The Fundamentals of the World

Questions on the World Itself

What is this invented world called?

 

What kind of world is this?

 

Is it Earth, an Earth-like world, an alternate history Earth a completely alien planet?

If it is an A-H, what is the specific historical point of departure (POD) where this world split off from the history of the primary world?

How long ago did this happen; how much has changed and will continue to change as a result?

If this planet is not Earth, how does it differ physically from Earth? -- is it of comparable size and composition or quite different?

Comparable density, gravity, ratio of land to water, atmosphere, etc.?

Are there any satellites, rings, unsuspected alien satellites or the like?

How many suns are there?

How many other planets in the system?

Are there spectacular constellations, comets, nebulae or other astronomical phenomena visible at night or even by day?

Questions on Geology and Climate

Describe the climate this society deals with. How severe are their seasons?

 

 

 

What kinds of natural disasters has this society gotten used to?

 

If there is more than one moon or sun, how does this affect winds, tides, and weather generally?

Are the axial tilt and orbit comparable to those of Earth -- i.e., does the world have similar seasons and length of year as Earth?

 

How old is the planet and its parent star?

How geologically active is this planet?

How are the continents laid out?

How much land is there, and how much of it is habitable?

How much land is in each of the equatorial, temperate, and polar zones?

How have peoples' activities affected climate & landscape in various regions?

Where are major mountain ranges, rivers and lakes, deserts, forests, jungles, grasslands and plains?

Questions on Ecology: Natural Resources, Flora, Fauna, and Sophonts

Natural Resources

What is this region's most abundant resource?

 

What is its most valuable resource?

What resource is it most lacking?

Which natural resources, if any, have been depleted over time?

 

Is there usually enough food and water for the population?

 

How has the location and availability of natural resources affected relationships between peoples? -- are there conflicts over limited resources or active, peaceful trade?

What water resources available, and for what uses are they put?

Which areas have the most fertile farmland?

 

Where are mineral resources located?

 

Flora, the Plants, Fungi and Similar

What are the most common domesticated plants here?

 

And what are they used for?

For how long a period of time have people been domesticating and propagating plantlife?

Are people actively seeking to breed plants for specific traits or purposes?

How hardy or fragile are the domesticated plants considering their yield in food or other useful materials?

What are the most common wild plants here and what are they used for?

Do any of the plantlife pose serious threats to people, animals or other plants?

The ruling United Pacifist League denies humans the right to uproot any plant unless another animal has damaged it beyond repair.  This means that thorny plants of many varieties grow throughout the city, and humans must simply walk around them or leave a trail of blood everywhere they go.  While thorns and spines are painful, they are not dangerous; what humans fear is the infection that often follows when a parasite crawls into one of their wounds.

Outside the city of Blop, the terrain is even more overgrown, and humans are simply unable to cross through many areas of woods without suffering severe injuries.  On the other hand, in the wilderness there are many more paths available to a given location, including by water, and all in all transportation is thus easier in the wilderness than in Blop. 

Fauna, the Beasts and Animals

Which animals, birds, fish, and other wildlife are commonly found in which areas?

What are the most common domesticated animals here and what are they domesticated for?

There are no true domesticated animals on this planet, but many wild animals are naturally tame.  Thus, humans in Blop accept animals who live in their city and are not worried that the animals will eat them, but neither can they control the animals.   

What are the most common wild beasts?

How are wild animals treated?

Which animals are likely to be pets & which ones won't be?

If there are animals such as dragons or unicorns or megafauna such as sivatherium or mastadon or deinotherium, where do they live and how do they fit into the ecology?

What do they eat and how much habitat do they require?

Can they live nearly anywhere, or do they prefer or need specific kinds of climate or terrain?

Are there intelligent animals, perhaps nearing the threshold of awareness and personhood?

Sophonts: Races of People, Spirit Beings, Angelic and Divine Beings

Are there different races of sophonts on this planet or only one and has this always been the case?

How are living beings that are persons differentiated from living beings that are not persons?

Can one's status change: .i. from non-person to person or vice versa?

What are the other races called?

How long have there been people on this world?

Did they evolve here, or were they created here or did they arrive in some manner from elsewhere?

If there are several sophont races, how numerous are they and in what proportions are they to each other?

How openly present are they? -- do some hide themselves away from others, or do they not care whether their existence is known by others?

What regions do they prefer to occupy?

How diverse is the population of this city by race and ethnicity?

 

How does the cultural and ethnic diversity of this otherworld compare to the primary world?

The Habitat

Questions on Geography

Describe the geography of where this society calls home.

The city of Blop is located near the geographical center of the continent of Rilola, at about 35°N and 40°N.  Its climate is similar to that of northern Japan or parts of northern Europe, though with less seasonal amplitude and longer seasons.  It is also colder than any lowland location on Earth at 35°N; these are all traits common on planet Teppala, which has more ocean than Earth and a slightly colder climate overall. 

 Despite its considerable distance from the ocean, Blop is one of the rainiest major cities on the planet because Teppala has a five-cell atmosphere, putting the 35th parallel in the line of storms all throughout the year.  In summer, Blop attracts lee-side lows from the prevailing westerly winds, meaning that an air mass that is relatively dry as it crosses the prairies to the west can be raining heavily by the time it reaches Blop, even if it has not crossed over any water in the meantime.  This does not happen often in winter because such airmasses are usually scooped upward by underlying cold air from the north.  However, this cold air is also moist and therefore Blop is also rainy in winter, and receives significant snowfall as well. 

What importance, spiritual or cultural, do people ascribe to the geography?

How do people feel about local landscapes being altered or used for a purpose other than what is traditional or natural?

Humans are allowed to grow any plants they wish, but they cannot uproot or trim a wild plant for any reason.  This means that the human side of Blop is overflowing with plant life, the only bare ground being areas of rock where no soil has been deposited.  It is difficult for humans to walk from one end of the city to another, and when they attempt to do so, they often emerge at the other end with many bites and scratches.

Where in this land do they congregate?

What parts of this place do they avoid?

Where did civilisation begin and how long ago?

Into what directions did civilisation spread?

How has its development been affected by the presence of magic, different sophont races, and the direct or indirect action of the gods or other great powers?

What is the population of this city and what percentage of world population does this represent?

The population of Blop is a bit over 50,000.

How many people live in a small village, large town, or city?

What natural features mark the borders?

 

Who are the neighboring countries & peoples and what are they like?

Why did people settle in this country in the first place -- strategic location, trade route, water transport, minerals, good farmland?

 

How much has their situation changed since their first immigration, or has life changed little for them?

 

Is population shifting from rural to urban or mountains to coast?

Are the migrants being affected by war or plague or economic opportunity?

What effects has this had on the places being left behind and also by the places gaining people?

V. Questions on Time

Is there a single, generally accepted calendar and system of reckoning time, or do different countries or peoples or races have different calendars?

How is the day divided into smaller time units?

What are the names of the various units of time and how are they named?

Is the length of an hour fixed, or does it vary depending on changes in the length of the day as the seasons change?

What are the names of days, fortnights, months, years, decades, centuries and how many days or other subdivisions are in each?

How well in synch is the calendar with astronomical reality?

Are there leap years, and if so, who keeps track of them?

Which days are holidays or festival times?

What do people celebrate and what holidays are there that are only celebrated in particular countries, cities, or regions?

From what point of origin does the calendar begin?

Do they use a singular event such as the creation of the world, the beginning of a great dynasty or recurring events such as the terms in office of a ruler or consul or the numbered year of a dynasty or republic?

How do people tell what time it is?

Are there mechanical clocks, pocket watches, sundials, sand or water clocks or thaumological timepieces?

Do people simply listen for bells from the palace or church, or just eyeball the location of the sun?

Are there any extracalendrical periods of time?

How did these originate and how are these times customarily observed?

VJ. Questions on History

How far back does this society's written and oral history go?

How far back do its people believe it goes?

How widely known are these stories?

Do average people believe the old tales, or do they dismiss even some that have a basis in fact?

How was this society founded; who founded it and under what circumstances?

What were the chief powers in the time when this society was founded?

If it originated far away from its present location, how did it get here?

What is the worst disaster they believe they've faced?

What are the major events in this culture's past?

What was the best thing that ever happened to them; what was their greatest moment?

What in their past makes them feel ashamed and do they speak of it or hide it?

What are they afraid might happen again?

What are they hoping will happen in the future and do they think it likely to happen?

How strongly are people attached or connected to their heritage?

Who in the past are the greatest heroes and the worst villains?

Do people think the present better or worse than the past?

Do people believe the future will be better or worse than the present or past?

Which peoples are considered the most and least civilized?

Which are most and least technologically or thaumologically advanced?

Constitution

Races of People

What are the chief races of sophonts in the region?

What do they look like and what are their most distinguishing features and characteristics?

What is their range of appearance: e.g., colour of hair or eyes or skin, height, build, and the like?

How are they related to one another?

Do they acknowledge any kinship or do they see one another as enemies or rivals?

Are there any physical, psychic or magical powers particular to this race?

Ethnicities

What are the chief ethnic groups of each race in the city?

Blopoms identify as humans first and consider tribal affiliation unimportant, but nearly everyone nonetheless identifies with a particular tribe.  Blop is a city without an ethnic identity; its population consists almost entirely of immigrants and the children of recent immigrants.  Most Blopoms are Poswobs, but consider this a culture rather than a tribe.  The Poswobs in turn are divided into the Lenian tribes mostly from the west and south and the Tarwasta tribes to the north and east.

How are they distributed in place?

There are no segregated neighborhoods; Tarwastas have a slight majority in the city but both groups live side by side.

How do they differ by language, appearance or ancestry?

The Tarwasta tribes are tall, and their women are consistently taller than their men.  They have very broad figures, and thus are among the heaviest people on the planet.  They have light skin but dark hair.  They physically resemble the Moonshine people to their north, and indeed many Tarwastas have Moonshine ancestry, but some of their distinctive physical traits arose natively, and the Moonshines refuse to consider the Tarwastas as kin.

The Lenian tribes are considerably shorter, and although their women are still usually taller than their men, they are more diverse internally and one often sees couples in which the male partner is taller.  They almost always have blonde hair, usually with blue eyes.  They have light skin just like the Tarwastas but with a more pronounced pink hue.  Their figures are narrower measured axially; their hip circumference in particular is narrower than that of the Tarwasta tribes; this means that Lenian women often suffer pain during childbirth and are more at risk of complications.

The Tarwasta tribes, led by their women, consider themselves anatomically superior to the Lenians and to all other human tribes on the planet except the Moonshines, who they greatly admire.  Feminine power is very important to them and they consider the Lenian women too physically fragile to be beautiful. 

Lenian women for their part are jealous of the Tarwasta women's adaptations for childbirth but also take pride in their own anatomy, and the greater intimacy possible with a male partner who is similar in height.      

What jobs do the majority ethnicities primarily occupy?

There is a longstanding tendency in the Poswob Empire for positions of power to go more commonly to members of the taller, darker Tarwasta tribes, and less desirable jobs to the smaller, lighter Lenians.  This is despite the fact that the Lenians outnumber the Tarwastas. This power struggle exists within Blop as well, but in Blop the Tarwastas have usually maintained a slight majority, and there are many intermediate people as well, so the gap is not as visible.

Are any groups of people denied work because of racial or ethnic heritage?

What are typical attitudes of the native (or majority) ethnos to immigrants or travellers of other ethnicities?

How has the variety of ethnicities in the region altered social structure and culture of the country?

How are native minority ethnicities treated by the majority?

How are foreign ethnicities treated by the locals?

Constitution

What is the average life expectancy?

 

How does this differ between different regions, races or ethnicities?

What do people generally look like?

The capital city of Blop is a population sink.  More than half of the population at any one time consists of immigrants who come to Blop to earn a high salary.  Their family line will often end right there, as many people who move in never reproduce, or move out when they do.  Those who do not reproduce are then replaced by more immigrants.

The result of this is that the population of Blop consists primarily of two different tribal groups, with only a relatively small mixed population.  Both groups are known for having women taller than their men, but they differ in many other ways.

Immigrants from the west and south are of the Lenian group, characterized by small to medium stature and nearly always having blonde hair.  They usually also have blue eyes and light skin, better described as pink than as white.  Their skin flushes just from being exposed to the wind, as their blood vessels dilate.  Lenians sunburn easily even in their homelands, but Blop's rainy climate makes severe sunburns rare.  They are not well adapted to either hot or cold climates, preferring temperate weather overall.

Meanwhile, immigrants from the north and east belong to the Tarwasta tribes, characterized by tall stature and dark hair.  Their skin color ranges from slightly darker than the Lenians to the lightest in the world, with the lightest individuals being thus equivalent to the Moonshines living yet further north.  Those with the lightest skin also sunburn easily, but all in all their skin is more resistant to sunburn than that of the Lenians.  They are well-adapted for cold weather but tire easily in summer even when the heat is relatively mild.  Their eye color is variable, though shades of brown are the most common.  Red hair is more common in this group than in the Lenians, because although the Tarwastas are darker than the Lenians, they are also more variable than the Lenians.  Blonde hair is comparatively rare. 

