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ysabetwordsmithThese are the Pict notes for "A Desire to Be Deeply Known." The content notes were so long I had to split them.
Some prior information about the Terramagne-Picts appears in:
"If You Talk to Him in His Language"
"Trump of Doom"
"Tada Gan Iarracht"
Celtic knotwork has figurative images of people and zoomorphic images of animals.
Figurative subjects are used sparingly and in a highly stylized manner.
Pictish art is related, preserved on stones with iconography and writing.
In T-America, Pips belongs to the Caerini clan, whose name refers both to sheep and goats. They are practical, sure-footed, stealthy, clever, and capable of seeming harmless while they wreak all manner of havoc. Think of the Three Billy Goats Gruff. They're also on the isolationist side, and they speak Pictish only among other Picts. Unfortunately Pips doesn't get along very well with his relatives, due to his peculiar taste in bosses, so he's the black sheep of the family. Walden's people are the Selgovae, which can mean 'scout' or 'guide' as well as 'hunter' -- the translation is imprecise due to cultural differences. A closer parallel may be found in the braves of Native American tribes. They're on the interactive side, and they speak Pictish freely among wider audiences. If you look on this map, based on Ptolemy's map of British tribes, you can see why: the Selgovae are right next to Hadrian's Wall, exposed to many foreigners, while the Caerini are as far north as possible with only other Picts for neighbors.
The Pictish Beast is an important figure. Here's an interesting glimpse of something like one. They still exist in Terramagne, but nobody except the Picts really knows about them.
If a relationship is not based on sex/romance, then what is as intimate and important in that relationship as sex/romance is in a conventional relationship?
For Pips, talking about the Picts is extremely intimate; he almost never does it outside of his own people. It is literally more intimate than sex/romance for him, because he's perfectly comfortable doing those things with outsiders. Note that this makes some types of paperwork completely unacceptable to him; he won't fill it out for real, and prefers not to fake it either. Someone asking him to talk about family ties is like they're demanding sex from him. He balks, and if pushed, quickly becomes aggressive.
Walden is somewhat looser and will talk about them with friends, and speak Pictish in front of people who aren't.
For Bennett, one of his deepest points of vulnerability is the scar on his wrist that he always keeps covered with a leather band. He only shows it to people in his most intimate circle.
Some people avoid accessing some systems because the process of doing so is as intrusive to them as if the staff demanded sexual favors as the cost of entry. Because the intimacy isn't necessarily about sex, it is largely unprotected, and people are left to defend themselves if they can. It isn't seen as a legitimate objection or a reason to redesign paperwork or systems to avoid violating people. In Terramagne, this is compounded by the Picts being standoffish to begin with.
Pictish kinship is intricate. You can make a kinship diagram online. This site presents kinship ego maps and relationship systems: descent principles (unilineal and bilateral), descent groups (basically clan structure), and kin naming systems in various cultures. Kinship diagrams and genograms have symbols to show different information.
This kinship reference gives native-language examples, which helps clarify some things: contents, introduction, terms and types, systems, and Sudanese system illustrated with Latin vocabulary. Wikipedia includes some more variations.
This unit on marriage may be illuminating with regard to why people conflate or distinguish relationships, based on who is or is not an eligible marriage candidate. This is an example of how rights, obligations, inheritances, and expectations can diverge for different people. Wherever there's a difference in those cultural factors, the language tends to provide separate vocabulary to make it easier to know what someone is talking about.
The Picts have a very complicated system with social and genetic aspects. Both male and female relationships are acknowledged, but a man's male relatives are considered closer to him than his female relatives are, while a woman's female relatives are consider closer to her than her male relatives are. All the clan's children of a given generation have a common term, something like "clan-cousins." This is a bit Hawaiian in style, and the Picts also have an equivalent of "hanai" for kinship adoption. All the children born to adult siblings have a common term, something like "sibling-cousins." This is because they're often raised together. Brother-brother is a male's fondest brother, usually but not always closest in age; or for a girl, her sister-sister. But there is a closer tie between a girl, her sisters from the same mother, and her sisters from her mother's sisters (who are also called by some variation of "mommy"). Similarly a boy has a closer tie between his brothers from the same father, and his brothers from his father's brothers (who are also called by some variation of "daddy"). Slightly more distant is the relationship between cross-cousins (children of the mother's brother, or the father's sister). The mother's brother's wife and the father's sister are aunts; and the father's sister's husband and the mother's brothers are uncles, but most of those are not as close, because they're cross-relationships. There's a term for all males of similar age to one's father, like "clan-uncle," which is based on the term for mother's brother; and for all females of similar age to one's mother, like "clan-aunt," which is based on the term for father's sister. However, the mother's brothers are considered immediate family to all her children, even her daughters, because in historic times, "a mother is a fact, a father is an opinion," making the mother's brothers the closest parental-aged definite male relatives of her children. So at that time, they took the male parental role, while the genetic father was just the mother's lover.
Despite all this gendering, the Picts recognize and respect genderqueer people, who can present as either or both or neither male/female. There's a set of grammatical markers for neuter/indeterminate. Genderqueer people are free to choose which pattern(s) of kinship to follow.
