Alicornutopia

This is a worldbuilding thread for the planet of Viath, home to the Midheia, a species of lizard people, who speak Tamadh, my best-developed conlang.

Ask me about lizard sociology! I'm very proud of my lizard sociology!

Pronunciation guides forthcoming.

I have made two attempts at constructing the Tamadh alphabet. Some symbols of this alphabet are more definite than others.

Well these forthcoming pronunciation guides be usable by people with mammalian vocal apparatuses?

Pronunciation Guide

Here I will pronounce things in Tamadh. Filling things in slowly because my recording software is frustrating and obnoxious.

Names

• Fánw Dýhälâ Náhréì (Pine Shadows Archway)
• Téìthó Têléìlâ Nênîsté (Journey Truthward Book)
• Náìânór Êmâdáìn Sâvêrâ (Subtle Breath Orbit)
• Îmíár Séréìdâ Áltéìn (Constant Symmetry Vision)
• Íkírît Mádán Áìhár (Sturdy Metal Hammer)
• Sárâl Tíhrát Sâvêrâ (Intricate Speech Orbit)
• Éìmálé Míhránäu Sâvêrâ (Blossoming Flower Orbit)
• Éìdáì Míádäu Sâvêrâ (Incandescent Ember Orbit)
• Kóráví Lésírâ Tétán
• Nésán Íténâ Nédhîm (Veiling Mist Snow)

DanielH wrote:Well these forthcoming pronunciation guides be usable by people with mammalian vocal apparatuses?

Yes. While I'm procrastinating on recording any more samples, there's also this.

I'm not sure how to ask about sociology I as yet know nothing about.

Yeah, that's a point.

So, one of the major lizard sociology things I'm proud of is the related concepts of the kéìnâ and something I've been calling "lizard marriage" because I haven't settled on a Tamadh word for it.

I might translate "keina" as "clan" or "guild" or "family" or "association". In all those names up there, the third word in the name is the person's keina.

There is no, or at least negligible, cultural pressure on Viath towards a child's biological parents having a major role in their upbringing. Instead of being raised in small family units, children are raised communally in the keina whose name they bear. You usually retain ties to your birth keina throughout your life, but might live and study with another one for extended periods if you're interested in their specialization - e.g. Dyhala and Teitho meet while Teitho is studying architecture with the Nahrei.

Keina have specializations, usually related to the literal meaning of the keina's name. Nahrei "Archway" is primarily about architecture. Neniste "Book" does libraries. Savera "Orbit" does orbital maintenance, ensuring that the planet's orbit and rotation remain consistent down to tiny fractions of a second so their calendar never needs adjustment. Altein "Vision" does art. Aihar "Hammer" does construction and manufacturing. Nedhim "Snow" does weather manipulation, and they're a small keina located in a cold climate. (The bigger keina with populations in the thousands often have multiple locations in different cities, but the tiny ones with 50-500 people generally have only one.)

When Midheia have children, they decide which parent's keina the child will be raised in, often before the child is born. The child will know who their biological parents are, and might even be close with them, but the parent has no formal authority over the child's life - that's all in the hands of the keina's child-caretakers.

So that's keina. Lizard marriage is separate but related.

Obviously, the idea of marriage as a childrearing partnership does not make sense in the cultural context of Viath. So, while they do have a way to legally and socially acknowledge committed partnerships, it doesn't have much to do with your reproductive choices. It also isn't considered fundamentally romantic or sexual in nature. You can lizard marry your best friend. It's not surprising to learn that a given lizard marriage involves sex and/or romance, but it's also not surprising to learn that it doesn't. (Incidentally, this is the perfect type of socially acknowledged partnership for a Lazarus and a Kolya. They can make their commitment explicit without disclosing its exact details!)

Are there other forms of intelligent life on your lizards' world? How would they react to finding the Federation once they figure out Warp, if Warp was a thing in the 'verse?

They're originally from Sunnyverse, although they could be imported to other worlds with fairly little fuss as long as there was a way to get their magic system working there. In Sunnyverse they are by design the only intelligent life in their dimension - Viath was settled by an alliance of assorted Midheia fleeing unspecified trouble, and they picked a destination that didn't have preexisting sapients or proto-sapients.

I have been prompted to discuss Viath's Highly Functional Cultural Defaults!

In general, what I aim for with the society of Viath is that it's not literally perfect, but it works and it doesn't need fixing on any deep level.

The cultural understanding of law and ethics on Viath is centered around four virtues, four duties, and four rights, as follows:

Virtues

• Love: Cultivate kindness and compassion for self and others, close relationships with people one cares for
• Honour: Act with integrity, keep promises, consider consequences
• Truth: Seek true understanding, do not deceive
• Beauty: Create beautiful things

Duties

• Self-advocate: Protect one's own rights
• Protect: Protect the rights of others
• Keep order: Maintain an orderly society
• Conserve: Do not commit or allow unnecessary destruction

Rights

• Free: Able to make uncoerced choices
• Content: Finding one's life and circumstances acceptably pleasant
• Secure: Accurately expecting not to be harmed, stolen from, etc.
• Alive: Alive and in good health to the extent desirable/possible

Virtues are nouns, duties are verbs, rights are adjectives. It's a thing.

On the whole, people follow this system and it works really well for them. Crime is not unheard-of, but it's rare, and violent crime even more so.