MY completely original and not at all filing-the-serial-numbers-off mediterraninlandsteppe neolithironbronze ages eurasian societies mythical Amazons-inspired bullshit straight up infantry fighters & high priestess female characters.
can you guess what animal is at the center of their spiritual and cultural life it's not easy it's very subtle
formal inspiration bits:
fig. 1:
late bronze age scythian pants later greek/roman pteruges (leather strips "skirt") neolithic cucuteni-trypillia earthenware & statuettes-inspired body paint and chiton patterns punic "sign of tanit" (body paint) iron age weaving worn as krajka/kushak-style belt and edge of headdress premodern (at least medieval, likely of earlier origins) kichka styled as horse ears instead of horns ancient greek chiton & veil celtic "torque" style bracelet achaemenid empire bracelet late antiquity byzantine gold bracelet middle minoan II/III bronze age breast ornament/necklace late geometric/early archaic era bronze horse statues (body paint and fibula) late bronze age etruscan spiral bracelet archaic era (circa 550BC) rhodian siren aryballos :)
fig. 2:
ancient greek "boeotian" shield gorgoneion-inspired apotropaic design bronze age "tower" shield with later roman "scutum"-inspired decorations left cuirass mostly inspired by the 3th century BC italiote Ksour Essef cuirass right cuirass mostly inspired by the bronze age anatomical "Marmesse" cuirasses + archaic period "bell" greek cuirass (with Ksour-Essef cuirass inspired shoulder clasps & hints of later anatomical cuirasses design elements) scythian pants, scythian shoes late greek/roman pteruges neolithic cucuteni-trypillia earthenware & statuettes-inspired body paint hoplitic (ancient greek) greaves iron age weaving as pattern again hellenistic period Tanagra figurines (one) (two)
lore bits:
the veil is not a modesty thing in their culture (as depicted on fig. 1 the "modesty" "standards" are vastly different), it is almost exclusively for the priestesses' use as insulation material to get real high off the smoke of sacred herbs (like one would put a towel over their head when leaning over a bowl of boiling water to clear out the sinuses. but with psychotropics instead) and through which it is said a priestess does her scrying and can see the future or the dead by holding the veil up against smoke, against the sky, against a landscape, etc.
the main animal of spiritual, cultual, cultural, and social/societal importance is the horse. spiritually and cultually, it is seen as a psychopomp: an animal who carries on its back the soul of the dead from this world to the other. it is seen as a comrade, able to carry the wounded out of battle like fellow soldiers can, and as a mother archetype, carrying its rider like a mother carries her child. it is as such a symbol of solidarity but also of strength, of vitality, and from observing the behavior of mares, of fierce protection yet of not tolerating bullshit. this makes, for them, the centaur both a revered neighbor (lol "neigh") (also centaurs exists in this. not the point) and an ideal: animal instinct and human reason, animal strength and power with human conscience/consciousness using and channeling that strength and power. as most members of this society ride horses, the "control of" (partnership with, rather) of an animal that big and powerful is like microdosing on controlling forces beyond one's grasp (the divine). socially and societally, the horse is at the center of their economic surviving system as it aids in travel, in agriculture, in warfare, in games (that serve cohesion of the community), in construction, in entertainment and spiritual life (string instruments using horse hair), etc.
the second main animal of their spiritual life, with lesser social/societal importance, is the snake. it is a chthonian animal associated with death (crawls on and burrows in the ground, realm of the death), but also with rebirth (molting), both very important to the community as many who were not born in it (like the main character of the story) (not pictured there) (oh yeah i haven't mentioned it. those are parts of the supporting cast. WINK) but rather came there, came after a death (social, spiritual, mental and, for some but very few, literal/physical).
the third animal of their spiritual life is the lizard, associated with rebirth through molting also, but more important due to its behavior of autotomy: self-amputation and discarding of the tail when caught by a predator in order to escape, and regrowing it later.
