Xaela and their Mongolian culture thread:

Wrestling, otherwise known as Bökh (Durability) is the most important part of Mongolia's "three manly skills" It's also a part of the Naadam festival. The goal is to get any body part of your opponent besides their feet on the ground.

Also, to add, it's literally called bökh to the Xaela too

Horses!

A very important part of culture, the horse is greatly respected to Mongolians and, in turn, the Xaela.

“We Mongols respect horse as our companion of night and day. The horse is the source of joy and pride of a Mongolian herder. And we are nothing without our horses.”

A traditional saying is that "A Mongol without a horse is like a bird without the wings."

Their manes are never cut, as they are seen as important, but some may be offered from the tail if the horse passes an ovoo.

They are literally used for every thing, even milk and food

Hunting Eagles! (Qaratai is with a hawk shh)

Practiced by the Mongol's and Kazakh's, eagle's are trained to hunt for pray for their masters (usually small animals like foxes) Whilst these are kazakh terms, falconers are known as qusbegi and sayatshy

Qusbegi quite literally means "lord of birds"
Interestingly, kush begi was an old Turkic term for a khan's most respected advisor. The typical bird used is a golden eagle ( búrkit )

btw, not only Mongolia is referenced with the Xaela!

Horses are not given names as tradition. Instead, they may be identified by their physical traits.

Tsagaan Sar (white moon) is the first day of the year on the Mongolian lunisolar calendar. Genghis Khan's Mongol's used the twelve year animal cycle to calculate it.

Whilst I'm not sure it's the same now, back in his time people wore all white on the new year festival

tbh the ceremony's for tsagaan tsar are different for each region. some may burn incense or gift their family. Great feasts are eaten and everyone wears full traditional dress.

Elders are greeted with zolgok, where you grasp their elbows to show you support them.

The day before Tsagaan Sar is called Bituun (dark moon). On this day, people fully clean their homes and livestock enclosures to start the new year afresh.

Yurt! A portable tent made of skins or felt. Its structure is held by latticework of wood or bamboo for walls. The roof is self supporting but large yurts may have extra support.

It's hard to imagine THESE yurts as portable. Maybe Xaela are much stronger than us?

They are often patterned with symbols of strength such as the four beasts (Lion, tiger, geruda, dragon) and are decorated with lots of carpets.

these are real yurts. quite a difference.

Food!

So remember when you first come to the Steppe and a xaela woman tries to sell you buuz? that's a real food!

It's a steamed dumpling that is often given on the Tsagaan sar. what a coincidence that these are mentioned during the Tsagaan sar in XIV.

Vegetables and herbs are limited in Mongolian cuisine and most food is curated from milk and meat. Horses, yaks, sheep... you name it. I suppose to the Xaela it'd be horses, Dzo and sheep haha.

Most food has lots of fat to keep people warm during cold winters.

Sweets tend to be sour and people serve salted milk tea! Also, Kumis is a drink mentioned in game that is actually a type of milk vodka.

Now heres an interesting fact. Yol was the name of a real tribe in the past. Whilst theres no info on them I thought it was cool to know.

So I've noticed that names all have the same kind of patterns as do Period mongolian names. I'll explain:

Sometimes you see a name end with jin (of) or tai (is) (can also be -dai, -dei, -tai, or -tei)

these words are always at the end of the name and the last letter -

of the first word is taken away for this suffix. for example, my character is called "Qaratai"

Qara means black and tai, of course means "is" (or "of the")

So, his name translates to "He who is black"

Another cool fact is that in Kazakh it means "black horse"

i chose that

Again, Kazakh and Mongolian culture are closely linked and it's not just Mongolia that Xaela are based on.

As for language, all words are real words. Iloh, if I remember correctly is a word used encampments.

Alright, now onto arts! You remember the Morin Khuur given to you by Cirina? it's otherwise known as a horsehead fiddle and is the most important instrument to the culture. It's quite beautiful! Btw, throat singing is also a part of culture!

Since Kazakhstan is very similar, and is shown in small parts in the Xaela, i decided to incorporate my own hc's and have my own WOL play a Dombra. A gorgeous instrument. I really urge for ppl to listen.

