Kathar: Difference between revisions

==Families==

===Childhood===

Kathar childhood is, at best, complicated. The Kathar do not have any concept of “Family”. There is no such thing as marriage or matrimony. Even more incomprehensible is the fact that many Kathar simply don’t want children, or reject children the moment they are born. Within Kathar society, the concept of parentage has nothing to do with biological parents, but rather who taught a Kathar how to best be a Kathar. Kathar who still raise their own biological children are not uncommon, but they are not the majority. Six out of ten Kathar children are rejected by their parents as a burden, and sent to so-called “Future Houses”. Future Houses are essentially orphanages (a Kathar invention) where children are given very basic education until they are picked up by new guardians. The act of adopting a child (which the Kathar call Wardenship) is actually very widespread. Numerous Kathar are single, and adopt a whole slew of children, sometimes for nefarious purposes, such as building a child-raised bodyguard, or adopting future gladiators. It is however not impossible to find caring and loving parents. Especially old female-oriented Kathar adopt a lot of children to raise the next generation, and are dotingly called “Sweet-Matrons” (though they can also be brutal with tough love). Blood connections therefore don’t really matter to Kathar, what matters is who raised you, and who you were raised with. Generally speaking, Kathar children are raised roughly with a lot of tough love and sometimes neglect, leaving them to learn the ropes themselves. 

Kathar adulthood can best be described as wild. Kathar society is one massive group of self-serving people who all strive to do whatever they want regardless of the consequences (except for the Cult of Reason). As such, Kathar in the homeland steal, destroy, and give in to their desires in whatever measure they like. Kathar live as long as Altalar, but often die much faster because of violence inflicted on them by other Kathar, or because they were drunk and challenged the wrong bar fighter, or jumped off a building while high on opiates. The Dread Empire would barely function if it wasn’t for the Kathar offloading their menial labor onto slaves, and using Demons and Magic for everything else. Also helpful is their love for war and carnage, driving them to join the military for no pay at all besides the blood of their foes.  

Kathar romance is seen as debauched by outsiders, but there are a couple of core concepts to understand before a bigger picture becomes clear. The Kathar lack the very social construct of gender. They recognize sex, but the Kathar language doesn’t have a common term for “man” or “woman”. They instead categorize based on “Firm” and “Fluid”, which roughly translate to masculine and feminine, but have no actual definition because a female presenting Kathar can also be firm if they engender more masculine qualities. Firm is attributed to physical bulk, roughness, loudness and bluster, while Fluid is attributed to fitness, sensuality, softness and elegance. A person is never just one or the other but a mixture of both. When confronted with foreign gender structures, Kathar just say they “want to be all the Genders”, and skip over the topic. Beyond this, Kathar do not have a concept of monogamy either. That being said, it’s not nonexistent through happenstance or jealousy. Kathar (while mostly polyamorous or polygamous in nature) are also immensely envious. Most Kathar as such prefer not to be killed by their lover, and so go to painful lengths to avoid adultery or ending a relationship on bad terms. Generally speaking, Kathar like to experiment beyond their comforts in romance, but can also be very strict in saying upfront what they want from their partner and just turning and leaving if they don’t get it straight away.

==Politics==

==Fashion==