Maraya have a connection with other members of their race by default, in that they feel the need to keep them safe.
There are very very few Maraya in existence, and they all came from one underground system.
When it comes to romance, Maraya connect very closely, mentally, in an unspecified and incomprehensible way.
Maraya are notably competitive and pragmatic.
Maraya don't know their blood relations, unless by coincidence or name.
Maraya feel themselves superior to everyone else, but not for any one specific reason that they can remember.
There are very very few Maraya in existence, and they all came from one underground system.
When it comes to romance, Maraya connect very closely, mentally, in an unspecified and incomprehensible way.
Maraya are notably competitive and pragmatic.
Maraya don't know their blood relations, unless by coincidence or name.
Maraya feel themselves superior to everyone else, but not for any one specific reason that they can remember.
This is inspired by and based off this post by @MonMarty in which he speculates on the cultural norms and typical behaviours of the Allar. I'm gonna be doing a similar thing, with a few differences: I'm gonna first be going into an overview of a few interesting, archetypal Marayan personalities and their behaviours (to hopefully inspire people to create their own Maraya!) and then going more into detail about specific practices and ideas that are more in line with what was written in the linked post. I'd recommend taking a look at that by the way, it's a really interesting read.
As MonMarty said with his post
General Behaviour (Archetypal)
Maraya are, obviously, very self-inflating or arrogant by their nature (even more so than the Altalar, at times) without any real reason that they can remember. There are a few different ways that this manifests in what many Maraya would view as a hyper-liberal yet oppressive, backwards state such as Regalia, and even the most usual and acceptable ways are rarely considered as 'normal' - no less than bizarre, in many cases.
(Note: These are by no means official, and nor are they comprehensive. These are meant to be vague, with a few examples thrown in. Feel free to draw inspiration from these if you're interested in creating a Maraya yourself.)
Unconcealed Disgust
The most common reaction upon stepping off a boat into the harbour of Regalia is to exclaim loudly at the horrific state of the architecture, that man's terrible sense of style, and then beckon the nearest Allar to come and pay the crew for their voyage. This would, of course, lead to at the very least a warning from the authorities, and at most being spun about the head of a Cro-Allar and launched fifty feet out to sea. Thus, unconcealed disgust is often stamped out of any Maraya that arrive in Regalia, and is almost never present in those who have been there for any length of time. It can land them in serious trouble, and more pragmatic Maraya will sometimes even study prior to arriving to insure issues like this don't arise. Maraya of this type tend to be very loud and angry and not afraid to be labelled a Jacobin or a heretic (likely because they don't yet know the magnitude of the accusation).
Concealed Disgust
Far more commonly than the above, Maraya will be wise enough to stay quiet about their superiority and get on with life in the way traditional to whatever society they've landed in. Their disgust will only come across as an unfortunate personality trait, or perhaps as a mild mental disorder. Maraya conceal their arrogance to different extents, in some case even going so far as to completely shut themselves off from others in a paranoid bid for survival. Normally, however, they seem relatively normal in this state - a little irritating or introverted, perhaps, but nothing extreme. Unfortunately, they also often seem to lack motivation to progress society, and instead will tend to turn to crime to make their living (something that's deeply frowned upon by some other Maraya), or will get by on the bare minimum whilst searching for a cure for their memory loss.
Unconcealed Pity
Some Maraya take pity on the lesser creatures - perhaps they don't see what a bad state their race is in, or they put more weight on their spiritual purity, moral integrity, political stability, unconditional faith in a single Great Purpose and suchlike and so on. Either way, these Maraya tend to seem constantly calm, and though they are quick to forgive and slow to anger they're also some of the most infuriating people it is possible to meet. They'll often follow the rules in a kind and understanding way, as if they couldn't expect the little people to know any better and so to blame them for it would probably be wrong. And they'll often voice that publicly. While other Maraya say that the pathetic modernist creatures need to be enslaved in a violent crusade, these are more likely to shake their head with a little understanding, sad smile - as if they're disappointed at the suggestion, but happy somebody made an attempt - and say that all the little guys need is a gentle helping hand.
Concealed Pity
Fairly self-explanatory; some Maraya prefer not to publicly voice their pity as it could be considered heretical, or at the very least extremely irritating. Out of all the Maraya, these ones tend to be the most suited for functioning healthily in an Ailor society; they'll act out of what seems to be compassion on a regular basis, and though the little glimpses into their true personalities will be truly mortifying for anybody around them, they'll get along well with most people. They're not without quirks, of course - millenia of stasis and then multiple destiny altering events in the ensuing 20 years will tend to do that.
Pragmatism
Some Maraya take their travels very seriously, and whatever they do tends to be designed to benefit the race as a whole in some way. The Great Purpose is the most important thing, and almost all of their actions can be traced back to it - if with a little difficulty, sometimes. These Maraya can seem like they have no conscience, as they often are quite happy to manipulate, lie, murder, and incriminate in order to insure their species has the best possible future on Aloria. Sometimes that will involve making lots of friends, and sometimes that will involve firebombing the Old Town - it all depends on how they think they can help to achieve the Great Purpose.
Greetings, farewells
Maraya never did develop or properly understand hand-shaking, as this was an invention of less unified races to show a newcomer is not carrying a weapon and means no harm. It is taken for granted that a fellow Maraya means no harm, so there is no need for any assurance - and in fact, culturally unadapted Maraya tend to find handshakes offensive and degrading.
