Culture of Zardugal

The culture of Zardugal is marked by a large degree of syncretism, combining the heritage of the ancient Kingdom of Irkawa and medieval Augustan Empire with cultural influences from Cobura, Deltaria, Jakania, Selucia, and other Majatran nations.

Visual Arts


Traditional Zardic art is characterized by a continuation of ancient Selucian and Kalopian art with heavy Oriental influences. The central feature of Zardic art is its abstract and symbolic character, breaking with the naturalistic features of ancient art. This style of art came to influence the art styles of neighboring countries, most notably Deltaria and Cobura. Zardic painting is almost exclusively religious in character, but secular art is not uncommon.

Augustan chant
Similarly to the status of visual arts, Zardic music is traditionally closely associated with religion, but secular Zardic music is also prevalent. Religious Zardic music, known as Augustan chant, is modal, with a system derived from ancient Kalopian models, with many influences from the neighboring civilizations. Augustan chant has eight tones (or modes), sometimes associated with particular "moods". Although much of chanting can be done without use of written music, due to the use of original melodies and improvisation, Augustan chant uses its own system of musical notation, very different from Western notation: whereas Western notation is based on a staff, where the pitch is determined by the location of the note with regard to the staff, regardless of the previous note, Augustan notation is relational; the note is dependent on the previous note and the symbol itself, which specifies the interval from the previous note. While there are tens of thousands of hymns in Augustan chant, they are all based on less than two hundred original melodies.

Folk music
Zardic folk traditions derive from the music played by ancient Selucians and Kalopians. The main style of Zardic folk music is Akritic music, derived from the medieval akritoj (akritai), the border guards of the Augustan Empire. Akritic music is monophonic and uses no harmonic accompaniment. The dominant instrument in Zardic folk music is the Augustan lyra, a pear-shaped instrument with three to five strings, held upright and played by stopping the strings from the side with fingernails. The Augustan lyra is attested from the time of the Augustan Empire, and was adopted by many of the peoples that came under the Empire's rule; examples include the Politiki lyra (πολίτικη λύρα) of Kalopia, the Armudî kemençe of Jakania, the Gadulka of Deltaria, or the Lira Sarregnese of Istalia. Other instruments used in folk music include the guitar, single, double or multiple flute, sistrum, timpano (drum), psaltirio, sirigs, cymbals, kerato and kanonakio.

Dance
Zardugal has a continuous history of native dances reaching from antiquity till the modern era. Traditional Zardic dancing has a primarily social function. It brings the community together at key points of the year, such as religious holidays, the grape harvest or patronal festivals, and at key points in the lives of individuals and families, such as weddings. For this reason, tradition frequently dictates a strict order in the arrangement of the dancers, for example, by age. There is much regional variation in what concerns the styles and interpretations of dances, but there are a number of dances used throughout the nation. The most popular of these are sirto ("dragged dance", also widely popular with the Augustan diaspora), hiporĥema ("circle dance"), milito ("war dance", consisting of 2 men fighting with knives in circle formation with a lyre playing.), and the kordako ("indecent dance", a provocative, licentious, and often obscene mask dance accompanied by castanets).

Sport


The national sport of Zardugal is chariot racing, an ancient Kalopian sport still widely popular. Chariot racing consists of twelve laps around the hippodrome, with sharp turns around the posts at either end. One end of the track is more open than the other, as this is where the chariots line up to begin the race. In the middle of the track there is a median called the spina, often decorated with statues and obelisks. There are two types of chariots, four-horse chariots and two-horse chariots, but the four-horse races are more popular. A chariot race is typically contested by four teams, and each team could have up to three chariots each in a race. Members of the same team often collaborate with each other against the other teams, for example to force them to crash into the spino, a legal and encouraged tactic. Although chariot drivers can become very wealthy and popular, their life expectancy, as well as that of the horses, is very low.

Cuisine
Zardic cuisine is similar those of many countries in the Majatran continent. It is marked by a merger of Kalopian and Selucian gastronomy with Irkawan, Mallan, and Turjak influences. There are two main styles of cuisine in Zardugal, the Eastern, consisting of Augustan cuisine supplemented by trade items, and a leaner style primarily based on local Augustan culture. The core diet consists of bread, vegetables, pulses, and cereals prepared in varied ways. Just like in most other traditional cuisines on the continent, Zardic meals usually begin with mezo (or mezes), a variety of small savoury dishes, such as dips, salads, and pastries. Zards also produce various cheeses, including antotiro. The most characteristic element of Zardic cuisine is olive oil, which is used in most dishes. It is produced from the olive trees prominent throughout the region, and adds to the distinctive taste of Augustan food. The basic grain in Zardugal is wheat, though barley is also grown. Important vegetables include tomatos, aubergines, potatoes, green beans, okra, green peppers, and onions. The most common form of cooking is boiling. Garo sauce, a fermented fish sauce prepared from the intestines of small fishes through the process of bacterial fermentation, is the most popular condiment.

The national dish of Zardugal is the obelisko, a dish consisting of small pieces of meat and sometimes vegetables grilled on a skewer. It may be served on the skewer for eating out of hand, in a pita sandwich with garnishes and sauces, or on a dinner plate, often with fried potatoes. The meat is usually pork, although chicken and lamb may also be used.

Drink
Zardugal is famous for a number of costly wines. The most popular wines in Zardugal are resinated wines, a type of wine which derives part of its flavor from exposure to tree resins. The national wine of Zardugal is rezino, a white (or rosé) resinated wine, whose unique flavor originated from the practice of sealing amphorae with pine resin in ancient times. Another popular beverage in Zardugal is arako, a strong anise-flavored liquor made from fermented grape juice, adopted from the araq, the national drink of Cildania.