Tarwastas are more muscular than Lenians and in particular have broader chests even relative to their height.  Tarwasta men are also often hairy and have well-developed male anatomy, whereas Lenian men are much more humbly built. 

Women of both groups are known for having large breasts relative to their body size, and are proud of their feminine shape, but the Lenians' narrower chest circumference makes their breasts much more prominent and they readily attract male attention.  Likewise both groups have wide hips, but the Tarwastas' are considerably more so, even relative to their height.  This also attracts male attention.  It is rare for a woman to have both unusually large breasts and unusually wide hips, however. 

Women of both groups are typically taller than their men.  But the female-male height gap is greater among the Tarwastas than among the Lenians, so while Tarwastas are the taller group in general, their men are not always taller than the Lenian men. 

There are many other ethnic groups in the Poswob Empire, but these tribes move to Blop only rarely, and typically marry into one of the larger groups.  Thus, there are very few people in Blop with dark skin at any one time.  

 

Would a blonde, redhead or brunette stand out in a crowd?

Red hair is not very common, but it does appear at low frequencies in various tribes.

Would a very tall or very short person stand out?

 

Is there sufficient variety of peoples in this region so that it is considered ordinary to encounter people from other races?

How healthy, generally speaking, are members of a particular race or ethnicity -- hearty, sickly, prone falling prey to some disease or malady?

Languages

How many languages are there and which ones are related?

Poswa is the official language of the city of Blop.  It is the language of the United Pacifist League, and immigrants must learn the language before they are allowed to move to Blop.

Do speakers of a given language tend to borrow words rapaciously or is there some means by which foreign words are expunged from the language?

Are some or all people multilingual?

Is there a common language many people of different backgrounds use?

Is it a creole or is it the native language of a dominant group or even the language of an imperial overlord?

Are there "secret" languages or codes known only by priests, soldiers, wizards, guild members, street urchins?

What are they like and how did they develop?

What are the variations in speech patterns, syntax, and slang from one social class to another?

Poswa famously lacks speech registers entirely.  Everyone whether rich or poor, young or old, male or female, and so on speaks in precisely the same way.   

Describe some local slang, colorful turns of phrase and curse words that people use.

There are no inherently obscene words, and it is very difficult for a word to become offensive even when used in a derogatory way.  To sound aggressive, people instead use insults or wish harm on the other party.

 

What things in this culture would their language have many specific words for?

What do the people in this culture consider important enough to name and what does this say about the way they look at the world?

What things would people of this culture not have specific names for, or else have one word that covers numerous variations?

What do they consider too unimportant to name and how does this affect the way they see the world?

Are there words that must never be spoken except at particular times, in ceremonies, or under particular circumstances?

 

Are there words that must not be spoken before guests?

Do these words differ from culture to culture or race to race?

Ethnographical Questionnaire C

The Community

Questions on Family

What is considered a family?

How extended is an extended family?

How important are family connections and responsibilities?

 

How many spouses may a man or woman have?

 

Who decides on a marriage?

 

Can a marriage end in divorce and how would this work?

 

Who usually takes custody of children if a marriage ends for some reason?

 

How are families named?

What happens to orphans?

 

How are boy and girl children treated differently?

 

What, if anything, is considered a good marriage gift?

 

Does this society connect the ideas of marriage with love?

How big are families, typically?

The Poswob capital city, Blop, is a population sink in which the fertility rate is well below replacement level, and the city's continued existence is due to continued immigration from rural areas of the Empire.  When women do get pregnant, they consider whether they want to remain in Blop or seek a more settled life in the countryside.  The result of this is that Blop has many single people and many childless couples, but few children.  There is only one elementary school in the entire city.

There are not many elderly people in Blop either because the government refuses to award welfare payments to the elderly, and because Blop is a physically challenging place to live for someone with impaired mobility.  People who spend most of their adult life in Blop typically will be rich enough to move back to their original hometown and retire comfortably, away from the dangers of city life. 

What constitutes a household?

 

How many people live in one household?

 

How many generations?

 

Which members are expected to leave, and why and when?

 

What determines succession and inheritance?

 

What types of marriages and sexual relationships are required, encouraged, allowed, and prohibited?

Poswob culture has a modest preference for heterosexual monogamous relationships, though there are no laws against homosexuality, and polygamy is restricted only in economic terms.  In the city of Blop, the population is mobile enough that there is no preferred mode of marriage, and many people remain single all their life.

What are the patterns of childcare?

Blop is a dangerous city and most families do not have children, but the city nevertheless provides generous child care benefits for those families who do. 

Which member of the household cares for the children in what ways?

Since women typically do not work, they remain home with children while their children are young. 

What is the division of labor among gender and generational lines within the household?

 

Are girls or boys preferred and why?

 

How common or rare is domestic violence?

 

Is this understood to be a problem, or a normal aspect of family life?

 

If it is seen as problematic, what is being done about it?

 

Questions on Customs and Social Life

How is society divided into ranks or hierarchies?

Arguably, animals outrank people, even if most animals are not aware of it.  Large, tame animals such as wolves and bears are given legal status equal or superior to humans' status in most situations, and even when they are equal in the eyes of the law, the humans nearly always have the worst of it on the ground because humans are physically incapable of many things that most or all of the other animals can do.

 

 

What social classes or divisions exist in this society?

Are people able to move from one social class to another?

Are there any benefits to being of one class over another?

What are the various ranks and titles and their proper forms of address?

 

Which occupations are respected and which are looked down upon?

 

How firm are the divisions between social classes?

Is it considered beneath dignity for a noble to engage in trade or for a warrior to help with the harvest?

 

How difficult is it to rise or fall from one social level to another?

How much social mobility is there in fact compared to how much people believe there is?

In what ways do weather & climate contribute to the habits or customs of this culture?

What colors are associated with power, with virtue and with death?

Nature is powerful, so green is a common background color.  Any color can be used in a foreground so long as it is not too similar to green to be visible.  If pink is present, even on an abstract flag design, it is understood to represent humans, as pink is the skin color of the vast majority of humans living in Blop.  Darker shades such as brown are instead used to represent wood and soil.

Because the United Pacifist League rules the city and most of the adjacent Empire, pink is also the color of peace, and peace is seen as an inseparable consequence of human civilization.

 

If two men get into a fight, how is this supposed to be resolved?

The United Pacifist League defines humans as nonviolent by nature, and states that without weapons, humans cannot cause lasting physical damage to another animal, or even another human, unless an adult is attacking a child or a physically disabled person.  This means that hand-to-hand combat is not a crime, and the loser of a fight cannot complain that he was attacked unfairly.

If two women get into a fight, how should that be resolved?

The same rules apply here as apply for men.  Even if a man attacks a woman, the situation is still the same; because women are taller than men, they are expected to be able to competently defend themselves against assaults by men.  If a woman is pregnant, however, someone who attacks her has just committed a crime against both her and her baby, and will be charged with two counts of assault.

How do people demonstrate grief?

Every person has a different reaction to the death of a loved one, and others respect those differences.  Some people will hold a burial ceremony where the whole city can watch, while others will do nothing at all.  Those who show no reaction typically explain that they had seen the death coming far in advance and had already prepared for life without their loved one.

How are matters of inheritance resolved when wealth, property, land, titles and position or office are involved?

 

 

Is this city segregated in any way?

Blop extends its city limits far into the surrounding wilderness, and defines these wilderness areas as neighborhoods inhabited by animals.  This is because the various species of animals native to the area are tame enough to avoid each other's territories and stay within their own.  Thus wolves do not live with cougars, pigs do not live with monkeys, and for the most part, no animals live with humans. Thus the built-up part of Blop where humans live is defined simply as the human neighborhood of Blop.  Humans are advised not to travel outside the human neighborhood for any reason, and that natural law prevails over human law when a human travels into the territory of another species. 

Because animal neighborhoods surround the human neighborhood on all sides, humans living in Blop are trapped there, unable to exit their city without giving up their civil rights, since Blop's government refuses to protect humans who enter animal territory.  As above, however, large animals are tame, and do not simply attack humans on sight.  Thus humans are merely discouraged, not prevented, from leaving their city.

A small number of animals do live in human territory, and they are subject to human law while they live there.  Human law, as defined by the ruling United Pacifist League, places the rights of animals in some ways slightly above those of humans, and thus animals living in human territory are safe and in some cases live better lives than they would in their own territory.  But the human neighborhood is small, and cannot accommodate a large population of animals, so the human neighborhood remains essentially human.

Is there any discrimination against or oppression of some groups be they racial, ethnic or religious in this society?

How independent or codependent are individuals?

What genders are biologically ordained and socially constructed?

The government divides all humans into males and females; this is legally binding, and men cannot live as women.  Men and women often identify as bisexual or homosexual, which has legal consequences as well, but a homosexual male is still male.

What are the typical roles of individuals of different genders?

What are the expectations of children?

Does the government play a large part in individuals' lives?

Everyone living in the city of Blop either works for the government or receives welfare payments from the government; there is no private enterprise at all.

Does religion play a large part in individuals' lives?

 

In what ways has this society changed and do people make any importance of this change?

 

The Place of Myths and Folklore in Society

What are the most popular stories about the past?

 

 

Do average people believe old tales, or do they dismiss some that have a basis in fact?

What place do various kinds of traditional story have in this society?

Are they the primary means of passing on everything a young person needs to learn, or is folklore being pushed aside & replaced by "proper" science and history?

Or is the folklore itself come to be "proper" in its own right?

Onomastics

What's in a name?

Are names for things mere matters of identification or are there deeper meanings?

Are concepts other than people named, as well?

How are ethnonyms formed?

How are individual people named?

What constitutes an individual's name?

And what of toponymy, the names of places and geographical features?

Are towns & cities and woodlands & fields named?

And what of hydronymy, the names of bodies of water?

And what of oronymy, the names of mountains?

Are streets, roads, highways named?

Do rivers, railways, power lines, canals, mountain chains, roads & highways that pass through different jurisdictions & even different countries keep one name, or do names change from place to place?

Are private houses (mansions or cottages) and public buildings (schools, churches, temples, libraries, markets) named?

Are animals given individual names? What sorts of animals might be given a name and which are not?

Are vehicles or tools or weapons named?

Do names convey any kind of power over a thing or are they mere labels?

What rites or ceremonies pertain to naming someone or something?

Can one change one's own name?

Can one confer a new name, or a nickname on oneself or others?

Questions on Sex

How does this society define incest and rape; and how do people react to these events?

Rape is defined by the victim's complaint.  Women cannot be accused of rape, and a woman accusing a man of rape cannot be denied a trial. 

The incidence of traditional rape — a man forcing himself on a woman — is fairly low.  There are many reasons for this. One is that men and women are about equal in physical strength, with women slightly taller on average than men.  This means that a woman who finds herself attacked can quite often fend off her attacker even if she is alone and nobody is around to help her.  Another reason is that, even if a man should overpower a woman, anatomical problems make it difficult for him to achieve penetration without the woman's full cooperation.  Another reason is that men's movement throughout the city is restricted whereas women are able to walk wherever they wish; women who perceive themselves as vulnerable to assault will avoid putting themselves in harm's way.  Lastly, the police and many ordinary citizens are commonly awake throughout the night hours and a call for help can be heard for quite a distance as there is seldom any loud background noise.

By contrast, rape of children is so common that many Blopoms will think of children first when asked to define the crime of rape.  Even a thick police presence and restrictions on where men can travel are insufficient to protect children from their attackers.  Many children are assaulted by their neighbors or even their own parents, but because dangerous weapons are illegal, even the police are unarmed and a kidnapper can simply run down a child and escape with the child in their arms before anyone around him is able to catch up.  Although animals are always close by, and these animals are trained to attack kidnappers on sight, the animals are much too strong for the humans to control, and often disobey their orders, knowing that they will suffer no significant consequences for their dereliction of duty.  

Women cannot legally be accused of rape in the Poswob court system, but a substantial minority of kidnappers and child abusers in general are women.  When caught, they are tried for assault, not rape.

What secret vices are believed to be widely practiced?

Many large wild animals in Poswob territory are naturally tame.  Thus, it is perfectly safe for a human to approach a den of wolves or bears, lie down among them, and return to town the next morning in one piece.  The animal understands the human's intention and will not make a meal of their vulnerable partner.

Human-animal sex always involves the human as the passive partner, being penetrated in one manner or another by the animal.  This is because, while animals who prefer humans as sexual partners are rare, animals who prefer to perform in a passive role with a human partner are rarer still, and typically cannot live among their own species in the wild. 

Humans seeking animal sex will bathe beforehand, using a scented soap that enhances their partner's desire, and alerts the animals that a human in the right mood is approaching.  If two animals simultaneously meet up with the same human, the three parties will use body language to work out amongst each other what to do. 