The Terramagne-Pictish kinship is best described as agglutinative-metamorphic, showing signs of past mergers between different systems and of changes over time. This likely happened because their ancestors were overrun by outsiders and retreated to obscure areas, then hid themselves very effectively. The Pictish clans, once quite distinct, were thus forced into closer proximity for sake of survival. So while they still call themselves clans, their ethnicity is so small that they actually function more like phratries within a single clan.
By this point, all the Picts are related to some degree. The people within a clan tend to be related related to each other more closely than they are to members of another clan, except for those who have been adopted or married in rather than born there. Some clans are more closely related to each other, while some are more distant. This can be based on geography, personality, or both. So there tends to be a spectrum, where the clans farthest apart don't mix. Pips comes from the most isolated clan, while Walden comes from one of the most gregarious. Normally they wouldn't have connected, but that little bit of churn helps preserve both the overall connection among all Picts and the distinctive identity of each clan.
Because of the small population, everyone is expected to give the clan a child of their body with another eligible Pict, or at least make an honest attempt. Since this is a hardship for some people, in return they are not obligated to raise the baby, who can be adopted by a parent's sibling or raised in common by the adults who care for clanchildren and orphans without other caregivers. No child is ever abandoned or unwanted by the clan. If the first clanchild is unhealthy or even stillborn, the parent is not expected to try again -- a balance between trying to keep up the numbers and trying to avoid replicating destructive genes. People with a serious genetic defect may ask for an exemption to avoid passing it along. Homosexual or asexual people often become clanparents if they love children but not the process of making them. (Heron's ability to select the healthiest genes, and to favor the Pictish genes in a mixed-heritage mating, could singlehandedly save them from the bottleneck problem.)
Given the option of having clanchildren, not all adults are necessarily interested in marriage. It's not rare for someone to take lovers but never a spouse. Conversely, sibling marriages are popular; the luckiest of all is two brothers marrying two sisters, usually as two couples but occasionally as a polycule. It's also fairly common for one woman to marry two brothers, or one man to marry two sisters. Because it doesn't change the rules about either breeding or socializing, it doesn't matter exactly who begets which child. The Picts do have to track genetics closely, but they do it in batches: a man and his brothers are in the same category, so their children are in the same category.
People cannot marry or procreate with anyone in their same-side lineage, so a woman can't marry anyone connected through her female-side relatives while a man can't marry anyone connected through his male-side relatives. They don't marry anyone who's too close on either side. However, sufficiently distant cross-cousins are eligible. Most of the time, people marry or procreate with someone from a different clan compatible with theirs. Some of the larger clans allow people to find a sufficiently distant partner within their own clan. More rarely, someone travels farther to a clan that is not typically one of their clan's mate-sources.
Homosexual activity is not considered dirty, but getting together with an ineligible clan member is. Sometimes people do it anyway, but they almost always take care not to procreate: everyone knows the dangers of inbreeding and has seen the unfortunate results just from the bottleneck effect of a small population.
Forming a relationship with an outsider is rather looked down on, but it's so common that there's no point in trying to stomp it out entirely. Due to the size-based nature of Pictish ethnicity and the back-and-forth genetic crossing over centuries, this can make membership complicated. There is a strong preference for shorter people over taller ones, in opposition to almost every other human society. Therefore, a person who chooses a giant partner will face much more criticism than one who chooses a petite person. An outsider who is as tiny as a Pict and generally resembles one may be quietly folded into the clan as a lost swan. Ironically, the stigma of choosing an outsider is actually less if it's a homosexual pairing, because it doesn't threaten the gene pool.
The sticky point is children. If they come out short, they are generally considered clan members. If they come out tall, they generally are not accepted into the clan. But the outcrossing also means that occasionally two Picts throw a tall child, especially if both parents are tallish Picts, which is likely because nobody else is eager to mate with them. So those children are usually accepted, but not as well thought of as shorter children. If a taller child of two Pictish parents is accepted while a shorter child of a Pict and an outsider is rejected, that can cause hard feelings all around. And while it's sometimes easy to spot the truly tiny Pictlings from birth, it's not always possible to spot the ones who start out acceptably tall but then shoot up during puberty. Because people are not required to stay with the clan if they wish to travel or even move out, it is more often the shorter ones who stay and the taller ones who leave. There's one reversed advantage, though: a tallish Pict who requests an exemption from giving the clan a child of their body is much more likely to be excused, while a short Pict has almost no chance unless they can show a serious defect that would make procreation risky or undesirable.
The height issue is a bias, but it's not a prejudice, since people typically know folks in a range of sizes. Not all Picts interact with the outside world much, but enough of them do that it's at least somewhat familiar. The bias is also not entirely unfounded, since the ethnic identity is based strongly on small size, but more because that's the key to some of their other traits and abilities. The taller someone is, the less likely they are to have the mystical gifts; and the shorter they are, they more quintessentially Pictish they're likely to be. It's a bit like the domestication syndrome -- separate genes controlling a variety of traits, but they tend to move together because some of the genes affect multiple traits. So small size isn't valued merely for its own aesthetics, but because of what else it tends to bring along with it. Consider also that insular dwarfism is only one part of the island syndrome affecting small, isolated populations.
Given a low core population of tiny Picts surrounded by a large population of much taller outsiders, this can cause complications socially and physically. Among the more obvious is that it's relatively safe for a male Pict to procreate with a female giant, but much more dangerous for a female Pict to procreate with a male giant -- which makes getting raped by an outsider a life-threatening risk for a female Pict, but most of them are strongly averse to abortion just because there are so few Picts.
