Quick facts
Government - Tribal/Synarchism
Religion -
Ethnicity - Siren
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Southern sirens are smaller and more social than their northern counterparts, leading to a complex social system and web of alliances between clans.
GOVERNMENT
The government of the southern sirens appears at first to be similar to the government of their northern neighbors, with bands of sirens led by a matriarch. However these matriarchs are not instated by challenge, as was originally thought by non-seafolk. There exists an organization known to the sirens as the Iron Hand that claims to serve as an intermediary between the sirens and Tukra, goddess of the sea. It is unknown to any outside of the organization which sirens are part of the group. New matriarchs are instated by a siren who appears to give advice to one of the members of the group, who then challenges the current matriarch, or if the matriarch has died without an heir, a siren who takes the place of that matriarch.
CULTURE
Sirens are incredibly social and typically spend their time in pods of 50-100 members, with a closer circle of around 20 members. Families are a group of close-knit sirens around the same age, not necessarily related, and their caretakers, often mothers and the mothers' bonded partners. Older sirens are seen as respectable but are still expected to carry the same duties.
Like the northern sirens, they keep very few personal posessions aside from a single hunting knife and a few decorative accessories. Many sirens choose to get tattoos during their time onshore, and are glad to tell tales of the marks that can stretch all along their arms and back. These tattoos are often a marker of a siren's age and experience.
Southern sirens are the most likely to go onshore during their time, since their migration cycles often overlap with prominent trade routes and go along coastlines. Most go onshore as a rite of passage when they turn 16. Since they have contact with traders, they have access to a wider variety of foods, trading fish and tools for inland meat and occasionally produce.
Competitive games are a huge part of siren social life, with groups often dividing into two teams for capture-the-flag type chase games. Smaller groups play chase or wrestling games. Young children play games that have to do with reflexes, often involving pebbles and other small, heavy objects dropped to chase and dive after.
Honesty, honor, and adaptation are highly valued among southern sirens, leading to strict punishments when one breaks a social code that can range from temporarily shunning a member of the pod or withholding resources to abandoning them entirely.
Southern sirens are smaller than their northern counterparts, and their pods are arranged in a complex web of interlinking relationships.