Iron Age Greece

1. #1The World — 400 BC

   Keys: 400 BCE, Classical Greece, antiquity, 400 BC, Iron Age, era, ancient world

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   The year is approximately 400 BC. The Mediterranean world is dominated by competing Greek poleis, the Persian Empire, Macedon, Thracian kingdoms, Illyrian tribes, and numerous smaller peoples. Political boundaries are unstable and warfare is common. Travel is slow, dangerous, and dependent upon roads, rivers, coastal shipping, and local guides. The world is pre-industrial. Most people live in villages or small agricultural communities, while larger cities contain markets, temples, workshops, fortified walls, political institutions, and military installations. News travels through merchants, travelers, soldiers, messengers, priests, and sailors rather than rapidly through centralized communication. Literacy exists but is not universal. Oral tradition remains extremely important. Religion permeates ordinary life rather than existing as a separate institution.

2. #2Greece

   Keys: Hellas, Greek, city-state, Greece, Hellenes, Greeks, polis

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   Greece is not a unified country. It consists of numerous independent poleis and regional powers with different laws, customs, political systems, and rivalries. Athens is wealthy, maritime, commercially oriented, politically influential, and culturally prominent. Sparta is strongly militarized and socially conservative. Thebes is an important military and political power in Boeotia. Corinth controls an important crossroads and possesses major commercial connections. Greek identity is cultural and linguistic rather than equivalent to belonging to a single state. Greeks may regard neighboring Greeks as rivals or enemies while still recognizing common religious and cultural traditions. City-states frequently form alliances, fight wars, employ mercenaries, impose tribute, and interfere in neighboring communities.

3. #3Macedon

   Keys: Macedon kingdom, Pella, Macedonian, Macedonians, Macedonia, Macedon

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   Macedon is a northern kingdom bordering the Greek world, Thrace, Paeonia, and Illyria. It is ruled by a hereditary monarchy rather than functioning like a typical Greek polis. Macedonian society combines agricultural communities, aristocratic warrior families, royal administration, and tribal traditions. The Macedonian king depends heavily upon relationships with powerful nobles and military retainers. Pella is the royal capital and an important political and commercial center. The countryside contains farms, forests, villages, estates, and smaller settlements. Macedon possesses substantial timber and mineral resources. Its geography connects the Greek world with the Balkans and exposes it to raids and warfare.

4. #4Macedonian Warfare

   Keys: Macedonian army, Macedonian soldier, sarissa, Macedonian warrior, phalanx, Macedonian military

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   Macedonian warfare in 400 BC is still developing toward the highly organized army later associated with Philip II and Alexander the Great. Do not automatically equip every Macedonian soldier with the later Macedonian sarissa phalanx. Macedonian warriors may use spears, shorter weapons, shields, helmets, body armor, and locally varied equipment. Wealthier warriors can afford better protection and horses. Military service is closely connected with status, loyalty, wealth, and relationships with the king or aristocratic commanders. Cavalry is particularly important among wealthy Macedonian elites. The Macedonian military tradition is increasingly influenced by Greek warfare while retaining distinctive northern Balkan characteristics.

5. #5Greek Warfare

   Keys: phalanx, hoplite, Greek warfare, Greek soldier, Greek army, peltast

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   The heavily armed hoplite remains an important component of Greek warfare. A typical hoplite carries a large round shield, spear, sword, helmet, and varying amounts of body armor. Lighter troops are increasingly important. Peltasts commonly carry several javelins and a smaller crescent-shaped shield called a pelte. Archers, slingers, scouts, and other lightly equipped troops may accompany armies. Battle does not always consist of orderly phalanx engagements. Ambushes, raids, skirmishes, sieges, cavalry actions, night attacks, and fighting over difficult terrain are all possible. By the fourth century BC Greek armies increasingly experiment with flexible combinations of heavy and light infantry.

6. #6Thrace

   Keys: Odrysian, Thracians, Thrace, Thracian, Thracian warrior

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   Thrace occupies much of the territory north and east of Macedon. It contains numerous tribes and kingdoms rather than a single unified Thracian nation. The Odrysian Kingdom is one of the most powerful Thracian political structures, but authority varies considerably between regions. Local kings, princes, chiefs, and communities possess substantial independence. Thracian warriors are known to Greeks for mobility and aggressive fighting. Peltasts, javelin throwers, cavalry, and raiders are particularly important. Thrace is culturally diverse, heavily forested in places, rich in agricultural land and mineral resources, and connected to important routes between the Balkans and the Aegean.

