Berini
The Berini are a Fren-Chitali ethnic group from the Berinus Basin. They speak various dialects of Berinus Fren-Chital which is derived from the Latin that they and their ancestors spoke in the pre-settled period. Some of the Latin names and words are still unchanged in their language and culture as well as some of the honorary titles (like Hastatodextrus). They are usually rather short, men averaging at about 1.70 meters and women averaging at about 1.57 meters. They have tan or dark tan colored skin with hair that is almost always along the spectrum of dark brown to jet black as well as dark brown eyes.
Naming Traditions
Feminine names
Note: A lot of the names that originated from Latin had a tendency to morph depending on the region and dialect. Names like Maia aren't native and are inspired by foreign figures or are adaptations of names that come from abroad. Maia is inspired by Yu-Mai Ashawa but it also means mother in Latin, making it a special case.
Cornelia, Maria, Angelina, Baita, Marta, Aureua, Gemma, Margarita, Dextera, Oliva, Margaret, Angelia, Victoria, Olivia, Maia, Ursa.
Masculine names
Note: A lot of the names that originated from Latin had a tendancy to morph depending on the region and dialect. Names like Raffello aren't exactly native as they originated from foreign names and were changed. Raffello is a good example as it's origin is the Bootleg Peninsula and was changed from Refael to Raffaello. Names like Shilo were inspired from foreign figures who were very noteable. Shilo comes from Shil-Wa, a Yu-Baii hero who impressed the Berini.
Mario, Raffaello, Arquado, Luwi, Filip, Leonardo, Berlintini, Tullus, Tullo, Tulli, Gaius, Gaio, Gaii, Marius, Marcus, Marco, Marci, Cornelius, Angeli, Angelus, Angelo, Titus, Tito, Ursus, Urso, Leo, Dexter, Dextri, Dextero.
Family names
Family names were only introduced at around 4 A.B and were either the name of a known ancestor or a descriptive term that was passed on (like the Berinus Dynasty. They tend to be in Latin. However, some names describe where a person came from. For example, Bashuri is a common name for people who are or are descended from Bashurian exiles from the Siege of Bashur (171 A.B - 174 A.B).
Some family names: Albus, Cornelius, Barbarossa, Berinus, Aureus, Margaritus, Ferrumcorde, Leocor, Dexter, Negreos, Triticum, Lilium, Anas, Leocardo, Bashuri, Equcardo.
Culture
Major language groups and dialects
Berinus Fren-Chital to it's various dialects. During the pre-settled and early settled periods they spoke Latin which only fully morphed into Berinus Fren-Chital at around the 9th century B.B. the language further evolved during the 1st and2nd centuries A.B due to the empire's expansion and the contact with new languages.
Average technological level
Iron and steel working, C-section, herbal medicine, advanced high-yield agriculture, bronze working,
Common Customs, traditions and rituals
When adopting a title or family name, it tends to be in Latin, at least until the 15th century A.B.
Common Taboos
Due to the fact that around 57% of them have G6PD which makes them resistant to malaria, they discovered that they could die from broad beans and they avoid even smelling or touching the stuff. The literal translation of broadbean from Berinus Fren-Chital is "suicide bean" as eating it can be suicidal for most of them.
Historical figures
Ideals
Beauty Ideals
The Berini believe that crooked teeth, a frail appearance or obesity are considered ugly and pose a sign of weakness. they also believe that if a woman is too slim that she may die in childbirth and is bad luck to marry. Albinism is deemed hideous and bad luck, the result is that most albino babies are left to die by the roads unless someone has mercy on them and picks them up and adopts them. The result is that albinos are associated with infertility as desperate couples who can't produce any children tend to travel the roads looking for abandoned babies to adopt as their own (most of which are albinos or deformed or very weak,sick or frail). The Berini don't have a problem with raising and supporting dwarves or people with other disfigurements (except albinos) but they don't find them attractive and will usually leave them unmarried (especially bad if you were then and there and had severe disabilities as you need some sort of support which was legally obligated by marriage).
Both men and women wear tunics, gowns and dresses, but they wear fundamentally different designs as well as different patterns. Men's gowns and dresses are usually between mid-thigh down to halfway down the calves while women wear from mid-calf all the way down to the ankle. Flowers are considered acceptable for both men and women to wear, but whereas men wear clothes with solid colors and simple designs on them, women wear ornate and extravagant designs on their clothes, especially nobility. Lets divide their clothes into classes as follows (this classification is only relevant to the period between the 3rd century B.B to around the 4th century A.B. Keep in mind that styles change as time goes on):
Slaves - Slaves wear simple, undyed, short-sleeved tunics that reach to halfway down the upper arm and down to mid-thigh regardless of being men or women. They wear a pair of breeches if they can afford one as well as a piece of cloth wrapped the waist to function as a belt. Slaves almost always have shaved heads so that lice and fleas won't be a problem. Slaves usually walk barefoot unless they have the money to get pair of grass or reed shoes (they look like flip-flops) with no socks. A slave wearing anything decorative is a slave to a person status. Slaves to the king or to the emperor are usually well dressed and not dressed in this fashion but like lower nobility and they enjoy quite a bit of power and status of their own (like nannies, caretakers, etc.). What the slaves wore usually depends on what they were given, What was stated earlier is the legal minimum implemented by Mario I of Berin in 1 A.B and what was usually seen, and giving your slave less than that was considered a criminal offense.
