SYMBOLS

RUNES

Runes are just letters in the Ixokai Runic Alphabet and unlike sigils, the are exclusive to Ixokai culture and the cultures that use them as a writing system.  The Ixokai runes are the closest thing Kastatlan has to an international/trade writing system similar to how we use the Latin Alphabet on Earth today. Despite being letters for ordinary writing, several runes also have symbolic meanings and they are usually used in conjuction with sigils in Ixokai ritual and cultural art. There are over 30 runes but the following are the only ones with meanings:

HONOR CODE

The Ixokai Honor Code is PURELY CULTURAL and not part of Ixenthacronism. It is not enforced by law but many laws either reflect its principles or overlap completely with its rules (particularly relating to inheritance and the death penalty). Honor code violations are not sins, nor are they legal infractions, but rather cultural offenses (most of the time). The Ixokai Honor Code is exclusive to Ixokai culture, though it has influenced surrounding honor cultures.

Despite the honor code only being followed by Ixokai people, other peoples are usually judged against it. The Ixokai determine whether a culture is honorless or not based on how closely their behavior approximates to the Ixokai Honor Code.

The honor code can be broken down into:

• Values 

• Obligations- what you are required to do

• Prohibitions- what you cannot do

• Customs- what traditions go along with it

While technically legal, not abiding by the honor code can have social consequences and seriously affect employment, personal connections, relationships, political participation, and opportunities in general. Men are usually the only ones held to its standards.

Values:

1. Honor- reputation, public honor, entails rightful handling of Triumph but also acceptance of defeat, leadership but also knowing when to submit. Coexistence, submission, and domination alike.

2. Dignity- personal prestige fed by social class, race, and ancestry but also earned through character. A man lacking virtue does not have dignity.

3. Chastity/Sobriety- self-control, clearness of mind, and dominion over instinct. Importantly, not the repression of desire but the channeling of it into the appropriate outlets. Being non impulsive and non-indulgent, avoiding excess and knowing the time and place for indulgence.

4. Beauty- beauty as the glory of the flesh, a refined and auspicious image. Muscle mass, length of hair, style of dress, body markings, etc.

5. Discipline- obedience and respect for order. Projects chastity unto interpersonal relationships and social obligations; both martial, social, and professional alike.

6. Fidelity- loyalty to your gods, family, spouse, ancestors, race, nation, neighbor, and enemy. Not just devoting loyalty to people, but to your word and to moral standards.

7. Diligence- pursuit of Triumph with all dedication and competence.

8. Wisdom- good judgment and intelligence. Knowledge and understanding of divine mystery, of morality, of society, and of the world.

9. Integrity- honesty and steadfast commitment to moral values, loyalty, and harmony.

10. Creativity- inventiveness, being able to solve problems with resourcefulness and innovation.

Obligations:

1. A ruler has an obligation to uphold religious law and the nation’s honor. A dishonorable and depraved ruler can be overthrown and must be overthrown at times.

2. The firstborn son has the obligation to his ancestors of continuing the lineage.

3. You must fulfill promises, contracts, and sworn oaths. 

4. Fulfill religious obligations diligently.

5. A superior must be obeyed with unwavering loyalty and dedication when his authority is godly. If his authority is illegitimate or immoral, he must be disobeyed with unwavering resistance.   

6. You must bow your head when you meet or greet someone superior to you.

7. You must use the correct honorifics and titles.

8. You must apologize when your transgression is legitimate.

9. Clan disputes must be solved through the ball game. The results must be honored by the losing clan. This continues to be important in rural communities.

10. If a clan murders another clan’s member as part of a clan dispute, the murderer(s) must be put to death, and the afflicted clan must be the avenger.

11. The law must be kept at all costs. 

12. The household of another man must be respected. The man whose house you are in becomes your master while you remain therein. Everything owned by that man, from his house to his slaves must be treated as an extension of that man. Anything broken or damaged must be replaced by the guest who broke it.

13. Guests must be fed and given the preferential portions.

14. A guest must not be harmed. 

15. A surrendering enemy must not be harmed.

16. A surrendering city must not be destroyed.

17. The homes of the poor must not be sacked during war.

18. Non-combatants must not be attacked during war, along with the infirm, the lame, women, children, the elderly, and the slaves of the enemy. Harming them is the maximum martial dishonor. 

