Life in Classical Asharia (c.1000 AD-1600 AD), an Account

This a first-hand account of what life in Classical Asharia, although on the very tail end of that period (recounted in 1704). The person whom the account belongs to was a member of the Scharin Zhun (Tribe), living around a part of the Centeral coast of the island. That particular area of the country had a temperate climate and foliage of light Chernil (similar to Beech) tree forests. His Zhun was traditionally a farming and seafaring one, probably the largest and most influential tribe which had not yet joined any larger tribal confederacy. It is one of the best accounts of life in Classical Asharia at that time period we have. The speech is translated into Modern English.

I am a member of the Scharin Zhun. We have been inhabiting the coastal area for a very long time-we say for a million moons so far. We have historically been one of the most powerful seafaring Zhuns on Ashar. Nowadays, I am not sure if we will survive. That is sad, and I hope a great deal (that) our traditional practices will not be lost forever, so I am recounting my experience to you.

Now, it is important to remember that we are a seafaring people. Our lives revolve around the sea-the men's do at least. The distinction between the roles of men and women are important in our society. Men often spent most of their lives at the sea, or in a discipline related to seafaring, like boat making or cartography. Some are also scribes. Or else they are farmers. Althoug a few will be priests and that is seen as necessary, the jobs of most men are not related to the spirit. Woman, on the other hand, may also work in farming, but some of them are then the priests and prophets of the country, those who deal in appeasing the Gods and upholding the guidelines and rules of the universe. Well, men can be priests to.

I was lucky, I was one of those chosen to be a seafarer. Not only that, but I was chosen to be a cartographer and navigator. Most seafarers are fishers. I was not. I was tasked with navigating my ship to the many locations common for us to pillage and trade at, and mapping those areas in greater detail. This was a rather difficult and even dangerous job in my time, so I was honored to often be chosen to do it. Most of my trips were to the North of the area, although when I was young I went down South-all the way to the island you now call Trinidad, in fact. Many of my trips were made to Kalat (Greenland). This was a rather difficult and even dangerous job, so I was honored to often be chosen to do it. If I had been a seafarer in earlier times, I think I would have preferred to travel down to the Marish (tropical areas) and the Maya, but so many of the Danem already lived in that area by my time, that we were largely reduced to trading in the North-perhaps an irony, considering that previously Danem (Colonizers/French/Spanish/Vikings) had only been known to have lived in the North-although not nearly at an amount so intensive as the new Danem in the South now do.

My first trip was made perhaps fifty years ago. A long time, fifty years is. It was just a little one-I did not have the experience or endurance at that time to go for any longer. It was up to the island you call Newfoundland. We scouted its coast and tried to trade with the English fishermen-they weren't as centeralized as some of the other Damen. We succeeded with some of them-we used candied fruit for the exchange-but clashed with others. You see, they didn't trust us, because they had heard negative stuff about us from the French beforehand. So that was a lesson for us, to avoid them next time. Now I'd just like to note that, while other tribes would raid the continentals, we wouldn't. We would only trade with them. I was on the ship as I was doing an apprenticeship (training), so I mostly did easy, somewhat simple work while observing the other working and having them guide me over what they were doing. We didn't go any further-after the exchange, we navigated back down to Asharia. When we got back on shore, we went to the hall of the Zash. The Zash is made up of two people from our Zhun, a man and a woman, who are our leaders. They manage disputes, give out orders and directions and act as miliary commanders if we are at war with other another tribe. Their hall is not where they live technically, but it is where spent most of their day-their workplace, I suppose, but it is more significant to the rest of the Zhun than that. It is a building made out of wood, unlike many of the other houses which are made out of Raschtem plant. In it, the two Leaders sit on special thrones. We reported to them about our journey.

I made trips like that one, progressively getting longer, for about five years, as training for my future role on the ship. Eventually, we went on our first Explorative Journey, which is a large journey you make for the purpose of discovery.

Now, in terms of religion. This is a difficult subject because my Zhun had already had many of its practices influenced by Christianity. But I knew what the religion was like before that, so I will tell you about that. There were, first of all, seen to be two worlds, or Substances. There was the material one, and the immaterial one. And then, there were four main types of beings (although, the last one and maybe the first one-there was a debate about that0 was not a being at all), with intermediary beings between some of them. There was the Pure Spirit, the humans, the animals and the Pure Material. And then, there were Gods, between Pure Spirit and Humans, and plants, between animals and Pure Material. Each ones had different amounts of material and spirit inside them. Pure Spirits were only spirit. Gods were mostly only spirits, but they also had an incarnation which was half-material. Kind of like, a material illusion, in a way. They were also very powerful in the material world. They didn't always use their power for good, either. I'll talk more about that in a bit. Humans inhabited fully material bodies, but they also had souls, and so could know stuff about the material world and could interact with the God's incarnations. Animals had souls too, and were overall equal to humans in their powers but different. They could communicate directly with the spirit (True) forms of some of the Gods, but only some. Then the plants do have souls, but they are limited and they have never had any powers of communication with the Gods-although they can communicate a little with the animals. The Pure Material is like the rocks and all that that we see around. It doesn't know the spiritual world at all, in any way.

And lastly, you must know that I respect the Danem. I have heard many stories about their journeys at sea, and they are very impressive. Perhaps it is right, that we are conquered somewhat by them. For in some aspects they are greater than us. Yet I hope they remember that resources are not limitless, and remember the benefits of moderation and balance. Just a note. That is all.