Skalt

Information
Skalt hosts a warlike matriarchy, where the women were the queens and warriors, and the men stayed home to raise the children, mend the crops, and pay worship to their strange gods. To other nations, Skalt and those from it seem barbaric and strange, which is not helped by their unusual take on etiquette, manners, and diplomacy.

Skalt is portrayed as deeply misunderstood (as similar cultures really were) and complex as a society. Both much more progressive in some ways and also less advanced in others.
 * Skalt Warriors

Acceptance of being a warrior process
To become an official Skalt Warrior is an involved process. You have to pass a series of trials to prove your skill, your dedication, your toughness, your loyalty, and your honor. After that, you have to do some rituals where you dedicate yourself to the Skalt Gods, and give your oath to the Queen and an oath to protect the people of Skalt.

Only then are you bestowed your tattoo by a Priest. Generally it is designed by a priest or a wise-woman. It generally signifies something about the person in question, although it can also have specific religious meanings/implications.

The top warrior of her set, is given her tattoo by the Queen herself, which happened to Ana.

(Which is to say, no they don’t have the same design or placement, it’s very unique and has great significance.)

You aren’t supposed to flinch during the entire tattooing process. Doing so shames yourself as a warrior. So giving them in more painful places (like around your eye -aka Ana) is considered proof they have high hopes for the person as a warrior.

The tattoos are supposed to be somewhere visible though.

Gender roles
They tend to be socially constructed ideas about what is normal/appropriate behavior/feelings/interests for people who identify/or are identified for them as the related gender. The danger of socially constructed norms is that without questioning them, we often assume they are realty rather than arbitrary things we have made/reinforced ourselves.

Take the idea that women are naturally more nurturing, which is something that is common in a lot of societies. Now no one knows for sure if there is some real basis for this idea (and is for sure not universally true), but certainly, a lot of it is reinforced through gender norms. There are studies about how we do this even from infancy. Female babies are often rewarded more for being sweet/smiling, they are sometimes given more/different kinds of affection, they are given toys like dolls and play kitchen tools. There is much less of a “boys will be boys” attitude towards things like getting dirty/not liking to dress up/acting aggressively and they are often encouraged to negate their own comfort in favor of good behavior and pleasing others.

Gender Roles in Skalt, the gender norms/expectations/roles are very different than in most historical cultures.

Women are seen as the tough, enduring ones (in terms of physical and emotional suffering) They are also seen as generally more logical and impartial.

Men, on the other hand, are seen as natural caretakers, who are good at building homes, creating things (like food/crafts, etc.) and nurturing the community.

Gender
Skalt doesn’t see gender as a dichotomy. It’s not one or the other. They also don’t assume birth-sex is your gender.

If you, personally, feel you are a female/male, they will agree and treat you that way regardless of your birth-sex. The gender of your soul so to speak is what defines you, not your body.

If you were born female and identify as female, but have interests aligning with traditional male-roles, then they will assume you are a woman born with a combination of male and female energy. This works in reverse too.

In terms of how men are treated in society, much better compared to similar but reversed gender-roled societies. No one is ever expected to marry or sleep with anyone they aren’t interested in. They have rights and their opinions are respected.

Jobs
There are a few jobs/roles in the community that are specifically gendered. Warriors are generally women. Wise women are women, priests are men.

The Queen & her female heir is a different kettle of fish. It has to do with tracking bloodlines because the Queen’s line is believed to be descended directly from the gods, and thus is part-divine and by default considered a more capable leader. If the Queen adopts a (female) heir having none of her own body, it is assumed that she recognized a child with a stronger divine-blood claim than her own and it is the will of the Gods. Anyway, female-to-female heir makes tracking bloodlines 100% accurate, especially in a place where it’s not uncommon for fathers to be completely unknown.

The Skalt Community
The society is very communal. As long as you aren’t hurting the rest of your tribe/the Skalt people and are contributing in some way to the community. In turn, you are treated with respect, rights and are taken care of as part of that community.

Basically Skalt’s initial design was all about wanting to play with the idea that so many cultures take things as facts/truths that are in fact heavily influenced or even entirely created by social constructions.

Of course, assigning strict gender roles has problems in any society, and Skalt is no exception.

MC
Skalt society is very pro-self selecting what role you want to take.

Would Ana’s potential bride be allowed to become a Skalt Warrior? Absolutely!

Would anyone expect it of her? Nope. There are many other roles she could take instead.

Wise women
Wise women are considered the keepers of knowledge. They all have different specialties. Some are good healers, others advise the Queen/tribal leaders, some give advice to the heartsick, some remember the traditions and history of their people and are storytellers, some teach the children. They are generally women who have proved to have insight/intelligence and are respected for it. It’s not a religious role (spiritual matters are seen to be more naturally fitting for men) although some dedicate themselves to the service of one of the gods.

Adoption
Skalt is totally cool with adoption. If you say a child is your child, then to them, that is as good as blood. (Although Ana is the Queen of Skalt’s biological child. She has no idea who her father is.)

They take a group approach to raising children, compared to other nations.

As for getting an adopted child approved? As long as they waited for Lisle to be on the throne instead of his father, pretty good chances. (Assuming Skalt and Wellin aren’t currently engaged in war…)

How does delegate selection work in Skalt?
Delegates are generally selected as a committee with the Queen and the highest-ranking priests and wise women.

Usually, both genders go.

This summit, however, it was decided that a show of strength would be necessary, so they sent all their most promising young warriors.

Afterlife
Polytheistic, Skalt believes you go to the land of the gods after death, where you are claimed by the god who liked your life the most. ==Trivia==
 * Their demonyns are skaltics.
 * Skalt is mostly nomadic. They don’t believe in staying in the same place or building stone cities. So yes! Very big on horses/donkeys/other animals that you can ride/carry things.
 * the only place where you can currently marry a woman politically is Skalt.
 * Famous for their very strong potato liquor.