Feil

The Feil are an aboriginal tribe that lived in the central part of what would later be called Gepaul. The tribe lived mostly in harmony with their neighbors but otherwise had a strong isolationist stance against all but individual relationships.

As an agricultural society and the strong association with crops, the Feil's culture places a significance on the life cycles of plants—including crops—and the various seasons. They value death as much as birth because they are integral to the growing.

has a focus on the life cycles of plants, including the various seasons of growth. They are a socialistic culture which strives to take care of one's neighbors in addition to themselves.

The tribe associates strongly with living plants and frames much of their cultural around the seasons.

Language

The Feil's language is called Jaimi, or Growing Words. The name “feil” is also the same word as “vine” except with a trailing “i” instead of a “a”.

Markings

Most Feil are given a tattoo of a vine around their navel on the first spring after their birth. Every season after that, the tattoo is expanded based on personal events during the previous season. Later, it is not uncommon to skip one or two seasons due to difficulties, but a Feil is encouraged to mark their life at least once a year.

For those seeking celebration, gatherings are encouraged after the tattoo is healed and gives the Feil a chance to show off what they consider was important for their previous time.

While there are hard requirements on the tattoos including colors or locations, most Feil are encouraged to follow the colors and images from period being marked. This means that tattoos for summer may have full blooms of flowers while winter will be bare branches.