Amazon Island...
(click on map to enlarge)
Saelesbos is a world where men and women live separate lives. It is forbidden for men and women to even associate with each other. The Olyrus River divides Saelesbos. On the mountainous north side is the land of the Smelters, the men. The men are very sophisticated and skilled in the arts and crafts and create goods for the island: woven cloth, tapestries, musical instruments, tools, weapons, etc. are all made by the Smelters. The women live in the forests and plains on the south side and are the warriors, defending the island from the Interlopers (the enemy). They also supply many of the raw materials used by everyone on the island, mainly wool, grain and sheep. The women have two classes: the Arukai or warriors and the Simbiants or domestics. The Arukai represent the aristocracy of Saelesbos. Warrior women usually have relationships with one or more Simbiant women. The Simbiant women are subservient to the Arukai women and are expected to keep the household, farm and raise the children. The Smelters also have their distinctions: the Guilders or skilled craftsmen and the Siliants or journey men, aspirants. Men are joined in relationships, mostly a young man, a Siliant, and an older more established man, a Guilder, are joined. Together they run a household and raise children.
Beltane Festival: every spring fertile Smelters and the Amazons join on the plain of Beltane for the religious ceremony of the Beltane Fires. For four evenings men and women join on the plain. They are highly decorated with religious beads and feathers, their bodies are painted symbolically. Men and women are given the broag (a very potent drink) administered by The Magora (High Priestess) which stirs the fires in their loins and prepares them when they perform the Sangula, a religious dance where men and women perform the act of creation. Inevitably Amazons go home pregnant. Male babies are allowed to stay with their mothers until they are fully weaned from breast milk and able to survive on solid food usually a maximum of 2 years. At this time The Magora collects them and takes them across the river to the Smelters. Random Smelter men, who are joined (in relationships) are chosen as guardians and raise the boys as their own children. Female children remain with their mothers and soon are prepared for the lives ahead of them, either as a Simbiant or Arukai.
Simbiant women are expected to go to Beltane every year that they are fertile, Arukai are only expected to have 1 child. The Queen picks the finest and strongest men to mate with the Arukai this way assuring the good breeding for the ruling class. It is believed that Arukai women can only give birth to female children. Those female children are expected to be warriors. Occasionally Warrior women do give birth to boys and in that case the midwife calls The Magora who takes these boys and sacrifices them to the Goddess. It is expected that the entire pregnancy of the Warrior woman will be ignored if she gives birth to a male child.
It is strictly forbidden for men and women to be on each other's side of the island at any time other than Beltane. The Magora and her aspirants are the only people authorized to travel between the two worlds. The economy of the island allows for riverboat transports of goods being traded so long as there is no contact. In-coming boats are guided in to dock and the crew immediately moves to another boat going in the opposite direction. Men found wandering on the Amazon side are put in wicker cages and burned alive. Women found in Smelter territory are either tossed off the cliffs of Mount Sharnar or put in box coffins and thrown in the sea. A relationship between members of the opposite sex is seen as unthinkable, an abomination to the Goddess.
The Interlopers: are barbarians that live on the Outer Rim in the Lands Unknown. Ancient history on the island tells of Queen Paladia who defied the Goddess and had as her lover, a Smelter. The Goddess, Olyra, was so horrified she created the Interlopers...a horrid race of people bent on destroying those on the island of Saelesbos. Several hundred years ago The Interlopers invaded and took control of Amazon Island and forced all of its citizens into slavery. Interlopers live like animals and live with the mate they breed with-- a most repulsive idea to the people of Saelesbos. It was only through the cunning and the bravery of the Arukai that the Saelesbians revolted and gained their freedom. The women have been defending the island ever since.