Now onto the Naadam. We all remember that huge fight where we fought and became Khatun? Well, whilst Naadam is a real thing it is nothing like shown in xiv.

Naadam is a festival which has the "three games of men" which are wrestling, archery and horse racing.

Women can partake in this but they do not wrestle. (One thing I like about Xaela is that they include women instead of leave them out of everything like originally)

Naadam is also used to train warriors

outfits! Look similar? I don't really have any info on this but I thought it was neat.

Now then, if you have a Xaela WOL, this may be handy. Mongolians only have one name in life and the name carries many levels such as on the child's character, fate and destiny.

I'm not sure what the heck Ovoo's are meant to be in XIV but in Mongolia they stone heaps used as altars or shrines during folk practices. You could say a lot of the random structures around the Azim Steppe are actual ovoo's

Welcoming a new friend is very important and feasts are often made. When that person leaves, they are encouraged to take leftovers with them.

However, it's a bit different with Xaela as written in the lore books they are wary and hostile to outsiders. However, if they do allow you to sit with them and eat with them that that means you are very lucky

The Steppe is general is a very unforgiving place. It has very hot summer and very cold winters. In the winter the grass becomes dry and flammable and only a select few of animals can live here. Bc of all the bush fires, trees cannot thrive here.

There are wolves, foxes, gazelle, eagles... badgers are full of diseases. I'd imagine there are XIV equivalents to them. People often die young on the Steppe because of how rough life is and it can be hard for children.

Some more information provided by @ayatlan

Whilst it's short, here is a documentary on the lives of the Mongolians that shows rather than tells. It's a really fun watch

this is not any info but these mad lads are riding on ice! look... what the heck

Cirina's grandmother is referred to as a Khatun. This name typically means queen, emperors consort and noble woman.

You, as the Khagaan (or Khagan originally) are technically emperor. I have a feeling meanings are different in xiv due to Cirina's grandmother

(And i accidentally referred to WOL as Khatun earlier whoops)

The brightly coloured Nomad's outfits the Xaela wear are called "deel". They are often worn with lots of belts and buckles (a fact in Xaela culture). As like in game, they are worn with sashes! Irl woman usually don't wear sashes

I've seen some questions about Xaela clans and marriage and well to the Mongol's I have read that marrying within the clan is wrong and so they practice exogamy (marriage to someone outside of a clan)

A mol NPC mentions how the gods have chosen a husband from another clan to be her husband!

gotta correct myself for an earlier tweet where i said "Yol was a real tribe" that was a spelling error. I meant Mol. Indeed, the Mol were once real but as mentioned there is no info on them.

Some clans ride reindeer and camels. Considering how in XIV Xaela warriors can just ride big freaking birds I say that this can also be a thing evident in Xaela culture.

Shorlog! a real food that was curated by burning meat upon a burning shield.

This was probably started by Genghis khan and his warriors on their travels. the meat was turned with swords and arrows. Since then, barbeque cooking was developed

I'll be muting this thread for now but if I see some questions I'll try to get to them when I can ;v;

Added commentary on greeting ones elders, yurts (or ger) and on Morin khur from @Lastel_R ! They're Mongolian themselves so I really encourage everyone to read!

More commentary by Lastel on greetings and father's forenames as surnames

Ever wondered why the boots are tipped? I have read that these upturned tips are this way so that Mongol's boots "do no harm to nature"

Considering how Xaela have the very same boots I'd say it's the same for them

Sygyt (literally "whistling") is a strong, flute like type of singing that imitates the sounds of the gentle breezes of summer and the song of birds.

In Xaela canon, the Qalli tribe communicate through Sygyt

Belts!! So, you may have noticed that base game Au ra wear lots of belts, right? In canon, these are symbols of power and are often made by their own scales but did you know it's the same for Mongols? It is said their ancestors reside in belts and they are worn to show status

There is also a tradition amongst men where they would exchange belts as a wish for continuous peace and unity with one another

https://twitter.com/doritolizards/status/1284231186487939072?s=20