Jiinalese

Jiinalese

The Jiinalese have a tanned skin tone and are primarily blond.

Given Names

• However, according to the tradition of your people, your name is dead. It cannot be reclaimed no matter how much you wish it. If you return home, it cannot be as who you once were.*

The Jiinalese have use names. The name they use publicly is different from the one given by their parents. They only share their true name with someone deeply important to them.
Names are important to the Jiinalese. If a name is declared dead, it is the same as if a person was killed. A dead name cannot be reclaimed and will be struck from the records, effectively making it as if that person had never existed.
Jiinalese names aren't gendered unlike the rest of An'katerr.

Surnames

The Jiinalese don’t use surnames, but to avoid confusion they will use their place of origin in place of one.
EX: Valaktisho of Coral Bay

Customs and Culture

Baths should be pure water and not sullied with additives. There isn’t a single person of Jiinalese descent who would willingly choose to add oils or other scents to their baths. They see it as blasphemous.
The people can be a bit surly but the scenery is lovely. Some of the sunsets, especially in the late autumn, are quite spectacular.
Large noses are seen as the peak of beauty while small noses are undesirable.
Saunas are a popular way to relax. An invitation to go to a sauna is a good sign.
Shoes are never worn indoors.
Don’t point with your feet.

Romance

Same sex affections are accepted.

Shells are the most commonly exchanged romantic tokens among the Jiinalese. Mainlanders often misunderstand these gifts, however. Gifting a shell of any kind is an invitation to a casual relationship. Shells are commonly found on the many beaches of the islands and as such are seen as appropriate to a casual or temporary liaison. Pearls are given if they want a more meaningful relationship.

They offer each other tokens made of shell, whale bone, or shark teeth to signify their affections.

Family

Among the nobility, the birth of a son merits a gift of a decorative weapon of some kind while the birth of a daughter is often celebrated with a gift of jewelery, though in some cases a gift of fancy fabric is given instead.
Unless you’re gifting a family member, a gift of a sharp object is considered unlucky.
Families have different heirlooms that they pass down but nothing is standard.

Funerals

Grey is the colour of mourning, but only worn by widows mourning their husbands. Everyone else wears black.
During a funeral, candles are floated on the ocean along with the body of the deceased as a way to light their way down the the underworld where they will join Kal Valorn. It’s similar to a custom practiced by the Zalites.

Language

As well as having a language different from what's spoken in the other 4 countries, they have a style of calligraphy unlike anything used elsewhere. This calligraphy is primarily used to write names, but before the Beginning of Days it was their primary writing system. Members of the Imperial House are still taught this system of writing alongside the modern alphabet.
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Food

It's a custom in Jiinal to serve guests and family members the best parts of the meal. Only after the diners are fed and enjoying themselves does the head of the house take anything for themselves.
Jiinalese food relies heavily on products from the sea. Flavours tend to be more subtle as they don’t often use strong spices, relying more on the food’s natural flavouring.

It is poor manners to discuss personal relationships or business at the dinner table.

Fefey – a desert made with paper thin pastry wrapped around crushed nuts mixed with thick cream.
Liola nuts
Jarua sauce
Krelai fish - its meat has a slightly sweet flavour to it. Often served with a slightly bitter tan coloured sauce called sauuna.
Valaris seeds
Sea wine - an ingredient in sauuna
Sauuna - a slightly bitter tan coloured sauce. It was a difficult dish to prepare properly as the ingredients for the sauce needed to be precisely measured and cooked. If the measurements were off, even a little it tasted wrong. Even worse, if it had been cooked too hot or not hot enough or even for too long or not long enough it could go horribly wrong. 

Water

Each town has a well that is considered sacred. This well is different than the one that they use for their drinking water. It’s always well decorated and watched over by a pair of priests to reflect Kal Valorn’s dual aspects. Residents regularly make offerings at this well but nothing may be put into the water so that it remains pure.

Clothing

It's fasionable to have long legs, and so a number of fashions have been vreated to emphazise that feature.