19. Women must not be harmed.

20. A debt must be repaid in a timely fashion. Likewise, lenders must not increase the debt.

21. Protect one's reputation through honorable actions.

22. Show courage and discipline, especially in military service.

23. Support friends, allies, and clients who depend upon one's loyalty. 

24. Preserve and pass on ancestral piety and educate children with honorable conduct.

Prohibitions:

1. Violating a treaty is national dishonor, the side that violated must pay dearly.

2. You must not betray trust, nor must you betray your nation, friends, race, group, allies, or sworn companions. 

3. Do not break a sworn oath or violate one’s word. Breaking a sworn oath can merit death.

4. Do not act cowardly when courage is required.

5. Do not bring shame upon one's family or ancestors through dishonorable conduct. 

6. A personal enemy cannot be killed in secret or in treachery.

7. Intruding on a man’s household and women’s quarters is an extreme social dishonor.

8. Refusing conscription is a supreme dishonor.

9. Usurping inheritance is a grievous offense warranting clan disownment.

10. Dishonoring, disavowing, insulting, or attacking one’s ancestors merits being cut off from the community.

11. A master cannot dishonor himself below his slave. If a master dishonors himself but his slave does not follow in his guilt, then he must be set free. Violating a freedom agreement is worthy of death. This was an extremely important norm when slavery was still a part of Ixokai society.

12. No tombs must ever be desecrated, even those of enemies. The already dead are untouchable in disputes but the newly dead are not. 

13. An honor gift can never be rejected.

Customs:

• Head shaving is used as a tool of extreme humiliation applied to prisoners of war, slaves, and criminals.

• The firstborn receives the greatest inheritance, known as a birthright. The birthright can be lost if the firstborn is dishonorable.}

• Inheritance belongs first to the offspring before the consort of the deceased. And it belongs first to the consort than to the parents of the deceased. And it belongs first to the parents than to the siblings of the deceased. 

• The highest authority in a room is greeted first, but the second highest person is greeted last. This is to keep any single person in the room from being implied as the lowest in rank, especially if the ranks of everyone are unknown. In a room with both secular and religious figures, the highest religious figure is greeted first, even if a secular figure outranks them. In a household, the highest authority would be the man of the home, and the second highest would be his consort. 

• Guests are served first before anyone at the table. 

• Personal disputes can be solved with physical altercations. Both parties must participate voluntarily however, and the wounds must not be fatal or extreme. Only fists can be used, and the result must be honored by the losing party. 

• Trophies are taken from slaughtered enemies, typically the skull. In ancient times this was much more common and tied closely with martial culture. Today,  law enforcement is the only institution that really does this.  The skulls of people who are executed are typically kept by either their executioner, their captor, or the superior of both, depending on the agreement between them. 

Honorifics:

• Ar- for a clan patriarch, a god, a male ruler, or high priest. Means “Lord”. Ex: Ar Sleuon.

• Ren- for a clan matriarch, a goddess, a female ruler, or high priestess. Means “Lady”. Ex: Ren Kesera.

• Slar- for an adult man (slar+surname) equal to you or above you, never below. Ex: Slar Kanthromex.

• Srau- for an adult married woman (srau+surname). Ex: Srau Kanthromex.

• Klar- for an unwed woman or woman whose marriage status is uncertain (klar+surname). Ex: Klar Karmanari. 

• Laz- for a young woman (laz+surname). Ex: Laz Kalimax.

• Klai- for a young man, used downward (klai+surname). Can be insulting if used upwards. The lesser party of a sacred concubinage is always called klai, even as age progresses. Ex: Klai Kalimax.

ANCIENT CULTURE

Hygiene

• Ancient Ixokai shampoo- Made from albasax pith, albasax sap, albasax flower nectar, tarmun stamen, and albasax cob stock. It was applied onto wet hair previously washed with water and left to dry. The hair would absorb the shampoo and it would repel lice entirely. This kept the Ixokai from needing to shave for lice control. 

