Difference between revisions of "Shinovar"

The Shin have an extremely strict social structure based on profession. At the top of the social ladder in Shinovar are the farmers, who add to the land beby growing plants and are as such considered holy. Farmers spend their days either working their fields or negotiating trades with merchants. While negotiating with merchants, Shin farmers wear fine, multicolored robes that tie in the front. The robes seem designed for horseback riding, as the robes reach almost to the ground from horseback. Farmers are able to own and trade warriors by way of stones similar to [[Oathstone]]s.{{wob ref|9754}} Because of their holy nature, outsiders are not allowed to visit farming villages or farmland.{{book ref|sa1|i|4}}

Warriors are all consideredviewed extremely poorly in Shin culture. To a Shin, since warriors exist only to destroy, they are far below the farmers and craftsmen who live to create, and even merchants, who trade in other's goods. All warriors are required to obey totally the person who holds their stone, voluntarily subjecting themselves into a state not unlike slavery. While a Shin warrior is able to distinguish his stone, it does not appear to be remarkable in any other way--their subjugation appears to be entirely voluntary. As a rule, Shin warriors cannot be given to outsiders, and the rules regarding the trading of warriors inside Shinovar are unknown. What is known, however, is that any person who picks up a weapon is required to take an stone and live the rest of their life as a warrior. Warriors are recognizable by the simple brown tunics clothing they wear.{{book ref|sa1|i|4}}

When it comes to trading, and as a result of their humble nature, haggling with the Shin usually involves both parties devaluing their wares to the other, until an agreement can be reached. The Shin value and reward honesty in negotiations. This unique attitude towards trading means it can be difficult for merchants to understand how to get a good deal from them. [[Vstim]] is one of the few [[Thaylen]] merchants to understand them, so he often gets good deals. Shin are known for raising and trading [[chicken]]s, aan speciesanimal unique to this region of Roshar. They also commonly trade horses, cloth, and dried meats.{{book ref|sa1|i|4}} They are also famousfamed for their horses, and many varieties of fruit, such as strawberries, can only grow in the soil of Shinovar.{{book ref|sa1|48}} In exchange, the Shin want metal, particularly [[Soulcast]] metal that does not require mining stones to get.{{book ref|sa1|i|4}}

The Shin have their own language.{{wob ref|1874}}, The Shin languagewhich is part of the Dawnate family derived long ago from the [[Dawnchant]]. It shares grammar with other languages in the Dawnate family, like [[listener]] and [[Horneater]], but the vocabulary is vastly different because of how long ago the languages diverged.{{wob ref|3977}} Unlike languages spoken in the east, the Shin have multiple words for different kinds of [[chicken]]s.{{wob ref|1415}} The Shin language does not lend itself to simplifying words as well as the [[Vorin]] language family.{{wob ref|3978}}