Lovers typically remain in their own clans, simply visiting each other as they like. Those who wish to live together may move back and forth, or settle in one place. A marriage is more serious, and customarily means that one person joins the other's clan. It is more common for a man to move into his wife's clan, for a lower-status person to move into the higher-status household or clan, and for a member of a larger clan to move into a smaller clan that can't afford to lose anyone. More rarely, someone may move because their partner has a good piece of land, a business, etc. that is not portable. The fact that there are multiple factors can make the choice rather fraught.
Most clans have a patriarch. In those, a separate matriarch typically deals with the women's business. Conversely, clans led by a matriarch will have a separate patriarch to handle matters particular to men. Pips belongs to a patriarchal clan, Walden to a matriarchal one.
This map of Scotland shows the highlands and the lowlands and here are some of the cities. A more detailed map shows smaller towns also.
In Scotland, approximately 19% of the population live in rural areas (National Statistics, 2010). Definition and classification of urban, suburban and rural areas varies across the world and even within the United Kingdom. The Scottish Government uses a six-stage urban-rural classification (National Statistics, 2010):
(1) Large urban areas – settlements with population of 125,000 or more.
(2) Other urban areas – settlements of 10,000 to 125,000 people.
(3) Accessible small towns – settlements of 3000 to 9999 people within 30 min drive of a settlement of 10,000 + people.
(4) Remote small towns – settlements of 3000 to 9999 people not within 30 min drive of a settlement of 10,000 + people.
(5) Accessible rural areas – settlements of less than 3000 people within 30 min drive of a settlement of 10,000 + people.
(6) Remote rural areas – settlements of less than 3000 people not within 30 min drive of a settlement of 10,000 + people.
Figure 1 presents a map of Scotland providing areal distribution of population according to the above classification. It can be seen that most of Scotland is remote rural and there are only four large urban areas (Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow).
Looking at this map of population density in Scotland, you can see how the Picts have managed to elude discovery: most of the country is basically uninhabited. It's not hard to hide when there's nobody around. While population centers and dominant cultures change over time, desirability of territory and land features is much less fluid -- and the Picts always had uncommon tastes in real estate. They lost a significant amount of territory to invaders, but what they lost was the part that other people also liked, allowing them to retreat into the (still quite large) areas nobody else wanted.
These maps show the road travel time to basic amenities such as the nearest major city, nearest middle-order shopping center, maternity hospital, or emergency care. While the Picts don't have major or even minor cities, they do have their own health care. It just tends not to get listed because it's not public, and it's rarely has equipment as advanced as what the big cities have. However, some clans have healers, which can give them better access to that.
Broadband coverage in Scotland is minimal, except for satellite; DSL and cable modem are almost enitrely confined to the small areas of densest population. Again, the Picts have their own resources, but here it varies considerably. Some clans love technology and have their own providers; others dislike it and have little or none. A general trend is that more southerly, gregarious clans have more technology than the more northerly, insular ones.
The Great Glen Fault appears on this map of Scotland. The three great faults running through Scotland are the Moine Thrust, the Great Glen Fault, and the Highland Boundary Fault. These tend to influence territorial and cultural divisions.
The highlands include two parts: the northwest highlands and the Grampian Mountains.
Ptolemy's Albann
The following tribes are described (mostly from Agricola's campaign in 88AD). Claudius Ptolemaeus was an Alexandrian geographer writing about AD 150. He wrote two books, Almagest and Geography. The latter contains references to Albion, its tribes, its main features, and its latitude and longitude. (Note all names are Latinized)
The Orkney and Shetland island chains:
The Phocaii, Latin for "People of the Seals". A word that developed into Orca, Orkney, and Orcadians.
South of the Forth:
The Votadini lived in the Lothians. (the Welsh version was Goddodin).
The Selgovae lived in the centre between the Cheviots and the River Tweed "Hunters".
The Novantae lived in Dumfries-shire and Galloway "Vigorous people".
The Damnonii lived in Ayr, Renfrewshire, Dumbarton and Lanark, and into Stirlingshire.
North and east of the Firth of Forth:
The Venicones inhabiting land north of the Forth to south of Aberdeenshire. "Swamp or alder hounds".
The Taezali inhabiting the Gramineus region. After the Celtic river goddess "Deva".
The Vacomagi inhabiting the southern shore of the Moray Firth. "Men of the open plains".
The Decantae lived in Easter Ross and the Black Isle "noblemen".
The living in Ross-shire. These were dark-skinned people like the Silures in Wales.
The Smertae living around the river Oykel in Sutherland. Rosmerta was the Celtic "great smeared goddess".
The Cornavii in Caithness the "folk of the Horn".
South-west of Caithness:
The Caereni "sheep folk".
The Carnonacae "folk of the trumpets'.
The Creones "people of the rugged boundaries" spread down the north-west coast.
The Epidii "Gaulish for Horse breeders" lived about the Kintyre area.
The Central highlands:
The Caledonii "cunning people" from the Latin Calliditus. They occupied the whole of the Central highlands.
Unlocated:
The Boresti lived somewhere near Mons Gramenius. Agricola attacked them after the battle of Mons Gramenius.
