lilfluff

Considering Osita's People

To start working on vocabulary I should firm up what Osita's people are like. They live in small villages scattered around a series of mountainsides below the treeline, loosely related to people down the mountain.

Family: * Using "Hawaiian kinship" as the starting point for family: * All kin in the same generation get the term brother or sister * All kin in the parent's generation mother or father * etc. * This will be a starting point and will likely diverge as more is decided. * Houses generally are used by multiple parents & children and are a part of the kinship system.

Environment: * Forests! * Looks wild to outsiders but the villages have been manipulating the area for generations * While they don't have big fields of crops they have seeded and transplanted edible and fruit baring plants to create conveniently located and more plentiful sources. * Likewise they have manipulated the environment in their territory to favor the numbers of the animals they hunt. * Cold winters, but generally moderate summers.

Culture/Trade: * Until recently the area Osita's from has had little contact with outsiders. (the lizard people have been disruptive by coming from the other side of the mountain range, which Osita's people generally considered an edge of the world) * Metalworking is limited, with no permanent forges/furnaces. Some copper sources in the area and a limited amount of iron through trade. * The world has non-human races, but they were unknown/legends in Osita's part of the world. * Fantasy world, there may be magic, but if so it was not a flashily prominant thing in the area. * Fighting is by no means unknown, but largely as a matter of fueds and raids to seize goods. Attacking and destroying a village as happened to Osita's village will be considered a very dramatic event by neighboring villages. * No written language, but there is a strong storytelling and singing tradition. * There are a few varieties of a chili pepper like plant, as well as other spicy/pungent plants like mustard and horseradish and these are very popular in their food. * A few varieties are a trade item sent downmountain.

Okay, we have phonemes, a syllable structure, very basic grammar notes, and some knowledge of the people: next up actual words.