User:Vivaporius/Sandbox/Vespia/VIII

Random notes and details with no specific classification at the time of writing. =Cities= This is a list of cities in Vespia.

List of cities
=Random=

Phoneme replacement
Vespians speaking English would replace the follow letters with those known within the Vespian language.
 * B → V
 * C → S / or / C → K
 * F → V
 * G → J
 * L → R
 * P → V
 * Q → K
 * W → V

An example of a sentence structured using the replaced phonemes by a Vespian.
 * Standard English: Hello. I am a representative of the Vespian government to the United States of America.
 * Vespian English: Herron. I am a reversenadev ov the Vesvian jovarment to the United Sakes ov Amirika.

Slang

 * Azhamo ja-tuvada – Meaning "vagina from the desert"; an unfamiliar Vespian from outside of the local community no one knows about. As far as locals are concerned, the newcomer effectively "crawled in from the middle of the desert". As the overwhelming majority of the population is of the female sex, the terminology is rarely associated with the male population, whom Vespians view with respect.
 * Yashik ja-ankasho – Meaning "not worth the semen"; insult originating with the concept of rape. Effectively means that a person is so worthless, they aren't worth the semen wasted in attempting to rape them. Typically, rape is considered an act of respect and true love, as an individual putting in the effort to commit such an act regards the individual worthy enough to expend such efforts upon. By negating this, the insulted individual is regarded as not enough worth thinking about in any capacity.
 * TBD – Meaning "flesh doll"; derogatory term associated with female Vespians by other female Vespians. Insult means that a Vespian woman is useless, and her only function is to serve as a puppet for little girls to play with. Rarely used by men, as Vespian culture already regards females as the objects and possessions of their male counterparts. Women are likewise considered expendable in their society. Due to the hierarchical nature of Vespian civilization, by stating that a woman is less than even a little girl's plaything, that places her as being beneath contempt or honor, and being less than those already deemed worthless by society.
 * Savuka – Meaning "warm hole"; arguably one of the worst insults to a female Vespian. Insult meant to describe a Vespian woman as nothing more than a "moist hole kept warm by a pile of excess flesh called a 'body'". Strips a woman of her individual characteristics and usefulness as a reproductive partner, and limits her only to being an object useful only for mindless intercourse. Insults such as this are enough to spark violent brawls and homicidal rage in the most hostile sex of the Vespian population.
 * Arkudik – Meaning "pole smoker"; the male equivalent to savuka. By far the worst of the insults within the Vespian lexicon, arkudik is a term denoting a man with homosexual urges and effeminate qualities on par with a little girl. It strips a man of his pride, honor, and physical prowess, and lowers his lofty status within Vespian society to that of a barbarous deviant worthy of death. Utilizing this insult against another man is enough to lead to brawls between two or more men, and directing it toward a superior openly or in private will always result in disciplinary action that could result in a brutal death.
 * TBD – Meaning "the twins will be busy", referencing the role of the two Vespian gods, Zhon and Zhona, in gathering the souls of the deceased and rescuing them from the maws of Zhanivoyan in the afterlife. Vespians often use the term when speaking on subjects related to mass death or the aftermath of battles, often in a joking manner given their typical indifference toward death.