Other reported tribes:
The Maeatae (warriors) were referred to by Dio Cassius in 208 AD as being one of the most important tribes of Britons in the north. They were actually the southernmost members of the Venicones.
The Verturiones "destroyers" from the Latin Verto. They were referred to by Ammianus Marcellinus, in 367 AD, as one of the two most important Pictish tribes. They reappeared later as sea raiders from Fortriu (Fortrenn) and Fife. They were the same people as the Venicones.
He describes them as being divided into 13 peoples or tribes. These tribes included the Orcades or Orkneys. Their tribal name was perhaps Orcoi or Orci, meaning 'Boar People'. The name is Celtic. Ptolemy's Ebudae may have a non-Celtic name. Other tribes included the Caereni, Cornavii, and Epidii, all Celtic names. The Caereni and the Carnonacae lived in northwestern Scotland. The Cornavii and Smertae lived in the northeastern tip of Scotland across from the Orkneys. The Decantae lived just north of the Black Isle. The Caledonii were an especially strong tribe who lived along Loch Ness. East of the Caledonii and north of the River Dee were the Vacomagi and the Taexali. The Boresti may have lived south of the Taexali. South of the River Tay were the Venicones. In the west, the Epidii lived in the Kintyre Peninsula across from Ireland. The Creones lived between Skye and Loch Linnhe. The Ebudae lived in the Hebrides. South of these groups, but north of the Romans, were the Damnonii, the future Strathclyde Britons. The Damnonii lived around the Clyde near the later city of Glasgow. The Votadini lived east of them around the Forth. Their lands included the future city of Edinburgh. The Novantae lived in Galloway and Dumfries. The Selgovae lived inland in the hill country. Their name comes from the term, "Hunters". Like the Atecotti, this group may represent a pre-Iron Age-influenced people. (3, 7)
Pict Territory Map
The Pictish Clans divide roughly into southern (between Hadrian's Wall and the Antonine Wall), central (between the Antonine Wall and the Great Glen Fault), and northern (beyond the Great Glen Fault) regions. Some people count the islands as a separate group, although a majority of those are in the north anyway. In practice, the central lowlands belong to the giants, so the southern clans are really the southern upland clans.
The Cornavii are the farthest northeast and largest of the northern clans on the mainland, around Thurso (which is too small to count as urban). The Lugi are just south, with the Decantae south of them and just north of the Great Glen Fault. Both of these are small clans. The Smertae are west, into the inland part of the highlands, and among the most reclusive -- nobody really knows how many there are, not even the other Picts. The Caerini are the farthest northwest, north of Ullapool, a small clan and one of the most isolationist. South of them are the Carnonacae, between Ullapool and Kyle of Lochalsh. South of them are the Creones, the most southwestern of the northern tribes, between the Great Glen Fault and Kyle of Lochalsh. These two are barely larger or more open than the Caerini.
The Caledonii are the largest of the central clans, with multiple holdings along the Great Glen Faults southwest of Inverness. The Epidii still hold much of their peninsula Kintyre, with the largest settlement in the Mull of Kintyre beyond Campbeltown where the official roads end. The Vacomagi have a few settlements scattered between Inverness, Elgin, and Peterhead. They struggle to maintain unity with their territory fragmented. People argue over whether to withdraw and consolidate, or officially split into different clans; but as they can never agree on what to do, nothing changes.
The Taexali, Venicones, and Damnonii were eventually absorbed into the giant cities filling the central lowlands, or else into other Pictish clans.
The Novantae have settlements east of Stranraer. The Selgovae have settlements in the Dumfries area, mostly in the rural area beyond its reach, but also one closer to the city. They are among the larger clans. The Otadini have held onto a little territory beyond the metroplex of Edinburgh. Southern upland clans tend to have more technology and more interaction with the giants.
The Isle of May was a healing shrine for sick Picts. Its clan has since moved to another island, leaving their former home as a nature reserve.
The Shetland Islands, Orkney Islands (Phocaii or Orcoi), and Hebrides (Ebudae) each have a clan.
Some past references hint at superpowers:
The Scythian people are born with white hair due to the everlasting snow; and the colour of their hair gives name to the people, and thus they are called Albani: From this people both Scots and Picts descend. Their eyes are so brightly coloured that they are able to see better by night than by day.
In the Hebrides and the north western parts of Pictland (Caithness, Sutherland & Ross) the old family clan system and their chieftains had a firm grip on society, and were strongly opposed to the overlord ship of Pictland. Eventually they broke away from the union, establishing their own Clanship, under the leadership of the legendary Somerled (gno. Sumarleiðir) (1113 – 1164).
During the 8th Century hordes of Norwegians arrived on the Islands, some establishing strongholds for further Viking attacks along the coasts of Ireland and Pictland, some permanently settling down as farmers. (Over time, the smaller surviving Picts developed a tendency to withdraw from invading troops, then sneak back and kill by subterfuge, such as poison, vermin, or traps.)
Gallytrotting -- Pict slang similar to "gallivanting," or going about in search of fun and excitement, with a bit more mischievous slant. This is a favorite pastime of the wild young things, usually pursued by packs of same-sex agemates, but sometimes by mixed-sex groups. It is named after the gallytrot, a type of fey hound that chases people who run from it in fear.
Balancing time and special connections is important in polyamory. It also applies to friendships and parent-child relationships. Having grown up in a clan, Pips has considerable experience in this regard for navigating his current relationships in a complex family situation.
