Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Ciarente]

Up until now I've only done big life-events for characters who come from tiny, local, specific cultures - the small city on a backwater world where Cia grew up, for example - and have felt comfortable making stuff up for precisely that reason: if I say that the people from the western side of one continent of a moon around a planet in a backwater system in Essence paint themselves blue to celebrate the new year, it has absolutely zero impact on anyone else and their characters.

However, now I find myself with a Deteis character who grew up in Ishukone (not an insignificant backwater) and I am trying to find my way through her cultural celebrations and ceremonies.

I thought I'd ask here what other people think about how Deteis might mark significant events in their lives.

[Katrina Oniseki]

Some sort of coming of age ceremony is typically celebrated across all cultures. Even in America, your 18th and 21st birthdays are often a Big Deal.

Other than that... I don't know? Her first interview/job? Finding gainful employment effectively means gaining your right to live and very citizenship.

[PracticalTechnicality]

Being a highly militaristic culture, I assume that the Caldari have a fair amount of military holidays  that may also double as ceremonial events for promotion to significant posts or the opening of especially important buildings and services. 

For example Ishukone may have adopted the remembrance events of the Malkalen disaster as a corporation-wide event to not only remember the dead, but honour valour and bravery in the same vein of sacrifice and nobility that the remembrance event embodies.  This would also be relatively simple logistically speaking, as it runs on the cluster-wide UTC time standard - allowing for a synchronised event across holdings planetside and stationside so that the corporation as a whole shares and bonds over the grief and hope that the event may represent. 

Furthermore, regional groundbreakings, the deaths of significant leaders (significant by our IRL standards - such events probably happen with such frequency in EVE that they are noteworthy but drowned out at the global level by so many other ceremonies of equal importance) and anything that might be taken as an opportunity to reinforce the bonds of colleagues and societies represent key points of inspiration for leaders to organise events. 

Two key global events come to mind: Secession/Independence Day(s) and Malkalen Remembrance

There are likely even more - look at modern corporate culture for the less blatant attempts to encourage workplace bonding through regular (annual or otherwise) identity reinforcing ceremonies where the successful are recognised and the masses are encouraged to aspire to that. 

I am of the opinion that mega corporations have absorbed Raata culture where it suits them to further ingrain this form of cultural reinforcement in a similar way to the Christian absorption of native spiritual events over the last millennium.  So far from being the cynical 'team building' activities of modern corporatism, the Caldari cultural reinforcement mechanism may have spiritual undertones, collectivist overtones and a vein of aspiration encouragement snaking its way through the proceedings.

[Jace]

On a personal level, ancestral remembrances and rituals:

Most Caldari homes feature a small shrine to their ancestors, where they often burn incense and pray to their ancestors for guidance or to watch over their endeavors. The shrine can often feature pictures of recently passed or especially prominent loved ones; paintings are the preferred representation, but photographs or holographs are more common.

Ancestor spirits are commonly prayed to for more material concerns; in the past, this might have been good harvests, good fortune in battle, or the health of a loved one, but today it is just as common for Caldari to pray for good job performance or for their superiors to recognize their achievements. Prayers of this nature, however, do not ask for the ancestor spirits to intercede directly. Instead a person will ask his ancestors to lend them their strength or knowledge so that he can achieve their goals on his own.

On a more Caldari-wide level, you would have local shrines to spirits as well as making a pilgrimage to the Landfall Shrine:

Most standalone temples and shrines built by the Caldari are for the veneration of one or more nature spirits, usually built in a place that that spirit is thought to hold a great deal of sway. Most tend to be very open to the elements, with tall columns surrounding an open courtyard, often with elaborate topiary gardens surrounding them. Even the smallest towns and villages usually has at least one shrine located nearby, tended by a lone steward, as Wayist monks are called. There is no organized church or hierarchy among the stewards; in general, each temple or shrine runs its own affairs and decides which applicants to take. In all but the largest shrines, most stewards will have some other job in addition to their stewardship.

