Welcome to Gaia! ::

A brief introduction.

Deep in the forest in what must have once been a human city of some kind there is a strange sight....

At the outer edges there are foxes farming using their paws to dig up land, and their mouths to carry seeds and fruits and growing things where ever the forest lets light through. Of course there are more foxes coming in from the grasslands so there must be more farmers that way too. There dens are sometimes in the earth, some times in trees, and sometime, just sometimes in human buildings.

Further in there is a hustle and bustle of foxes are coming and going. There always seems to be something going on, yet the homes are part crumbled and taken over by the forest that seems to have grown right over top of the city. Some buildings have more plants on them then actual wall showing out. Some how there is enough space for most everyone to find a den. Those that don't sleep in the shade of doorways or under trees.

Even further into the city you realize that you've only seen the markets. Where a farming fox is trading his fruit for fish from a fishing fox, or meat from a hunter. Others who have no place to sleep agree to work a day's labor, gathering, or hunting or whatever in exchange for a safe place in the family den for the night. Turning away from the loud boisterous nose and following the path that must have been what a human calls a road you take to looking at the ruins the human's left behind. Looking down a street can see some slums where the buildings are worse and the foxes seems a bit shadier. Passing that street and others like it by.. You look up and see a large wall.

Following the wall you meet a pair of stern looking deavas that tell you commoners are not allowed any further. Well you have no option to proceed since you notice a few more firm looking deavas and phims on the top of a the wall cringing at you.

Welcome to what Tzarans have dubbed "the embassy"

Story So Far:
Tzara is a rather strange society. It seems to be more a collective of tribes (only in Tzara they are called Houses)They have twelve greater noble Houses, and 13 lesser noble Houses, and a bunch of 'commoners'. There is a temple attached to each great House. The temple priests have the power over the council formed the former leaders (or heads) of each of the greater Houses. The council members arrange marriages of the greater nobles to prevent inbreeding and strengthen House ties. In order to keep fresh blood in the noble's line quite often a greater noble will pair with a lesser noble. The entire system is ripe to be polluted and corrupted,... and eventually that's what happened. Of course rebellion leads to death of ones self and entire family so an uprising was out of the question.

Hoping to escape their own harsh land a number of foxes decided to start moving here to what they call the outerworld. Some of these foxes are nobles, and some commoners. All of whom left or were forced out for their own reasons. Still they are all in fact foxes and as such prone to follow their own ways of life from before they left their home. Please bear with them. Even if they seem a bit.. well rude.

Finding a place to settle much like the land they left the Tzarans began in their folly to build the very type of place they had just escape. Unable to break with their past instead what should have become an independent tribe became an embassy of sorts. Eventually they sent word back home to their own land and after many many months of negotiation the newly dubbed "embassy" and the Tzaran homeland reached a sort of truce where they can tolerate each others existence. Tzaran foxes go back and forth between their land and this quite little embassy.

Foxes from other places besides Tzara can come and Tzaran foxes can meet them. It is also a chance for Tzaran foxes to meet strange outworlder foxes and get to know them and this new land.

Many Tzaran foxes use this as a chance to flee their land and find mates or tribes of their own. Others may use this excuse to rub up against Tzaran foxes and perhaps enter their respective Houses, though why anyone would marry into a strange culture is beyond this one's knowledge. Still to each their own.

How to Id a possible Noble (all of whom Reo does know by the by so play nice and don't make me hunt you down if you try to pass a fox off as one without clearing it with me.)
Only certain houses are allowed certain symbols. If marrying into a new House another symbol is added. Children of unknown affairs do not get the symbol unless the House member who sired them brings them in.

The greater houses have numbers tattooed on them or placed into their clothing.

The lesser houses have symbols.

Commoners have whatever they want as long as it is not the symbols the nobles have.

Guests of the embassy:

Customs of the land where they come for marriage This is not a mating thread this is so you know what Tzaran courting is like:

Tzara. A land of prosperity or at least so it would seem. There are two separate classes of nobles in Tzara. The twelve greater Houses and thirteen lesser Houses. These Houses are ruled over by the council who seem to be the power in the land. The real power the council doesn’t have is with the heads of the temples that seem to enjoy preaching and twisting others about their paws.

The council arranged for marriages to keep intermarrying amongst the nobles to nonresistant levels. There are entire foxes that are devoted to the sole purpose of remembering family trees and lineages. Many of the council members are old foxes that were at one point in time House heads.

-In order to keep new blood in the houses the greater nobles may marry the foxes of the lesser houses and the lesser fox is then considered a greater noble for marrying into the House.

-The lesser house marriages are more ignored by the council and the Head of the lesser house may approve the marriage of a fox from a different lesser house.. or a commoner provided the commoner shows enough aptitude to be a noble.

-The only way for a greater noble to marry a commoner is to the noble to have a House head of a lesser House take in the commoner and have the commoner prove their worth as a lesser noble. Then once the fox is a lesser noble the greater noble fox may petition the council for permission to marry the now lesser noble, once commoner, fox. This rarely ever happens and can only happen if the greater noble has already done their ‘duty’ and has an heir in place via a proper council pairing.

The priests are a corrupt lot who take it on themselves to do what is best for the nation. All of the greater Houses pay homage to individual temples. There are thirteen temples in all. The temple priests therefore have access to the nobles and can mold them so as future council members they obey the will of the temples. Those who disobey the priests tend to be picked out and secluded subject to ‘special’ conditioning until they see the ‘error’ of their ways. Sadly many nobles do follow the ways of the temple and are therefore less kind and understanding of those under them in rank.

Marriage for 'commoner' foxes is far easier. They exchange either flowers or feathers and are considered a couple.

Outerworld foxes are considered very strange in the land, and treated with suspicion and distrust save by the more kinder more understanding foxes, which more often or not are commoners, or truly noble nobles.

TLDR
• Priests are corrupt S.O.B.s in power.
• Two levels of nobles and the common folk (12 great noble houses, 13 lesser noble houses)
• Council members pick marriages for the ‘greater nobles’ so no intermarrying
• Marrying up increases status
• Greater nobles may marry other greater nobles or lesser nobles.
• Less noble may marry lesser nobles or commoners if their House head says yes.
• Crap ton o’ work to have a commoner marry a greater noble.

How to come visit: