Culture
Modern Skala culture is shot through with a tension between collective identity and emerging individuality. Traditionally, it is the warren and not the individual which was the fundamental unit of society; every individual Skala had a role assigned by natural aptitude or group need, and survival could only be ensured by harmony within the group. As such, many of their stories (of which there are many, both mythical and historical) concern themselves with cautionary tales of those who flout or betray their kin and find themselves outcast and ruined in return.
The other main concern of Skala folklore is bodily change. Moulting begins with hormonal surges that ease the process, and there is much superstition attached to it. For example, a clean and complete “husk” is a sign of great fortune, while the skin tearing away from a limb foretells its injury between that moult and the next. Ceremonies generally involve the telling of tales and the reading of the shed skin; some milestones, like the reaching of adulthood or undergoing a seventh moult, are accompanied by a symbolic renaming to adorn the new form.
For the Skala, one’s community is a refuge – a space that should be as well known and as comfortable as your spot in the sleeping chamber. Communal spirit is reinforced by ceremonies and celebrations such as Tadi, or huddles, for bonding and sharing warmth; these endure among Skala even when they are living in mixed-species habitats, or in artificial environments that provide comfortable ambient temperatures all the time.
Skala traditionally live in warrens dug under the earth. Each warren is made up of chambers of specialised purpose – nursery, larder, dormitory, and so on – shared by the extended family that excavated the structures. Adoption is common and readily accepted; kin of choice, or of circumstance, are treated just the same as kin of blood. Skala cities are “superwarrens” made up of many familial warrens connected to each other by communal tunnels, plazas and boreshafts.
The joining of the Skala to the Alliance has led to a profound cultural shift within the Skala, particularly those who are born and raised away from Ok Yator. Individuality has become increasingly important to more recent generations, though it is often expressed in smaller ways than other species – something as simple as stating one’s preference for a certain colour of clothing would be no matter to many galactic cultures, but it would be a radical expression for orthodox Skala.