Biology

 * Hyper-aggression: TBD
 * Hypersexuality: Due to the evolutionary history of the Vespians, the Vespoid race places high priority on reproduction rates within the population, and facilitates this through the rapid production of.
 * Kuru resistance: Vespians possess a strong resistance to the prior disease known as kuru, which causes tremors, loss of coordination, and neurodegeneration in individuals who consume human flesh. The immunity to the disease is believed to have emerged from centuries of human cannibalism among the Vespian population approximately three to four thousand years ago. Due to the cultural significance of cannibalism within Vespian civilization, this immunity to the detrimental effects of abnormal PRNP (or abnormally folded prion proteins) developed as a genetic mutation within the Vespoid population within a manner of decades, and has become an integral part of the Vespoid genome.
 * Maturation rate: In response to the high infant mortality rates among the Vespian population, puberty among the Vespoids takes place several years earlier than the baseline average globally. Whereas it has long been established that boys will begin to experience the puberty around the age of 13, and 11-12 for girls, the average Vespian boy and girl will begin puberty at the age of nine regardless of sex. Vespian youth become sexually active at far younger ages than would be expected, with Vespian children discovering sexuality around the ages of five or six, and most girls having their first around the ages of eleven. Vespians have the highest reproductive rates on the planet, which are likewise tied with the highest infant and maternal mortality rates, highest infanticide rates, and the shortest lifespans.
 * Miscarriage rate: TBD
 * Psychosis: TBD
 * Outbreeding depression: The ancestors of the Vespians consisted of a single family unit that migrated to the continent of Vesperia some 800,000 years ago. Virtually all genetic data collected from the population confirms that that family unit consisted of a single male and approximately four or five females, all of which were likely the offspring of the Vespoid male ancestor. Centuries of incestual breeding resulted in approximately half of the progeny from that family dying off due to countless genetic flaws and deformities, both discovered in archaeological digs of grave-sites throughout modern-day Vespia. However, among those who did survive the bouts of deformities and diseases resulting from habitual incest, a strong resistance recessive allele development took place. Ultimately, the Vespians had developed a form of "outbreeding depression", a form of inbreeding depression inhibiting the productive of biologically fit offspring with distantly-related individuals. Effectively, the Vespians are immune to the effects of incestual pair bonding, but will see the same effects inbreeding depression would have if they produce offspring with non-Vespians or individuals not within their circle of extended relatives.
 * Sexual identity: As a race, Vespoids are wholly heterosexual, and instinctively find homosexuals to be aberrations of nature, and total violation of Zhautan's purpose for creation. The exposure to high levels of female hormones within the uterus during gestation is widely accepted within the scientific community to be the primary cause of gay males within the general population, while lesbians typically appear as a result of emotional or physical trauma suffered during their development periods in youth. Within the Vespoid population, females produce and metabolize male steroids naturally and at higher levels than non-Vespoid females (hence their greater physical strength and sexual drive), effectively shielding Vespian male infants from the effects of female hormones effecting their sexual development in the womb. Likewise, due to the earlier development of sexual behavior and aggression in Vespian female children, along with the adjoining psychological development within the population, they are likewise immune to traditional source responsible for the appearance of lesbians. Conversely, due to the lack of available males and the higher libido rate within the population of females compared to the males, Vespian females will result to same-sex activities out of desperation rather than desire. Known as TBD (Vespian term for lesbianic behavior), sexual frustration due to the inability to fulfill their sexual needs drives Vespian women to same-sex encounters to resolve their need for sexual fulfillment. Most Vespian women interviewed on the subject of homosexuality have expressed pure hatred for the topic, complaining about the "waste" of men seeking other men, and the "comedy" of Zhautan in providing them with sexual drive greater than that in men, but placing them in a race where the sex ratio is one male per five females. As one of the interviewees put it, "if this was Zhautan's idea of a joke, I sure as h*** didn't see the f***ing punchline." Another stated that she's "knee-deep in p***y", but all she wants is "d**k".

Cannibalism
Cannibalism is a common act within Vespian culture, especially within the warrior vakoranin caste. The Vespians believe that by consuming the strong, the power those individuals possessed would be made part of themselves. Eating the weak would make on weak, while eating the strong would make them stronger. So as to determine who among the captive would be regarded as "weak" or "strong", the Vespians would subject them to a round of torture that last for upwards of an hour or more. Those who succumbed to the pain would be written off as weak, and sacrificed or otherwise "utilized" by their captors in any manner they saw fit. Those who proved themselves resolute and endured their torture would be "honored" by the Vespians, and eaten by them so as to take into themselves the strength of the mighty they had captured. Often times, specific parts of the body would be subjected to cannibalism, such as the muscles, testicles, brain, and the heart, all deemed sources of the "vital energy of the soul".

Naturally, due to the Vespian belief that all non-Vespian life is corrupted and impure, the individuals to be consumed by them would be subjected to purification rites to ensure they were "fit for consumption". Once purification was completed, the individual would be tied to a table and the Vespians would go ahead with their process of devouring the victim. All of this would take place without any preparation for the victim, who was to remain alive and aware of their fate. The belief in the minds of the Vespians is that the energy of the individual would be at its peak only during a time of struggle as with all warriors, and by consuming them at that point, the most potent energies of the victim would at its peak. Vespians eating the victim will tear and pull away the flesh and bone of the individual, who they encourage to thrash about in resistance to heighten their levels of spiritual energy during the "feast". Vespian children partaking in the activity are often the most eager to claw into the victim, and usually going after the nose, toes, fingers, genitals, and ears.

