Lirë
The Lirë are the indigenous people of the Duchy of Lightning.
History
While their origins are unknown, it is clear that the Lire have occupied the islands for generations. Their oral history states that two brothers, Arbnor and Fisnik, landed after their fishing boat was shipwrecked on a small island. They married women of the sea and had great families, but found their islands to be lacking. Fisnik honourably drowned himself and allowed his body to be added to the land. This act was the First Gift, establishing Arbnor’s debt to his fallen brother. Arbnor would repeat this act as an old man, fulfilling his debt but establishing a new one for his sons. This is seen as an explanation for the origin of Lire ancestor worship as well as the cyclical gift economy. Over time, more ancestors gave their lives to contribute to the islands, until eventually the current landmass as it is today was formed. Two families today claim the lineage of Arbnor and Fisnik, known as the Arbnoreshe and the Fisnikja. Other powerful families include the Lepuroshi, the Samu, the Mazreku, and the Myzaqe.
Most perceived the arrival of the Lightningers as a hostile invasion, and reacted accordingly. Those who met them were electrocuted in the water, as the Lire had never heard of lightningbending even if they had heard remote tales of the fire-breathers from merchants. The Duchy took advantage of their chaotic arrival and quickly spread out across the country, demanding loyalty and seizing territory to set up small garrisons on strategic waterways.
Culture
The Lire use a system of gift giving to determine social value. Those who give out a lot of gifts and don’t take very many are seen as powerful, while those who take a lot and don’t give are seen as weak. Those who only give are seen as “kings” and those who only take are seen as “untouchable”. There are material reasons that this method of distribution has taken root, as opposed to using martial prowess or land as a method of showing power - it is because of the very fragmentary nature of a river-dominated environment. A landlord’s serfs will simply sail downstream; it is very hard to destroy an enemy army when they can easily retreat. With such naturally fluid geography, the social order is maintained through the most basic component of interaction - literal transactions - rather than through assets or symbolic homage. By establishing debts, either as the figure who gives or the figure who takes, multiple individuals, families, and tribes can establish long-distance relationships that can last across generations of a discrete act while losing monetary notions of appreciation or interest.
In the cultural framework of gift-giving, the Burner settlers were initially interpreted as both mighty warriors who were not to be refused, but also as takers. The Lire were giving them land and supplies, and as the Duchy’s soldiers gave nothing back, they were seen as occupying a position of deference and respect to the Lire’s powerful figures. The notion of “tax” was, at that time, largely an alien concept due to the notion of authority being associated with providing assets, rather than requisitioning assets.
Over time, the garrisons have only expanded and the extraction of Lire goods to fuel the settler colonies around Port Keraunos has created a massive imbalance. Local settlers do not interact with the Lire economy, often mystifying those who wish to serve them, as these clearly powerful figures refuse to let them become indebted and thus in their service. Furthermore, the power of those who predominantly gave has been reduced, as the quantity of goods in the economy dried up with resources moving westwards and then not leaving the control of Port Keraunos. An attempt was made where nobles tried to persuade Duke Keraunos of the need to redistribute, lest their power be broken, but this was seen as an open threat of rebellion and thus they were chased out with lightning.
Religion
Ancestor worship is the predominant indigenous faith, in particular with a view of the ancestors as contributing to the health of the land. The many rivers of Lire country change course often, and erosion is a well-known phenomenon. Ancestors are seen as not just metaphorical pillars to stand on, but quite literally the land that they reside on. By contrast to the riverine islands, the relatively flat mainland to the north and south is perceived as the ancestors of more numerous non-Lire peoples. This has kept the local culture and pantheon of deities relatively cohesive, as a relatively low number of ancestors from the Lire forces them to stay mostly still for fear of leaving the support of their ancestors behind - this is also a reason why Lire polities have rarely imitated the methods of foreign governments.
It is important to recognise here that specific ancestors do not match up to specific islands or have a direct pairing of any kind. Rather, ancestors are seen as the composite force that constitutes islands as a whole as they act to affirm the ground. This is often read in a literary manner by practitioners - while the waters turn and move constantly, breaking and moving lands apart, the true land of the ancestors stays firm in a manner much like how the world can twist and turn while family stands together.
There is a longstanding prophecy that, when the Lire are in need of a great leader, Arbnor and Fisnik will return on another fishing boat, as they once did, granted great powers by the heavens and the earth. They shall bring another brother, Qendrim, who shall unify the Lire into one great empire and they shall have a thousand years of prosperity, where no-one suffers debt and all are fed turtles and coconuts.
The establishment of the Church of Fire, proselytised fervently by the Lightningers, inside Lire territory has massively disrupted traditional ancestor worship. The use of the ancestors' bodies, as stone is carved out of the ground to build churches, to worship foreign gods is seen as sacrilegious and intensely disrespectful. Those who convert are seen to have abandoned their family legacies entirely.