Caron

Redwoods, which can be found in large forests around the homeland of the Caron.

The Carona people (endonym: Caron lit: "the people") are the main inhabitants of the northwestern regions of Bacar (lit: "far-reaching land," the central northern continent) and the two major islands located just off of the coast of northwestern Bacar. The Caron are a mostly peaceful hunter-gatherer people, with numerous tribes scattered over the region.

Climate and Geography

Much of the region where the Caron live is relatively flat with various hills, especially on the islands, as well as farther into the interior of Bacar. The influence of the Bacref (lit: "far-reaching water," the name for the major ocean of the planet) keeps the temperature moderate year round, with average highs around 15° to 20°C during the summer, and around 5° to 15°C during the winter. Average rainfall is slightly higher in the winter, though there isn't much difference between the season's rainfall and the average rainfall is about 100mm per Earth month.

Native Life

Various types of trees can be round in the region, including redwoods (bacfan, lit: "far-reaching tree"), oaks (tactacfan, lit: "ball tree"), maples (ferfan, lit: "air tree"), Douglas firs (marpapfan, lit: "finger tree"), and western redcedars (simaifan, lit: "small tree"). The native names for these trees in most cases comes from a simpe description of their seeds, followed by fan, "tree."

Other plant life includes raspberries (intacpoc, lit: "many berries"), blueberries (lictacpoc, lit: "blue-berry") and huckleberries (zictacpoc, lit: "red-berry") as well as various other bushes (maifan, lit: "short tree"). Grass (armarpob, lit: "land hair") is rare, but occaisonally can be found in clearings.

The animal life in the forests includes elk and deer (ga), rabbits (sifercu, lit: "hopper"), skunks (sipomfed, lit: "stink animal"), various birds (ferfed, lit: "air animal"), lynxes (sa), cougers (simuesa, lit: "big lynx"), wolverines (cua), and bears (simuecua, lit: "big wolverine").

Resources

Wood is a major resource of the region due to the numerous large trees, and the surrounding ocean and the various rivers are full of fish (reffed, lit: "water animal") including trout (caor), and salmon (vupcaor, lit: "moving trout"). The various tribal medicines are crafted mainly from the plants of the region, and occasionally also use animal products. Various metal deposits are scattered thought the region, though the Caron currently have no use for it, aside from the occasional discovery of gold (muacboc, lit: "golden rock") nuggets in the rivers.

Appearance

The Caron have a relatively Asian appearance, with course, dark, straight hair, ranging in color from medium brown to black. Both genders usually wear their hair to around slightly below the level of the neck, with the daoqon (shaman) having much longer hair, often braided, reaching all the way down their back. The Caron's eyes have epicanthic folds and usually are bark brown, almost black, or brown, though hazel eyes are possible. Their noses are small, and they also have prominent cheekbones, with noticeable fat around the cheek area. Skin colors ranges from moderately light to moderately tan, and average height is around 164cm for men and 160cm for women.

Diet

The Caron have a hunter-gather society, and they mainly eat the various berries that grow in the region, including raspberries, blueberries and huckleberries, as well as occasional deer or elk, rabbits, and birds. Fish, mainly trout, though also other fish such as salmon and various other seafood including crabs (inpurreffed, lit: "many legged fish") and clams (bocreffed, lit: "rock fish"), are also a large part of the Caron's diet.

Structures

Most buildings are made out of the wood of redcedars, and are built out of large planks of the wood, in a style similar to that of the plankhourses of the Pacific Northwest Native Americans. The design of the main type of building is similar to the longhouses of eastern Native Americans, and is called a muedef (lit: "long-house"). Carmuedef have a main lower level with wooden screens separating the muedef into rooms, where everyone in a village lives, as well as a simple second level consisting of mats where people sleep. Usually a village has a handful of smaller cardef, usually one room, where firewood is stored, or where food is smoked. These outbuildings usually have covered walkways connecting them to the muedef, allowing firewood to be transported without it getting wet, even in a storm.

Culture and Religion

The main person in a village, and the closest thing to a village chief, is the daoqon (shaman). The daoqon is normally one of the oldest people in the village, and they are in charge of the medicine in the village, as well as communicating with the cardaocu (spirits) that are believed to be present thoughout the entire world. The daoqo communicates with the cardaocu though the use of fire, as well as song and dance, often alongside most of the rest of the village. Additionally, the daoqon has a younger partner, who the daoqon teaches and raises, and who will become the next daoqon once the original dies. The cardaocu have two main groups, the carrandaocu, which are the spirits of nature, including the trees, water, sun, moon, sky, and land, and the carrundaocu, which are the spirits of dead ancestors. If the cardaocu are kept happy, they will help the people, while if they are displeased, they will go out of the way to cause the people problems.

Rituals

There are 5 major rituals done by the Caron: the Nucpas, the Naccupas, the Nacdaoqonpas, the Vupcaorpas, and the Runpas. The Nucpas celebrates the birth of a new baby, the Naccupas is the choosing of the younger partner of the daoqon, the Nacdaoqonpas celebrates the naming of the new daoqon, the Vupcaorpas celebrates the annual return of the salmon to the streams, and the Runpas honors the newly deceased.

Organization

Each village has around 100 or so people, and villages are normally widely spaced. Most of the population lives along the coasts of the islands or the Bacar, though many do extend farther inland along the numerous rivers in the area. War is relatively rare due to strong ties between others of their people, and most "wars" bear more relation to mock hunting battles, with one tribe taking the role of the hunter, and attacking the other with fake weapons such as large rolled up leaves, often fashioned to resemble real weapons. Then later the two tribes would switch rolls, and the "hunted" tribe would attempt to remain unseen by the "hunters." Ties are weaker between a tribe and other tribes on different landmasses, and any battles between tribes on different islands are likely to be actual battles, though these rarely occur due to the distances involved, not many tribes are large enough to sustain overseas battles.

Clothing

Most Caron clothing is relatively simple, with both genders wearing the same thing: A skirt, or a dress in cooler weather, made out of the fluffy seeds of a cottonwood-like tree (mapfan, lit: "clothing tree"), often along with a rawhide belt. This clothing is usually simply designed, due to a relative lack of cottonwood seeds most of the year requiring it to preserved, and is also normally uncolored, though some elders may have lightly coloring clothing. However, the daoqon's clothing is often highly colored, though it retains the lack of other decoration of the other's clothing. Shoes are made out of rawhide as well in a moccasin-like design, though they are normally only worn in the winter.