During other cannibalistic activities, different individuals may be consumed for different reasons. The consumption of a well-respected Vespian by their family and friends is a deeply intimate ritual that represents the attempt of the family to join spirits with their loved one in life as they pass into death. Non-Vespians who are consumed by the Vespians are eaten primarily as a source of food and a show of strength over the conquered. Vespian armies would typically capture large swaths of enemy civilians, and eat them overtime, devouring one limb or organ at a time, always reminding the individual of their impending death. At times when it was a Vespian eating another Vespian, it was always done during times of famine, or as a method of enforcing submission. A defeated or otherwise subjected Vespian lord or lady, would be required to surrender a child, spouse, or favored slave to their master, and watch as they were eaten as a way of reinforcing the power dynamics of the land.

During famines, such as those which wracked classical Vespia, cannibalism was a common practice among the wider population. Warriors would eat commoners, and commoners would eat children and slaves. Nobles who typically horded the bulk of the food for themselves, would frequently release a lesser Vespian or slave into the wild, and "hunt" them for entertainment as well as a way of preparing their "meal" for consumption. Within modern Vespian culture and society, cannibalism remains a common practice, with the infants and children of slaves being especially prized as delicacies. Groups of Vespian teenagers living along the border will typically cross and kidnap non-Vespians and bring them to their families for preparation as a meal. Within the diaspora however, it has long be a policy of the international community to restrict and stamp out any acts of cannibalism among the Vespian population when and where possible.

Cannibalism in Vespia has since become a mainstream activity in the empire. Many wealthy families will have their own stock of slaves dedicated specifically to the "production" of flesh for their personal consumption. Lower class families often resort to the increasing commercialization of humans as food, with special slave breeding farms established for just this purpose. The Vespians will often preserve the flesh of victims of cannibalism for later use, either by smoking, salting, or pickling the limbs and organs of the corpse. Due to the popularity of human flesh in Vespian cuisine, the imperial government passed a number of laws regulating the amount of slaves that can be breed and slaughtered for general consumption, making human flesh an expensive meal in most parts of Vespia. Though the Vespians have attempted to keep this activity to a minimum on the global stage in terms of visibility, few can ignore the fact that the Vespians increasing desire for the flesh of a human being will only result in a catastrophic disaster should the act become a financial incentive for war.

Morality
The Vespian concept of morality is completely alien and contrarian to that outside of their civilization. In the minds of the Vespians, the value of an individual, though significant, is only measured against the needs of the Vespian race as a whole and in relation to their needs at the time. As they view themselves as in a constant state of war against all of existence, the Vespians regard themselves as more akin to a military force rather than a proper civilization. A warrior is an expendable tool of the greater army they fight for; valuable yes, but ultimately a tool whose life is gambled away in the field of battle as a necessity of the mission at hand. Indeed, one can best describe Vespian morality as one having been built on the foundation of utilitarianism, where that which does the most good for the most people must by virtue of its results be the most moral option. There also exists a somewhat Darwinian view of morality as well, with the more powerful members of society having the right by mere fact of their ability to achieve what they desire by force to decide what does and does not meet the standard of what is considered moral. If one can take it, it belongs to them by force of arms; if one cannot defend it, they were never worthy of possessing it. This, along with what provides the most benefit to the most people, define Vespian morality in a nutshell. To provide an example of these beliefs from the vantage point of a Vespian, one must consider two of what any civilized group view as the greatest evils possible: rape and murder.

Rape is considered a moral good by the Vespians as it resolves one of three issues. The first of these is demographics. By forcing a woman to carrying a child against her will, especially if she is a particularly intelligent or physically sound woman, she is providing her genes as well as future contributing members of society to the population of Vespia. Second, the act completely forgoes the triviality of courting an individual one has neither the means to upkeep nor the desire to pursue, and fulfills basic sexual needs for the more superior Vespian individual. Finally, it broadcasts the simple message of Vespian superiority by ensuring that slaves or weaker Vespians understand their role in the hierarchy of Vespian civilization. Unlike murder, rape is not considered immoral primarily due to the belief that it has no wider consequences beyond the victim, whereas the potential benefits to society as a whole are considered well worth it in a purely utilitarian context. In holding with the aforementioned adage of the Vespians, might makes all actions right in the eyes of men and gods, and forcibly taking slaves and heathens to one's own sexual ends is no vice in view of Vespian law.