Some prior information about the Terramagne-Picts appears in:
"If You Talk to Him in His Language"
"Trump of Doom"
"Tada Gan Iarracht"
Celtic knotwork has figurative images of people and zoomorphic images of animals.
Figurative subjects are used sparingly and in a highly stylized manner.
Pictish art is related, preserved on stones with iconography and writing.
In T-America, Pips belongs to the Caerini clan, whose name refers both to sheep and goats. They are practical, sure-footed, stealthy, clever, and capable of seeming harmless while they wreak all manner of havoc. Think of the Three Billy Goats Gruff. They're also on the isolationist side, and they speak Pictish only among other Picts. Unfortunately Pips doesn't get along very well with his relatives, due to his peculiar taste in bosses, so he's the black sheep of the family. Walden's people are the Selgovae, which can mean 'scout' or 'guide' as well as 'hunter' -- the translation is imprecise due to cultural differences. A closer parallel may be found in the braves of Native American tribes. They're on the interactive side, and they speak Pictish freely among wider audiences. If you look on this map, based on Ptolemy's map of British tribes, you can see why: the Selgovae are right next to Hadrian's Wall, exposed to many foreigners, while the Caerini are as far north as possible with only other Picts for neighbors.
The Pictish Beast is an important figure. Here's an interesting glimpse of something like one. They still exist in Terramagne, but nobody except the Picts really knows about them.
If a relationship is not based on sex/romance, then what is as intimate and important in that relationship as sex/romance is in a conventional relationship?
For Pips, talking about the Picts is extremely intimate; he almost never does it outside of his own people. It is literally more intimate than sex/romance for him, because he's perfectly comfortable doing those things with outsiders. Note that this makes some types of paperwork completely unacceptable to him; he won't fill it out for real, and prefers not to fake it either. Someone asking him to talk about family ties is like they're demanding sex from him. He balks, and if pushed, quickly becomes aggressive.
Walden is somewhat looser and will talk about them with friends, and speak Pictish in front of people who aren't.
For Bennett, one of his deepest points of vulnerability is the scar on his wrist that he always keeps covered with a leather band. He only shows it to people in his most intimate circle.
Some people avoid accessing some systems because the process of doing so is as intrusive to them as if the staff demanded sexual favors as the cost of entry. Because the intimacy isn't necessarily about sex, it is largely unprotected, and people are left to defend themselves if they can. It isn't seen as a legitimate objection or a reason to redesign paperwork or systems to avoid violating people. In Terramagne, this is compounded by the Picts being standoffish to begin with.
Pictish kinship is intricate. You can make a kinship diagram online. This site presents kinship ego maps and relationship systems: descent principles (unilineal and bilateral), descent groups (basically clan structure), and kin naming systems in various cultures. Kinship diagrams and genograms have symbols to show different information.
This kinship reference gives native-language examples, which helps clarify some things: contents, introduction, terms and types, systems, and Sudanese system illustrated with Latin vocabulary. Wikipedia includes some more variations.
This unit on marriage may be illuminating with regard to why people conflate or distinguish relationships, based on who is or is not an eligible marriage candidate. This is an example of how rights, obligations, inheritances, and expectations can diverge for different people. Wherever there's a difference in those cultural factors, the language tends to provide separate vocabulary to make it easier to know what someone is talking about.
The Picts have a very complicated system with social and genetic aspects. Both male and female relationships are acknowledged, but a man's male relatives are considered closer to him than his female relatives are, while a woman's female relatives are consider closer to her than her male relatives are. All the clan's children of a given generation have a common term, something like "clan-cousins." This is a bit Hawaiian in style, and the Picts also have an equivalent of "hanai" for kinship adoption. All the children born to adult siblings have a common term, something like "sibling-cousins." This is because they're often raised together. Brother-brother is a male's fondest brother, usually but not always closest in age; or for a girl, her sister-sister. But there is a closer tie between a girl, her sisters from the same mother, and her sisters from her mother's sisters (who are also called by some variation of "mommy"). Similarly a boy has a closer tie between his brothers from the same father, and his brothers from his father's brothers (who are also called by some variation of "daddy"). Slightly more distant is the relationship between cross-cousins (children of the mother's brother, or the father's sister). The mother's brother's wife and the father's sister are aunts; and the father's sister's husband and the mother's brothers are uncles, but most of those are not as close, because they're cross-relationships. There's a term for all males of similar age to one's father, like "clan-uncle," which is based on the term for mother's brother; and for all females of similar age to one's mother, like "clan-aunt," which is based on the term for father's sister. However, the mother's brothers are considered immediate family to all her children, even her daughters, because in historic times, "a mother is a fact, a father is an opinion," making the mother's brothers the closest parental-aged definite male relatives of her children. So at that time, they took the male parental role, while the genetic father was just the mother's lover.
Despite all this gendering, the Picts recognize and respect genderqueer people, who can present as either or both or neither male/female. There's a set of grammatical markers for neuter/indeterminate. Genderqueer people are free to choose which pattern(s) of kinship to follow.
The Terramagne-Pictish kinship is best described as agglutinative-metamorphic, showing signs of past mergers between different systems and of changes over time. This likely happened because their ancestors were overrun by outsiders and retreated to obscure areas, then hid themselves very effectively. The Pictish clans, once quite distinct, were thus forced into closer proximity for sake of survival. So while they still call themselves clans, their ethnicity is so small that they actually function more like phratries within a single clan.