Sex with animals is a secret only inasmuch as it typically takes place in a forest, far from public view.  But it is legal, and humans who prefer sex with animals are often unashamed to admit it.  They will often remain single, but this does not make them stand out so much as it would in rural areas where nearly everyone is married by their teens and most women have at least three children.

Both men and women seek out sex with animals.  Sex with animals in general is called sharp sex, symbolizing the claws of the animal species most commonly sought, while sex between humans is called soft sex. Hearing about sharp sex causes significant social distress for ordinary men moving to Blop for the first time, because they realize that the anatomy they grew to be proud of is of no value to their women, who prefer to sleep with dangerous animals.  Meanwhile the local men, rather than attempt to win their women back over, instead submit to these same animals, figuring that to an animal a human male is little different than a human female, and that animal sex is the only sex they are likely to get.

Humans are the only species that commonly seeks out sexual encounters with their natural predators; animals living in Blop, or even in the wilderness, otherwise stick to their own kind rather than engaging in sex with each other.

What secret vices actually are being practiced?

Although sex between animals and humans, as detailed above, does indeed happen, it is much rarer than the popular perception implies because animals who prefer sex with humans are often shunned by their own kind and therefore the animal is forced to control their urges, or else set off on their own to seek out a willing human.  This can lead to such animals moving to human neighborhoods within Blop, essentially living as prostitutes, though even in this state they continue to perform in a dominant role, penetrating the humans who feed and care for them.

Women sometimes stick themselves with garden vegetables, most commonly carrots, which they harvest precisely when they are at the desired length and firmness.  The carrot is typically discarded after a single use.  This is simply considered a form of masturbation, and not stigmatized.  Male masturbation is much simpler; men find a private room or shaded area in the woods and pleasure themselves with their hands.  Masturbation is thus an accepted habit for both sexes and its prevalence is well known.  But the sight of so many ripe carrots in the wastebins outside women's houses adds to the common conception among men in Blop that there is something wrong with human male anatomy, and that any attempt to please a woman in Blop is doomed to failure.  This in turn leads Blop's men to direct their desires towards vulnerable children. 

What sexual habits are widely believed common among foreigners?

Poswobs, particularly those living in Blop, are proud of their decadence, and consider neighboring peoples too prudish, not too vulgar.  Even animal sex is defended on the grounds that it typically does not lead to plagues the way traditional sex does.

Some Poswobs believe that men and women should be about the same height, or that women should be taller than men, as this protects women from unwanted sexual advances and allows sexual practices not possible in areas where men are reliably taller and stronger than women.  This has created a stereotype of men in nations like Dreamland as uncontrollable rapists, so easily overpowering their women that women simply accept rape as a fact of life and submit to their abusive husbands.  Thus, Poswob men are proud of the fact that they are easily dominated by their women.  Because the neighboring Moonshine Empire is vastly more female-dominated even than Pusapom, the Poswobs see their status as a middle ground, and do not consider themselves to be feminists, but rather say that they represent the natural state of humanity.

A common misconception is that foreign nations in which men dominate women also have high rates of child rape, as they figure a man who abuses a small, weak woman would be even more likely to abuse a small, weak child.  In fact, the high incidence of child rape in Blop is caused primarily by men's inability to attract adult women, and children in foreign nations are not simply seen as objects of abuse.

What sexual acts or behaviours are considered unnatural, and how do people react to them?

 

Are premarital or extramarital sexual relations allowed?

 

 

How is adultery defined?

 

What, if any, is the punishment and how is it decided to be an offence?

 

 

Is prostitution legal?

Male and female prostitutes are both common in Blop, and they fulfill a variety of roles.  The traditional type — a female prostitute seeking a male client — is the most common, and because women in Blop typically do not work, a substantial fraction of the female work force consists of these prostitutes. 

How are prostitutes viewed by people and are their views accurate?

Both female and male prostitution is seen as an effect of male sexual looseness.  Almost all prostitutes, and most of their clients, are of Lenian ancestry, so the Tarwastas blame this more narrowly on Lenians' supposed impulsivity.   

What is the greatest sexual taboo?

People living in Blop are well aware of their city's child rape problem and know that merely by living in Blop they are supporting a government that, citing the principle of pacifism, refuses to execute or even imprison child rapists. 

What does this society mean by the word "virgin" and how important is it?

Is sex confined to marriage, or, is it even supposed to be?

 

What constitutes aberrant sexual behavior?

Occasionally one sees couples in which the female partner is grossly oversized compared to the man; these are often immigrants from the mountains of Repilia where such traits are normal.  For such couples, sexual intercourse can be painful for the man, as he must arch his back to the maximum extent and then rest his head on the woman's breasts.  If a man cannot do this, the woman may lie on top of him instead, meaning that the man can lie flat on the ground but has little room to breathe and may have difficulty completing his role. 

Are there any cultural or religious strictures, norms or taboos that specifically address sexual conduct?

Are there laws that control or restrict sexual behaviour?

At what age is it considered normal to engage in sex?

Adulthood begins at age thirteen for both boys and girls, and this is the time when they are expected to form bonds, though marriage is often delayed for several years.

 

Are there taboos against sex with children?

Children in Blop are more likely to be raped than children living anywhere else in the world.  (The neighboring Moonshine Empire has a higher rate of child rape overall, but a much larger fraction of the Moonshine population consists of young children.)  All children are seen as potential rape victims and are sheltered from adults other than their parents and teachers at all times.  The inability of the Poswob justice system to properly prosecute rapists means that even when a rapist admits his guilt, he may simply leave town and re-offend somewhere else. 

To reduce kidnappings, children are made to stay within certain areas of the city at all times, into which only a few adults are allowed to enter.  These are guarded by tamed animals who are expected to attack anyone who jumps the barrier and then rushes into a crowd of children.  Since even illegal weapons are difficult to acquire, kidnappers cannot expect to fight off the animals, and will often be torn apart immediately, in plain sight of the crowd of children.  But because these animals are much stronger than humans, the human guards cannot force the animals to obey, and sometimes a kidnapper will succeed in abducting a child without any reaction from the animal guards.

It is merely a coincidence that Blop is the same city that was once Tŏli, the capital of the Thunder Empire, which had also had a problem with severe child abuse.  The Thunder Empire's situation was very different: they were absolute libertarians, who considered children to be autonomous upon reaching the age of five, and expected that they would seek out gainful economic pursuits, but did nothing when thousands of naive five-year-olds, many of whom were fleeing abusive parents, ended up working for men on the streets.  This empire lasted only a few generations, however, and left little imprint on the empires that later arose in Blop. 

Should sex be a one-to-one experience, or are groups allowed?

 

How much privacy is accorded to sexual activity?

 

Questions on Food & Drink

What does the ordinary diet consist of in this city and how does it differ by social class or occupation?

Poswobs are vegetarians who subsist primarily on locally grown foods.  Gardens exist even within the city itself, although the much larger gardens that surround the city are more productive. 

Typically, vegetables (tarva) are the core of a person's diet, and fruits (pare) are eaten as snacks or to complement the taste of a vegetable salad.  None of the locally grown vegetables are spicy, so peppers and other spicy foods are imported from warmer areas of the empire and from neighboring nations. 

Mushrooms, nuts, and so on are considered vegetables from a culinary point of view, as the word translated here as "vegetable" groups together any legally obtained food that is not sweet like fruit.

The names of fruits are descriptive of their taste rather than their genetic ancestry or morphology.  For example, Poswobs group lemons and grapes together because both have a sour taste, even though lemons grow on trees and grapes grow on vines, and the two fruits are as far apart in appearance as any two could be.  Names for vegetables are more commonly descriptions of their color and shape.

Individual fruits are very large compared to the humans who eat them; apples grow that are too large for any one person to encircle with their hands, and soil-grown fruits such as melons may require a team to lift and a much larger team to eat.  Even strawberries can be so large that a person will make a meal of just one, holding it with both hands and taking bites until it is gone.  Smaller cultivars of some fruits do exist, but those that grow on trees typically show little variation in size as they are more difficult for humans to control. 

Vegetables are also quite large, but humans compete with other animals for access to vegetables, and larger cultivars tend to be targeted more often by these animals.

What dishes are considered holiday food and which foods & drinks are associated with particular holidays or times of the year?

Describe how daily food is obtained.

 

What foods are staples, commonly eaten every day and does popularity of choice vary?

What are typical dishes and specialties of the region?

What type of food is the locality or region famous for?

What kinds of utensils, cutlery, and cookware, if any, do people use for cooking and eating?

Humans are not allowed to own even the simplest of weapons, so there are no kitchen knives, and as a result humans have a difficult time with certain fruits and vegetables.  To handle, open, and serve a pineapple entirely with one's hands is a skill envied by many.  Likewise, they have no means of peeling carrots and other root vegetables.     

 

Describe the eating arrangements: how is the table or other eating space arranged?

 

Where is the place of honor for a guest?

 

Where do the important members of the household sit or recline?

 

How do people sit when eating?

Is there any arrangement by age or dignity of diners?

How many and when are the main mealtimes?

 

Are there restaurants, popinas, street vendors or other places where food may be bought in public?

Is there a significant risk of food poisoning?

How many cases lead to death?

Is there understood to be a link between food and poisoning or illness?

Yes.

How much does a typical meal cost, if bought and not grown at home?

 

What foods are considered exotic or expensive?

 

What things, while edible, are never eaten?

Humans are not meant to eat meat.  This is seen as a simple law of nature, not a moral decision; humans have no problem watching animals eat other animals.  This is why humans are in fact allowed to eat meat after all in certain restricted circumstances.

The eating of meat is not actually illegal, but the circumstances in which a human may legally acquire meat are very constrained, and most humans do not take the risk.  The law against killing animals actually states only that humans are not allowed to use weapons or traps to kill animals; therefore, if a human is capable of taking down an animal barehandedly, they can then eat that animal.  But the United Pacifist League assumes that humans are too delicate to kill any animal large enough to eat, and therefore assumes that any human seen next to an animal corpse must have used an illegal weapon.

Are there religious or social norms governing what may and may not be eaten?

Eating meat is considered a decadent behavior on par with sharp sex, and people are expected to be ashamed if caught eating meat. Furthermore, their lifelong vegetarian diet means that Poswobs have a difficult time digesting meat when they do find it.

In colder parts of the Empire, vegetables will not grow well, and people are allowed to fish the sea, saying that even though humans in general are not made to eat meat, their presence in the colder habitats improves the quality of life for the local wildlife and therefore they are doing a good thing for animals as a whole.

Are some foods commonly consumed by one race poisonous or revolting to another?

How many meals are considered normal in a day?

What times of day are they served and in what manner?

Which meals are substantial and which are smaller; which are more formal or more relaxed?

Are certain foods reserved mainly for a particular meal?

What dishes, seasonings, and drinks are considered typical of this area?

What foods are considered peasant food?

What foods are normally eaten cooked versus raw?

What herbs and spices are readily available, and what must be imported?

How common or expensive are imported foods and spices?

How is food preserved for later use and how reliable are the methods used?

 

When food is in limited supply, is there a scheme of rationing or if not, who gets to continue eating well and who starves?

 

What kinds of drink are most commonly served at meals?

Most people will only ever see water.

What forms of alcoholic drinks exist?

The climate of Blop is just warm enough to grow wine grapes, and vineyards exist even within city limits.  Wine (tampom) is legal for all citizens, even children, though children drink wine that is both sweeter and more diluted than the formulas intended for adults. 

Sweet wine is often drunk in the morning as a stimulant, as the high sugar content provides an energy boost comparable to a large serving of fruit.  At night, a wine with a lower sugar content may be drunk to help a person get to sleep.

Is sanitation good enough for untreated water to be safe to drink?

If not, what do people drink instead?

Do men and women, parents and children, servants and masters eat separately, or does everyone eat together and how is status displayed at the table?

 

What distinguishes a formal, high-court dinner from an ordinary meal, besides quantity and variety of food?

How do high-court manners differ from everyday ones?

What is the order of a typical upper-class meal? -- is there a particular starting dish followed in proper order, or are all the dishes brought out at once?

Are special arrangements necessary for entertaining guests of different races?

How do the eating customs of different races reflect their cultures and biology?

How difficult does this make social interaction among the races?

Describe the types of food or seasoning that are characteristic of the cuisines of different races & cultures.

Questions on Clothing and Fashion

Body Adornment

In what ways do people decorate their bodies?

Poswobs in general prefer the natural look.  There are no bracelets or other jewelry, and no purely cosmetic products either, although there are fragrant herbal soaps that leave the bather both clean and smelling of soap throughout the whole day.

Are tattoos, scarification, piercings or body paint common?

What forms do they take?

Are they monochromatic or tinted?

What kinds of jewelry or accessories are worn on the body?

Are hats or scarves or leggings or gloves worn?

Such items exist only for protection from nature, and thus are given only to people who can demonstrate that they need them for their own safety.  For example a person who picks raspberries will wear animal skin gloves to protect their hands from the thorns, and may similarly wear boots to protect their feet.   