• Soap- The Ixokai have a long tradition of rendering soap from the fat of six-legged elk like the kaprozernox and ryzernox. This soap would then be fragranced with kem resin, vanilla, or other perfumes.

• Ash- Water when simply mixed with ash from the kem tree instead of leached through it creates a mild alkaline slurry  which was used by poor households as a substitute for soap when not enough animal fat could be gathered. Leaching the water through the ash would create lye but it would be too harmful to use, so mixing it in sufficed.

• Boiling water- The Commandments of Sleuon require all water used for washing, cooking, and ritual preparation to be previously boiled. Thus the Ixokai only ever used boiled water for everything, establishing boiling as a default practice of water treatment. 

• Bathhouses- Bathhouses and heated baths have been part of Ixokai culture since antiquity with bathing being an important hygiene practice. Faltatec Latal the god of purification and steam is the patron god of bathhouses and his worship specifically requires cleansing rituals with steam and hot water.

• Ablution- Ritual ablution is commanded in the 50 Commandments of Sleuon before prostration and rituals. Ixenthacron ablution requires the washing of the face and neck, the hands up to the elbow, and the feet up to the knees.

• Hair straightening- Huëy hair is naturally wavy but ancient Huëy beauty standards for women involved straightened hair. To achieve this, wealthy Huëy women would heat albasax oil and apply it to their hair. Albasax oil has properties that straighten hair for prolonged periods of time. This was safer than straightening hair with heated metal tools which often resulted in burns and damaged hair. 

• Perfumes- The ancient Ixokai used a great variety of aromatic oils and ointments as perfumes. Both by themselves and combined with soap and shampoo. Some of these are:

  • Kem oil

  • Kem resin

  • Menthol

  • Vanilla

  • Cacao

  • Pine

  • Oyamel

  • Copal

Ancient Fashion

Universal

Bracelets and anklets: 

Every Ixokai person wore a set of matching bracelets and anklets. Their materials varied by social class and ritual context, but everyone wore them. The poorest people simply just tied string or beads around their ankles and wrists, while commoners and most other people use bracelets and anklets made out of cotton.  

Earrings:

Every Ixokai person got their ears pierced at the Rite of Reeds (age 15). They would then wear earrings for their whole lives. Like the anklets and bracelets, their material varied by social class and ritual context. Paupers simply stuck twigs or animal bones through their ears. Commoners typically used bronze, bone, or wooden earrings. For those in the upper classes, gold was the standard.

For ritual settings, priests would wear long earings made of human bone called bone stakes. They were usually made of twelth ribs or similarly long and narrow bones, and then combined with finger bones and sometimes teeth.

Footwear:

Ixokai people were either barefoot or wore sandals, depending on their social class. The Ixokai sandal consisted of a leather or woven sole with cotton heels that wrapped around the ankle with a strap that ran from it to the tip of the sole. These sandals were worn by everyone from the commoners to the Emperor.

Jewelry:

Jewelry was worn by both men and women of the upper classes and to some extent the commoners. Gold was the main metal for jewelry, but lower classes used copper or bronze. Apart from earrings, which could be really elaborate, there were:

• Bead necklaces- These were extremely typical and were usually made of turquoise, jade, or gold. They were usually long, hanging around the waist or mid chest.

• Gold necklaces- These were more elaborate than the precious-stone necklaces, containing advanced metallurgy and goldsmithing.

• Ornaments- Headdresses would often be decorated with golden ornaments depending on the class and context. The ornament usually denoted rank, ritual role, or associations.

• Talismanic necklaces- These were necklaces that included a pendant with a ritual symbol or rune. usually made out of gold but sometimes could be turquoise. The Emperor wore a thick talismanic necklace with turquoise beads and a large Talacron pendant made of gold and jade.

• Masks- Masks of precious metals like jade were important elements of ritual culture and burial customs.

• Garlands- Made of flowers or human body parts, essential to ritual wear.

Men

Loincloths:

• Narrow loincloth (Tezan)- The most simple of the loincloths consisting of a belt and a flap. The belt loops through the flap to create a T-shape. The belt is then tied around the whip and he flap is pulled in between the legs and then over the belt knot so it drapes in the front. Other versions are a single-piece: just a T-shaped cloth tied at the front with the T stem pulled through the legs and out the front. This loincloth was extremely common for slaves, manual labor, physical activity, or certain ritual contexts and was also used as an undergarment. 

