#nandegakko

(Largely inspired by Octolings, pop culture depictions of atheists, and medieval Indonesia. The name Nandegakko was derived from a random Japanese comment in a video about wrestlers.)

Here is a picture of a Nandegakkovian boy and girl: they can be told apart from other Igarins by their red hair and fierce tempers. The boy is a scholar, studying ancient records, and the girl is a warrior, trained to fight with the bow and knives. Nandegakko’s culture is a nation of scholars dedicated to preserving (and improvising) the histories and myths of the Galaxy; and it is also a nation of warriors who defend the innocents of the Galaxy from total slaughter and extinction. Either way, they Nandegakkovians celebrate their ancestors and the Resparin culture from which many of them were descended from.

Behind the duo are two symbols of Nandegakkovian culture. The diamond tree is the republic’s national flower, its glowing mineral-like fruit symbolic of the knowledge and creativity gifted to its people. Next to the tree are two blue sails, sacred emblems to the sea god Sailachro: although he is only worshipped by a minority of religious people, his symbols pervade Nandegakkovian society. In spite of their lack of belief, many Nandegakkovians respect sea turtles, symbols of their beloved ancestors.

To other people in the Galaxy, even among the most devout traditionalists, the Nandegakkovians seem archaic and backwards in terms of attire and speech, even as their technology is very advanced: their culture was derived from a mixture of Resparin traditions with Igarin society from a thousand years ago. Their anarchonistic attire makes them seem odd when contrasted against their technological advancement.

The text reads:

Red turtle: úrsida (turtle)

White octopus: NÁNDA DÁNDA DÉRATE (Knowledge is the greatest power)

The boy: naskuóče (scholar)

The girl: zónesa (warrior woman)

====

Nandegakko, a culture from a tropical terrestrial planet along the southern part of the Galaxy, is known for its rather distinctive culture. It is one of several cultures that are atheistic, in that its people do not believe in or worship any gods, an exception in a Galaxy where nearly everyone worships many gods. Yet its people have a strong love for mythology, tradition, and knowledge: they risk a thousand deaths to retrieve the most mysterious and obscure archive in the furthest place, and they immerse themselves in a hundred themes revolving around their legends and heroes.

The rest of the Galaxy sees them as naive and reckless, without any gods to save them from their eventual doom as heretics. But to some people, especially those whom they protected fiercely, the Nandegakkovians are seen instead as protectors. Whether they were preserving and sharing the secrets of the past to all, or defending and liberating the peoples of the Galaxy, the Nandegakkovians are even viewed as instruments of the gods, even as the latter do not worship them.

Some also consider them - with their creativity and their love of knowledge - to be the servants of Odin!