What colors and combinations of colors are thought to look well or to clash?

Do opinions on this vary from race to race?

Are weapons of some kind a standard part of dress for any/all segments of society?

 

Are such weapons crafted solely with "utility" in mind or are they so decorative as to be nearly useless?

 

What areas of the body must be covered?

 

Or is clothing more a matter of individual taste?

What significance might these kinds of decorations have?

How important is fashion to people?

How does this vary by individual?

If such adornments are not used in this culture, how do people react to outsiders wearing tattoos or piercings, facial hair or cosmetics?

 

Clothing

What articles of clothing do people habitually wear and how does this vary by season, ethnicity, age, profession, and the like?

 

Describe how the genders dress: what differences and similarities are there between men's and women's clothing and accessories?

 

How is clothing made, in small shops or larger factories?

Blop does not have a native clothing industry.  Clothes are imported from surrounding areas of the Empire.

What materials are used most commonly?

The most common and cheapest clothes are those made of animal hides.  Because humans may not kill animals, hides can only be harvested from animals that have died naturally and yet not been eaten, but animals such as pigs and even some fish grow to such a large size that there is plenty of leather for everyone to wear.

Clothes not made of animal hides are typically made of plant fibers.

Although Blop can get very cold, citizens do not have access to thick fur or wool coats such as those worn in northern states of the Empire.  These cold events are fairly rare and the people deal with them hardily as they do with other natural events.  Thus it is a cultural attitude of shaming those who are vulnerable to shivering, rather than a lack of materials, that prevents Blopoms from wearing winter coats.  Because it is most often the smaller, slender Lenian people who shiver in cold weather, this adds to the Tarwastas' perception that Lenian people are unnaturally small and delicate and thus subhuman.

What materials are intended for special occasions?

 

 

Is the material produced locally, or must some or all of it be imported?

 

How much does typical clothing cost?

 

 

 

Are certain articles of clothing customary or obligatory for certain occupations and how much variation is allowed?

Are there dyes for certain colors, such as purple or indigo that are very rare, making cloth of that color more expensive and/or reserved for nobility or other high-status people?

Are there sumptuary laws, defining who can wear what kinds of clothing?

How many changes of clothing can a person be expected to own or afford?

 

 

 

What are the penalties for breaking these laws?

Fashion

Are there fashions or fads in things besides clothes? -- styles of carriages, furniture, race or gender of household slaves, modes of speech?

Are there fashions or fads in magical practice, religious devotion or in other areas of life? -- are herbal spells "in" this year and ritual spells "out," or is that god out while this new religion is in fashion?

What is the current fashion in clothing, haberdashery, jewellery, shoes & other accouterments?

Do such fashions differ between the races?

How marked are the differences in fashion between city and country and from one country to another?

How easily do trends in fashion travel across borders?

What articles are considered tacky and vulgar, and which are stylish?

What physical appearance types and characteristics are currently fashionable? -- tan versus pale skin, the "consumptive look" versus robust good health, fat versus thin, blonde versus brunette?

How pervasive is the culture of vanity and how are people who simply can not fit into a fashionable category affected? -- do they suffer along, or try to make up for their perceived deficiencies or do they simply create their own categories of fashion and vanity?

How do the fashions of the various races reflect their physiology & culture?

How much exchange of these ideas goes on between various races and cultures of the region?

Questions on Manners

Greetings

When meeting someone, what gestures or words are used for greeting?

 

How did the greeting gesture originate?

Is there a difference between the greeting offered to an equal and that offered to a superior or an inferior?

 

Is there a difference between the greeting offered a man or a woman or between people of different races?

 

 

How are two people who have never met normally introduced to one another?

What is the order of precedence when there are several people of differing sex or social status or race present, all of whom need to be introduced to each other?

 

Are there classes of people who are never introduced to other classes of people?

Are true names significant, and if so, under what circumstances would someone be given another person's true name?

Are there customs involving the way in which someone is named when being introduced, such as using full titles at the first meeting, but never repeating them afterward?

Is there any difference in the way you greet someone you already know, compared to greeting a stranger?

How does someone acknowledge seeing an acquaintance at a distance, for example passing on the other side of the street?

 

Gestures and Body Language

Are gestures and body language in this society generally subtle or obvious?

 

Do people talk with their hands or other appendages, or is that considered vulgar?

Is there a way of changing a greeting gesture to make it insulting?

What is a comfortable and polite speaking distance for people in this culture and how does this compare with others?

In a confined space, people will cluster close together, and if people are walking, it is normal for one person to walk a mere arm's breadth behind another.  When there is plenty of room, however, people often spread out to be several feet apart.  

As women are usually taller than men, a conversation between a man and a woman in close quarters may lead to the woman's breasts taking up most of the man's view field, and for the pair to make eye contact the man would need to hold his head upward for the entire conversation.  Women who dislike this solve the problem by standing further apart from men they have newly met, and moving closer only as the woman comes to trust the man. 

 

How aware are people of these differences and are they well or poorly respected?

What gestures are insulting?

Rude gestures typically involve people's private parts.

Men in an angry mood may curl forward the front of their pants, revealing their penis, to show that they do not care about the emotions of the person they are addressing and that the other person's suffering only makes them happy.  Small boys may use a euphemistic form of the gesture, where they do not open their pants, as it would be anatomically impossible for them to perform the gesture properly.  This is also what men do when there are small children about, or when they otherwise feel uncomfortable exposing their anatomy in front of the other people watching. 

A man confronting an angry woman may make gestures such as clutching his belly, imitating the motions of a woman dealing with premenstrual cramps. He may also simply say, Putepu?, "Are you having PMS?" or use an indirect method of verbally implying the same question. Both men and women are well-educated about feminine hygiene, and the vocabulary of the language is very rich.  Men do not confuse premenstrual syndrome with menstrual bleeding and if they accidentally make the wrong joke they will become a target for jokes themselves. 

What do they mean?

Do some gestures differ in meaning depending on the culture, race, or era?

How do gestures and body language differ between races & cultures?

Are there signs that don't matter in one region but that are grave insults in another?

What are the ways of showing respect and to whom is one expected to show such respect?

Visiting and Hospitality

When a guest arrives, is food or drink offered immediately, after an interval, or only on request?

 

Is there a particular food or drink that is customary to offer a newly arrived guest?

Are there questions that must be asked or avoided?

Are there topics that can only be raised by the host or the guest?

How seriously does the culture take the responsibilities of host and guest?

What norms define the host-guest relationship?

What things are considered courteous to offer a guest? -- food, reading material, personal guards or attendants, music, entertainment, a person of the opposite sex to sleep with?

What is considered a courteous response to a host's offer?

Are there things it is considered rude to accept or rude to turn down; rude to ask for or not to ask for?

How do different eating customs of the various cultures and races interact and conflict?

Manners

Who speaks first at a formal gathering?

What kinds of gifts are considered appropriate or in extremely bad taste?

 

How do younger adults address their elders?

Because Poswa is entirely without speech registers, there are no polite forms of address.  Children and adults use the same vocabulary in all situations.

When is it rude to laugh at something funny?

Poswobs find great humor in mocking people's disabilities and embarrassing both their friends and foes in public.  The Poswobs are considered the rudest people on the planet, and they accept this with honor.  Even the Poswobs, however, typically will not make fun of a disease if it is clearly fatal, or if the person being mocked is much weaker than the others present in the room, such as a roomful of adults taking turns throwing insults at a small child.

What kinds of questions cannot be asked in public? -- or in private or even not at all?

What parts of the body are routinely covered?

Nudity is legal and clothing is considered a means of protection more than modesty.  Thus a woman may appear in public with her breasts and even genitals uncovered but gloves on her hands and boots on her feet, if walking through an area with thorn plants.  Nonetheless the more typical pattern is to wear at least one garment tied around the waist, covering the genitals and sometimes extending further up or down the body, and for women to support their breasts.

The most common summer apparel covers little more than the wearer's private parts, and can be described as underwear because they wear other clothes on top of it in winter.  The Poswobs refer to underwear in general as pupa, however, a word that stands on its own. 

How private are bodily functions like bathing or defecating?

Every home has a bathroom, though not all are attached to the main structure.

Public bathrooms are found in great abundance in cities and even small towns.  People are expected to be clean at all times, and will go to use the bathroom even if they only need to wash their hands.  Thus, there is often a bathroom on every street corner, making bathrooms the most common type of public building in society.

Using a public bathroom guarantees privacy, but periodically the police will watch and stand outside the door when someone enters a public bathroom.  When the person exits, the police will stop them and then inspect the bathroom to ensure it is clean.  If the person has left any visible mess either within the room or on their person, the police will arrest them immediately and charge them with voluntary incontinence.  This is the most harshly punished nonviolent crime defined by law, and paying the required penalty often leads to economic ruin for the perpetrator.   

 

 

What are the rules of precedence? -- who gets to go through doors first and who gets introduced first?

 

 

 

How important are "good manners" in this society?

For adults, they are not important at all.  Anyone who seems too polite may be shunned by their peers.  The same is true for children dealing with other children their age.  Children are allowed to say things to adults that adults cannot turn back on them, but even this applies only to things that are rude for reasons children cannot understand; since it is forbidden to punish a child for an accident, this is the only fair approach.  However a young child who deliberately embarrasses their parents or other adults in public, having learned an easy way to do so, will be punished the same as would an adult.

What constitutes everyday good manners?

 

 

 

 

How do "good manners" differ from race to race?

How do different peoples react when someone has just been, by their standards, unspeakably rude?

 

When and where are people supposed to be on their best behavior?

Taboos and Faux Pas

What are considered controversial subjects in this culture?

 

What things can you start a friendly disputation about?

What things will automatically result in an unfriendly argument?

What are the primary social taboos? -- what things are simply not done and what things are not talked about?

 

 

What would happen if someone broke such a taboo?

 

 

 

What are the greatest social faux pas?

What subjects or actions cause embarrassment or discomfort?

 

Questions on Morality, Ethics & Faith

Values

What is the ideal life that people aspire to?

Humans are a part of nature, but unlike all other animals, humans have the unique duty to make their environment better for the animals around them rather than merely living there.  Thus, Poswobs are environmentalists and animal activists.  Because Poswobs consider humans to be animals, they do not see any conflict between human values and the values of nature; indeed, humans are the keystone species wherever they live, as the other animals in their habitat benefit from humans' presence.

Like other animals, however, humans must protect each other, and when forced to choose between the well-being of a human or of an animal of a different species, humans are expected to side with their own species and leave the animals to side with theirs.  There are some exceptions to this rule, however; a human is allowed to sacrifice their own life to feed an animal, for example, and other humans cannot take measures to stop them.

What virtues are held in greatest esteem?

What are the virtues and vices within this culture?

What kinds of people are the rebels and outcasts of this society?

 

How does society deal with them?

 

Do wild and rebellious young people dress any differently from anyone else and are they tolerated within society or are they in some way living marginal but socially sanctioned lives outside the normal bounds of good society?

 

What ideas or words or actions will result in making one a social outcast or exile?

 

What happens to people who don't fit the accepted social order? -- do they live and work in their own sections of town, or are they invisible, or are they expelled altogether?

 

What will people swear a binding oath by?

 

What is the most desired or most valuable object in this society, be it gold, jewels, drugs, money, furs, reindeer, knowledge or virtue?

 

Why is it so coveted and valued?

Do different races value different things?

What attitudes, speech or actions are considered normal and acceptable in this society that may not be so considered from an outsider's perspective?

Poswobs are the world's rudest people, and they're proud of it.  Intimate conversations are frequently interrupted by references to bodily functions, and scholars and sailors use the same vocabulary.  However, Poswobs do not see their speech habits as rude, and indeed, there is no good word in Poswa for the concept of rudeness. Rather, they define their speech as being natural, and say that people who speak in euphemisms have strayed from basic human nature.

Cultural attitudes towards menstruation are complex.  Poswobs in general believe that menstruation is an expression of the beauty of the female body, and that women should take pride in it.  A woman on her period will often make it known to all within earshot during a conversation about something entirely unrelated, and the Poswa language has a means to do this without interrupting the flow of conversation.  At the same time, women who suffer pain related to menstruation, or bleed outside their normal period, are ashamed because they have not developed their expected natural beauty.

Children approach elementary bodily functions in a similar manner.  It is well within their right for a child to interrupt a group of adults at the height of an intellectual conversation to declare that they need to use the bathroom, and the child can be as explicit as they want about precisely what they need to do in there.  (But note that urine is often deliberately spilled outdoors.)  As the child grows, they are expected to move from interjections such as Pupub! ("I need to go (to the bathroom)!") to ones like Fapampo ("I am headed to the bathroom now").

What attitudes, speech or actions are considered shocking in this society that may not be so considered from an outsider's perspective?

 

What would be the reaction of an ordinary person who sees someone doing one of these things?

What are the acceptable limits to honor and honesty in this society?

Are "white lies" acceptable socially, or is lying in any form inconceivable?