• Broad loincloth (Tlamaret)- This was a type of loincloth that provided more coverage and functioned as everyday wear for most people. It was made of an inverted triangle cloth with a long stem. The ends of the triangle were tied at the front and then the stem was pulled through the legs and out the front over the knot so it draped down in between the legs. It was a essentially a broader version of the Tezan single-piece. 

Loincloths were the foundation of male clothing and were made from either albasax fiber (for the extremely poor) and cotton. The peasantry would often wear albasax fiber most of the time while having cotton garments only for attending Convocation and special ceremonies.

Cloaks and shalls:

• Samansi- A single-piece shall made of cotton or albasax fiber that is worn as an outer garment on the upper half of the body. It is shaped like a square with a hole in the center when extended, and is worn in such a way that its corners hang on the front and back of the body.

• Long cloak- A cloak made of albasax fiber or cotton that was tied at the front and hang down to about the knees or lower. This was the universal outer garment for men.

• Long shall- A long, plainly formed single-piece outer garment that hangs down the front and back of the body. It is tied with a separate sash to the waist, cleaning the silhouette. Always made out of cotton.

Robes and tunics: 

• Standard tunic- A knee-length sleeveless tunic made of cotton that was the base for military uniforms and some civilian clothing.

• Long tunic- An ankle-length sleeved tunic made of cotton that formed the base for many noble and clerical garments. It was oftentimes tied with a sash around the waist.

• Imperial robe- An ankle-length, cotton robe with broad sleeves that was tied at the waist with a sash and worn over a loincloth. The imperial robe was one of the bases for the Emperor's outfits (though he could also wear a long tunic) and the outfits of the High Prophet.

Other:

• Chaps- These were leather leggings for each leg that were tied at the belt of a tezan loincloth. They were worn for certain physical activities like hunting, war, animal riding, and for some ritual settings. Their main manifestation was when they were made of human skin. These human-skin leggings were the bottom half of the priesty human-skin garments.

Headwear:

The Ixokai had an elaborate headdress tradition, but it revolves around the "crested crown". This was a firm, brimless cap overlayed with cotton that was equipped with a massive semi-circular rigid cotton "crest" at the front. This was the most important headdress template for the ancient Ixokai and is what is referenced whenever a "crown" is mentioned. Key headwear items were:

• Headband- Made of cotton and often worn for miscellaneous reasons. Some could be made of gold.

• Sun hat- A woven cylindrical cap with a long, circular flat top that extended all around it like a brim.

• Standard crested crown- The standard version of the crested crown, worn by all types of nobles including royal officials.

• Festive crown (talaphet)- This was different from the crested crown: keeping the same brimless cap base but this time with three identical, vertical protrusions (overlayed with cotton) at the front instead of a semi-circular crest. This was the crown worn as part of the male temple garments for Convocation.

• Martial crown- This was the headdress worn by the generals of the Imperial Army and the martial aristocracy. It was a variation of the crested crown but with two animal horns (often bull or bison, deer antlers for the elite), attached to it. At the back, behind the crest, it also had a frill of cotton appendages and feathers. 

• Double crown- This was a variation of the crested crown with two crests instead of one, representing both earthly and heavenly power. This was the signature headdress of priests. It would often have a long, pointed hood coming out of the cap which fell flat behind the crest and dangled down the back of the head.

• Imperial crown- The Emperor's crown was a lavishly broad crested crown with flaps coming from the sides of his head down to his chest in the front and in the back, a long flap going down his neck all the way to his mid back. 

For all cotton clothing, embroidery was a primary source of decoration. Red embroidery on white cotton was the norm. For the elite, almost all their cotton clothing was embroidered with red.

Hair:

Ixokai men wore their hair anywhere from short to extremely long, with shoulder-length hair (at the back, it was shorter in the front) being the most common style for commoners and up. The Emperor had extremely long hair, along with the senior clergy, and face shaving was the norm. Ixokai men are not allowed to purposely make themselves bald which helped distinguish free men from slaves, criminals, and certain servants. Huëy men who were bonded laborers to other Huëy men had to wear awkward half-shaved styles as humiliation for their subservient position. 

