Humans - Reed People

The Reed people are very clearly Human, with what can be called ‘Asian’ features of yellowish tan skin, short, muscular builds, and generally straight black hair. Their eyes are often strikingly green, yellow, and sometimes extremely deep violet brown. With smooth and even features, they are often considered the most beautiful of Humans, even if they’re hardly ever seen outside their own territory.

The Reed folk tend gardens, and raise crops, and never eat meat from terrestrial or arboreal animals. They are known to eat fish, insects and sometimes eggs (of both avians and reptiles, provided they know they’re unfertilized), as well as taking milk from semi-domesticated goats and burden beasts. They make a wonderful cheese, and are known to harvest honey from extensive bee hives. They do not, however, fully domesticate animals for use in food or work – their belief is that if something comes to them, they should treat it with the respect and adoration it is due, and that is usually returned to them. They are remarkably skilled in animal husbandry, and anyone who didn’t know better would believe that their animals behave the way they do because they are fully domestic. They definitely are not. Reed folk won’t necessarily go out of their way to ‘scare off’ an animal that becomes too dependant on their crops or treats, but they don’t encourage them to hang out all the time either.

Even though they aren’t domesticated, many of the hoofed animals that live on the mountains and hills of the area provide the Reed People with discarded wool, which they often collect (sometimes it’s hard to avoid, when those things shed it’s like a snowstorm of fluff). They use what little they need, pack up the rest and send it to a variety of other cultures around the world.

Their culture centers around music, poetry, and philosophy. The Reed peoples’ religion is that of honor and study of life in general, and harmony both physical and emotional. Their music supports all of those things and more, each epic opera or ballad celebrating life, or expressing their happiness at allowing others into their hearts.

While in general they have soft speaking voices and hardly ever raise them in anger, they are known as marvelous singers, and have an almost supernatural ability with pitch. Their sense of hearing is perhaps more attuned than other Humans but aside from a cultural expectation of good pitch they are not abnormal in any way. They do have a touch of psionic power which they use to assist their planting and crafts – their weavings are just as soft as silk, but they wouldn’t dare kill silk worms for it, preferring the soft fibers from certain plants made into long thread with their power; their homes also are built with enough energy to keep them from falling or collapsing.

Though they are pacifists to an extreme, they do practice a form of exercise very similar to tai-chi, martial arts are clearly strong from their history. While dancing, they often employ every technique from this exercise, and if the dance is energetic enough it can seem like a form of parkour. None of these exercises and dances are done to ‘impress the ladies’; quite the opposite, they’re intended to tell stories and express feelings.

Romance among the Reed people is a very complex thing. While it is not expressly forbidden, premarital sex is discouraged strongly – and having a child out of a marriage is enough to have a pair disowned by their respective families (yes, both are seen as equally responsible, not just the girl), and dedication to one’s partner is essential. Women among this society are valued as the backbone of a family, and if they are unhappy the whole family is unhappy. But the way to a woman’s heart is not merely saying ‘yes dear’ and giving her flowers now and then, and certainly not by buying her from her family. A woman expects a prospective husband to be gentle, polite, well-read, and have at least one song written to her by him. That last is probably most important – the quality of love songs is something that women can compare and contrast while they do their sewing and weaving. It has happened in the past that a woman will find a man so amazing that she herself begins to court him, though this is rare.

Women are more responsible for recording and making sure musicians have their proper paperwork, rather than composition, but it is hardly unheard of to have a female composer. Equal numbers of women and men are singers while most physical performers are male, and the musicians are often men. Their vocal range is staggering, but still split with men’s voices able to hit lower tones, and women reaching higher.

Though they are pacifists and definitely abhor violence they are not above simple, quick discipline, and a good swift swat to the rear is common when a child misbehaves. However, they would never use drastic physical punishment on criminals, and this fact is well known among pirates and thieves around the world. Making it past the Reed folk into the Wind Kingdom is dangerous but possible, and allows those who have committed crimes to continue living on even though they are sought after by their own cultures. The Reed people will not actively hide criminals, but they will never, ever point out where they are, if still among their village homes. That said, it is usually easy to locate someone who looks out of place.

With the knowledge that the Reed people will offer a sort of sanctuary, comes the caveat that those who are helped will remain at least a short time to help with a harvest, build a wall or do whatever they can – and listen to the songs of their philosophy. Though it is rare, there are those criminals who have converted to the Reed way, and gone on to serve their time in their own culture to return to the Reed people later. These are usually accompanied by a Reed representative in order to make sure that the punishment is ‘suitable’ as well as guarantee their return to the Land of the Reeds. Murderers or rapists are not generally given this treatment, more shunned and not really chased away but certainly not respected nor welcomed with open arms. Though they are soft hearted and loving, the Reed people are not stupid.

They know that the rest of the world often sees them as cowardly or weak, but they are unlikely to seek any kind of reversal of this attitude. Of all the people around the world, the Reed folk are least likely to become ‘adventurers’, though they may wind up hosted in a royal keep listening to and making notes on any interesting tales or songs told about others. Their politics are all extremely careful and almost painfully honest: they don’t tolerate lies from those who make claims and cannot follow through with them, but the shame associated with failure is often enough to keep their leaders on the level. They are exclusively democratic, though their history tells of a Kingdom and monarchy, likely a hold over from their early arrival to Dragondeep.

Their hanging and stilt-borne towns are good enough for generation upon generation, and hardly any Reed people leave their homes to travel. Some make a pilgrimage to the Isle of the Blessed Idols or even the Celestial Wyrm’s Rebellion, Forgotten Dream is also on their agenda. It is known that of the sages and experts living on the Forbidden Mountain, at least a portion of them are Reed people.

Well-known Reed People of the Era

(none at present)