By this point, all the Picts are related to some degree. The people within a clan tend to be related related to each other more closely than they are to members of another clan, except for those who have been adopted or married in rather than born there. Some clans are more closely related to each other, while some are more distant. This can be based on geography, personality, or both. So there tends to be a spectrum, where the clans farthest apart don't mix. Pips comes from the most isolated clan, while Walden comes from one of the most gregarious. Normally they wouldn't have connected, but that little bit of churn helps preserve both the overall connection among all Picts and the distinctive identity of each clan.
Because of the small population, everyone is expected to give the clan a child of their body with another eligible Pict, or at least make an honest attempt. Since this is a hardship for some people, in return they are not obligated to raise the baby, who can be adopted by a parent's sibling or raised in common by the adults who care for clanchildren and orphans without other caregivers. No child is ever abandoned or unwanted by the clan. If the first clanchild is unhealthy or even stillborn, the parent is not expected to try again -- a balance between trying to keep up the numbers and trying to avoid replicating destructive genes. People with a serious genetic defect may ask for an exemption to avoid passing it along. Homosexual or asexual people often become clanparents if they love children but not the process of making them. (Heron's ability to select the healthiest genes, and to favor the Pictish genes in a mixed-heritage mating, could singlehandedly save them from the bottleneck problem.)
Given the option of having clanchildren, not all adults are necessarily interested in marriage. It's not rare for someone to take lovers but never a spouse. Conversely, sibling marriages are popular; the luckiest of all is two brothers marrying two sisters, usually as two couples but occasionally as a polycule. It's also fairly common for one woman to marry two brothers, or one man to marry two sisters. Because it doesn't change the rules about either breeding or socializing, it doesn't matter exactly who begets which child. The Picts do have to track genetics closely, but they do it in batches: a man and his brothers are in the same category, so their children are in the same category.
People cannot marry or procreate with anyone in their same-side lineage, so a woman can't marry anyone connected through her female-side relatives while a man can't marry anyone connected through his male-side relatives. They don't marry anyone who's too close on either side. However, sufficiently distant cross-cousins are eligible. Most of the time, people marry or procreate with someone from a different clan compatible with theirs. Some of the larger clans allow people to find a sufficiently distant partner within their own clan. More rarely, someone travels farther to a clan that is not typically one of their clan's mate-sources.
Homosexual activity is not considered dirty, but getting together with an ineligible clan member is. Sometimes people do it anyway, but they almost always take care not to procreate: everyone knows the dangers of inbreeding and has seen the unfortunate results just from the bottleneck effect of a small population.
Forming a relationship with an outsider is rather looked down on, but it's so common that there's no point in trying to stomp it out entirely. Due to the size-based nature of Pictish ethnicity and the back-and-forth genetic crossing over centuries, this can make membership complicated. There is a strong preference for shorter people over taller ones, in opposition to almost every other human society. Therefore, a person who chooses a giant partner will face much more criticism than one who chooses a petite person. An outsider who is as tiny as a Pict and generally resembles one may be quietly folded into the clan as a lost swan. Ironically, the stigma of choosing an outsider is actually less if it's a homosexual pairing, because it doesn't threaten the gene pool.
The sticky point is children. If they come out short, they are generally considered clan members. If they come out tall, they generally are not accepted into the clan. But the outcrossing also means that occasionally two Picts throw a tall child, especially if both parents are tallish Picts, which is likely because nobody else is eager to mate with them. So those children are usually accepted, but not as well thought of as shorter children. If a taller child of two Pictish parents is accepted while a shorter child of a Pict and an outsider is rejected, that can cause hard feelings all around. And while it's sometimes easy to spot the truly tiny Pictlings from birth, it's not always possible to spot the ones who start out acceptably tall but then shoot up during puberty. Because people are not required to stay with the clan if they wish to travel or even move out, it is more often the shorter ones who stay and the taller ones who leave. There's one reversed advantage, though: a tallish Pict who requests an exemption from giving the clan a child of their body is much more likely to be excused, while a short Pict has almost no chance unless they can show a serious defect that would make procreation risky or undesirable.
The height issue is a bias, but it's not a prejudice, since people typically know folks in a range of sizes. Not all Picts interact with the outside world much, but enough of them do that it's at least somewhat familiar. The bias is also not entirely unfounded, since the ethnic identity is based strongly on small size, but more because that's the key to some of their other traits and abilities. The taller someone is, the less likely they are to have the mystical gifts; and the shorter they are, they more quintessentially Pictish they're likely to be. It's a bit like the domestication syndrome -- separate genes controlling a variety of traits, but they tend to move together because some of the genes affect multiple traits. So small size isn't valued merely for its own aesthetics, but because of what else it tends to bring along with it. Consider also that insular dwarfism is only one part of the island syndrome affecting small, isolated populations.
Given a low core population of tiny Picts surrounded by a large population of much taller outsiders, this can cause complications socially and physically. Among the more obvious is that it's relatively safe for a male Pict to procreate with a female giant, but much more dangerous for a female Pict to procreate with a male giant -- which makes getting raped by an outsider a life-threatening risk for a female Pict, but most of them are strongly averse to abortion just because there are so few Picts.