By contrast, murder is considered to reside within a grey zone in the eyes of the Vespians for reasons somewhat similar to those listed above. For example, killing a homeless, disabled, or mentally ill individual is considered "moral" in the eyes of the Vespians as it both removes the "unspoken suffering" of the individual in question, as well as removes a burden upon the resources of society by eliminating an person who contributed little to nothing to the wider community. However, murdering a sane working member of the population is considered evil by the Vespians, as it robs society of a someone who contributes their mental and physical energy, financial assets, and creative abilities, as well as another body that could be utilized in a military capacity. Likewise, it robs the life force of a consecrated soul from the gods of Vespia, denying them that which is rightfully their own. As such, an unnecessary or unwarranted murder is considered among the greatest of evils within Vespian morality, as it does lasting harm to society as a whole. Killing a "heathen" or foreigner is considered a moral act by removing them from Zhanivoyan's control; killing an individual enslaved to the Vespians is considered immoral but not evil so long as the action was warranted; killing a fellow Vespian for any reason unless authorized by the authorities is always considered immoral.

Necrophilia
The Vespians have historically engaged in the act of necrophilia, both as a rite of passage, as a method of defiling an enemy, and as a way of expressing love and respect for a deceased Vespian of high regard. For the warrior population, having intercourse with a dead body is often done as a method expressing domination over death. Many warriors state that by subjecting death to the most enjoyable and pleasurable activities humans can engage in, they are in fact stripping death of its power and terror. One will have made death into an object rather than a powerful specter awaiting all at the end of their lives, and will have likewise "liberated" themselves of the fear of death, making all things possible. In short, they will have become masters of death and accept their role as the dealers of death, doing as they please with those both living and dead. A corpse is no longer something to be feared and reviled, but something to be used and discarded as with anything the Vespians desire.

Though some would take solace in what the Vespian warriors do to be a simple rite of passage, many Vespians do find pleasure and recreation in the act of necrophilia. Though the cultural relevance of necrophilia as a method of facing and defying the power of death within Vespian society is believed to be the origin of necrophilia in their civilization, the popularity of the act spread throughout the population as death became a common occurrence in many points of their history. Some Vespians, seeking to remove the pain and stigma of death in their society, transformed it into an activity that would under "normal" circumstances be pleasurable and relaxing, and under "special" conditions, be a communal act all would often be required to participate in. Indeed, necrophilia grew as a consequence of Vespian civilization's own brutality, subjecting its own people to the act as a result of others seeking to free themselves from the ever-present reality of death..

Finally, there is the act of using necrophilia as a weapon against the dead and dying. The lands conquered by the Vespians as a consequence of their genocidal tendencies, were full of the dead whom the conquered would venerate as martyrs against an unyielding foe. Seeking to make an example out of these martyrs, many Vespian warriors and colonists would force the survivors of their conquests to either watch or join in vast necrophilic acts within the ravaged public halls and squares now under Vespian control. During one such act during the Iron Vespia period, it was commonly cited that "all would be made use of either in life or in death". Those non-Vespians seeking death as a preferable alternative to the hellish lives they would soon be subjected to, would be shocked to find that other like-minded individuals who succeeded in escaping the Vespians in life, would be violated and defiled in death as an object of sexual release and domination.

Sexual violence
The Vespians do not believe in the concept of consent, regarding sex as something to be taken from an inferior for the satisfaction of their superior. Thus, the idea of rape itself cannot be an issue as consent must exist for the violation of that consent to take place, resulting in the act of rape. As the Vespians do not require consent from those who are their inferiors, they can never be guilty of what others would consider rape. The domination of their inferiors is the primary motivation for most Vespian rapists, those the sexual benefits are often considered a "bonus". In the eyes of the Vespians, non-Vespians must constantly be reminded of their divine right to rule, and the inferior position which all non-Vespians occupy. The best way to do this the Vespians believe, is to take the freedom of bodily sovereignty and individual agency, and destroying it. Even if one is in bonds, imprisoned, tortured, or executed, they always have their minds, their beliefs, and their physical integrity. However, the act of rape destroys all of that, as their bodily sovereignty is physically intruded upon, their beliefs shattered as they find the motivations of the Vespians are stronger, and their minds forever tainted by the memories of their violation.

