Guide to the Arcane Realm

Lifestyle

There are three broad lifestyles that sapient species thrive on Kaf. They can describe livelihood on an individual, community, or even national level. Knowing the lifestyle that the place or people you are visiting have will save a lot of time and possible embarrassment from culture shock.

Naturalist (Wild, Survivalist)

People that live a naturalist lifestyle thrive with the natural environment without dramatically altering it. Individuals live of the natural resources of the land, primarily by foraging: collecting wild plants/fungi, pursuing wild animals, or fishing for seafood. Those within lush forests can secure food with low maintenance forest gardening especially in the the tropics to grow useful fruit and nut trees, shrubs, herbs, vines and perennial vegetables.

Naturalists are nomadic or semi-nomadic and live in temporary settlements. Mobile communities typically construct shelters using impermanent building materials or use natural rock shelters or stay within tree branches when either is available. Most tasks relies on one's own muscle or magic power and labor is done individually or in small groups. There is almost a lack of occupational diversity or choice but most individuals have superb physical/mental abilities in all revelent fields of their lives to be very self-sufficient.

Naturalist groups tend to be egalitarian and based on common ownership of the land, mutual exchange and sharing of resources. Material possessions tend to be few and light and most are subsistence tools like digging sticks, baskets, that can be easily replaced when needed.

The environment itself is the biggest factor for how comfortable or difficult a naturalist livelihood will be. Untamed nature can be harsh if there are hardly any resources, predatory creatures lying in wait to hunt, and collateral damage from natural disasters are always a possibility. If food supply is adequate and reliable, only minimal labor is required for basic needs and people will often have plenty of leisure time, and live well into old age with few signs of anxiety and insecurity.

The biggest tips for entering a naturist society is to make the smallest impact as you can. The less waste you leave behind the better. Also while not required, most ask to respect their surroundings as it is their livelihood after after all. Other then that, a naturist trip or tour can provide either leisure hard to find in other settings or the rush of utilizing the skills of before extensive civilization.

Rural (Rustic, Simple Living)

The rural lifestyle is typically described as a mix or transistion of the naturalist and civilized livelihoods. Rural communities consist of hamlets and villages with low population density. Small scale, low intensity, subsistence farming called horticulture is the chief source of livelihood along with fishing, pottery, and workshop/domestic manufacturing. Homes are situated together for sociability and defense, and land surrounding the living quarters is often farmed.

Domestic products and services are home based rather than factory based and are often unique and distinctive due to not being mass produced. Many have the time and desire to make these or perform these services and earn additional income during the part of the year when there is little work to do farming or selling produce.

Others of the rural lifestyle are pastoralists who make their living by tending herds of large domesticated herbivores that eat grasses and other abundant plant foods. Many are nomadic and follow a seasonal migratory pattern determined by the needs of herd animals for food and fodder so they live in easily constructed dwellings year round.

The moderate between the two, the lifestyle does provide its own challenges, mainly due to dependence on the welfare of somewhat fickle food surplus like seasonal crops or livestock. Still there are many that take to the simple life in stride.