Drawings found in some old castles were discovered to be quite crude and primitive, almost like the scribblings of a little child. However, their drawings have very significant meanings, but only they can interpret it. They also are very strongly into drama and music. Many sentients play interesting musical instruments. One such instrument resembles a combination of our harp and accordion. There is also a whistling device which imitate various sounds of nature. Sentients can be found singing outside during all times of the day. Most of these songs remind us our nursery rhymes. Theatre and poetry reading are popular cultural events as well. Fiction writers are highly respected. The world of Roo revolves around art, and it is held as being more impo rtant than such subjects as math and science. Each sentient is an artist in his/her own way.
Culture
The Rooians have special social events, which they call "le jeu
dejour," which occurs three times in their 10-day week. These social
events allow all of the Rooians to take a break and to explore their
childlike and playful natures. The "le jeu dejour", where most of the
social interactions among the various castle groups occur, are held
outside in open spaces.
Adults and children alike engage in various games. One popular game is where they would all stand in a circle and pass sticks around to each other. They also have picnics, carnivals, running races, and poetry readings. They also trade crafts and make f lower necklaces. They do anything they want to which is fun and wholesome to the community. These social events are very important to the Rooians and make up a great part of their tradition and culture. Rooians don't have to participate at the "le jeu d ejours" and no one makes them, but most do not want to miss out on it.
Education
In each castle, there are special teachers, called enlilghteners,
for every two students. The children go to the enlighteners when their
parents think they are ready (usually between the ages of 5 and 8) and
receive comprehensive instruction and guidanc e. Their education system
is very intense and tailored to fit the needs of the individual children.
Learning to read and write proficiently is very highly valued, but the
students also learn specialized skills from their enlighteners. They are
taught h ow to be good and responsible citizens of their community.
Values, such as compassion, mercy, loyalty, discipline, and honesty are
strictly enforced by everyone in the castle as well as by the
enlighteners. The enlighteners tutor and guide their student s until they
feel like they are capable and ready to become independent young adults
and competent in their necessary skills.
History
There are historians who live in the castles and record the major
daily events, such as marriages, births, and deaths. They also write down
the history of Roo, beginning from the crossing of the mountains. These
ccounts are contained in their encyclopedi a collection, which is called
"The Journal." There is a short prologue of the book which describes
Kanga. The inclusion of Kanga in the journal is to help keep them from
falling back to the old ways and to avoid repeating history. The journals
are kept i n the castles' libraries and are a part of each student's
reading list.
The goal is to educate the young what was wrong with Kanga and why they felt it was necessary to separate from them. The Rooians do not want to forget about Kanga, but they do not want to dwell upon it also. They rather pass on their own histories and tr aditons since they crossed the mountains and started their own kingdom. They pass on these beliefs and traditions orally as well as through the journals.
The culture of Roo is designed basically to stay the same over time, but if a new idea which proves helpful to the community comes up, it would be approved by the captains and the LeRoi and adopted into their culture. And this is the way they build up th eir traditions, being a relatively new kingdom.
Politics
Roo is designed as a monarchy, but more of a symbolic monarchy
than an actual one. What this signifies is that although there is a king,
he doesn't really dictate over the rupples in the manner that many
earthlings imagine when the word "monarchy" is us ed to describe a place.
Instead, he guides, not leads, political and religious decisions, and
takes a considerable part in social ones. He could be comparable in some
degrees to the pope and his effect on Catholicism and Catholic-oriented
countries.
The name of the monarch that the Rooians followed across the mountains from Kanga is LeRoi. He believes that everything should be done for the whole of society, and because of that he always bases his decisions on the general population's opinion, somew hat similarly to representative democracy. He is a very intelligent and spiritual man and it is because of these attributes that so many rupples took his lead in leaving the life on Kanga that they were growing increasingly unhappy with.
LeRoi has established a government with the help of six cabinet advisors, as they could be described, called Captains. The Captains are chosen on the same basis that LeRoi finds his own strengths, in intelligence, spirituality, and a willingness to guid e the people in the paths that are best fit for their continuance and growth, in those directions particularly.
Near the end of his life, the Captain picks one of the Captains to succeed his reign, paying special attention to he/she whom the rupples most rely on and trust, as well as his/her own characteristics, but the most influential opinion in his decision is that of the enlighteners, who are probably the most highly productive rupples on Roo, although they are considered equal to everyone else nonetheless.
The castle system on Roo is of importance, particularly to social structure because that is the nonbiological family that gets established between the Rooians, although biological families are of significance. The castle family is merely an extension of this family, so that in cases of great turmoil or orphanage, one always has more than a single set of parents and siblings. It is quite an effective system.