- Maraya traditionally do not to greet lesser races, as they habitually would call for them (often to fetch something, finish their work faster, so forth) and so would have no need for a greeting. This makes unadjusted Maraya seem oddly cold or socially awkward among others, and most adjusted ones use either the culturally appropriate greetings, or a lazy, brief, two-fingered stationary wave that more looks like a hand up than a greeting. Originally this was a way of Meraic making it clear who had called the slave, and who was in need of attention; the closest thing to a greeting they had for them. This is still used with Allar slaves, and is sometimes used unintentionally as a greeting by more liberal Maraya.
- Maraya do not greet their enemies. They tend simply to eye them with a certain distrust or cold distaste, as to greet an enemy would be a waste of energy no matter what is communicated. This means, however, that culturally it is particularly offensive to fail to greet a Maraya; they consider this a sign of dislike.
- A few Marayan farewells (in common) are "Go with Purpose" or "With Purpose" (similar to 'Spirit bless'), "Walk true" and the now less common "Break them" (popularised during the Chrysant War, since dropped as a result of the relative peace). Waving is perfectly normal with Maraya.
Family
There is little to no difference in the treatment of the sexes. Male Maraya and Female Maraya are treated in the same way, and have the same jobs (though females are treated better during pregnancy, and are respected for the vital role they play in the growth of the society). Typically, a Union will have a Female dominant (if the union consists of a Male and a Female), so there is a larger number of powerful Female figures than powerful Male figures. This doesn't change anything, however, as the Marayan people are by their nature not corrupt or biased in that sense and neither sex feels any urge or compulsion to oppress the other (unlike in many other societies).
- Unions will have a dominant, typically seen to be the more knowledgeable or wise one, though not always. This dominant Maraya will not have any official power over the other, but by their nature will have more sway over Union-based decisions. This is never because one Maraya simply puts the other down, or is more aggressive, but almost always because one defers to the other's better judgement, and genuinely believes them to be better fit to make the decision. Intra-Union abuse is as of yet unheard of.
- Maraya couples have a 'deeper' connection, but not necessarily a stronger one, than other races. Rarely will they be seen to flirt or act suggestively, but rather will take care to know each other very well, and will consider themselves only a part of a whole thing - a Union. This Union will take the place of the self - this means that a Maraya would have nothing to hide from their partner, nothing to consider their own, etc. There is absolute trust between the two members of a Union, and if there is not the pressure for there to be such trust will often cause the Union to collapse.
- The concept of bastard children is alien to the Maraya, who currently want to work on upping their population. Thus, it is quite common for children to be born outside of a Union to be taken care of by a lone Maraya, often the female, and this has recently become perfectly acceptable. This is in acknowledgement of the fact that it should logically be made as easy as possible for Maraya to conceive and raise children - sometimes, unofficial 'maternities' are created wherein Maraya of both sexes cooperate to raise 'bastard' Marayan children.
- Hand-holding is more normal for Unions than for most married couples - that is, a Union will rarely be seen in public without skin contact in some form. This has become so culturally important and ingrained in the Marayan mind that in some rare cases, Maraya will feel great discomfort if their partner is present but they are not in direct contact - or at least eye-contact. The extremity of this varies based on how close the two are. However, it is extremely common for Unions to decide to stick together most of the time, as the growing distress caused by their separation can cause them to act irrationally.
- It is perfectly normal for a Maraya to answer for their partner, act on their behalf or even attend their work if logical. This is not irritating or presumptive as it can be in other races - they each are expected to know each other at least as well as they know themselves (on any level), so there is no reason they shouldn't answer for each other.
- Unions are sometimes given a name - for example, 'The Ennelai Union' or simply 'Ennelai'. This name can also be used to refer to either one of the two members of the Union, and particularly devoted Maraya (normally in power in a Commune) may even refuse to answer to anything else. A Union will rarely take up their Union name, if they have one, as a surname; this is said to defer it to secondary importance in comparison to the forename.
- (Fashionable) clothing is often extremely revealing by Human standards, as it is designed to showcase the elegance of the Marayan form (and help them cool off above ground, where the heat of the jungle is oppressive and unrelenting). Even armour tends to be as revealing as possible, though practicality takes precedence. Maraya tend to find clothing uncomfortable as a result of having worn so little of it in the heat of Hadar, and rarely enjoy wearing thick or fully covering clothing. However, simply excluding a piece of clothing is often seen as minorly lazy and unstylish - there must be some semblance of effort there. For example, a Male Maraya going out into the halls of the Tohn Valeer without a shirt on would not be utterly inappropriate (or even punishable, as it would be in some other societies), but it would be lazy and mildly distasteful.
- Overall, fashion is not massively important for Maraya. While they prefer to show as much of their vibrant skin as is reasonable, they will also try to be practical with their clothing choices. The only place to witness truly eccentric Marayan fashion is in the Tohn Valeer, as in most other places they dress for purpose.
Gatherings
- Often, the ruling Union will hold small celebratory gatherings marking some victory or other, or the new year. These traditional parties are often held in special chambers or, on the rare occasion, the Union's home. This gives the Maraya a little time to decompress with some fruity, barely alcoholic beverages and conversation. At these gatherings, to which many Maraya are invited (sometimes chosen randomly), there is always an announcement of recent progress made towards the Great Purpose, followed by massive celebration. The main attraction has always been socialisation, but especially now that Marayan fertility has been returned, there is, on occasion, a more luxuriant - even debauched - feel to the parties.
Please feel free add your own ideas in the comments!