 

Is thievery an accepted, if disreputable, occupation, or is it a crime?

Is a binding oath absolutely unbreakable or can one consider the arrangement broken should the other party turn out to have had ill intent or withheld key information?

 

What is considered the right thing to do if two oaths come into conflict?

 

What are attitudes toward ownership of crafted objects, of intellectual property, of chattels, slaves and of land ?

 

 

What constitutes "theft" and what can be stolen? -- gems, gold, someone's good name or reputation?

Can a slave steal himself and what would the consequences be?

Are thieves independent criminals, members of a guild or businessmen licensed by law?

Morality

What is the overarching moral framework of this society like?

Does morality arise from philosophy or descend from religion?

How are the morals within this system known to be true?

What actions are considered moral and immoral and amoral?

How do the systems of morality of different races and cultures interact and how are conflicts between them resolved?

Do all races or ethnicities agree on some basic framework of morality, or are there grave and insurmountable differences among them?

Are moral systems enshrined in secular law, religious law or ancient custom?

Ethics

What systems of ethics is in use in this region?

Who are the persons or groups of people to whom one automatically owes a duty simply by being born to a particular estate?

What is the hierarchy of duty among them and what do the various duties consist of?

Who are the arbiters of ethical matters, as opposed to legal matters?

Which ethical or moral decisions are considered the province of religion, and which are not?

Faith and Religion

Are the people of this culture religious or nonreligious?

What are the major religious groups in the region?

What are some of their core doctrines, dogmas, beliefs and practices?

What is the overall cosmology and eschatology in religious terms?

Is religion a cause of dissatisfaction, dissension or hostility in the region?

Are religious traditions and any scriptures oral or written in nature or a combination?

 

Is there a set canon of what constitutes officially sanctioned scripture?

 

How are scriptural & traditional exegesis accomplished and by what hermeneutics?

What is the role of myth within the religion?

Is there a formal creed or set of credal statements that define the faith?

 

What are typical symbols used in the religion and their meanings?

What ritual objects are used in the religion (relics, talismans, medals, charms, etc)?

What religious officials are there?

Is there a formal clergy and how are they organised?

Are there monks, saints, faqirs, nuns, prophets, apostles, disciples, preachers, friars, shamans, martyrs, mystics, seers, vates, sages, ascetics, religious heroes, saviours, redeemers, etc?

What do people believe happens to them after death?

How, if at all, can they influence this?

What happens to those who disagree with the majority on questions of religion?

Are there any particular places considered especially sacred?

Is there a fixed religious calendar?

What are the most popular rituals or festivals?

Are there liturgical, meditative, and contemplative aspects to the religion?

What is the basic structure of the religion (unitary, dualistic, etc)?

What is the basic theology of the religion (i.e., monotheistic, polytheistic, henotheistc, atheistic, etc)?

 

 

 

What do people have to offer to their Deity or deities?

 

What do people want from their Deity or deities?

How do they try and get it?

Are there differing denominations or sects of the religion?

 

How do their religious practices differ from their neighbours?

Are issues such as orthodoxy, heterodoxy, heresy and apostasy keys in the religious life?

What gender, ethnic, national or racial issues exist within the religion?

Is ecumenism engaged in, or are other traditions treated as adversaries or enemies?

What is the most commonly broken religious rule?

What is the least-violated religious rule?

How are such infractions punished?

Is it possible to expel a community member?

How can an outsider join the religious community?

Does the religion send out missionaries and what roles do they play?

What factions exist within the dominant religious institutions?

How do they compete?

Are the differing groups a result of schismatism or mutual and cooperative separation?

Are there monastic groups?

What do they do and how are they organized?

How do you join one?

Are there cult groups within the religious community?

How are those who follow different faiths treated?

What relationship do religious and political leaders have?

What superstitions are common?

What kinds of supernatural events or beings do people fear?

What kinds of supernatural beings exist?

 

 

 

 

 

How are dreams and visions encompassed by the religion?

How is religious action expressed (spontaneous or ritual liturgy, song, dance, music, ritual action, sex, miracle plays, etc)?

Are any divine beings present or distant; and do they take an active role in temple activities and the lives of everyday people?

How many gods are there?

 

Do they exist within a hierarchy and do they form various classes or groups?

 

Which ones are good or evil, or somewhere in between?

Is this distinction even applicable when speaking of gods?

From a religious perspective, how are miracles distinguished and differentiated from magic?

Is there tension, rivalry, or outright hostility between any of the gods?

Does this spill over into tensions between various temple organisations or secular polities?

How does religion mesh with society?

How do people view its actions (or inactivity) within society?

Is there an established church?

Is freedom of religion the norm or is there some amount of compulsion?

Do the gods care how people behave?

What part does faith play in the worship of gods?

Do people choose one or more gods to worship and ignore the others, or does everybody officially worship everyone?

 

How is it determined which god an individual will worship or temple to be affiliated with; or are all gods worshiped indiscriminately?

Are philosophers and theologians considered ivory-tower academics, or do they debate in the marketplace for all to hear and consider their perspectives?

How much influence do their theories have on the way people actually behave?

Are priests and philosophers full-time workers, or do they support themselves through working at some other craft?

 

If they are full-time, who supports them? -- the congregation, a wealthy patron, the temple's investment fund, the god they serve?

Why are the gods interested in people?

Are they like a family pantheon (quarrelsome, larger-than-life humans), or are they transcendent and incomprehensible?

Are gods limited in their powers and capabilities?

Can gods make mistakes? -- where can a person go to seek redress against a god?

How do the various temples and philosophies explain the problem of evil?

Do they think bad things are always a just punishment for some transgression, a character-building exercise, the result of an evil antagonist or simply something the gods can't overturn?

Rites

What are the various rites like?

What offerings are considered appropriate or insufficient and are different sacrifices required for different gods?

 

Are there times when people are expected to fast, or feast?

Are there rites or temples that are off-limits to outsiders, or even uninitiated insiders?

Questions on Arts & Aesthetics

What are the favourite and least favourite art forms?

Pornography is so common that the word for art in general (wisibo) is derived from the word for porn (wisi).  The most common pornographic objects are statues and paintings, with the paintings often being murals occupying city walls a thousand feet wide. 

All types of sex acts are depicted except for rape, and the locals consider pornography to be the most natural artistic depiction of the beautiful and uniquely shaped human body.  Thus, all art containing depictions of human beings is overtly pornographic unless intended for children; even in kids' media, suggestive shapes and poses are common because Blopoms know that these same children can see the pornographic murals along the city walls whenever they venture outside their play area in the center of the city.

Is there a distinct musical or literary style; and what are they like?

 

How respected are artists?

Do artists require official or unofficial protection or patronage?

What kinds of trouble are artists in particular likely to find themselves in?

How might a very successful artist live?

What forms of theatre does this society have?

How naturalistic or stylized is this society's art?

What shapes are most common in this society's arts, like embroidery or architecture?

 

Which art forms get the most and least respect or receive the most attention?

What form does censorship take?

 

Who may not be an artist?

What qualities equal "beauty" in this society?

What makes a man or woman especially beautiful?

 

 

What are the standards of beauty for people; paintings and sculpture; clothing and furniture?

How do standards of beauty reflect the physical traits of the various races?

What is the status of the arts in this society?

Are artists revered or mistrusted?

Are there permanent theaters or concert halls for the performing arts?

Are there also traveling troupes of players/musicians/dancers?

What things are considered appropriate subjects for representational arts and which are not?

Are certain races or cultures considered better at some arts than others?

Where do the best dancers, painters, musicians, actors, and so forth come from?

Questions on Entertainment

What are popular games, sports and pastimes?

Coeducational contact sports are common; men and women are considered athletic equals, and therefore compete in sports on the same level.  Sometimes a team of men plays a team of women, and sometimes both teams play men and women together. 

Contact sports that entail significant risk of physical injury are typically popular only among men.  One popular sport is played in a gently sloped, bowl-shaped depression covered with soil, and overgrown with thorny plants.  Six naked men start at the edge of the bowl and compete to reach the center first, with the winner being the first one to climb a pole at the center of the bowl and then reach the top of that pole.  All participants must begin the game without any visible wounds and will finish it bleeding from all parts of their body.  They are allowed to hit each other and to push each other into the thorns, and much of the game is left up to luck.  For example, if a stray animal happens to bite one of the contestants, the game continues and he cannot claim that he was cheated.     

Many sports involve men and women obeying separate sets of rules, scoring points by a mix of physical and sexual touching. 

A few sports involve animals.  In one such sport, two teams of humans ostensibly fight each other in hand-to-hand combat, but in reality each tries to push the other into the path of an oncoming animal, which will then injure the human much more severely than another human could.  These animals, most commonly pigs, are aware of their role and will not go on to kill or maim the human beyond the expectations of the rules of the game.  The pigs are unpredictable, however, and may simply sit around without participating in the game if they are tired or simply uninterested.  In such a case, the game devolves into hand-to-hand combat after all. 

How important are they?

How do such activities vary from one race or culture to another?

How much free time do people usually have?

Women typically do not work, so their only responsibilities are to keep themselves and their surroundings clean.

What do they spend this time doing?

Does the culture have outlets for dramatic arts?

 

What other major forms of entertainment are there?

Theater has been imported from the distant Ghost Empire.  Following the Ghosts' tradition, all of the actors must be young children.  But because Blop has very few children, sometimes transitory adult troupes are formed, or adults are placed together with children for dramatic effect.  In the remainder of the Poswob Empire, the birthrate is much higher and theater is performed exclusively by children after all.   

Is the populace literate and numerate?

 

Do people read for pleasure?

 

If so, what do they read?

How much do books, magazines, broadsheets and the like cost?

Is there a public library system; and who uses it?

Who are popular authors and poets?

Who are some of the more famous characters from literature?

What are some of the more well known story lines from literature?

How embedded have scenes or lines from literary works become in ordinary language; what are the equivalents of "a rose by any other name" or "it was a dark and stormy night"?

How do people listen to music: in a theater, making music at home, street musicians, mechanical reproduction & playback?

Does music influence people's behaviour?

Does this culture have a typical dance form; and what is it like?

Who is able to see such entertainments and what restrictions might there be against some people?

Questions on Healing Arts

What access do people have to clean drinking water, either at home or in public?

 

What access do people have to proper sanitation, either at home or in public?

 

Do houses or public buildings have plumbing? -- and does it involve cold and warm water plus sewer?

 

Describe any public or private bathing or toilet facilities.

Hygiene is very important.  Cities have public bathrooms on every street corner, and people are expected to be fully clean from head to toe when they are out in public.  It is not mere misbehavior, but actually a crime to use the bathroom and emerge without being visibly clean.

Poswobs are also required to clean up after animals, both in cities and in the wild.  This is everyone's duty; there are no people whose daily job focuses on cleaning up animal waste. 

 

What level are the healing and medical arts at?

Is there an understanding of or distinction between quack medicine and valid medicine?

How is healthcare delivered in this society; what are its foundations?

 

Are there hospitals or sanataria where many forms of health care are concentrated; or are practitioners more diffuse within the community?

Do people have access to any form of medical aid for emergencies or for less urgent problems?

What kinds of ailments or injuries are treatable in the locality using available supplies and expertise?

What does typical healthcare cost?

 

Regarding healers, how are they chosen and educated?

What divisions or groups are there?

Are the divisions hierarchical or horizontal in nature?

Is healing generally a magical process?

How does the magical healing talent work?

Does a magical healer have to consciously direct the healing process, or does magical healing simply speed up the normal, unconscious healing process in the patient?

Is there more than one kind of magical healer?

Are there both magical and non-magical healers, and if so, are they rivals or simply different specialties?

How do this society's healers try to treat wounds and sickness?

Which medical assumptions of this society are wrong?

Do people seek care on an as-needed or emergency basis; or is health care seen as a preventative endeavour; how often do people typically engage with a healer?

Is a distinction made between physical and nonphysical ailments?

What happens to those suffering from extreme mental or spiritual illness?

How do people react to physical deformity, both congenital & acquired?

What level of medical care can be found in this region and how reliable is it?

Which is better to be suffering from -- the disease or the cure?

How accurate is the diagnostic process?

Do healers have ways of telling two diseases with similar symptoms apart?

How much is known about anatomy, physiology, pathology, etc.?

Are treatments based on purely practical experience, or do healers understand at least some of what they are doing?

Who normally handles issues of fertility and childbirth -- midwives, doctors, or someone else?

Are birth control or abortion or infanticide taboo or practiced freely; and under what circumstances?

The municipal government promotes abortion in the belief that their city is not a good environment to raise a child.

 

What is the mortality rate for pregnant women, new mothers, infants and children?

Obstetrics is fairly well developed despite the low birth rate.

The women of the Tarwasta tribes have very wide hips, and feel little pain during childbirth, whereas childbirth for the Lenians is quite often painful.  Tarwasta babies attain a remarkably large size while still in the womb, and so a Lenian woman with a Tarwasta husband knows that the birth process will be extremely difficult and potentially fatal for both her and her baby.  Therefore such couples are uncommon and when they do occur they are mostly childless.  This barrier to reproduction is one reason why the two tribal groups have maintained their distinct identities over thousands of years in close proximity.