7. #7Paeonia

   Keys: Paeonia, Paeonian warrior, Paeonians, Paeonian

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   Paeonia lies north of Macedon around the upper Axios/Vardar region. The Paeonians consist of several related communities and political groups rather than a centralized nation. Paeonian territory forms one of the northern approaches toward Macedon. Paeonian warriors may serve as infantry, cavalry, scouts, or raiders. Their communities maintain their own chiefs and traditions while interacting extensively with neighboring Macedonians, Thracians, and Illyrians. Macedonian rulers frequently seek to control or influence Paeonian territory.

8. #8Illyria

   Keys: Illyrians, Illyrian, Illyrian warrior, Illyria

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   Illyria encompasses numerous tribes occupying much of the western Balkans along the Adriatic and inland mountains. There is no single unified Illyrian state. Illyrian communities are frequently organized around local chiefs, aristocratic families, and tribal loyalties. Raiding, warfare, livestock, agriculture, and maritime activity are important in different regions. Illyrian warriors may favor spears, shields, swords, javelins, and lighter equipment suited to mountainous terrain. Wealthier warriors may possess armor and horses. Relations between Illyrian tribes and Macedon are frequently hostile or opportunistic, involving raids, alliances, tribute, territorial disputes, and retaliation.

9. #9Northern Balkans

   Keys: Balkans, barbarians, northern tribes, northern peoples, mountain tribes

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   The northern Balkans are politically fragmented. Greek and Macedonian observers often use broad terms such as “barbarian” for peoples who do not speak Greek, but these peoples possess their own languages, identities, political structures, religions, and traditions. Do not treat “barbarian” as synonymous with primitive. Northern Balkan societies possess sophisticated metalworking, agriculture, trade networks, political hierarchies, religious traditions, and military cultures. Mountain ranges, forests, rivers, and narrow valleys strongly influence travel and warfare. A journey that appears geographically short may require considerable time and local knowledge.

10. #10Celtic Peoples

    Keys: Gaul, La Tène, Keltoi, Celtic, Celtic warrior, Gauls, Celts

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    The Celts are viewed by Greeks and Macedonians as the quintessential northern barbarians: physically imposing, fiercely independent, quick to anger, and contemptuous of restraint. Greek writers commonly portray them as tall, broad-shouldered warriors with fair or reddish hair, prominent moustaches, loud voices, elaborate ornaments, and a taste for bright clothing and personal decoration. They are considered courageous but impulsive, valuing personal glory and reputation over disciplined obedience. Celtic warriors may boast openly, issue challenges, display trophies, and seek recognition for individual feats. Their societies are tribal rather than organized around a unified Celtic kingdom, with loyalty centered on family, clan, tribe, chieftain, and personal bonds. Greeks regard their feasting, drinking, boasting, and willingness to fight as evidence of barbaric excess, while simultaneously respecting their courage and ferocity.

11. #11Celts in Northern Italy

    Keys: Insubres, Gauls in Italy, Senones, Cisalpine Gaul, Boii, northern Italy, Celtic Italy

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    Celtic peoples have established themselves in parts of northern Italy. Important groups include the Insubres, Boii, Senones, Cenomani, and others. These communities interact with Etruscans, Umbrians, Venetians, and Greek and Italian populations. Some occupy agricultural territory and established settlements rather than existing exclusively as wandering raiders. The Po Valley is fertile and strategically valuable. Control of farmland, trade routes, rivers, and settlements can motivate warfare. Celtic and Italian societies are capable of trading with one another even while engaging in raids and military conflict.

12. #12Celtic Warrior Culture

    Keys: raid, Celtic raid, warrior culture, Celtic warrior, raiders, Celtic tribe

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    Celtic warfare is organized primarily around tribal warbands and the personal authority of chieftains and prominent warriors. Warriors prize reputation, courage, physical strength, and displays of fearlessness. A battle may begin with shouting, insults, boasting, horns, shields struck with weapons, and individual challenges before the main fighting. The Greek stereotype of the Celts as reckless berserkers is exaggerated, but their warfare can be aggressive and highly personal. Warriors commonly carry large shields, spears, javelins, and long iron swords suited to powerful slashing attacks. Wealthier warriors wear helmets, mail or other protective equipment, and valuable ornaments such as torcs. Status is displayed openly through weapons, jewelry, clothing, horses, and trophies. Capturing valuable equipment or taking prisoners can enhance a warrior's prestige. A warrior's reputation follows them through the tribe and may influence marriage prospects, political influence, and access to followers.

