Arcanum Paterfamilias/Estvarya: Ishvaran Glossary -- Introduction & Orthography

[whips_n_dozers]

Arcanum Paterfamilias & Estvarya -- Ishvaran Glossary: Introduction and Orthography
Authors: mfelizandy & fractured_chaos
Graphics: fractured_chaos
Rating: For the Glossary, Everyone -- For the Story, Teen
Category: Written for the 2010 FMA Big Bang Challenge.
Disclaimer: Fullmetal Alchemist (Hagane no Renkinjutsushi) was created by Arakawa Hiromu and is serialized monthly in Shonen

Comments

[cairaguas]

I love this. I love the serious thought and organization you put behind this project. I haven't even started reading the story yet, but I will because of this wonderful glossary!

[whips_n_dozers]

Thank you! Most of the credit for the words and definitions goes to mfelizandy. fractured_chaos did the formatting and graphics. Together, we hammered out the "culture". A lot of the words may not get used in Arcanum, or Estvarya, but the cultural notes that accompany many of the definitions work as a solid reference for us, so that we can remain consistent.

We're looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the stories!

[ext_632596]

This is an extremely interesting assortment of data, if I may, may I ask you what cultures and/or languages you used as refrence? I am using hindu and middle-eastern cultures to influence my own Isvalen fan fiction, but I am always interested in what others felt would make them more culturally interesting. I'm sorry if you feel I'm prying, I'm just interested in knowing.

[whips_n_dozers]

Thank you! It's not prying, and we're happy to share. We sifted through various Middle Eastern cultures, and extrapolated what we could from both animes and the manga. Particularly from the first anime, when Scar says his prayer just before he kills Nina -- the way it was said made us think that the Ishvarun were a somewhat matriarchal society ("Please take this soul into your unending womb..."). Not completely, but predominantly, the women are at least equal to the men, although there are some things that are strictly male "activities" (spec. the training and becoming a warrior priest). So we did sort of take some ME cultural norms (Desert cultures tend to revere water, as it's so scarce, for one thing), but threw most of them out the window (Especially the parts of those cultures which de-humanize women).

We sort of divided the Ishvarun into three distinct cultures, as well. The most insular being the mozhkarishki, the nomadic Ishvarun. Then there are the southern tribes that came out of Aerugo (which is Africa in our 'verse

What free time?

[mfelizandy]

I just needed something to occupy my mind while stuck in traffic!

As I recall, at one point we actually ended up telling each other, "We have to add some warts to this society, it's too perfect!"

Re: What free time?

[whips_n_dozers]

That we did. And planting the warts was probably more fun than the rest.

...by a hair. XD

It's not prying

[mfelizandy]

I'm so happy you're interested and commented on the Glossary! I don't take it as prying, I'm flattered.

To answer your question--if something sounds suspiciously like a theme or plot from the Judeo-Christian tradition, that's because that's where the outline (or in one notable case coming up later on, an entire quote almost word for word) came from. We're borrowing generic "Middle Eastern" details, too, to help highlight the distinctions between Amestrian culture and Ishvarun culture. There are motifs from other religious, legendary, and mythical traditions in the mix, too. The hero Saza is something of a portmanteau of wandering-hero myths, and the weaver-woman story is a riff on the theme of hospitality that shows up in cultural traditions all over the world. I don't know whether it will make it into Arcanum or Estvarya, but I've got the outlines of the Ishvarun creation story laid out. It's tailored to explain some things about the Ishvarun and how they live to the likes of Roy Mustang and readers alike, rather than

Story of Creation

[ext_632596]

I was wondering about Saza when I was reading the gollassery as well as the first part of the story was wondering about his signifigance, not that it isan't interesting, I just want to know what the plan for him was... as in his story inside of the fanfiction. That took far to much work to make that sound right. Anyway, I hope that the creation story will be about to fit in somewhere, it sounds very interesting, expecially becuase it is supposed to explain the way everyone sees their way of life. It sounds like it would be a great addition, but that's just my humble opinion. You guys do a really great job, keep up the good work.

Re: Story of Creation

[mfelizandy]

Well, Chapter 5 just went up, and Vasupati tells a Saza story in it! Saza's come a long way from his strictly-linguistic origins.

Saza as he's characterized in these stories was born in the definition of sazamuz in the Glossary. He proved to be too appealing as a folk hero to be left to languish as a cultural note, so when we needed another story for Vasupati to tell young Theo, we recruited Saza for the role. Writing his story to more or less fit with the chapter and still come off with a folktale-hero air is a large part of the reason Chapter 5 took so long to write. (Most of the rest of it had to do with LJ's pesky word count limit.) I have a feeling that like Robin Hood and King Arthur, Saza is a character who features in a lot of stories told by different people at different times in different places, and so his adventures aren't one cohesive canon so much as a collection of stories using Saza, Jaio, and some other standard characters to carry different messages. As such, there's probably a Saza story for just about every

Re: Story of Creation

[ext_632596]

You are both very welcome, I am just as greatful that you were both willing to answer my questions as well as reply at all. Thank you for your time and I look forward to reading the rest of your story :)