1) The Zonizans care a lot about their body shape
It's a common belief among the Zonizans that if someone has an healthy body, will have an healthy mind. They think that the human body is like a temple, and being a sacred thing, it must be kept in high regard. In order to do so, they encourage people to practice sports of various kinds, one of the most common is the Keessit fight, a body-to-body fighting technique. While men are trained to be skilled athletes and fighters, women are trained as dancers and athletes, since they cannot be recruited in the army. It's quite rare to see overweight Zonizans, since most of them are muscular or fit.
2) The Zonizans see hairstyles as an important canon of beauty
In Zoniza, the hairstyle has a particular importance among people. A particular style can identify a commoner from a noble, and usually high-class people tend to have particularly elaborated hairstyles. Women who have very long hair are considered extremely beautiful, while bald people are considered as a source of embarass: being hairless is like being naked for the Zonizans. Ornamental wigs are also widely used among the Zonizans, especially by nobles and priests, the latter shave their hair as a tribute to the Gods, wearing wigs instead. In order to embellish their hair, Zonizan women also wear complex headdresses. Among lovers, is a common gift to exchange a patch of their hair, put in a small glass tube worn as a necklace. These tubes are finely decorated and they are called "dartai" which means "proof of love" in Zonizan language. The exchange of the dartai is one of the most important demonstration of love that someone can show in Zoniza, and it's usually exchanged by couples who are going to be officially engaged.
3) Zonizan women tend to decorate their hands and feet to appear more beautiful
A common canon of beauty among the Zonizan women is to decorate their hands and feet with complex drawings and decorations. These decorations are called "Tazit", which means "charming". The Tazit differ according to the social class, the relationship status and the age of the woman, they are done in different colours and the kind of decorations differ according to the personal style: they can be simple geometric decorations or complicated floreal ones, or even representation of daily life. The Tazit are an important tradition among the female Zonizans, and there's not a woman who doesn't have them. Usually, the Tazit are applied after a girl hits puberty, so they are a sign that identifies them as sexually mature.
4) Numerology is a constant element in the Zonizan lifestyle
The Zonizans are very fond of numerology and the sacrality of number. Plus, they are a very superstitious civilizations: the number 6 is sacred according to them, because 6 were the founders of Zoniza after the fall of the Ramashani civilization, a mythical lost civilization that is believed to be the ancestor of the Zonizans. Saint Reka and her brothers, the first Hexarchs, were six. The Hexarchs themselves are six, the Zonizan Gods are six and the maximum amount of wives a Zonizan citizen can have is six. They believe that 6 represents the cosmical perfection, a situation of equilibrium, the perfect balance between good and evil, life and death, hot and cold, darkness and light. Zonizans are also known to be experts in the religious study of numbers and their interpretation. Even building a house in Zoniza requires the respect of some particular canons, in order to make it a "blessed house". This belief is quite similar to the inhabitants of the city-state of Ald'Hin, who also give a religious importance to maths, although in a more rigorous way than the one of the Zonizans.
5) Belly button piercings identify the social and marital status of women
Along with the Tazit, another element that identify the social and marital status of Zonizan females are belly button piercings. In Zoniza, female children, teenagers and adults ornate their belly button with a coloured piercing, and the colour change according to their social class and marital status. So, according to the changes, the piercing is replaced by another one in another colour.
6) In Zoniza there's slavery, but there are servants as well
Unlike Abun, in Zoniza slavery is a still practiced activity. Nobles and mid-class citizens usually have them in their house. There's not a maximum amount of slaves that someone could own. Usually, nobles and high ranked people, such as the Hexarchs, encourage slaves to marry eachother, in order to make them give birth to children and future slaves. Slaves could be either prisoners of war, or they could be given as a payment of a debt, since debt slavery is regulated by the state. Every Ach'Tasa (the Zonizan Sunday) there's the slave market, held in the main square of a Zonizan city. Slaves are put on auction, usually the ones who are paid most are young girls and children. Slaves don't have political rights, they can't vote during the elections of the Bak'Tru or the Kanreesha, nor they can be recruited in the army. However, they have the right to have a name, a family and be treated fairly by their master, something quite uncommon for a rigid and authoritian society like the Zonizan one. Sexually speaking, slaves are also kept for sex, since the owners have the right to have sex with their slaves. It's quite common among the high-ranked Zonizan citizens to have children in their court who are used to sexually entertain the owner and the guests. The children must have hit puberty though, otherwise it would be a crime according to the Zonizan law. Slaves can be freed too, or they can be "promoted" to servants, and in case of this promotion, servants are technically free people and gain limited political rights, but the slave won't gain the Zonizan citizenship. According to the Zonizan law, it's possible to marry a servant (despite it's a deprecated practice), but it's forbidden to marry a slave. Nobles and high-ranked people also have the right to have sex with the wives and daughters of servants, slaves and lower-ranked people.