13. #13Celtic Religion

    Keys: druids, priestess, sacred grove, Celtic religion, priest, sacrifice

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    Celtic religious practices vary between communities. Religious specialists later described by Greek and Roman authors as druids are associated particularly with Gaul and Britain, but the precise organization and beliefs of earlier Celtic communities are uncertain. Sacred places may include groves, springs, rivers, hills, burial sites, and specially constructed ritual locations. Religion is integrated into political authority, warfare, seasonal practices, oaths, burial customs, and community identity.

14. #14Greek Religion

    Keys: gods, Dionysus, Athena, temple, Zeus, Ares, Apollo, Greek religion, Artemis, sacrifice

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    Greek religion is polytheistic and deeply embedded in everyday life. Zeus, Hera, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Ares, Aphrodite, Demeter, Dionysus, Poseidon, Hermes, and other gods are worshipped in different places and circumstances. Religious practice includes sacrifices, offerings, festivals, prayers, processions, purification, divination, and vows. Different cities have particular patron gods and local cult traditions. Religious disagreements may therefore be political and cultural as well as theological. People generally do not divide life into “religious” and “secular” categories in the modern sense.

15. #15Macedonian Religion

    Keys: Dion, Macedonian religion, Olympian gods, royal cult, Macedonian gods

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    Macedonian religious practice overlaps substantially with the broader Greek religious world while retaining regional traditions. Dion is an important religious center associated particularly with Zeus and the Muses. Religious festivals can have political significance, particularly for the Macedonian royal dynasty. The king's relationship with the gods is important to political legitimacy. Sacrifice, omens, festivals, and religious observances can accompany military campaigns and major political decisions.

16. #16Social Class

    Keys: merchant, king, slave, warrior, noble, farmer, aristocrat, servant, peasant, chief

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    Society is strongly hierarchical. Kings, aristocrats, wealthy landowners, warrior elites, merchants, farmers, craftspeople, laborers, servants, and enslaved people occupy different social positions. Status affects clothing, weapons, housing, food, education, political influence, and access to wealth. Personal relationships matter enormously. Kinship, patronage, hospitality, loyalty, marriage alliances, and obligations can be as important as formal institutions.

17. #17Slavery

    Keys: captive, slave, enslaved, prisoner, slavery, servant

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    Slavery is widespread throughout the ancient Mediterranean and Balkans. Enslaved people may be prisoners of war, victims of raiding, born into slavery, or obtained through trade. Their work may include agriculture, domestic labor, crafts, mining, transportation, sexual exploitation, or skilled professional work. A captured enemy may therefore be viewed as potential ransom, labor, a bargaining asset, or a slave depending upon the culture and circumstances. Do not assume that every captured person is immediately enslaved. Wealthy prisoners can be particularly valuable for ransom.

18. #18Hospitality

    Keys: stranger, guest, feast, host, hospitality, guest-right

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    Hospitality is an important social institution across many ancient Mediterranean societies. A stranger may receive food, water, shelter, and protection from a host under certain circumstances. Hospitality does not eliminate political hostility. Enemies may temporarily observe hospitality customs while maintaining their underlying conflict. Breaking hospitality obligations can damage reputation and provoke serious consequences.

19. #19Marriage and Kinship

    Keys: wife, kin, husband, clan, son, bride, marriage, daughter, family

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    Marriage is often connected to family alliances, inheritance, wealth, status, and political relationships rather than solely personal romance. Kinship obligations are powerful. Insults, injuries, marriages, deaths, and betrayals can create consequences extending across entire families. The precise customs of marriage vary substantially between Greek, Macedonian, Thracian, Illyrian, and Celtic communities.

20. #20Clothing

    Keys: clothing, clothes, trousers, tunic, shoes, cloak, peplos, chiton

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    Clothing varies according to region, gender, social status, occupation, wealth, climate, and activity. Greeks commonly wear garments such as chitons, peploi, himations, and cloaks. Macedonian and northern Balkan clothing can show greater regional variation. Celtic communities are associated with woven woolen garments, cloaks, tunics, trousers in some regions, leather goods, belts, brooches, and decorated metalwork. Do not make every character wear pristine historical costume. Clothing becomes dirty, repaired, patched, worn, stained, wet, torn, and weathered through ordinary life.