Lovers typically remain in their own clans, simply visiting each other as they like. Those who wish to live together may move back and forth, or settle in one place. A marriage is more serious, and customarily means that one person joins the other's clan. It is more common for a man to move into his wife's clan, for a lower-status person to move into the higher-status household or clan, and for a member of a larger clan to move into a smaller clan that can't afford to lose anyone. More rarely, someone may move because their partner has a good piece of land, a business, etc. that is not portable. The fact that there are multiple factors can make the choice rather fraught.
Most clans have a patriarch. In those, a separate matriarch typically deals with the women's business. Conversely, clans led by a matriarch will have a separate patriarch to handle matters particular to men. Pips belongs to a patriarchal clan, Walden to a matriarchal one.
This map of Scotland shows the highlands and the lowlands and here are some of the cities. A more detailed map shows smaller towns also.
In Scotland, approximately 19% of the population live in rural areas (National Statistics, 2010). Definition and classification of urban, suburban and rural areas varies across the world and even within the United Kingdom. The Scottish Government uses a six-stage urban-rural classification (National Statistics, 2010):
(1) Large urban areas – settlements with population of 125,000 or more.
(2) Other urban areas – settlements of 10,000 to 125,000 people.
(3) Accessible small towns – settlements of 3000 to 9999 people within 30 min drive of a settlement of 10,000 + people.
(4) Remote small towns – settlements of 3000 to 9999 people not within 30 min drive of a settlement of 10,000 + people.
(5) Accessible rural areas – settlements of less than 3000 people within 30 min drive of a settlement of 10,000 + people.
(6) Remote rural areas – settlements of less than 3000 people not within 30 min drive of a settlement of 10,000 + people.
Figure 1 presents a map of Scotland providing areal distribution of population according to the above classification. It can be seen that most of Scotland is remote rural and there are only four large urban areas (Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow).
Looking at this map of population density in Scotland, you can see how the Picts have managed to elude discovery: most of the country is basically uninhabited. It's not hard to hide when there's nobody around. While population centers and dominant cultures change over time, desirability of territory and land features is much less fluid -- and the Picts always had uncommon tastes in real estate. They lost a significant amount of territory to invaders, but what they lost was the part that other people also liked, allowing them to retreat into the (still quite large) areas nobody else wanted.
These maps show the road travel time to basic amenities such as the nearest major city, nearest middle-order shopping center, maternity hospital, or emergency care. While the Picts don't have major or even minor cities, they do have their own health care. It just tends not to get listed because it's not public, and it's rarely has equipment as advanced as what the big cities have. However, some clans have healers, which can give them better access to that.
Broadband coverage in Scotland is minimal, except for satellite; DSL and cable modem are almost enitrely confined to the small areas of densest population. Again, the Picts have their own resources, but here it varies considerably. Some clans love technology and have their own providers; others dislike it and have little or none. A general trend is that more southerly, gregarious clans have more technology than the more northerly, insular ones.
The Great Glen Fault appears on this map of Scotland. The three great faults running through Scotland are the Moine Thrust, the Great Glen Fault, and the Highland Boundary Fault. These tend to influence territorial and cultural divisions.
The highlands include two parts: the northwest highlands and the Grampian Mountains.
Ptolemy's Albann
The following tribes are described (mostly from Agricola's campaign in 88AD). Claudius Ptolemaeus was an Alexandrian geographer writing about AD 150. He wrote two books, Almagest and Geography. The latter contains references to Albion, its tribes, its main features, and its latitude and longitude. (Note all names are Latinized)
The Orkney and Shetland island chains:
The Phocaii, Latin for "People of the Seals". A word that developed into Orca, Orkney, and Orcadians.
South of the Forth:
The Votadini lived in the Lothians. (the Welsh version was Goddodin).
The Selgovae lived in the centre between the Cheviots and the River Tweed "Hunters".
The Novantae lived in Dumfries-shire and Galloway "Vigorous people".
The Damnonii lived in Ayr, Renfrewshire, Dumbarton and Lanark, and into Stirlingshire.
North and east of the Firth of Forth:
The Venicones inhabiting land north of the Forth to south of Aberdeenshire. "Swamp or alder hounds".
The Taezali inhabiting the Gramineus region. After the Celtic river goddess "Deva".
The Vacomagi inhabiting the southern shore of the Moray Firth. "Men of the open plains".
The Decantae lived in Easter Ross and the Black Isle "noblemen".
The living in Ross-shire. These were dark-skinned people like the Silures in Wales.
The Smertae living around the river Oykel in Sutherland. Rosmerta was the Celtic "great smeared goddess".
The Cornavii in Caithness the "folk of the Horn".
South-west of Caithness:
The Caereni "sheep folk".
The Carnonacae "folk of the trumpets'.
The Creones "people of the rugged boundaries" spread down the north-west coast.
The Epidii "Gaulish for Horse breeders" lived about the Kintyre area.
The Central highlands:
The Caledonii "cunning people" from the Latin Calliditus. They occupied the whole of the Central highlands.
Unlocated:
The Boresti lived somewhere near Mons Gramenius. Agricola attacked them after the battle of Mons Gramenius.
Other reported tribes:
The Maeatae (warriors) were referred to by Dio Cassius in 208 AD as being one of the most important tribes of Britons in the north. They were actually the southernmost members of the Venicones.