7) The Zonizans are racists
As the title says, the Zonizans are a quite racist civilization. They see themselves, especially the Anu'Dar race, which is the native race of Zoniza, as the "cleanest and most superior" civilization on Nakti, because they believe to be the descendants of a supposedly lost civilization, the Ramashani, who are believed to have lived millions of years ago. According to the Zonizan mythology, the Ramashani were a powerful and advanced civilization, their technology was believed to be far superior to any kind of other Naktian civilization, but due to their obsession to study the mysteries of life and death, wishing to replace the Gods with themselves, they were punished with an catastrophe: a massive earthquake with a chain of volcanic eruptions completely destroyed the Ramashani and turned the once fertile land where they lived into the mountainous wasteland that now is Zoniza. Very few survived and reorganized themselves in tribes that were in war with eachother, this situation went on until a young tribechief, an Anu'Dar woman called Reka, fought the other tribes and crushed any kind of resistance, declaring herself and her five brothers as the first rulers of a new country, the Hexarcate of Zoniza, which means "Rebirth" in their languages. While there are other races living in Zoniza besides the Anu'Dar, there's a tense relationship between native Zonizans and foreigners, who are called "outlanders" by them. Outlanders don't have the same rights of Zonizan citizens and they are seen with suspect by the natives. It's very difficult for an outlander to be accepted by the natives, and it's even more difficult to obtain the Zonizan citizenship, which is one of the reasons behind the low amount of immigrants in the country.
8) The Zonizan calendar is splitted in 12 months of 31 days and 7 days of the week
Unlike the Abunese, the Zonizans divide their calendar in 12 months and 7 days of the week. Splitted in four nameless seasons, the Zonizan calendar is very similar to ours. These are the Zonizan months, from the first to the last:
-Zahug
-Nildgar
-Oston
-Yer'Raya
-Umhat
-Ashitur
-Dan'Lyee
-Rodos
-Etiau
-Nysid
-Etmos
-Athdyn
And these are the days of the week:
-Kalray
-Eldray
-Tildray
-Arer
-Shy'Orma
-Theria
-Ach'Tasa
A Zonizan year is splitted in 372 days, but they don't have leap-years, while a month is splitted in 31 days.
9) The condition of the woman in Zoniza
The Zonizans consider women as pillars of the family. However, being pillars of the family means that they cannot do the same thing that do men. So, Zonizan women can't join the army (although they can join as archers, since in Zoniza archers are only women), cannot have political roles, cannot own lands or buildings and cannot vote during the elections. On the other hand, they can become priestesses, they can study (although they cannot access to the High Studies) and they can learn how to play musical instruments and use weapons, such as the bow, which is considered by the Zonizan as a female weapon. Zonizan women have the right to divorce but only in case they don't have children. Prostitution is legal in Zoniza and is performed in brothels. Like in Abun, prostitutes are highly regarded by the people, since they are the main source of pleasure for men, however, it's strictly forbidden for married men to enjoy their services. In families that have more than one wife, usually the first wife is the most important, and the other wives must follow her orders.
10) The Zonizans can vote their politicians, under certain conditions
The Zonizan civilization has a particular political aspect: the people can vote their leaders. However, not everyone can vote, since the voting system allow only people who have a certain amount of wealth to vote and run for the elections. Zonizan cities are ran by Bak'Tru, who rule the city for a five years term. They can run for the elections only once, and their term is extended by the governors of a region, the Kanreesha, only for extraordinary reasons. The Kanreesha instead, rule the regions and can be voted by mid-class citizens and nobles, acting as intermediates between the Bak'Tru and the Hexarchs. Their term lasts ten years, and they can run for a second time. Their term can be extended only by the Hexarchs, who are elected by all the Kanreesha and the Bak'Tru of the country. Unlike the first two, the Hexarchs have a lifetime mandate, which expires only after the death of one or all of them. If one Hexarch dies, new ones must be elected as soon as possible, in order to not leave the thrones vacant. Servants, slaves, paupers and other low-class people cannot vote, while commoners can vote the Bak'Tru, but not the Kanreesha.
![[Art Trade] Naktian character for Kitsune-Kori](https://sf.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/1088/1088997_vpn_kitsune_studio_2_noncustom.jpg "[Art Trade] Naktian character for Kitsune-Kori")
![[Story] Sed the Elder of Issad: In Abun - By Kalibran](https://sf.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/1129/1129553_vpn_1129199_kalibran_sed_the_elder_of_issad_-_in_abun.jpg "[Story] Sed the Elder of Issad: In Abun - By Kalibran")