What kinds of treatments are available, be they herbal teas, vaccinations, acupuncture, spells, and the like; how effective are they?

Is it possible to resurrect or resuscitate someone who has died; and when is it to late for the process to be successful?

Is such a person considered normally alive, a zombie of some kind or some other category?

Are there diseases that only affect one race or another?

Are there diseases that affect everybody, but with different degrees of severity, regardless of race?

Do healers have to take specialized training in order to properly treat people of different races?

Questions on the Life Span

How long do people of various races or ethnicities live?

What factors explain any discrepancies?

What subdivisions exist that describe the various times of a person's lifespan?

 

 

What rites mark these times in a person's life?

What rights or duties do people have at different times in their lives?

What emoluments or considerations do people have at different times in their lives?

Questions on Birth, Childhood and Adolescence

What customs surround a birth and the introduction of a new child to the family?

 

Is the mother sequestered for some period; or is the child?

 

Is there a formal presentation of the new child to the parents, grandparents, overlord, priest or community?

 

Is a feast and celebration declared, or does everyone keep a low profile to keep from attracting demons or bad luck?

Who is normally present for births?

 

Is childbirth strictly a matter for women, or are men involved as well, or is an expectant mother secluded and expected to give birth entirely unaided?

Who raises the children?

At what age do they begin to be educated or trained for a craft?

Who normally educates children?

 

Are children dressed differently from adults; and if so, when do they change to adult dress?

 

Questions on Rites of Passage: Coming of Age, Marriage, Anointment

What are the rites of passage in this culture?

Are there formalized rituals or is the transition more informal in nature?

Are there different rites for men and women or other groups of people?

When and how does someone go from child to adult?

How is a marriage defined?

How is a marriage contracted?

What are the society's mores regarding courtship, betrothal & marriage?

Is marriage primarily a civil or a religious institution?

What is the term of a marriage contract?

What gifts are considered appropriate or inappropriate for a wedding?

How are marriages celebrated?

What is considered too great a difference in age for a couple?

Do relationships allow multiple partners?

In what ways is a marriage considered broken?

How can a marriage be terminated?

 

Questions on Death and Funerary Customs

What is their understanding of death and dying?

What does this society do with their corpses?

What customs surround death and burial?

How are dead bodies disposed of?

Are there lands set aside for burying grounds, are dead bodies cremated or left to be eaten by scavenging birds?

Is the family responsible for the body or are there specialised craftsmen that handle corpses?

What part do the priests or other clerics play?

Are bodies buried in the ground or in caves or catacombs?

Does each family have a crypt with all their relatives gathered together?

Do people visit the dead?

If so, how often and what is done while visiting?

Are the dead feared, revered, or ignored?

Questions on Unnatural Death: Suicide, Abortion & Exposure, Murder, Killing, Judicial Slaying

Suicide

What views do people in this culture have about suicide?

Suicide is legal, but must serve nature.  Humans are encouraged to bathe with a fragrance that enhances their appeal to predators, and then flee naked into a predator's habitat.

Is it the greatest sin one can commit or is it seen as a civic duty under certain circumstances?

Or is it even a sin at all -- is it the great and last comfort of a tormented soul?

Is it worse than murder?

Abortion and Exposure

Under what circumstances might an infant be aborted in utero or exposed after birth?

Abortion is very common.  Blopoms see their city as a bad place to raise a child, and often provide that as their only reason for aborting their pregnancy.  Neither the husband nor anyone else is allowed to question a woman's desire to have an abortion.  More than half of all known pregnancies end with an induced abortion.

Are such killings viewed as legal or moral?

 

 

What features might mark an infant for abortion or exposure?

 

What circumstances surrounding the infant's conception, gestation or birth might mark the infant for abortion or exposure?

 

 

Are such children ever rescued, and under what circumstances might this happen?

 

Murder and Killing

Is there a distinction to be made between a planned murder and an accidental or incidental killing?

 

If so, how is this reflected in cultural lore, the justice and penal systems?

 

 

 

Are either ever justifiable or even outright permissible?

 

 

Judicial Slaying

Is the execution of convicted criminals permitted?

No; the most severe punishment available is exile.

What laws must be broken to warrant such a punishment?

 

What forms does this punishment take?

 

Who carries out the sentence, and is it done in open or in secret?

 

Questions on Education

Describe the education of the society's people: is there formal schooling, apprenticeship, etc.

Blop's fertility rate is very low, and many families move out after the birth of their first child.  Thus there is only one elementary school in the entire city of Blop, whose population is over 50,000.  This school enrolls pupils from the age of five to the age of thirteen, whereupon they are considered adults and will begin to live independently.

If education is mainly by apprenticeship, how is this accomplished?

Is education compulsory or voluntary?

 

Are educational opportunities open to everyone?

 

What is the cost of education?

 

Between which ages does education happen?

 

How are academic curricula and years arranged?

 

What is the typical courses of study?

 

What degrees or diplomas are offered?

Does this society have its own language?

Its own writing system?

How common is literacy?

 

How is literacy understood as a continuum within society?

Is universal or selective literacy a goal of society?

What form and value are books?

Who decides who learns to read or write?

Are foreigners ever brought in to teach new skills?

How educated is an average person living in this region, and what does this education consist of?

Is it enough to be able to count and do sums; to be able to read a little bit?

Who are the most and least educated people in society?

 

Are there schoolhouses in every town, or do people travel if they want to be educated?

 

Are there universities or colleges?

 

Are there private tutors?

 

What things are considered absolutely necessary for a noble or other well to do class of people to know?

What must a tradesman or a peasant learn to function in society?

 

Questions on Daily Life

City Life

Does a city's layout reflect some particular philosophy, such as that the ruler of the city must be at the center or at the highest point or at the most strategic location within the city?

 

Are practical consideration such as the confluence of rivers or trade routes of greater import?

Are cities planned and laid out or do they grow in a more organic fashion?

Are there public or private parks in this city?

Near the center of the city is a large playground intended for use by children.  No adults, male or female, are allowed to enter this zone; any who do will expect to be immediately attacked by animals positioned near the walls.  Thus, the children play unsupervised. 

How wide are the boulevards, streets and alleys?

What are the chief landmarks in this city?

Where are the interesting neighborhoods in town: the districts worth visiting and those worth avoiding at all costs?

Do neighborhoods, wards, roads, courts and alleys have names?

How are houses or shops addressed?

How can an unfamiliar visitor find a location?

Where do people go to shop, eat, have fun, worship or visit culturally significant places?

What sorts of goods, foods & entertainments are available in large cities that are not available in the country or smaller towns?

What are houses in the city like: their size, layout, manner of construction and available ammenities?

When might a city house be abandoned by its inhabitants?

Country Life

What is the composition of the rural landscape: small farmsteads; semi-independent manors; vast latifundia?

Are peasants, farmers, yeomen or serfs tied to their land by law or custom, or can they move from place to place or even to a town if they desire?

Can they own their farms and property, or is all land held "in common" or is it rented from a lord or landholder?

Given the state of roads and transportation, how much food is it possible to ship to a given location before it spoils?

Are rural areas primarily farms, forests, grazing meadows, or waste land?

In outlying areas where there aren't many people, how many roads are there, who builds them, and to what standards are they built and who maintains them?

How reliable is the weather from year to year -- is crop production relatively dependable, or do people have to cope with regular famines due to drought or floods?

 

What kinds of catastrophic weather are common -- tornadoes, hurricanes, blizzards, waterspouts, dust storms, thaumic typhoons and how do people cope with them?

 

How are agricultural areas divided up between the different races of people?

What kinds of conflicts are likely to result when two or more groups' territories & interests intersect?

What kinds of rights over land, crops, game, etc. does a landowner have?

 

Is poaching a problem?

What are houses in the country like: size, layout, manner of construction, amenities available?

 

When might a country house or farm be abandoned by its inhabitants?

 

Matters of Daily Life

What are accepted norms of personal hygiene: do most people bathe regularly, or is bathing considered a health hazard?

 

 

 

 

How is rubbish and other waste material disposed of?

 

What kinds of furniture are in common use?

 

What is furniture like in design, shape and decoration; and what is it usually made of?

 

Are certain articles of furniture reserved for high-status individuals?

In what ways does furniture design reflect the customs and lifestyle of the people?

What are the plumbing and sanitary systems like; and how reliable are they?

How do they differ between country and city?

How do people cope with various domestic disasters like fire, floods, tornadoes and the like?

How common are such disasters?

How early do people get up in the morning?

Are clocks common, or do people tell time by the sun or by listening for church or town-hall bells or some other public alarm?

Ethnographical Questionnaire D

Technology and Thaumology: Craft and Magic in Partnership

Questions on the Technological Level of the World and its Regions

Are philosophy and science unified, or do they exist as separate and independent disciplines?

What devices and technologies are available for ordinary people's use?

Are such devices taken for granted?

What sorts of devices or technologies are available for a limited, priviledged sector of society?

How is the knowledge base of this culture distributed?

Is it freely available to all, or are certain segments kept hidden from the uninitiated?

What is the level of technology in this society comparable to -- stone age, bronze age, iron age, silicon age or some combination of eras?

What is the basis of technology: agrarian, manufacturing, military?

What important inventions or advances have been made; which ones are about to be made?

Have any of these inventions reached the point of affecting the daily life of the average person, or are they absurdly rare curiosities?

What inventions or advances have not been made that you would normally expect to see at this stage of technological development?

How much is known about the laws of nature, be they physics, magic, chemistry, etc.?

How much of what is commonly known and assumed to be correct turns out in fact to be quite wrong?

Is there a scientific or philosophical method used to arrive at an understanding of the facts of nature?

Where is research done: universities, private laboratories, under the auspices of the ruler or government or religious institution?

In what areas might magic replace technology, and thus perhaps suppress its development?

Or are science, technology and magic wedded together?

Questions on Magic

What is the nature of magic in this world?

 

Where does the power of prayer come from?

 

Is the power of prayer an exhaustible resource?

If a priest must feed his spells with his own willpower, life-force, or sanity, what long-term effects will this have on the health and/or stability of the magician?

What can prayer not do: what are the limits to its power?

 

How do magicians try to get around these limitations?

What is the price magicians must pay in order to work magic?

Is there a difference between miracles and magic?

If so, how are they distinguished?

What is needed in order to cast a spell; and are there different ways of obtaining a similar end?

What kinds of paraphernalia, such as staffs, wands, crystal balls, skelletons of animals suspended from the ceiling, are required for the proper working of magic?

How do wizards obtain these things?

Do they make their own or buy them from craftsmen, inherit them from their teachers, or order them from a supply shop?

Can two or more priests combine their power to chant a stronger prayer, or is prayer done only by individuals?

 

What makes one wizard more powerful than another?

What general varieties of magic are practiced, e.g., herbal, ritual, alchemical, demonology, necromancy?

Does one particular variety of magic work better than others?

Are there quack forms of magical practice?

Are certain kinds of magic practiced solely or chiefly by one sex or another?

By one race or another?

Does a priest's ability to pray clearly change over time -- e.g., growing stronger or weaker during puberty, or with increasing age?

 

Can a priest "use up" all of her power, thus ceasing to be a priest, and what might she do after?

Can the ability to pray be lost or taken away?

 

Are wizards organized or hierarchical?

What happens when the person at the top dies; who takes over and how is this determined?

Are magicians a force in politics or religion?

Are there national policies that revolve around or involve magic in some way?

Are wizards above or below the law -- or are they a law unto themselves?

Do they have full rights as citizens, no rights, or can they do as they like without regard to anyone else's rights?

Are there statutes, constabularies and law courts that handle thaumic crimes?

How does magic and the people who practice it figure into the power or international prestige of a country?

Is a magician's lifetime normally longer or shorter than the average?

And does this vary for the different races?

Are there races all of whose members are magic users?

Are there fashions or fads in magic?

Are there certain kinds of magic or particular spells that are illegal to practice?

If a wizard casts such a spell and is found out, how would such a criminal magician be detected in the first place; how might he be apprehended, tried & punished?

Is the catching and punishing of lawbreaking magicians the responsibility of the guild, or do the ordinary courts have to handle it?

Thaumology

What effects have magic had on ordinary technology?

Are the two married into a single discipline, or is magic above or otherwise insufficient to manipulate ordinary technology?

Are there thaumological means of transportation such as thaumically motivated waggons or airships?

How do they compare in speed, safety and expense to non-magical means?

Are there any drawbacks to thaumological travel?

How commonly are such methods used, and for what purposes?

Are there thaumological means of rapid communication?

Of waging wars?

Can ordinary objects be enchanted to make them (or their users) supremely good at something, like a Sauce Pan of Gourmet Cookery?

How common and useful are such enchantments?

Do they endure indefinitely or does their efficacy wear off?

