Keeper of the Moon culture.

[blackbluesky]

First of all I'd like to thank Fern, Gildrein, and SE for supplying us with a Lore forum. Thank you very much!

I only have two questions now that we have some more solid details on Miqo'te culture.

Now that we know that Keepers are a highly matriarchal society is it correct to assume that they also do not follow the Seeker model of having one breeding male paired with many females? Do they have more "traditional" families (i.e. the real world equivalent of the "nuclear family")? Or are they the opposite of Seekers (meaning one female paired with many males)?

Also, it is explicitly stated that Keeper males are not born nearly as often as Keeper females. Does this make them any way similar to how Mithra males were treated in Final Fantasy XI?

I know that the devs are very busy, and that I can hardly expect a direct answer to ONE roleplayer's questions, but it's very important to my character's back story, so even a little bit of discussion about this would be appreciated! Thank you.

[Yrusama]

Even though they are distinct in their cultures and appearances, I think the two tribes are similar enough that we can assume Keepers of the Moon also have only a few breeding males.

That being said, the added respect for the mother might imply that the breeding male chooses a lasting partner, rather than sticking to one-night stands. This female would be revered as queen of her tribe for a long time.

The Pern series of books has a similar scenario, but with opposite genders. The senior Queen dragon (there can be multiple gold dragons, but the eldest is Senior Queen) will have somewhat regular mating flights, and the one male dragon that catches and mates with her more-or-less becomes their leader until the next mating flight. Like the Miqo'te, this ensures that all of the Queen's children have the genes of the strongest male.

[blackbluesky]

It's also possible that Keeper males don't get to decide who they breed with it all. The fact that they don't get their own unique name, really just their mother's name with a suffix on the given portion, makes me wonder if they have any power at all.

[aviha]

It's also possible that Keeper males don't get to decide who they breed with it all. The fact that they don't get their own unique name, really just their mother's name with a suffix on the given portion, makes me wonder if they have any power at all.

There was a period of Roman history where daughters didn't have names, they were just called "3rd daughter of such-and-such house." And, no surprise, they were basically traded around in arranged marriages for the political convenience of their fathers or brothers.

[Sonata]

There is an isolated culture in Asia where a woman has several husbands. She owns property which houses her children and relatives. Men do not own any property but live in their mother's household or eldest female relative. I envision something similar to the Keeper Male stand point where the couple will be lovers not a harem of women where I can see some men imagining.

[Obsy]

There is an isolated culture in Asia where a woman has several husbands. She owns property which houses her children and relatives. Men do not own any property but live in their mother's household or eldest female relative. I envision something similar to the Keeper Male stand point where the couple will be lovers not a harem of women where I can see some men imagining.

The first group to come to mind is the Mosuo in China, while another is the Minangkabau in Indonesia. The Wikipedia links are definitely worth skimming over for those interested.

[Naria]

I'm wondering about the overall organisation for Keepers. It says that they tend to live in small groups of only a few families. If families stayed together over several generations that would lead to inbreeding very quickly. Do males or females then traditionally leave their family group to to seek a partner or raise a family? Or maybe families form sort term partnerships lasting a few seasons/years for mutual benefit then breakup again?

If Keepers tend to be more isolated then how did so many of them end up migrating to Eorzea in the 1st place? Is there a ranking structure among the families or an over-all "Matriarch" that was able to organize so many families of Keepers to move together, or was there some sort of social incentive in Eorzea at the time that made it attractive enough that so many Keepers pulled up stakes despite the lack of organization? From my understanding the Keepers mostly settled in the Black Shroud--an area that is very inhospitable to live in (the forest tends to eat people when mad) :-( Is there ever any sort of wide-scale Keeper gathering? Maybe every year or every few years to look for new "partner families", mates, trade, apprenticeships etc?

In reference to the discussion about Keeper marriage perhaps males practice a form of serial monogamy, where they have a short term "marriage" to one female for a set time period and then move on to another partner after so many years? This would work with the matriarchal Keeper society since a child would then raised by their mother (and aunts?) with their father a distant memory (or rarely seen figure is gatherings do exist). Likewise if a women could have children by multiple fathers, it would make sense for Keeper culture to emphasize the mother and her family as a unifying element.

Biology aside: I wonder if single births are the norm for Miq'ote in general or do they have something like litters with twins and triplets being more common? That might help explain the gender disparity, since if males are so rare a women would probably be encouraged to continue having kids until she had at least one son for the survival of the species. Somehow I don't see Miq'ote women as spending all of their time pregnant.

[NoloeTazier]

I'm wondering about the overall organisation for Keepers. It says that they tend to live in small groups of only a few families. If families stayed together over several generations that would lead to inbreeding very quickly. Do males or females then traditionally leave their family group to to seek a partner or raise a family? Or maybe families form sort term partnerships lasting a few seasons/years for mutual benefit then breakup again?

If Keepers tend to be more isolated then how did so many of them end up migrating to Eorzea in the 1st place? Is there a ranking structure among the families or an over-all "Matriarch" that was able to organize so many families of Keepers to move together, or was there some sort of social incentive in Eorzea at the time that made it attractive enough that so many Keepers pulled up stakes despite the lack of organization? From my understanding the Keepers mostly settled in the Black Shroud--an area that is very inhospitable to live in (the forest tends to eat people when mad) :-( Is there ever any sort of wide-scale Keeper gathering? Maybe every year or every few years to look for new "partner families", mates, trade, apprenticeships etc?

In reference to the discussion about Keeper marriage perhaps males practice a form of serial monogamy, where they have a short term "marriage" to one female for a set time period and then move on to another partner after so many years? This would work with the matriarchal Keeper society since a child would then raised by their mother (and aunts?) with their father a distant memory (or rarely seen figure is gatherings do exist). Likewise if a women could have children by multiple fathers, it would make sense for Keeper culture to emphasize the mother and her family as a unifying element.

Biology aside: I wonder if single births are the norm for Miq'ote in general or do they have something like litters with twins and triplets being more common? That might help explain the gender disparity, since if males are so rare a women would probably be encouraged to continue having kids until she had at least one son for the survival of the species. Somehow I don't see Miq'ote women as spending all of their time pregnant.

I'd assume the Miqo'te were one tribe prior to their migration to Eorzea in the Fifth Umbral Era. Once the ice thawed up and the land returned to 'normal' they could have then split into the different tribes and settling in the different parts. Seekers in the Sagoli Desert and the Keepers in the Twelveswood.

[Catapult]

I'd assume the Miqo'te were one tribe prior to their migration to Eorzea in the Fifth Umbral Era. Once the ice thawed up and the land returned to 'normal' they could have then split into the different tribes and settling in the different parts. Seekers in the Sagoli Desert and the Keepers in the Twelveswood.

No, we've been told the Seeker of the Sun migration was 26 tribes of seekers.
The Keeper of the Moon tribe may or may not have happened at the same time, but would have been a different migration group by the looks of it.

[NoloeTazier]

No, we've been told the Seeker of the Sun migration was 26 tribes of seekers.
The Keeper of the Moon tribe may or may not have happened at the same time, but would have been a different migration group by the looks of it.

ah I see, carry on then.