Apart from its social implications, which will be explored elsewhere, the castle system plays a significant role in economics on Roo, as well. The entire economy is based on a barter system. The castles all produce some type of food supply, or keep a l arge storage of food within. So when one castle lacks a certain foodstuff, they simply go to another castle to obtain it. This works with all goods, not only food. There are tribes of nomadic Rooians, called Voyageurs, who travel around the coutry and aid in this trade. Basically, they are responsible for the equal distribution of goods throughout Roo. They are supplied their needs from castle to castle, in part as compensation for the role they play in society and part to supply their basic needs, a s all Rooians have their basic needs met.
The social aspect of life does not exclude the monarch or the Captains. On the contrary, they are used as a political forum as well, in a sense. The Captains and LeRoi take particular pains to attend as many social functions as possible. This provides an opportunity not only for them to realize what the rupples are thinking and feeling about certain aspects of the Rooian life, but also to make themselves available to the Rooians. This is the most utilized interaction between monarch and subjects on Roo.
The Rooians, for the most part, are content with their government and because nobody has any need that isn't met, and everyone has a lot of desires fulfilled as well, there seem to be no objections to the systems as they run presently.
Religion
Religion on Roo is a vital part of every sentient's everyday
existence. Although the Rooians are socialized to be communal and to do
everything for the good of the entire country, religion is always explored
on an individual basis.
The mountain range over which the Rooians passed while leaving Kanga is considered sacred. The Rooians connect those mountains to God in the same manner that most Christians on earth connect the heavens to God. Because of this, any political or social dissenters are brought into the mountains and stranded, in hopes that God will correct any shortcomings in that person. This journey will lead the dissenter to a closer relationship with God as well as his own spirit, and if he finds his way back to Roo, he will be once agian embraced by the society, with the assumption that God has led his return.
The individuality of religion is similar to what we know as Zen--an intellectual and spiritual approach to reality that will hopefully lead the individual spirit back to the innocence of childhood. This is accomplished by once again seeing everything t hrough clear eyes, not clouded by opinions and prejudices.
Because of the striving for such innocence and pureness again, childhood as a whole is abasically revered. Part of the basic social structure includes playing childish games in effort to reunite oneself with his inner child spirit or innocence. The pursuit of individual spirituality is led by meditation and a pantheistic attempt to bring oneself close within the realm of nature so as to become one with God. God is also considered to be a little part of everybody, so by meditation and explorati on of the individual self, one also finds a closer bond to God. This process is considered to be enhanced if the individual undergoes it in the direct presence of God--in the mountains. If this cannot be accomplished, pieces of the mountains, small rock s or chunks taken from it, are held in each hand as prayer and meditation take place.
As the ultimate good can be achieved by donating yourself to society as much as possible (after all, society is composed of little parts of God working together), death is rationnalized in this manner: at death, the true innocence and purity for which o ne has strived throughout his existence is attained. This, as well as all the other good parts of the spirit, depart from the body and become a part of the communal spirit. This results in an overall strengthening of the community with every death. How ever, deaths are not sought prematurely, because if that were to happen then the innocence would not accompany the situation and therefore, nothing would be gained either individually or at a societal level.
After death, a celebration is given in honor of the great contribution that person made, both in life and in death. The bad part of the spirit that remains behind, as well as the body, is brought to the mountains, before God, and burned in hopes of prev enting its return among the ruples of Duallas.
Social Organization
There are no distinctive social classes in Roo. Rooians have
various jobs and positions, but they all are equal, in practicality. All
of the sentients live in castle-structured environments. Within this
castle-environment, all of their needs are provid ed. These castles are
similar to villages. Many families live in each castle, and they all are
very close and treat each other like family, if they're blood relatives or
not. For example, a sentient might address someone as Uncle, but he might
not be h er real uncle. Also, in each castle, there are persons of every
necessary trade or occupations, such as doctors, cooks, seamstresses,
farmers, nurses, teachers, etc. All these service occupations are
provided voluntarily, for on Roo, one does not get pa id with money for
his/her work. Rooians provide services for one another because there is a
need and whatever they do is for the good of the community, not for money.
Even though the castles are basically self-sufficient and independent,
they do interact with each other regularly. However, they do not compete
with one another in any way at all. Individuals are socialized at a very
early age to act as a unit and to be community-oriented instead of
self-serving. This cuts down greatly on conflicts.
Roo is mostly a peaceful place and everyone mostly get along fine since their main philosophy and rule is to seek the good of the community. If someone did something destructive that would endanger the peace in Roo, that person would be labeled as a mis fit and sent to the council of captains. The misfits are exiled to the side of the mountains where they are to live out the remainder of their days or until they find their way back down to society. Very few find their ways back from the mountains, but i f a person does, it means that he has shown repentance enough to be allowed to be incorporated back into society. The exiles of misfits is also a great deterrant for criminal offenders.
Memory
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