Most criminals were shaved bald, except for sacrificial offerings which kept their hair only so that their heads could be held up and theatrically displayed. Many torture methods also included scalping through brute-force hair pulling. 

COMMON OUTFITS:

Commoners: An Ixokai common man would typically wear his mandatory earrings (if over 15), his customary bracelets and anklets (cotton or wood beads), and a cotton loincloth (usually a tlamaret) with a cotton cloak as his outer garment. Some might wear sandals while others might be barefoot. 

Peasants and paupers: The exceptionally poor might wear garments of albasax fiber every day. They would put twigs in their ears as earrings and wear bare cords as bracelets and anklets, with a tezan loincloth and a cloak both made of albasax fiber as their clothing.

Soldiers: Foot soldiers in the professional Imperial Army would wear a knee-length cotton tunic as their base and a cotton tezan loincloth as their undergarment with the flap hanging below the tunic. They were equipped with sandals, bronze earrings, bronze arm and leg guards, a kaprozernox leather tunic (their primary body armor, thick enough to stop arrows, worn over their cotton tunic), and a bronze, horned helmet with eyes painted on it. They would carry a spear (and sometimes an additional dagger) and a small rectangular wooden shield (painted and decorated). They would often wear snake rattles on them.

Priests: A priest typically wore a long, sleeved cotton tunic tied with a sash, a tezan underneath, and a long cotton cloak as an outer garment, plus a priestly double-crown. He would wear sandals, gold earrings, and often some beaded and talismanic necklaces. This was the standard for priests when not in active ritual settings. When priests had to wear garments of human skin, they would either add a human-skin mask onto their normal outfit, or they would wear: a cotton tezan loincloth, chaps/leggings of human skin, a shall of human skin (samansi style or other), a mask and crown of human skin (one continuous piece), bone stake earrings, beaded necklaces, rattlesnake rattles, and cotton anklets and bracelets with tassels. 

 Emperor: The Emperor typically wore a long cotton robe tied with a sash, a tezan loincloth underneath, an extremely long cotton cloak, and his cotton crown with golden ornamentations.  He would wear sandals, long gold earrings, cotton bracelets and anklets, and several extremely long beaded necklaces. 

Women

Loincloths and skirts:

• Short loincloth- This served as the undergarments worn under a shift dress or skirt. It was a shorter version of the male Tezan: a t-shaped cloth that was tied at the front and ran through the legs and out the front except the flap did not hang far down. Some variations were shaped like an inverted triangle.

• Women's loincloth (Hizan)- This was the primary loincloth for women's outer wear. Unlike the men's, it had flaps on both the back and front and was composed of a belt that wrapped around the hip which held in place a long rectangular cloth which ran under the legs and came out the back and front. This was worn in ritual contexts, by huntresses, messengers, and female athletes.

• Skirt- A long, rectangular piece of fabric wrapped around the hip and held together by a cord tied over it. Worn as everyday clothing.

Women often wore either a skirt or dress of cotton or albasax (depending on class) for everyday activities with a short loincloth underneath.

Shalls and robes:

• Samansi- A single-piece shall made of cotton or albasax fiber that is worn as an outer garment on the upper half of the body. It is shaped like a square with a hole in the center when extended, and is worn in such a way that its corners hang on the front and back of the body.

• Long shall- For women, a long shall could be any single-piece outer garment that was long enough to reach below the hip or even as far down as even the knees. It was not tied at the waist and could be worn for several situations. A lot of women's outer garments could be made of cotton mesh for certain contexts, making them translucent. 

• Robe- A long, broad-sleeved outer garment made of cotton or cotton mesh worn over a shift dress and tied with a sash at the waist.

Dresses:

• Shift dress- This was the standard everyday garment for women. The shift dress was a long plain-form garment that reached down to the ankles. It was typically sleeveless and could be tied at the waist with a sash. Materials ranged from albasax fiber to cotton (depending on class). For more elaborate outfits, the shift dress often acted as the base. 

• Open dress- A sleeveless shift dress where the arm holes reached from below the waist up to the shoulder.  The dress was then tied at the waist with a sash. These open sides enhanced the figure.