The largest Wayist shrine in Caldari space, however, is the Landfall Shrine on New Caldari Prime, which is primarily for the veneration of ancestor spirits, and is of prime importance to the Caldari people. Built on the landing site of the first Kaalakiota colony ship to reach the planet more than 350 years ago, Landfall Shrine is a sprawling complex of gardens, temples, and a large necropolis, housing the anonymous tombs of more than 12,000 heroes of the Caldari State. It is the only shrine which is supported through a national endowment, and most Caldari, even those who are not Wayists, make at least one trip to the site during their lifetimes.

And then the less spiritual would be similar to what others said. Your first promotion or job that started a  respectable career with Ishukone and then the military aspects. The most common military one that all Caldari have to go through is their adolescent military training - it certainly makes sense that it would be commemorated on a personal level:

The large size of this caste relatively speaking is in half part due to the highly militarized nature of Caldari society, where all citizens must complete compulsory basic military training during adolescence, allowing the State to mobilize extremely rapidly during times of national crisis.

And then as others said, remembering important historical moments in Caldari history.

Edit: Just to clarify why ancestral could be included under "ceremony" and not just ritual, it seems highly likely that someone would consider an important day the anniversary of either an ancestors death, or perhaps their actions that caused them to be prominent enough to be displayed on one's shrine.

[V. Gesakaarin]

The only two ceremonies that probably come to mind of significance for my own Deteis character/s would be:

- Sobaseki Memorial Day: Probably held on the anniversary of the speech delivered to the New Oryioni Collective. Of particular significance to Kaalakiota citizens more than others, but remains a form of continued ancestor worship for a man considered a paragon of a Caldari Patriot and the architect of the secession.

- Remembrance Day: A day to honour the fallen and remember the dead. Celebrated with fellow veterans from their military units and depending on availability a visit to the nearest shrine or Wayist temple. Probably a simple affair where they retell stories of the days in uniform with old comrades and drink a toast to those that didn't make it.

As for ceremonies throughout life I've never really imagined them making to much of a fuss about it. Except when one of them got married, then it was FUCK YEAH, bigger apartment with actual rooms and not that bachelor dormitory -- invite all the friends over and celebrate the prospects of more space and making loyal children for the State because now you're an ADULT! 

[Ciarente]

Except when one of them got married, then it was FUCK YEAH, bigger apartment with actual rooms and not that bachelor dormitory -- invite all the friends over and celebrate the prospects of more space and making loyal children for the State because now you're an ADULT! 

What do you reckon that would be like, specifically? Registry office? Tea ceremony? Both? Neither?

[Jace]

What do you reckon that would be like, specifically? Registry office? Tea ceremony? Both? Neither?

While we can't know for sure since the only Caldari PF mentioning, that I am aware of, is that Deteis typically marry other Deteis, etc.. It makes sense that it would have Wayist shrines involved, as well as ancestral elements. If you wanted a less traditional route, then you could work out some employee aspects - since housing, medical care, and that sort of thing is handled by the megacorps they work for, the addition to the family of a spouse would be relevant for coworkers.

[Vieve]

Except when one of them got married, then it was FUCK YEAH, bigger apartment with actual rooms and not that bachelor dormitory -- invite all the friends over and celebrate the prospects of more space and making loyal children for the State because now you're an ADULT! 

What do you reckon that would be like, specifically? Registry office? Tea ceremony? Both? Neither?

I imagine all Caldari weddings involve filling out a form/wedding contract for the House of Records. Whether it's done at home, in the employee cafeteria while on break, at a bar, at a shopping district kiosk, or in an office before going to a religious ceremony is likely up to the individual couple and corporate policy.   

[Matariki Rain]

I tend to like the things Vieve comes up with. (How come we barely played together, hm? ) Also, if Svetlana's still contactable--possibly through TheMittani.com--she'd be an excellent person to discuss this with.