Are there especially constructed thaumological devices that serve (for better or worse) the purpose of a device of ordinary technology?

To what degree does the presence of magic, enchanted objects, and wizards in general replace technology?

Is technology frequently duplicated or merely supplemented?

Is daily life made demonstrably better or worse or simply more perilous by thaumology and magic?

Can spells and/or magical items be mass-produced?

Are there magic carpet factories and boutiques selling magic rings, or must such devices be individually crafted?

Can spells and/or magical items be used to increase the efficiency of manufacturing or mass production?

Do businesses keep a wizard on retainer the way a business might keep a lawyer on staff?

If so, what, exactly, are they paying for?

Questions on Agriculture

What are the primary crops of a given region?

 

Are any grown mainly for export?

What crops can not be grown in a particular region because of the soil, climate, or for other reasons?

What are the most commonly grown food crops?

What are the most commonly raised livestock animals for meat or milk or motive power?

What level has agrarian understanding achieved? -- slash & burn; passive gardening; active farming; crop rotation; advanced fertilisers, hydroponics & genetic manipulation?

Questions on Architecture

What major architectural styles are present?

What do buildings look like?

How does this vary over time and between places in the region?

What are typical buildings like inside and out?

What are typical floor plans like -- can people afford to waste space on hallways, or do they just have a series of rooms opening into other rooms?

Are buildings normally built square, triangular, domed?

Above ground or in ground?

How much use is made of natural spaces like caves or hills?

How tall a building can be constructed at a reasonable cost and in a reasonable time and without collapsing?

What materials are used in typical construction?

What materials have to be imported and from how far away are the locals willing to obtain those materials?

How are buildings constructed?

Are there construction machines or is work done by hand?

What are some famous landmarks in the region and why are they famous?

How many people usually live in a typical house?

 

How large or small is a typical house?

 

What are the differences in materials, construction and appearance of houses between the several classes & races of society?

How are buildings decorated?

Are there differences of ornamentation depending on the purpose of the building?

How common are windows and what do people use to cover windows necessary for ventilation and light?

How are living quarters arranged?

Are bedrooms on the top floors for privacy or on the ground floor for convenience?

Are parlors or libraries common?

How are houses heated & cooled?

Are wars and insurrections common enough that castles and cities are built with an eye to military defense first and appearance later, or are palaces and walless towns the rule?

THIS NEEDS TO BE A DIV Questions on Locomotion, Transport and Communications

Locomotion

How do people travel from one place to another?

 

What kinds of vehicles are available in this region?

Do individuals or families own and use their own vehicles?

What are the common domesticated animals used for locomotion & transportation at various levels of society?

Are certain animals preferred by certain industries?

For traveling short distances within a city, what are the alternatives?

Can people hire a cab, a litter, a rickshaw, or do they have to walk or rely on their own servants or horses?

Is there any kind of public transportation system and how well is a typical city or town served?

Transport

Do people make long journeys?

 

If so, for what purposes and what are they like?

What are the roads like?

How do they vary from place to place?

How safe, clean & reliable are the various methods of transport?

What major fuels are used?

How available is water for transport?

Are there good canals, or navigable rivers?

How reliable is water transport and how dangerous or expensive?

How common is individual travel (for any reason)?

Does the concept of travel "to see the world," i.e. as a tourist, even exist?

How dangerous is travel; and how large a group would be considered safe to travel with?

Do coaching services provide security?

How much traffic is there inside and outside the main cities?

Which areas are best/worst?

What is the fastest means of traveling long distances over land, water, under the ground or through the air?

What is road transportation like?

Are there good roads?

Who built them?

Who is responsible for maintaining them?

Are there railways or trams?

Are there dedicated military or post roads or are all roadways open for public use?

Where would a traveler stay at night?

 

Are there enough travelers to support inns, or do people have to stay with a conveniently located farm or monastery?

Are some classes of people such as slaves or serfs not expected to travel at all?

And are some people such as heralds or messengers expected to travel constantly?

Are such official travellers accorded any particular respect, even by highwaymen or ruffians?

Communications

Apart from face to face, how do people communicate with each other?

 

 

Is there a postal service?

How fast is it?

How much does it cost to use?

What restrictions are there on packet delivery?

Does the post operate internationally?

How likely is it that an article sent in the post will reach its intended destination if within the province or same country?

How likely if sent abroad?

What technical or mechanical means of communications exist?

How are messages sent when necessary?

How fast does news spread point A to point B?

News and Information

How do people find out what is happening in the world?

 

Are there equivalents of the rumor mill or water cooler; or more official means such as a town crier, newspapers, tele and radio?

How slanted is the news people receive by these means, and in what direction?

The United Pacifist League aggressively promotes its ideology through propaganda, but also admits that it does, so people are free to seek out alternative media.  The UPL claims that because the population continues to vote for the UPL even in the knowledge that the UPL's media is heavily biased, the people's support is genuine, and the UPL need not reform its practices.

Nevertheless, UPL's propaganda is ever-present, and media promoting alternative viewpoints is both difficult to find and typically inferior in presentation.  Only the UPL can afford to paint large murals on the city walls depicting its idea of the best way to live, and only the UPL regularly claims that alternative ideologies are dangerous to their believers. 

Is there freedom of the press, or are the media owned or controlled by the state?

The ruling United Pacifist League owns the largest press, and promotes its world view in the material people read.  Competing parties also have their own journals, but nearly everyone living in Blop favors the United Pacifist League.

The United Pacifist League promotes their agenda mostly through murals on the city walls and removable signs that people can grab and pass around.

Who controls and censors the news and by what means and what is their agenda?

The UPL allows minority parties to publish material critical of the UPL, but the UPL has an unlimited budget, derived from tax revenue, and always drowns out the rival parties by sheer volume. 

UPL's goal is to keep local support for their party at or above 90%.  Because of the rapid population turnover, the UPL cannot count on parents to pass party membership on to their children, and therefore must be at all times actively promoting their agenda.  On the other hand, most of the immigrants moving in are already members of the United Pacifist League or of a party friendly to it.

The UPL presents itself as the only protector of human safety in a city surrounded by dangerous animals, and encourages citizens who do not agree with the UPL ideologically to cooperate with them in order to ensure their own safety.  Many of their propaganda murals promote the idea that humans who do not cooperate with the UPL will be eaten by animals, as rival parties afford humans the rights to do things that UPL does not, such as traveling through animal habitats to save time on a long journey when the path recommended for humans is much longer.

What materials are used to make newspapers, broadsheets and books?

There is no printing technology, so everything must be inked by hand.  The use of stamps to speed the process of transcribing often-reused shapes and letters is common.  Ink is in ample supply, so it is often more efficient to paint a very large sign and place it in the center of town than to print many small versions of the same message.   

Is the written word transmitted via some kind of printing, or are all written communications hand written?

How are books produced and are they common?

 

What kinds of scribal technologies or techniques are in use in this region?

Where are the great libraries or collections of books, scrolls, codices & manuscripts?

How accessible are they to scholars, wizards, monks and the general public?

Who supports them?

Ethnographical Questionnaire E

Economics

Questions on Money

What forms of currency exist?

What is the local currency like? -- i.e., paper money, metal coins, large immobile stones set up in the forum, tallies stored in the local banking offices?

Is currency and coinage standardized, or is there a system of exchange?

What are typical denominations?

What types of currency is a traveler or merchant likely to carry on a trip?

What are different coins called, and what are they worth?

How is currency exchange handled, and by whom?

What is the local currency based on: metal, labour, fiat?

How does it compare to other neighbouring currencies?

How has the value of the currency changed or fluctuated recently?

Who is responsible for coinage: the ruler, local barons, local merchant guilds?

Are there generally acceptable standards?

How easy or difficult is it to counterfeit the currency, and if caught, what punishments do conterfeiting bring?

How are coins and notes produced?

How common are forgeries?

How is wealth distributed?

Is there a public banking system?

Who uses it?

What benefits does it bring and at what cost?

Is there a large gap between the wealth of the rich and poor?

What expectations do each group have from the other?

What constitutes "poverty" in this society and also "wealth"?

Questions on Trade and Commerce

What is the local economy based on?

Blop has a negative gross domestic product; they only consume, and never produce. the city survives on tax money delivered from the rest of the Empire and the only employer is the government.

How is commerce engaged in?

If levied, how are taxes collected?

 

 

What are such revenues used for?

 

How does taxation affect the people?

 

 

 

 

What does this city import and export?

Within the city, everything is imported and nothing is exported.  Food and clothes are imported from all directions, with clothes in particular coming mostly from the north.  However, the Poswob Empire as a whole is a net exporter.

How important is trade to the economy?

What trade routes, commercial & trade relationships and economic activity exist in this city?

Is there a lingua franca or trade language that facilitates commerce between countries that don't speak the same tongue?

 

Is there an universal language spoken by educated or noble persons, as a matter of philosophical or scientific communications?

Why did people settle in this country in the first place -- strategic location, trade route, water transport, minerals, good farming, etc.?

Have things changed much since, or do they still depend on whatever brought them in the first place?

How much do official attitudes toward other countries affect commerce and trade?

Do merchants pretty much ignore tensions between government as long as they can make a profit, or will this get them into trouble?

Are there Customs inspectors or their equivalents at border crossings?

Is the export/import of some technologies/magics/commodities regulated by the government, or by non-governmental cartels?

How does this affect political relationships between countries?

How is business organized?

 

 

Are there labor unions?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Guild structures?

Multi-state corporations?

International cartels?

Are people able to cross-craft, .i. learn or perform different trades?

Does cross-crafting require guild permission, a writ from an overlord, or is it automatically guaranteed by law?

How rigid are craft laws: e.g. are carpenters the only people allowed to build houses?

What types of trades would be represented in a small town or large city?

Are industrial processes (e.g., swordsmithing, weaving, etc.) considered "trade secrets," or are they common knowledge?

What is the process a young person goes through to enter a craft or trade?

Are the requirements for various ranks, such as apprentice, journeyman & master standardized, or does rank depend more on the good favor of guildmaster than it does on skill?

Do different regions or cities specialize in specific crafts, processes, or products (e.g. Damascus steel, Bordeaux wines, Chinese silk, Wisconsin cheese)?

Do different races specialize is some crafts?

What regulations, if any, has the government placed on business practices?

Are there antimonopoly laws?

 

Are there standardized systems of weights and measures, or does a merchant have to specify "a London bushel" of grain rather than "a York bushel"?

How do differing systems affect shipping and trade?

Are any new industries developing?

Which old ones do they compete with or make obsolete?

How are records kept: tally sticks, quipu, parchment or paper ledgers, clay tablets, beads?

Is there a merchant class?

Where do they fit in society?

Are there trading guilds?

If so, how are they organized?

How much power do they have to control trade?

How much infighting is there among them?

Are there trading organizations that transcend countries, like the Hanseatic League?

How large a presence do they have locally?

Is this a money-based economy, or barter or gift based?

What goods are commonly available in small town markets vs larger towns and cities?

How do goods get to market?

What industries -- mining, fishing, shipbuilding, lumber, farming, manufacturing, etc. -- are important, and in which areas?

Which depend on materials from other areas (as shipbuilding on wood, or weaving on wool)?

What happens if supplies are disrupted?

How much smuggling goes on?

What gets smuggled and, whither and whence?

Labour

Describe any kind of division of labour, such as into physical versus mental versus spiritual.

Is there any especial prestige attached to some category of labour or a particular job?

What jobs are considered mucky or are particularly depreciated?

What professions or activities are considered masculine?

 

 

What professions or activities are viewed as feminine?

Women generally do not work, instead living on their husband's income.

What are usual working hours?

Even the most trusted workers are routinely trapped in their workplaces by trained animals so that they cannot escape.  This animal can be of any species; pigs and wolves are both common, but sometimes a small, nonthreatening animal stands in their place, in the knowledge that the human laborers understand their duties and will not try to harass the animal. The working day ends when the animal leaves the doorway to eat its supper, allowing the humans to pass through the opening.

Are there days of rest or holidays?

 

 

How does this differ between different jobs?

What jobs have few workers and why?

What are typical wages for various jobs?

 

How does work affect lifestyle and health?

What sort of jobs are preferred by which people?

Are some jobs denied to certain groups?

 

 

 

What are the ethical oaths or codes that govern various jobs?

Is there a difference in ethics between manual and mental or spiritual work?

Government

Questions on Government and Politics

Citizenship and Rights

Who is considered a citizen, with the rights and privileges thereof?

 

What are those rights and privileges; and what responsibilities go along with them?

 

Are there certain classes of people who have fewer legal rights or less legal recourse than full citizens?

Are they considered mentally or morally deficient, a danger to the state, or is there some other rationale?

Is there a group of people who do not have full rights in this culture?

Are they considered mentally or morally deficient, a danger to the state, or is there some other rational?

Are priests or prostitutes or certain classes or races of people barred from certain kinds of government jobs or offices?

Do some government jobs require that their holder be of a particular race or social group?