The Verturiones "destroyers" from the Latin Verto. They were referred to by Ammianus Marcellinus, in 367 AD, as one of the two most important Pictish tribes. They reappeared later as sea raiders from Fortriu (Fortrenn) and Fife. They were the same people as the Venicones.
He describes them as being divided into 13 peoples or tribes. These tribes included the Orcades or Orkneys. Their tribal name was perhaps Orcoi or Orci, meaning 'Boar People'. The name is Celtic. Ptolemy's Ebudae may have a non-Celtic name. Other tribes included the Caereni, Cornavii, and Epidii, all Celtic names. The Caereni and the Carnonacae lived in northwestern Scotland. The Cornavii and Smertae lived in the northeastern tip of Scotland across from the Orkneys. The Decantae lived just north of the Black Isle. The Caledonii were an especially strong tribe who lived along Loch Ness. East of the Caledonii and north of the River Dee were the Vacomagi and the Taexali. The Boresti may have lived south of the Taexali. South of the River Tay were the Venicones. In the west, the Epidii lived in the Kintyre Peninsula across from Ireland. The Creones lived between Skye and Loch Linnhe. The Ebudae lived in the Hebrides. South of these groups, but north of the Romans, were the Damnonii, the future Strathclyde Britons. The Damnonii lived around the Clyde near the later city of Glasgow. The Votadini lived east of them around the Forth. Their lands included the future city of Edinburgh. The Novantae lived in Galloway and Dumfries. The Selgovae lived inland in the hill country. Their name comes from the term, "Hunters". Like the Atecotti, this group may represent a pre-Iron Age-influenced people. (3, 7)
Pict Territory Map
The Pictish Clans divide roughly into southern (between Hadrian's Wall and the Antonine Wall), central (between the Antonine Wall and the Great Glen Fault), and northern (beyond the Great Glen Fault) regions. Some people count the islands as a separate group, although a majority of those are in the north anyway. In practice, the central lowlands belong to the giants, so the southern clans are really the southern upland clans.
The Cornavii are the farthest northeast and largest of the northern clans on the mainland, around Thurso (which is too small to count as urban). The Lugi are just south, with the Decantae south of them and just north of the Great Glen Fault. Both of these are small clans. The Smertae are west, into the inland part of the highlands, and among the most reclusive -- nobody really knows how many there are, not even the other Picts. The Caerini are the farthest northwest, north of Ullapool, a small clan and one of the most isolationist. South of them are the Carnonacae, between Ullapool and Kyle of Lochalsh. South of them are the Creones, the most southwestern of the northern tribes, between the Great Glen Fault and Kyle of Lochalsh. These two are barely larger or more open than the Caerini.
The Caledonii are the largest of the central clans, with multiple holdings along the Great Glen Faults southwest of Inverness. The Epidii still hold much of their peninsula Kintyre, with the largest settlement in the Mull of Kintyre beyond Campbeltown where the official roads end. The Vacomagi have a few settlements scattered between Inverness, Elgin, and Peterhead. They struggle to maintain unity with their territory fragmented. People argue over whether to withdraw and consolidate, or officially split into different clans; but as they can never agree on what to do, nothing changes.
The Taexali, Venicones, and Damnonii were eventually absorbed into the giant cities filling the central lowlands, or else into other Pictish clans.
The Novantae have settlements east of Stranraer. The Selgovae have settlements in the Dumfries area, mostly in the rural area beyond its reach, but also one closer to the city. They are among the larger clans. The Otadini have held onto a little territory beyond the metroplex of Edinburgh. Southern upland clans tend to have more technology and more interaction with the giants.
The Isle of May was a healing shrine for sick Picts. Its clan has since moved to another island, leaving their former home as a nature reserve.
The Shetland Islands, Orkney Islands (Phocaii or Orcoi), and Hebrides (Ebudae) each have a clan.
Some past references hint at superpowers:
The Scythian people are born with white hair due to the everlasting snow; and the colour of their hair gives name to the people, and thus they are called Albani: From this people both Scots and Picts descend. Their eyes are so brightly coloured that they are able to see better by night than by day.
In the Hebrides and the north western parts of Pictland (Caithness, Sutherland & Ross) the old family clan system and their chieftains had a firm grip on society, and were strongly opposed to the overlord ship of Pictland. Eventually they broke away from the union, establishing their own Clanship, under the leadership of the legendary Somerled (gno. Sumarleiðir) (1113 – 1164).
During the 8th Century hordes of Norwegians arrived on the Islands, some establishing strongholds for further Viking attacks along the coasts of Ireland and Pictland, some permanently settling down as farmers. (Over time, the smaller surviving Picts developed a tendency to withdraw from invading troops, then sneak back and kill by subterfuge, such as poison, vermin, or traps.)
Gallytrotting -- Pict slang similar to "gallivanting," or going about in search of fun and excitement, with a bit more mischievous slant. This is a favorite pastime of the wild young things, usually pursued by packs of same-sex agemates, but sometimes by mixed-sex groups. It is named after the gallytrot, a type of fey hound that chases people who run from it in fear.
Balancing time and special connections is important in polyamory. It also applies to friendships and parent-child relationships. Having grown up in a clan, Pips has considerable experience in this regard for navigating his current relationships in a complex family situation.
