Culture
We Celebrate our Lives
The Silent Court, despite its reputation, is not a grim and morose place. At the Summer Equinox every year is the Mirror Festival. Since mirrors represent memory, this particular day is about remembering and celebrating the lives once lived by the undead. The undead give blessings to their living relatives, children and grandchildren. If one is very lucky, the blessing will feel like a soft kiss to the forehead of living relatives, giving good fortune.
Song is loud here, as are displays of colorful bioluminescent mushrooms, ribbons, and paper lanterns. Alcohol flows freely and it is one of the few things the undead can drink, as it preserves rather than rots dead flesh. Dances, drinking, song and poetry are all welcome, with the hope that the living hear that they are not forgotten by the dead. Grandmothers and Grandfathers are of particular emphasis, since they see all three steps of the cycle within a family.
Movemothers
The undead are known for their phenomenal, fluid dancing. They aren’t constrained by the fear of injury or falling like a living dancer, and can add limbs with the aid of an artificer. The undead modify their bodies to become their own unique creations, leading to the creation of complex routines that leave the living in stunned silence. The fanning of a rib cage, adding arms for gestural dance, and complex clothing are all popular among undead dancers. Dancers are often initiated by a Movemother, someone who teaches and inspires the pupil to express themselves through their body displays. These relationships have a reputation for being sexual, though that doesn’t stop many undead petitioning the most famous Movemothers with gifts and praise. Pupils, regardless of sex or species, are referred to as ‘daughters’. Movemothers are the only dancers allowed to perform for the living, and it is only on the eve of becoming a mother themselves will a daughter be shown to the living. The greatest known Movemother is Quiarta, a member of the Unearthed known for rearranging her bones carefully inside her body during performances. She is said to be able to inspire tears from the undead, her performances often somber reflections on romance.
Though many living dancers beg, plead and bribe Movemothers to teach them, becoming a daughter while still breathing is rare. It isn’t, however, unheard of.
Another form of dance is practiced specifically by the Rotten. Known as haka, these dances are meant to frighten enemies in war. Loud shouts and cries, stamping, calling in sequence, and showing off physical strength are all part of a good haka. They can be performed as part of a celebration or as an intimidation display. Some Rotten use it as a way to establish brotherhood.
Art, Beloved Mistress
Painting, drawing and sketching are all popular pursuits for the Unearthed. It’s seen as a quiet, refined and dignified art that young Lords can aspire to. Paints are made locally by the myconids and come in dazzlingly bright colors. Flakes of metal or drops of alcohol are added for different effects. Members of the Ivory pursuing art are known for painting their bones in complex patterns. Brave Ivories may show a talent in carving and augment their bones in incredibly complex designs. Sculpture is also a popular pursuit but is seen as the undead equivalent of a daring and dangerous do; one slip of the chisel or knife may cost a living sculptor a digit or bit of skin...but for an undead it may have drastic consequences. Sculptors often perform in public, frightening and exciting the crowd with artful little slips that just miss.
The undead consider themselves the kings and queens of sex. Never tiring, immune to disease, and without the need to breathe, they may very well have validity to their claims. Limit Courts, small clubs where the sexually deviant go to get their kicks, host couples (or trios, parties and solo performers) and serve alcohol. Most mortals who make their way still alive into the Autumn Court are often torn between arousal and disgust, as the clubs put no limit on perceived sex or species. After all, a dead man has no need for a rest, and the Rotten simply make their own entrances.
Like most fae the undead aren’t shy, and sleeping with a living mortal is the subject of both envy and comedy. A popular (and forbidden) performance is to lure a living man down into the Court, and fuck him or her senseless and limp in a Limit Court. Detritors severely punish undead who do this, as it is a violation of a space meant only for the dead. It isn’t uncommon for a mortal prostitute to either wind up a citizen of the Silent Court...or wake up in a graveyard with a massive headache
Joy in Rot
The undead are accomplished vintners. Since alcohol is made by the very process of decay, the undead consider it their realm. They enjoy making fae whiskeys, bourbons, beer and wines. Mycowine, made from the appropriately named Harlots Shelf mushroom, is a bubblegum pink in color and has a surprisingly creamy taste best compared to fresh mangos or plums. Stronger liquors such as whiskeys are made from grains bought from the faewilds, and cured in large sacs made from mushroom skin. Several famous taprooms can be found in the Silent Court, and at least two or three breweries are run by Unearthed in other Courts.
Concerning the Breathing
The living are not welcome in the Silent Court. While many of the undead are too polite to say so, they consider it a violation of the spaces specifically meant for them. At best, it is a minor insult. At worst, an invasion.
This can be mitigated. Some of the living are what is known as “Friends of the Dead”. These are living people that have performed services to undead people or the dead that have designated them honorifics. This comes with a gemstone drilled into the tooth that acts as a ‘pass’ for the Gate, and the Friend of the Dead can come and go as he or she pleases.
Living people with full citizenship rights, including the right to request relatives be raised or visiting lovers, are rare.
There are exceptions. During autumn, a celebration of the connection between life and death is held, called the Day of the Dead. This one night invites the living to come and embrace past relatives.