Since you're looking for life events, I'll quote Herko's Four questions, about kresh:

It’s drank only in three occasions. You taste it first along with your class mates when you turn 14, as a sign of leaving childhood behind. Yes, of course I drank it, the same as every Caldari you know, the ones raised inside the State at least. Can’t be described… The taste of mortality, if you wish. We drink it at funerals, as a reminder of the thin line we will all soon cross … And it is drank at the Meetings of Reasoning.

I have a strong but can't-find-a-source-for-it memory that there's a tradition somewhere that the first words whispered into the ears of a newborn Caldari child are Tovil-Toba's final: "Haak-kin k’len", We will return. I think there's something more canonical which gives that place to Tovil-Toba's name, which is less satisfying, and the Chronicle The Breakout gives the generic:

Admiral Tovil-Toba and his crew sacrificed themselves in order for millions more Caldari to escape. To this day he is revered as a national hero and his name is one of the first things every Caldari child learns.

I do kinda miss EVE lore.


(Edited because I'd forgotten how this forum's markdown handled links.)

[Vieve]

I tend to like the things Vieve comes up with. (How come we barely played together, hm? )

Because I never figured out how to sneak up on you.   

[Matariki Rain]

I tend to like the things Vieve comes up with. (How come we barely played together, hm? )

Because I never figured out how to sneak up on you.   

Curses! My security was too good.

[Norrin Ellis]

I imagine the day a Caldari landed his first job is celebrated with more enthusiasm than his own birthday.

[Gorion]

Keep in mind that there are of course many events in one's life to celebrate the Caldari people are, if anything, private. Many of the ceremonies will probably be modest and/or sedate affairs for any event that isn't an outright party.

[Matariki Rain]

Keep in mind that there are of course many events in one's life to celebrate the Caldari people are, if anything, private. Many of the ceremonies will probably be modest and/or sedate affairs for any event that isn't an outright party.

A Gor sighting!

A question in response: with whom do Caldari people celebrate their private things?

I'm not sure of the basic domestic and social building blocks of Caldari society.

- How do their "family" types reflect their society? Heterosexual couples who've agreed to a contract, presumably. (What would the contract cover? Arrangements about how they'll handle work transfers when one is promoted?) Maybe their young children, although between crèches and the equivalents of boarding schools I'm not sure how intimate the Caldari equivalent of the nuclear family might be. Would an employed parent house an unemployed/unassociated (non-citizen) adult child? Would you come together for fairly dull significant family gatherings and apart from that mostly live where your work took you?

- Do they tend to have a close circle of friends/contacts/classmates? What happens when one of them becomes unassociated? Who do you talk to? Do you have to get drunk in order to say anything meaningful?

[V. Gesakaarin]

A question in response: with whom do Caldari people celebrate their private things?

The closest people my own Caldari characters are to, are those that they served with during their days in their military units and they tend to celebrate in the same ways they did when they were in active service: drinks at an obscure bar in some alleyway near the bases they were stationed at where the bartender still knows their name; a small barbeque joint that only serves locals near the dorms they were trained; or that karaoke place where they can sing out of key and embarrass themselves in each others company.

In Caldari society I feel there's a degree of always having to maintain a social mask, where you don't express what you actually feel, but what you feel is expected of you to express what you feel. That there's a difference in feeling between what would be considered "friends". There's friends that are acquaintances, colleagues, associates, subordinates, or superiors. Then there's your friends that transcend that, and they're the ones you don't wear social masks with because you trust each other implicitly and have earned that over years of shared experience together.

I think there's a danger in thinking that Caldari militarism is just all about marching around a parade ground. It's a powerful social institution that can develop strong social bonds between people who have had to work together, train together, live together and experience both triumph, failure. I don't think the term, "kirjuun" directly translates to, "friend" as we know it but carries with it the connotation of those people you love who have become like a sister or brother to you in the company of being fellow soldiers. Which probably has deep cultural roots in the fact that the Caldari appear to have had a harsh and violent history on their home planet full of feudal conflict, imperialism, and then the rivalry of nation-states controlled by warlords.