Maiko's Note
You can tell a lot about a tribe by how they drink.
The Endulani sip misted ronava in the moonlight and speak to the dead.
The Awashalani brew like artists and toast like poets.
The Empire dilutes it, taxes it, and sells it in square bottles labeled "State Approved Ferment No. 6."
But the Pashevalani?
They drink like the sea is watching.
The Hanjelani tried to regulate sulborol once. The Pashevalani responded by adding powdered stardust and renaming it ‘Comet Piss.’ The Empire backed off. Sensibly.
The Carrier of Breath
Shindjal: Ronava, Sulborol
Faction:
Nodilani
"Pu pasheval a sulborol P!" -
With the tide and soulstrength (ale)!
1. Overview
Ronava is the general term for beer in Drabàshabal, meaning “carrier of breath.” It refers to a wide range of fermented grain drinks brewed across Madun, used for both daily sustenance and ceremonial moments.
While nearly all tribes produce some form of ronava, its ritual significance and intensity vary widely between cultures. Among the Pashevalani, the drink takes on a sacred role and is elevated to a distinct form known as sulborol - “soul-strength.”
2. Origins & Background
The word ronava likely stems from the observation made aboard the Theseus, where children noted that beer “makes your breath smell.” The word stuck - rona (breath) + va (to carry). Though humorous in origin, the name became part of formal vocabulary.
Most tribes brew their own regional forms of ronava, but it is the Pashevalani who ritualized the drink into a symbol of courage and freedom through their version: sulborol.
3. Brewing & Varieties
Ronava can vary by region in:
Ingredients (water, grains, herbs, sugar sources)
Strength and flavor
Purpose (daily drink vs. sacred rite)
Examples:
Endulani ronava is often infused with mistleaf or dream-herbs, used in rituals of vision or mourning.
Kosuklani varieties are rare and sun-fermented, often dry and sharp.
Imperial ronava is mass-produced and taxed, considered bland by most tribes.
Pashevalani sulborol is brewed from cliff grains, aged at sea, and consumed at feasts, toasts, and blood-oaths.
Awashalani ronava is considered the finest in flavor and richness, brewed from premium plains grain and likely descended directly from Earth’s original brewing traditions brought by the Theseus’s brewers.
4. Sulborol: Soul-Strength of the Pashevalani
The Pashevalani do not merely drink - they consecrate. Sulborol is their elevated form of ronava, brewed stronger, darker, and often spiced or smoked. It is reserved for:
Toasts before raids
Naming of new ships
Honoring the dead
Rites of acceptance into a crew
Drinking sulborol is considered a test of will. To refuse a toast is to question one's courage.
5. Language & Sayings
Ronava = carrier of breath
Sulborol = soul-strength - Pashevalani sacred beer
“Pu pasheval a sulborol P!” - “With the tide - to soul-strength!”
“He cannot hold his sulborol.” - An insult implying cowardice or weakness
“Ronava is for the body. Sulborol is for the soul.” - Pashevalani proverb
6. Notable Mentions
Some Endulani Shint’twalani use ronava in death rituals to “release the last breath.”
Pashevalani taverns on Drabàshendol are known to mix mystery ingredients into sulborol for extra potency - or chaos.
An old Kosuklani saying: “The sun burns hot, but sulborol burns louder.”
"Pu pasheval a sulborol P!" -
With the tide and soulstrength (ale)!
Maiko's Note
You can tell a lot about a tribe by how they drink.
The Endulani sip misted ronava in the moonlight and speak to the dead.
The Awashalani brew like artists and toast like poets.
The Empire dilutes it, taxes it, and sells it in square bottles labeled "State Approved Ferment No. 6."
But the Pashevalani?
They drink like the sea is watching.
The Hanjelani tried to regulate sulborol once. The Pashevalani responded by adding powdered stardust and renaming it ‘Comet Piss.’ The Empire backed off. Sensibly.