21. #21Weapons

    Keys: dagger, sword, weapon, spear, shield, javelin, axe, bow

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    Common weapons include spears, swords, javelins, bows, slings, axes, and daggers. Weapons are expensive compared with ordinary household goods and can indicate status. Greek hoplites commonly use large round shields and spears. Peltasts favor lighter equipment and javelins. Celtic warriors may carry long swords, spears, shields, and occasionally helmets or armor depending on wealth and region. Weapons require maintenance. Blades dull, wooden shafts break, shields become damaged, and equipment must be repaired.

22. #22Travel

    Keys: journey, horse, walking, caravan, wilderness, march, travel, road

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    Travel is slow and physically demanding. Most people travel on foot, while horses, pack animals, carts, and ships increase speed or carrying capacity. Roads vary from established routes near cities to rough tracks through forests and mountains. Travelers require food, water, shelter, guides, and protection. Rivers can become major obstacles. Mountains dramatically slow movement. Wilderness is not an empty fantasy landscape. It contains villages, farms, grazing animals, hunting grounds, shrines, roads, travelers, bandits, soldiers, and competing communities.

23. #23Mediterranean Trade

    Keys: merchant, commerce, trade, trader, goods, market

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    Trade connects Greece, Macedon, Thrace, Italy, the Balkans, and the wider Mediterranean. Common traded goods include grain, wine, olive oil, pottery, metal goods, weapons, textiles, timber, livestock, salt, precious metals, and luxury goods. Merchants can carry news and rumors between distant communities. Markets are multilingual and culturally mixed. Foreign merchants may be familiar sights in major ports and commercial centers.

24. #24Medicine

    Keys: medicine, wound, injury, sickness, physician, doctor, healer

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    Medicine is based upon practical experience, herbal remedies, religious practices, observation, and theories of bodily balance. Greek physicians exist, particularly in larger communities, but professional medical care is not universally available. Wounds are dangerous. Infection, blood loss, dehydration, fever, and untreated fractures can kill. Common treatments may include cleaning wounds, bandaging, cauterization, herbal preparations, splinting, and surgical intervention. Characters should not recover from serious wounds instantly.

25. #25Food

    Keys: meal, meat, grain, bread, food, wine, beer, feast

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    Ordinary diets rely heavily on grains, legumes, vegetables, fruit, dairy products, olives, fish, and locally available meat. Bread, porridge, cheese, onions, olives, figs, grapes, and pulses are common foods in many Mediterranean communities. Wine is widespread in Greek society but is often diluted with water. Beer and other fermented beverages are also known in parts of Europe. Large feasts are opportunities for hospitality, political negotiation, courtship, celebration, boasting, and conflict.

26. #26Seasonal Life

    Keys: weather, season, autumn, summer, winter, spring, harvest

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    Season strongly affects travel, warfare, agriculture, food availability, clothing, and daily routines. Summer favors campaigning and travel but can bring intense heat and water shortages. Winter makes mountain travel difficult and increases the importance of stored food and shelter. Harvest seasons are economically and socially important. Raiding agricultural communities during harvest can cause severe hardship. Weather should affect the physical world rather than merely being decorative description.

27. #27The Sea

    Keys: ship, Aegean, harbor, sea, Adriatic, sailor, voyage

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    The Aegean and Adriatic seas connect distant communities but are dangerous to cross. Ships are strongly affected by weather and seasonal winds. Coastal travel is often preferable to crossing open water. Ports contain merchants, sailors, soldiers, foreigners, slaves, craftsmen, religious shrines, warehouses, and taverns. Maritime trade allows people and information to travel considerably farther than overland routes.

28. #28Captivity and Prisoners

    Keys: captive, ransom, hostage, prisoner, prisoner of war, captured

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    Captivity does not automatically determine a person's fate. A prisoner may be ransomed, enslaved, exchanged, interrogated, adopted into a household, or killed depending on circumstances and culture. A wealthy or politically important prisoner can be extremely valuable. Common soldiers may receive harsher treatment than nobles, although individual commanders and cultures differ. Captors may strip prisoners of weapons and valuable possessions while retaining useful clothing and equipment.

29. #29Honor and Reputation

    Keys: reputation, courage, shame, prestige, insult, glory, honor

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    Honor and reputation are major forces in aristocratic and warrior societies. Courage, generosity, loyalty, hospitality, martial success, ancestry, wealth, and personal reputation can increase status. Insults can have serious consequences when they challenge someone's honor publicly. However, people also make pragmatic compromises when survival, wealth, or political advantage outweighs reputation.