 

What are the easiest or most common ways to advance in status?

How much resistance is there to someone advancing in social status?

Politics as Usual

What is the political status of oppressed communities?

 

Is bribery allowed?

 

Under what circumstances?

What makes someone a bad ruler in this society?

 

What can be done about it?

 

What major political factions exist at present?

 

 

What are their core philosophies?

How long have they been around?

Which factions are allies and which are enemies?

Are there any potential new forces on the political scene?

 

What are the controversial political issues?

What positions on these issues are considered normative, radical or even unthinkable?

How much influence do organisations such as guilds or universities or monestaries or temples or merchants' unions have on court politics?

How do they exercise their influence -- indirectly, e.g. by talking nobility or council members into taking their side; or directly, e.g. by bribery, coercion or having their own representatives on the council?

Are there any shaky political alliances between disparate groups?

Why were they formed?

How long is it likely to be before they fall apart?

When they do, what will the effects be?

What ancient rivalries, prejudices and hatreds still affect current attitudes and political positions?

What kinds of people are likely to face social or political prejudice, by race, ethnos, gender, trade or place of birth?

Is this enshrined as a matter of law, or is it primarily a matter of public or individual attitude?

Is the ruler powerful or influential enough to defy this prejudice and appoint a Dwarf as Chief Councilor or Secretary of Defense and make it work?

Are there people who have great influence on government or politics, but who do not hold any official position?

 

Who are they?

Why do they have influence?

How do these people wield their influence?

Form of Government

What is the form of government and how is it structured?

What are some of the most fundamental policies of the government?

How are government officials chosen?

How are new laws created or old ones changed?

Who has the right to give orders, and why?

What titles do various officials have?

How are the rules different for officials as opposed to common people?

How do government officials dress?

Who cannot rise to positions of leadership?

 

 

 

 

What is the basic form of government? -- feudal, aristocratic, oligarchy, monarchical, democratic?

 

 

What forms are used in neighboring countries, and why are they the same or different?

 

What services do the government or state provide: e.g. roads, schools, wells, courts, an army?

 

 

 

What services are provided locally or privately or through non-government means?

 

Who has the right to levy taxes and for what reasons and upon whom?

 

Can taxes be paid in kind, or do certain things require money?

Who provides support services for the head of state?

Are the various offices of government hereditary or are they appointed or elected?

 

Who will take over running the government if the current head of state is incapacitated and how is incapacity determined?

What is the structure of the line of succession?

What happens if the heir is a minor?

What safeguards exist against general attack, assassinations, magical assault, seditition & revolt?

Government Services

Is there a civilian police force, or is law enforcement the province of the military?

Is the police force a nationalised one, or are there multiple regional forces?

 

How militant or vigilante are they?

Are they usually or ever armed?

What is the extent of their authority: e.g. can they shoot you or use magic or telepathy or torture or otherwise force a confession from you?

Are there individuals or groups who are above the law?

Are there secret police forces of any kind?

What is the role of police informants, if such exist?

Is there an organized system of education?

Who provides it and how is it supported: e.g. government via taxes, religious houses via donations (or taxes), private persons by philanthropic gift?

Are there occasions when the ruler is expected to provide a celebration or spectacle for the people to enjoy?

Questions on Law and Justice

Who in society benefits from the Law and from the Justice system?

What groups are excluded and why?

Is there a parallel or subordinate or extra-legal system in place used by such people?

How is it determined whether someone has broken a law and who judges the case?

Is there some form of clemency or pardon?

Is the law codified and written down?

Who are the interpreters of the law?

Once accused, what recourse does a person have?

Is torture allowed as a general aspect of criminal justice?

What kinds of torture are allowed and against whom may they be applied and under what circumstances?

What are considered normal and legal ways of gathering evidence and determining guilt?

 

 

 

 

Are arbitrary judgments by the lord or landowner allowed, or is there an independent judiciary?

Is forensic magic possible and if so, is it utilised and by whom?

Are the results of forensic magic admissible in court as evidence?

Are there separate civil, criminal, ecclesial and thaumic courts?

Are there different legal systems in place for different races or ethnicities living in close proximity?

What is different about each type of court?

Are judges or other court officials required or forbidden to have studied magic?

Is evidence obtained by magic considered more reliable or less reliable than physical evidence or eyewitness accounts?

What things are considered truly serious crimes and why?

 

 

What are typical punishments for serious vs. minor crimes?

 

 

 

Who metes out punishment?

Are there prisons, or are criminals physically, spiritually, emotionally or economically punished and then released?

 

Are there varying degrees of punishment based on circumstance, gravity and even judicial whim?

 

How are alleged criminals treated before and after their convictions?

Who is responsible for catching criminals and by what rules do they operate?

How are the police or watch organised within a polity?

Are there volunteer posses, or is the right to apprehend an evil doer the sole prerogative of the watch?

What arms do they carry, if any?

Are there lawyers or advocates who plead for the defence?

Are there lawyers or advocates who prosecute?

Are they arranged in a relatively equal adversarial system or is one side stronger than the other?

Are people guilty until proven innocent, innocent until proven guilty, or does it depend on the mood the lord is in when they bring the case before him?

Are there judges other than the ruler, lord, or landowner?

If so, how are they chosen and how are they maintained?

Are appeals possible, and if so, to whom?

How often are outlying areas likely to see a judge?

Is "mob justice" common or uncommon and how wide an approval does it receive?

Are there sumptuary laws regulating what different classes or races of people may wear or display or even purchase or trade for in the market?

Do judges and lawyers wear special clothing to indicate their office?

What sorts of crimes is the average citizen likely to run across during her lifetime?

Who can make or repeal laws?

Is there a legislative body or is the ruler the sole legislator?

How much can the nobility, middle class tradesmen and the like influence the lawmakers?

Do the police, military, or city guard make a practice of roughing up suspects, or is this frowned upon?

Questions on External Relations

What is this country's overarching foreign policy?

Have there been recent innovations that may upset the balance of power, or are most countries in the region more or less equal as regards industry, technology, magical capacity and culture?

Who are the rivals or enemies of this country?

How close are they geographically?

How powerful are they, and how prestigious?

Do relations between countries depend mainly on the relations between the heads of state or upon ministers and diplomats?

Does this country have formal relationships with other countries?

If so, how are embassies formed and what is their function?

Are there standing embassies and consulates, or are special envoys sent only when some issue of import crops up?

How are treaties arranged and who negotiates?

Are treaties ratified or confirmed; how might they be broken?

How much do official attitudes between rival governments affect commerce and trade across the border?

Are there customs inspectors or their equivalents at border crossings?

Is the export & import of some technologies, thaumologies, magics & commodities regulated by the government, or by non-governmental cartels?

How does this affect political relationships between countries?

How much formal spying and intelligence gathering is normally done by governments, the military, guilds or other business, social and magical interests?

Are there actual governmental bureaus that collect such information, or is espionage done by diplomats or freelance agents?

Which countries or races of people are traditional allies and which are traditional rivals?

How do these traditions affect present-day relations between countries and races of people?

Which heads of state are related by blood or marriage, and how important is this in determining foreign policy?

 

Questions on Weapons and Warfare

Weapons

How do the weapons of this country compare with those of surrounding cities and countries?

The capital city, Blop, and most points south and west are entirely free of weapons.  The only Poswobs that are allowed to own weapons are those living in the coldest areas, where fishing spears are required to efficiently catch fish. 

What personal weapons are available to anyone who can afford them?

Are some weapons considered "for nobles only" or "for carls only" either by custom or by law?

Are there laws forbidding certain classes from being armed at all?

Are there laws requiring certain classes to learn particular weapon skills?

Are magical weapons available?

 

How is magic used in warfare, apart from charmed or ensorcelled weapons?

Is spellcasting fast enough to be useful in hand-to-hand combat, or is magic use slower and more suited to laying or breaking sieges?

How has the presence of magic affected the waging of war and progress of weapons technology?

How readily does magic backfire on the weapon wielder or spell caster?

Can magic be used defensively as well as offensively?

How much has the presence of magic affected strategy and tactics in general; is it for example a matter of study in war colleges?

Are there weapons (defensive as well as offensive) of stone, bone, horn, bronze, iron, glass, obsidian, steel, titanium, thaumium or some other ever more exotic material?

Are weapons all close range, or do long range weapons exist as well, such as bows or atlatls or gonnes, and if so, how sophisticated are they?

 

How are such ranged weapons used tactically?

What small arms are in common use during war: e.g., melee weapons, edged weapons, unconventional weapons?

What major weapons of war are available: e.g., siege towers and engines, catapults, bombards, thaumic bombs, holy grenades?

What weapons and armor are standard for an army's low ranking footsoldiers?

What about the weapons of mercenaries and their noble leaders or even the average peasant trying to defend her home?

Does a soldier provide weapons and armor from home, or are these provided by the army?

Are weapons, such as swords or pistols, a standard part of dress for any and all segments of society?

Are weapons kept by individuals or are they locked up in an armoury?

Warfare

Does the country have a standing army or navy or air corps?

The ruling United Pacifist League has outlawed war, including defensive war.  Poswobs are not allowed to own weapons, nor to make preparations to defend themselves from a hypothetical foreign invasion.  There is no standing army.  Unlike the neighboring Moonshine Empire, which is isolated from rival empires by difficult geography, the Poswobs have actually suffered foreign invasions in historically recent times, but have not backed down from their commitment to pacifism.

How many soldiers can the state afford to keep at the ready?

How do the armed forces compare with others in the region or world?

Who has the power to declare conditions of war and peace?

What happens to prisoners taken in battle?

What weapons are favoured by the various armed forces?

What form of warfare does this society use: e.g., close-quarters hand-to-hand; stealthy attack; long range fighting?

How do battles in the airs or waters or underworlds differ from surface warfare?

Who are the elite warriors?

What distinguishes them from ordinary soldiers?

How does someone get command of troops?

Where do the loyalties of military units lie?

Do they make up the bulk of the military?

What is campaign or camp life like?

What ethical or moral codes do warriors adhere to?

How are battle injuries treated?

How long do wars typically last?

Has this society ever attacked another?

The United Pacifist League is the ruling party of the Poswob Empire.  They have never once, in their nearly 5,000-year history, ever declared war against a rival empire or political party.  However, they are not the only legal party, and at times when a different party has had majority control of the Empire, the Empire has fought wars, though Poswobs have always been known for their military ineptitude as the majority of the population will refuse to fight, even when they see enemy soldiers arrive in their home town.  It could be argued that in 5,000 years the Poswob Empire has never won a war, because all of their wars have been defensive, meaning that even when they subdue their enemies they gain no new territory and merely end up where they were before they were invaded.

What was the nature or pretext of that war?

What would make this society go to war?

Has there ever been a civil war or a revolution?

What do soldiers do when there's no war going on at the present moment?

Are there any current tensions or outright wars with any other nations?

Who are this country's enemies and allies?

Who's winning the war?

What defences are available to cities and towns and other polities?

What are the accepted conventions of making war: e.g., only fight in winter when nobody is busy with crops; don't make war on civilians; only certain kinds of weapons are available?

How are armies typically structured?

Is there a formal, independent command structure, or is everybody officially under the command of whoever brought them to join the ruler's army?

If there is a formal structure, what are the various ranks and titles used?

Are there legal, customary, or biological restrictions on the types of weapons different races or magical beings can use?

Are battlefield commissions or knighthoods possible during wartime, or must such promotions wait on formal ceremonies?

Do normal social restrictions apply during times of war, or is everyone equal on the battlefield?

Who can call up men for an army, and how is this done?

Does the ruler ask the nobility for men, who in turn draft their peasants, or can the ruler go straight to the bottom as it were and raise her own army?

Are there professional soldiers and mercenaries?

Is a career in the army possible, or would one have to become a mercenary or hired sword in order to make a living as a soldier?

Does the army accept volunteers, or only draftees?

Can an ordinary soldier rise to officer ranks by displaying courage and merit on the battlefield, or are officer positions reserved for a higher class of person only?

Are there officer academies or war colleges?

What percentage of the soldiers in an army will be professional soldiers or mercenaries or veterans or academy trained and what percentage will be untrained recruits?

Are recruits given any kind of training, or are they expected to learn on the job, i.e., in battle?

How is the army supplied with food, shelter, medical care and ordinary necessities that aren't carried by the soldier in his kit?

Are soldiers allowed to live off the land, or do they pay for what they take from local peasants?

What happens if the supply caravan gets lost or captured?

How are supplies handled during long campaigns?

How many days' worth of supplies can the army haul along with them?

How does the presence of varied races of people affect strategy, tactics, and battles generally?

How might soldiers of various races turn their physical differences to their advantage?

Are particular races of people traditionally, or even actually, more capable of wielding certain weapons or using certain techniques better than others?

Are certain races or groups isolated into segregated units or are the armies reasonably integrated?

If so, are those segregated units considered elite troops or the most expendable soldiers on the battlefield?

How do the inter-species attitudes of the leadership affect their strategy and planning?