Headwear:

• Veil- This was an embroidered or plain cotton cloth worn over the hair that could be either shoulder-length or extremely long. Could be worn as part of everyday wear or as part of ritual vestments. Not universal and depended on preference.

• Headband- Made of cotton or gold, depending on class. Worn as an everyday accessory.

• Flower crowns and plant wreathes- Heavily influenced by the Antelic North and usually worn for festive or ritual contexts.

• Priestly crown- The crowns of priestesses were not the same double-crested crown as the men's. They were more inconsistent and often consisted of just a standard crested crown with some cult-specific ornamentation. Others followed entirely different templates.

• Imperial crown- The Empress' crown was not modeled after the crested crown. It kept the same base, the rigid brimless cotton cap, but its crest was made of two "wings" (not meant to be wings but it's the closest word to describe the two structures) made of woven frames with a cotton film wrapped over them to fill in the shape. 

Hair:

Ixokai women wore their hair long, sometimes incredibly long depending on class, and with a specific cultural style. At the Rite of Endowment, all women had their hair styled in bangs which signaled their adulthood. Apart from bangs, they would wear front tails, and these were to be tied with cotton according to their marital status. An unwed woman did not tie cotton bands around her front tails; a married woman had to tie them. Once a woman was married, she would tie cotton bands around her front tails her whole life, even after her husband died, to signal their continued covenant. In the event of the union being dissolved, she would stop tying her front tails with cotton bands. 

Classical Ixokai culture favored straight hair as an elite beauty standard, even though Huëy people's hair is naturally wavy. All noblewomen, priestesses, and the Empress wore straight hair which was artificially straightened with albasax oil which acted as a straightening agent. Sometimes, priestesses would wear their hair unstraightened or purposely unruly for certain ritual contexts or when embodying certain goddesses.  

COMMON OUTFITS:

Commoners: An Ixokai common woman would typically wear her mandatory earrings (if over 15), her customary bracelets and anklets (cotton or wood beads), and usually a cotton shift dress over a short cotton loincloth. Some might wear sandals while others might be barefoot.  It was also common for women to wear a cotton skirt instead of a shift dress and combine it with either a shall or just remain topless. Sometimes a samansi could be added on top of a dress but the dress by itself was extremely common. A veil would also be possible.

Peasants and paupers: The exceptionally poor might wear garments of albasax fiber every day. They would put twigs in their ears as earrings and wear bare cords as bracelets and anklets, with a skirt or a shift dress made of albasax fiber as their clothing. They might not wear undergarments or additional overgarments. 

Priestesses: A priestess typically wore either a long, sleeved cotton dress tied with a sash or a cotton shift dress with a long, tasseled shall over it, a short loincloth as undergarments, and a priestly crown. She would wear sandals, gold earrings, and often some beaded and talismanic necklaces. It was also common however, for priestesses to wear a cotton skirt with either a shall or nothing on top. They might also wear a hizan loincloth for certain rituals and often incorporated cotton mesh into their regular outfits.

 Empress: The Empress typically wore a long cotton robe tied with a sash, a short loincloth underneath, an extremely long cotton mesh shall, and her cotton crown with golden ornamentations.  She would wear sandals, long gold earrings, cotton bracelets and anklets, and several extremely long beaded necklaces and flower garlands. She would wear her hair extremely long and straight with the front tails tied. Other outfits included a cotton shift dress instead a robe and a solid tasseled shall instead of mesh. 

GASTRONOMY

The Ixokai cultural diet includes a wide range of proteins and plants. Mainstream Ixokai gastronomy is ultimately derived from the cuisine of the Huëy and thus uses ingredients from the Antelic Center. Therefore, their cultural diet mostly contains what was available in the ancient Antelic Center + what was broadly available in the broader Antelic continent through trade + what later became available through global trade. The foundations of the diet can therefore be broken down into Antelic ingredients and ingredients acquired through international trade. The former is what has remained the same since antiquity and the latter is what became available much later on.

Ixenthacronism has no dietary restrictions apart from the total prohibition on alcohol and intoxicants. Nonetheless, bats, dogs, cats, horses, and primates are culturally taboo to the Ixokai.