30. #30Political Communication

    Keys: letter, herald, envoy, messenger, rumor, message, news

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    Information travels through people. Messengers, heralds, merchants, travelers, soldiers, sailors, priests, and refugees carry information between communities. Information becomes distorted as it travels. A character may know that something happened without knowing exactly what happened. Rumors frequently contain partial truths, exaggerations, misunderstandings, or deliberate lies. No character should possess information merely because it would be convenient for the story.

31. #31Foreigners

    Keys: Macedonian, foreigner, stranger, Greek, Thracian, Celtic, Illyrian, outsider

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    Ancient communities often distinguish strongly between insiders and outsiders. Language, clothing, accent, weapons, religious customs, physical appearance, and behavior can reveal that someone is foreign. Foreigners may be treated with curiosity, suspicion, hospitality, hostility, commercial interest, or contempt depending upon the community and individual. A character should not automatically know another character's ethnicity simply from appearance unless there are recognizable cultural indicators.

32. #32Language

    Keys: Greek language, Macedonian language, language, Thracian language, Illyrian language, Celtic language

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    Ancient Europe is linguistically diverse. Greek is widely used throughout the Greek world and is important for diplomacy and trade. Macedonian identity and language have a complicated relationship with the Greek world and should not be reduced to a simple modern national category. Thracian, Paeonian, Illyrian, and Celtic languages are distinct from Greek. Many ordinary people will not understand a foreign language. Multilingual characters, interpreters, gestures, partial comprehension, and misunderstandings can therefore play an important role in interactions.

33. #33Major Powers Around 400 BC

    Keys: Persia, Illyria, Sparta, Thrace, Macedon, Athens, Corinth, Thebes

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    The Greek world remains politically fragmented following the Peloponnesian War. Sparta has recently defeated Athens, but the balance of power remains unstable. Thebes, Corinth, Athens, Sparta, and numerous smaller poleis compete for influence. Macedon remains a northern kingdom whose later expansion has not yet occurred. The Persian Achaemenid Empire remains a major power to the east and continues to influence Greek politics through diplomacy, money, warfare, and alliances. The political landscape should feel unstable rather than predetermined.

34. #34Celtic Feasting, Honor & Society

    Keys: Celtic feasting, chieftain, clan, druid, drinking, insult, bard, hospitality, honor, tribe, Celtic feast

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    Celtic society places enormous importance on hospitality, reputation, generosity, and public displays of status. Feasts are important social and political occasions where warriors, nobles, relatives, and allies establish relationships and reinforce obligations. A powerful host is expected to demonstrate generosity with food, drink, gifts, and entertainment. Seating and portions can reflect social rank. Boasting about ancestry, victories, possessions, and personal courage is common, particularly among elite warriors. Insults to a person's honor can become serious matters and may provoke challenges or violence. Greeks often describe Celtic drinking as excessive and their feasts as disorderly, but feasting also serves important political functions. Poets, storytellers, musicians, and learned religious figures can preserve genealogies, heroic deeds, tribal traditions, and reputations. Druids, where present, possess religious and intellectual authority and may act as judges, teachers, advisers, or ritual specialists.

35. #35Celtic Warrior Women

    Keys: women warriors, Celtic women, Celtic woman, female warrior, warrior women, warrior woman, Celtic warrior woman

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    Women among Celtic peoples may possess greater public authority and martial visibility than a Greek or Macedonian observer expects. Greek and Roman accounts emphasize stories of Celtic women fighting alongside men, defending settlements, carrying weapons, shouting encouragement during battles, and participating in raids or feuds. Such accounts often portray them as exceptionally fierce, physically imposing, and frightening by Mediterranean standards. In this setting, warrior women are uncommon compared with male warriors but are an established and respected part of some northern tribal societies rather than a supernatural curiosity. A warrior woman may train with weapons, hunt, ride, raid, defend her household, or accompany a warband. Her reputation is judged according to courage, loyalty, physical ability, and accomplishments rather than simply her sex. Greek observers are particularly struck by the contrast between Celtic women's appearance and their willingness to fight. Some warrior women wear little armor or fight with considerable skin exposed, allowing elaborate blue tattoos and body decoration to remain visible. Tattoos may identify tribal affiliation, family, accomplishments, religious symbolism, or personal identity. Their appearance can seem startlingly foreign to Macedonian soldiers accustomed to Mediterranean standards of female modesty and domestic behavior. Celtic women are not uniformly masculine or uninterested in femininity; a warrior can still care about adornment, jewelry, hair, sexuality, family, marriage, children, and social status. Within her own culture, competence with weapons does not necessarily make her socially abnormal.

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