of generosity, especially in rulers and hosts, are considered great social blunders
• refusing a gift is considered a great affront
• accepting a gift implies a debt to the giver
• to deflect a future debt through a received gift, one may simply reciprocate a gift of equal or greater value.

Miscellaneous

• A Finterling is a child of Elamahti - Human parentage.

Temperament and Values

• The Ancient Moigthe nobles value freedom and excellence in battle. They place a great prize on one's reputation.
• The Ancient Moigthe nobles are boisterous and love sport and hunting
• Ancient Moigthe commoners are less boisterous and have the best hope of improving their condition through deeds in battle or by pleasing their superiors.

Esthetics

• Moigthe prefer beauty over function, but not to excess
• Anything which is ugly is considered inferior in all ways, especially social class.
• Bright colors, and intricate patterns figure widely
• Pleasing shapes play an important role
• undulation, concentric circles, swelling shapes figure widely
• Moigthe place great emphasis on personal appearance

Grooming

Men

Ancient Moigthe men prefer great moustaches and to a lesser extent moustaches and beards; no adult Moigthe man is clean-shaven. Arm-bands, ear-rings, and torcs are perfectly acceptable adornments. Clothing consists of breeches, tunics, and sometimes over-tunics.

Women

Ancient Moigthe women wear adornments in their hair, ear-rings, bracelets, and even ankle-bracelets. They wear loose breeches and a long tunic with a wrap.

See Also

• Moigthe
• Witch-King