Marisuna Culture

The Marisuna culture was a complex culture arising on the western coast of the North-East peninsula in the Early Bronze Age.

Known Cities

 * Marisuna
 * Thaluni
 * Usilua
 * Fulfna

Material Culture
Ordinary houses tend to still be constructed out of hard woods, but stone is beginning to overtake that. Prestigious houses and kingly residences tend to be constructed out of dolomite and marble, both of which are highly prized. Serpentine is even rarer, only occasionally imported from the Chapoan culture across the mountains. A pre-existing fishing tradition is combining with consistent contact with seafaring peoples to generate a native shipbuilding technology, at present mostly used to trade with the Sawaid region. Cities are generally extremely precisely planned, complete with sewers and road intersections. Kings rule these cities, emerging from their ability to secure prestigious goods from elsewhere and also their military hegemony within different communities. Warfare is more commonly fought with various nearby non-urban societies, but warfare between the city states happens from time to time as well. This will increase in the centuries to come as more and more cities emerge in the region. Pottery is extremely precise as well, usually featuring extremely precise floral motifs. Azurite is an important material, both for its own use by the elite of society but also as an export.

Society
The Marisuna cities function more as a centre for the elites of society, rather than full urban environments; the majority of the population do not dwell within the cities. To be able to gain a house within one of the cities is a mark that you are going up in the world. The exception to this general rule is around the port districts. Religion is monopolised to a large extent by the upper rungs of society, though private expressions of ritual and the sacred by particular rural communities are impossible to stamp out. Religion focuses around deities of the sun, fertility, sea, sky and of living things. A particularly popular deity is Maris, eternally a child and yet an immortal deity. The family unit is incredibly important to Marisuna societies, with the male head of the family being considered responsible for spiritual wellbeing and the female head of the family responsible for material wellbeing. This is replicated at all levels of society, though some families are obviously more dysfunctional than others. Likewise the communal meal is a vital social institution in Marisuna society, which is also replicated at all levels of society; in a village you might expect a feast that involves the entire village, in a city you might expect the King to provide for the entire city's population.

Diet
Marisuna society is incredibly reliant on the hazelnut as an emergency food supply, but it is also considered to make extremely fine flour so it is simultaneously a staple and highly desirable. Wheats and rice also make up a large segment of the Marisuna diet, supplemented additionally with citron, yams, vinifera, beets, rocket, pomegranate and artichoke. Pomegranate is a rare treat for the ordinary person, but considered a mark of elite status within the cities themselves. Wine is considered to be lower class, by comparison to alcohols derived from the citron fruit and the developing variants whcih are considered a luxury.