Taliv

The Taliv (WIS: ddaliv [t̻əl̻iːv]) people group live in the central mountain range of Wistania, especially surrounding the Great Center Sea, which provides for most of their food and water. They were the first to arrive in Wistania, and the Wistanian Language is primarily based on their pidginization with the Nati language during the Declaration of Peace.

History
The Taliv began as a farming tribe, living on the fjords of a distant continent, Ithrea. As the Diwa came to power, they and their sister tribes were enslaved and forced to give three quarters their goods to the empire. This prompted the Taliv to make ships and store food in secret, and during the New Years festival, they cleverly poisoned the drinks of their guards and escaped during the night. After several weeks on the open ocean, surviving only by the help of an ajmastone, they reached the shores of Wistania, and settled in the mountains.

Two hundred years later, the Bwolotil people arrived. The hostile people poisoned the Great Center Sea and killed their crops until they handed over the Sun Stone, the ajmastone resting at the center of their people's capital, responsible for their survival across the ocean. The Taliv refused and moved further east. As their war with the Bwolotil began, The Nati people discovered the island as well and allied with the Taliv to suppress the Bwolotil's advances. This alliance formed the Taliv-Nati Creole which later was drafted into the Wistanian language.

Culture
The Taliv believe in hard work and even harder play. Both men and women work in the fields, mines, and lakes, and everyone knows how to fish by the time they’re old enough to row a boat. Waking up at sunrise and then working until their job is finished is considered a quality of a decent person. However, there is almost always some type of festival or celebration going on - the largest of which is the festival of the two moons. Just about every month, there is some type of fair or parade going on in the town, and every town has at least one ball field where games both unorganized and organized are being played and enjoyed. At midday, the rivers are closed to fishers and then opened for swimmers.

Taliv people spend their nights at home. Houses are typically made of wood, put on short stilts to compensate for any slopes in the ground, and have a circular shape. They sleep on hammocks that ascend into the ceiling rafters when not in use. Families usually live in close proximity to their cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents, with the oldest grandmother being the leader of the extended family. Women will often have around seven to ten children and two or three “husbands.” In Talivian culture, a couple is not considered “together” until they have had their first child, in which case the father would then move in at least until their child has become of age.

Exhibitionism is one of the tenets of Talivan culture which labels insecurity and shame as the lowest of human emotions. Sex is celebrated, shared, and sometimes even done in public. Government officials will often make public appearances in the nude, men will worship with “semen offerings” onto their local temple, and the worst form of criminal punishment is genital mutilation. This is of course seen as entirely normal to the Taliv, but many on the outside (especially the Katapu) consider it dangerous and inappropriate, prompting many Taliv to restrict these activities to the home or other private spaces. However, wearing too much clothing is also a sign of shame, so the most an average Taliv will be willing to wear is pants.

The Taliv are obsessed with birds and other flying insects, keeping them as pets and often naming their children after them. Flying animals are often regarded as heavenly messengers who can communicate with the dead. It is common for a Taliv to interpret certain avian behaviors as messages from their ancestors, and there is in fact a whole branch of clergy dedicated to interpreting the behaviors and migration patterns of birds and flying insects. Everything from the color of their wings and face to the places they perch to the songs they sing can have significant meaning.

Although they were quick to draft and adopt the Peace Treaty, they are not confident in its potency or if the other groups will honor it. Children are often educated in the stipulations of the Treaty, and breaking it results in the worst punishments. They often accuse the Bwolotil of being negligent to the Treaty. Many others, particularly the Nati, accuse the Taliv of polluting the rivers, but the Taliv have done nothing about it because they don't believe they’re responsible. In general, the Taliv have a serious seniority complex, believing that since they were the first on the island, their interests should have priority.

Language
The Taliv language has since been replaced by Wistanian after the language became primary, but several people can still speak and understand it. The language underwent three distinct phases: Old Taliv, which was spoken before Diwa's conquering, Middle Taliv, which was spoken during their enslavement and for a while after they had escaped, and New Taliv, which was spoken on Wistania, during the The Wistanian War and shortly after peace was declared, surviving until Wistanian had become most prominent.