Elyran Culture, Law, and Society

Naming System
Due to the fact Elyra is more of an Arabic and Islamic centered entity, it follows that the naming structure follows. That’s not to say there’s not much freedom when picking your name, as there are other religious entities or cultural entities present. A traditional Arabic name follows the same First-Last format. A full name would be First - Father - Grandfather - Family if we were to use a four person format. First names generally have a meaning, which can act as a noun or an adjective, while the last name is generally that of a family name, which could be of a small group of people within a family or a tribe that is home to thousands of people.

Holidays
Hag Al Laila: A traditional holiday imported from Earth, dating back centuries ago. It retains its cultural significance among the population of Elyra, especially among the more rural areas. Families and especially children would go about the neighborhood with handmade bags, traditionally stitched by the family itself to collect sweets. This tradition serves as a testament to the strong familial bonds and sense of community among the nation.

The Arts and Virtual Reality
Art is a centerpiece of Elyran culture, with the commercialized industry for more complex and creative forms of expression dominating an otherwise dull corporate landscape. Seeking the perfection of their own individual images of art is so well ingrained in their society that the phrase, “paint like an Elyran” has met fame after its usage titling the eponymous holovision show. Among the most popular commercialized artforms are holofilm, dance and three-dimensional painting.

Music in Elyra is ironically very one-sided, with orchestras and classical music dominating the scene as if the whole had gone back in time. Cosmic symphonies, as well as wide-ranging galactic opera stories, are not unlikely to meet the spotlight of the Republic’s culture at large.

Elyra possesses its own information web similar to NTnet found all across Sol and in Tau Ceti, with the sparing exception that its services are government-provided and thus regulated intensely. Virtual reality exists, though nowhere near a similar state as that of Vaurcan technology.

Virtual reality is a highly sought after thing in daily life, with the normal Elyran utilizing it as an expensive hobby or an equivalent to going out with friends. Through virtual reality, many limitations are cast away in favor of total freedom of the user to “surf” the metaphorical web of activities found within. Usually, these are offered by Idris-made virtual reality terminals that are publically accessible for steep prices, but this can be found in higher end homes as well. The means of accessing virtual reality generally involves primitive analog interfaces at public-access and cheaper terminals, while private terminals can go as far as direct neural interfaces to fully immerse the user. The latter is obviously leagues more expensive than the former.

Virtual reality and the public internet is monitored in its near entirety by the Elyran government at all times, with restrictions on this increasing by the day. The purpose behind this is very clear to ensure it may never be used to jeopardize the safety of the Republic, though there is the ever-present outcry against the restriction of one’s freedom of speech.

Pop Culture
Pop culture is intensely fad-based here and more chaotic than anything. Few things are able to stand the test of time amongst Elyra’s population, but the things that do often fall into becoming legendary figures.

A good example of these figures is the Quu Trifective, a series of three artificial bits of intelligence imitating ten personalities each in virtual reality whose merchandise, advertising, branding etcetera can be found plastered on thousands of different brands. Popping up as figureheads to the most influential of businesses, their industrial sway is obvious with these personalities appearing in holovideos and billboards across the Republic. Among the most influential of these personalities are Mychau, a New Haiphongese singer/actress personality with fiery red hair and a short temper. Others include Hossein, a dashing native Elyran man whose hidden talent lay in swordsmanship. Virtual personalities like these are referred to as Sadiququus or QQ’s affectionately.

Sports
Owing to the predominant culture groups of Elyra, certain sports and activities are retained. With heavy emphasis on practices of martial and survival origins.

Falconry: The colonization efforts brought with it a plethora of animals, one such type of animal is the prized birds of prey, such as falcons and eagles. Animals native to the Middle East region on Earth. This sport goes as far back as thousands of years ago, deemed to be a noble one that places value on caring and empathy for the bird. This sports in general has three phases, capture or in some cases purchase of such a bird, the training of it and then the hunt, these phases all occuring respectively. Laws are in place with heavy fines imposed on those that abuse, hunt without a license or promote illegal breeding programs.

Horse and Camel sports: Other animals brought with the colonization are camels and horses native to the Middle East region. Both are used in two different types of sports, either an actual race or a an endurance contest. The horses generally used are the traditional Arabian horse, a slimer and more agile breed of horses while the camels used are of a few different breeds, with the breed used depending on the contest itself.

Cultural and Religious Habits
Interactions: Elyrans are culturally progressive people. The views on aliens may differ based on religious and cultural orientation, highly dependent on the person's upbringing. The majority of cases lack any interaction with xenos in their life due to Elyra’s political situation involving the Hegemony and the Lii’dra.

Handing over items with the left hand is heavily frowned upon, the right hand deemed the cleaner one. This also counts for eating.

Phrases: A standard greeting in colonial arabic would be “assalam aleikum” which can be said in Ceti Basic or other languages as “Peace upon you”. A general reply would be “wa alaikum assalam” which translates to “And unto you peace”. These phrases are the equivalent of a “Hello” or “Good day” in other communities.

A standard farewell in colonial arabic would be “ma asalama” which can be said in other languages as “peace be with you”, it is a standard farewell which is the equivalent of “good bye”.

Other basic phrases

“Shukran” - Thank you

“Afwan” - You are welcome

“Min Fadlek” - If you could please

“Kaif Halek” - How are you?

“Sabah Al-Khair” - Good morning

Cuisine
The Elyran Cuisine originally lends itself to the origins of its people, from the cultures of North Africa and Arabia, along with other neighboring regions. That being said, the colonization and settlement of a variety of different worlds all with a unique ecosystem and climate has resulted in some new style of food making. For Elyrans, the concept of eating a meal is not simply sustenance, but a rather more warm and wholesome affair, usually a familial one, making hospitality and generosity core tenets when preparing meals for people.

Dishes and foods prepared even in the year 2461 still place a great emphasis on herbs and spices when it comes to food preparation, this allows cooks to create tasteful food that their guests or patrons would enjoy. To compliment this, certain habits when serving have persisted, such as offering a number of options on the table, especially when guests are involved. Another one is having tea or coffee after a meal with fruits, usually citrus ones.

The Republic greatly emphasizes arts, deeming cooking to be a form of art in itself. As a result, they have annual competitions of dishes to represent their origin along with granting rewards and a title to their creator in a competition called “Afdal Akel”, which translates to “The Best Foods”.

While older dishes are still prepared and consumed often, there exists new dishes that have become a staple in the home of Elyrans. Some examples of these are:

Persipolis Stew: A rather spicy stew, using local herbs and spices from Persipolis itself. What differentiates this stew from other stews is that the mixture of contents are entirely from the local ecosystem with a combination of vegetables and fish from the planet itself.

Bursa Lamb: With the settlement of Bursa, wildlife were introduced to the land, in this case sheep that were genetically modified to both survive and thrive in the harsh conditions, named after the planet itself. This dish is served on a plate with a lamb steak and rice, the latter grown in one of the famous Bursa agricultural domes.

Errai Banquet: More of a desert than a full on dish. The station in specific agricultural sections cultivate a breed of moss that is grown and then mixed with cream, vanilla and sugar to create what is called the Errai Banquet.

Edirne Mandi: Given that Edirne lacked an atmosphere, the settlement would prove comparatively difficult. The planners deemed the transportation of livestock to be an impractical endeavor, so the solution would be cultivating insects, in this case, crickets. The Edirne Mandi is a dish that is served with prepared crickets, rice and a blend of spices that is cooked in a special stove.