On the flip side of this, the psychological state of the Vespians makes the long-term emotional consequences of rape impossible to take root. TBD

Vespian men, though the dominant of the two sexes politically, socially, and culturally, are smaller and weaker than their female counterparts. The average Vespian woman is typically half a foot or more taller than a Vespian man, and typically 60-80 lbs heavier as well, giving them the weight advantage not just over Vespian men, but non-Vespian men as well. Furthermore, the women are several magnitudes more violent physically and sexually toward all other individuals. Consequently, they are often the perpetrators of sexual violence rather than the recipients, with more than 95% of all reported rapes within Vespian being perpetrated by the female rather than the male. Likewise, in virtually all instances of forcible rape beyond the borders of Vespia, Vespian women are rarely the victims, with one recent study revealing that only in 16 out of 813 cases of rape, were the female Vespians the victims. In the cases where they were the victims of rape, all involved them having been heavily-sedated by the rapists to keep them pacified. Due to the grossly skewed physical differentials between Vespian women and everyone else, would-be rapists have historically failed to subdue one outright, and have had to rely on guile to accomplish their criminal activity.

Psychology
Psychologically, the Vespians are classified as "sadomasochistic population", take immense pleasure in feeling and inflicting pain upon themselves and others. They believe that by subjecting themselves to pain and anguish, it makes them stronger and better able to endure the trials they are soon to face, as well as to gain mastery over the fear of pain and to dominate those who would seek to cow them in terror. As for the inflicting of pain upon others, it was discovered by foreign experts that the reward center of the Vespian brain is tied into the part of the brain responsible for releasing the neurohormones oxytocin and prolactin, which are both released during an orgasmic sexual response cycle. Also released are endorphins which follow such an experience, and are responsible for the "relaxed feeling" one feels after such an orgasm. Upon inflicting pain upon another individual, most often a non-Vespian, the same chemicals produced during an orgasm are likewise released in small portions within the Vespian body. Thus, receiving and inflicting pain is a pleasurable experience for a Vespian akin to an having multiple orgasms.

Because of the rapid manner in which this endless supply of pleasure-linked chemicals are released into the body, and the involuntary method in which these chemicals are prompted to begin secreting, most Vespians find it exceptionally difficult to control their violent behavior. Watching any acts of violence, hearing the pain of others, or otherwise building a mental image of the suffering, are shown to cause involuntary erections and production of seminal fluid in both men and women that few have the desire or willpower to control.

Courtship
Historically, Vespian women have been responsible for courting a man and pursing his hand in marriage. Because of the radically skewed sexual demographics within Vespia, the men have always held the power to determine who it was they wished to marry and father children with, while the women had to compete with one another to obtain a husband. Though polygamy has always been the dominant form of marriage within Vespian culture, it was still the responsibility of the man to determine whether or not he would expand his household by accepting the advances of a Vespian woman seeking to marry him. Indeed, women throughout Vespia have traditionally been aggressive in their pursuit of a male partner, much in the same manner as non-Vespian men throughout the world. With the ever-shrinking pool of eligible Vespian bachelors in the population, Vespian women typically marry at an older age than their male colleagues, with some men in their twenties marrying women well in their thirties or forties. Typically, the family of the potential husband would expect that the woman possess some degree of personal wealth and status, to ensure that she would not be a financial burden upon the man she was courting.

Should the family find her suitable, the courtesan would then meet with the man, often shedding her clothing to present an image of her body to entice him by proving her attractiveness, fertility, physical strength, and soundness of health. The courtesan would usually invite the man to inspect her body and to stimulate parts of her to determine if there was anything to his liking or that he found lacking. The following traits were generally found attractive and laudable in a courtesan:
 * large and well-defined muscles (denoting strength and the ability to protect the household)
 * large breast and wide thighs (denoting fertility and birthing potential)
 * long hair and sharp teeth (denoting good health and diet)
 * partial axillary and full pubic hair (denoting that she was a fully matured woman)
 * physically tall and long legs (denoting good heritage and breeding)