The Ixokai Maxotlan has very strict food regulations: Ixokai food is not highly processed or toxic. Most foods are low in fat and grease, dyes, and harmful additives. 

All proteins are mass produced in industrial farms, from the insects and the reptiles to the deer and bison. Deer farms are a common sight when driving down the highway.

Because of the enormous variety of ingredients, Ixokai cuisine is therefore organized around several different archetypal dishes and templates which can then have various elements substituted according to what is available, rather than having an endless variety of completely unique dishes. 

Fasting in Ixenthacronism is not the lack of eating but rather the eating of an austere diet. Ixenthacron fasting means:

• No meat

• No dairy

• No spices

• No sugar

• No luxury foods

• A diet restricted only to grain, tubers, vegetables, and certain fruits

The world of high-society food in the Ixokai Maxotlan is where you find the foods their culture considers most exotic, and even then, they are usually found as part of foreign cuisines marketed to the upper class. A wealthy Ixokai person might normally eat Ixokai food with all the same types of ingredients as normal people plus expensive native ingredients, while also having the options available to try the most alien peculiarities from other cultures. Fine dining is where you find pork, chicken, goat, barley, oranges, tangerines, peas, green beans, garlic, beans, chickpeas, and goat cheese.

Trends

• Jello salads- In the modern day, jello salads have taken Ixokai culture by storm. Shrimp and crab variations are especially popular, along with diced vegetable and olive variations. Different from aspic dishes, these salads rely on store-bought gelatin powders. The more eccentric the shape, the better.

• Clear Parties- Clear parties refer to a type of dinner party where all the food is as transparent/colorless as possible. All the food must only be white or off-white, translucent, or completely transparent. Aspic and jello salads are popular for this, combined with meats like white fish, scallops, and glass squid. Enormous anise jellos, completely transparent and with nothing in them, form the centerpiece of the dessert course. Clear broths and clear teas, cucumber water and jellos, peeled lychee, cassava, tapioca, and glass pastas dominate. All ingredients are acceptable so long as they fit the theme and creativity is greatly encouraged. Clear parties are served on white dishes on a white table, but if glass dishes and tables are available then it’s even better. The food can be hot or cold, but it tends toward cold dishes.  To enhance the aesthetic, they are typically held during daylight hours.

• Frozen Casserole- This has become increasingly popular. The basic idea is you take a casserole tray, line it with lettuce, and fill it with pasta salad, cold meats, celery, potatoes, carrots, and occasionally peas (if you're feeling exotic) held together by a soft dairy product like cream cheese and layered with deli meat in between each layer. You then take the whole thing and freeze it or deeply chill it until it is ice cold and hard enough to cut up and serve. 

• Meat Cake- You take a meatloaf mixture and mix in flour and a few more eggs before putting it in a circular mold. after baking, you pop it out and plate it on a round dish with a bed of leafy greens. You then make a mixture called green frosting out of cream cheese, potatoes, ground parsley (where the color comes from), ham chunks, and carrots then you apply it over the entirety of the cake. This dish works even better if you stack it like a wedding cake.

• Sea Monster Pie- A meat pie with snake and potato filling that has a snake cut into arched pieces inserted into the crust so that it looks like a sea serpent rising out of the sea. 

• Bacon-Wrapped Caiman- An exotic twist on the usual roasted crocodilians that incorporates pork as a symbol of foreign delicacy and cosmopolitan culture. It is particularly popular for special occasions to signal access to foreign ingredients and knowledge of international culture. The caiman is skinned, except for the head and hands, then the entire skinned body is wrapped in bacon and either roasted, smoked, or grilled. This dish goes especially well with a side of chicken potato salad which again incorporates an exotic protein into the equation.

• Chicken in the Jungle- This exotic dish recreates the Ixokai’s perception of chickens as a foreign jungle bird, often referred to as a domesticated junglefowl. A whole chicken with its feet intact is oven roasted and plated with lettuce leaves surrounding it. Then, celery sticks are placed upright all around it to mimic bamboo. More green vegetables are then strewn across the platter to form the rest of the jungle plants. In some especially adventurous versions, the chicken is filled with hardboiled chicken eggs to top off the scene.