Populace - The populace are the average citizens who aren't nobility or royalty or any of the high upper class or slave class. This includes, farmers, craftsmen, merchants, etc. They were everything from the lower working class to the rich lower upper class workers like successful merchants. Commoners usually wear what they can afford. This means that they have one or two simple garments for work and everyday and a nice set for special or festive occasions. Depending on their wealth, the quantity and quality of these garments changes. For men: Usually one or two solid colored tunics for work without any elaborate designs so they can be redyed if needed. The usual preference is a short-sleeved tunic that reaches down to the knees for the summer and a long-sleeved tunic that reaches down to mid-calf for the winter. Every man usually wears a pair of pants or breeches under his gown or tunic because of the upwards fwoosh effect (when a strong gust of wind blows your clothes up exposing your legs or private parts if you're really ill-dressed). The common man usually has a single leather belt with a pouch in his possession. However, he might not wear this belt while at work and wear a piece of cloth instead so that the belt won't get ruined. He also usually possesses a pair of boots and a pair of shoes made of wood or grass for working in the fields if he is a farmer as these are easier and cheaper to replace than good leather shoes or boots. Craftsmen and artisans usually have an apron or two for when they work. For example, a blacksmith will have an apron to protect his clothes from sparks, a butcher to protect his clothes from getting too bloody, a shopkeeper to prevent his clothes from getting dirty from whatever he is handling and selling. Commoner men had simple hats which they might wear as a part of their job clothes to look more presentable or to simply keep cool and protected from the sun on hot and sunny days or to keep dry on rainy days. When it came to fancy clothes they usually had a tunic with more expensive dyes and more vivid colors, occasionally a nice trim or differently colored edges. A nice hat and a pair of leather shoes also came along with the set as well as a leather belt with a nice buckle. However, commoners got wealthier as time progressed and their wealth also differed on average before. You could have commonfolk who were very rich and had many different sets of clothes and some jewelry and good shoes, and you could find people who were so poor that a married couple had a single tunic between the husband and the wife who would take turns wearing it on different days. The populace wore their hair however they wanted and according to the contemporary fashion. With men this meant that their hair was either loose or in a low ponytail (later braids became more fashionable than those and there was also a beaded hair trend during the 2nd and 3rd centuries A.B) and the beard was usually pretty long, though it was more fashionable to have it medium length from the 2nd century onward as it was more practical and often looked nicer. Man-buns were often seen while the men were working as it conveniently kept them cool and the hair out of the way while working, though it was usually undone after work. There was a difference in the hats acceptable between bachelors and married men. For women: With women it was considered appropriate to wear dresses and gowns from mid-calf (in certain places it was also considered acceptable to have them as high as three quarters of the way up the calf) and the sleeves could be anywhere from 3/4 down the upper arm to long sleeves that reached the hands. Even though solid colors were seen, it was more accepted to at least have a nice trim and a basic pattern. Patterns were usually very pretty and elaborate but also pretty subtle and not too flamboyant. Work clothes were usually plain solid colors, but most Berini women stayed at home and didn't leave the house to work, so they generally wore the nicer clothes of these two types. Aprons are very popular among women as well as they protect clothes from dirt and what-not while doing work. As opposed to men who usually didn't have their hair longer than shoulder length, women usually wore their hair longer and wearing it short wasn't as acceptable as it could be with men. While working, the hair was sometimes tied in a bun, but it was more fashionable to tie it up in elaborate ways with ribbons and bows of all sorts of colors. There were possibly over 11 ways in which Berini women tied their hair up with or without adding anything to it. For Berini women it was unacceptable to go outside with their hair loose and undoing a woman's hair in public was considered insulting and undignified. Like men, women also wore hats, but those often had different designs and were usually prettier and more elaborate and decorated. About shoes, like with men, the everyday shoes were often nothing much to look at since they were everything from grass shoes for the poorer individuals to boots, sandals and shoes made of leather for the richer individuals. Unlike everyday clothes which were often rather simple, women had at least one set of nicer clothes for special events that were very nice and rather elaborate. The dressy shoes were also very nice and had some nice coloration and designs to them. With both men and women, their dressy clothes were often attempting to mimic the clothes or trends of the nobility, royalty or aristocracy.
Gender Ideals
For men, being tall, muscular, and dark. Crooked or missing teeth as well as light hair or eyes are considered unattractive.
For women: Being visibly shorter than men with fairer skin, visible curves and white teeth.
The Berini are very strongly against homosexuality and they force homosexuals to marry normally and and have children just like everybody else (this kind of stuff can lead to bad marriages and ugly divorces).
The Berini also don't train women in combat or martial arts, but they taught them botany, medicine and cooking science ( how to use spices, herbs, etc.) as they are supposed to stay at home and "hold the fort" while the men work in the fields, fish, chop trees or go to war.
Relationship Ideals
Marriage is very important in Berini culture as it comes with legal obligations that guarantee care and safety as well as a legitimate physical continuation in the form of legitimate children who can inherit land.
Polygamy is widely accepted among the Berini people but it isn't as prominent as one may think as it doesn't come very cheaply and not everyone can financially live like that. Men who marry more than one woman run the risk of them fighting with each other as they could see each other as competitors for the husband's attention (it got really ugly in certain cases and fights like these in general can tear a family apart with children from one wife developing a dangerous hostility towards their paternal (non-maternal) siblings over inheritance and familial status as well as a potential for children being killed1). Polygamy in the other direction is never seen as when you have two men competing for the same woman the loser always backs down and doesn't try to marry in. If he does, the usual result tends to be violent and serious inheritance issues develop as the true father is unknown. As a result, almost all the tribes outlawed this extremely rare practice by 591 B.B leaving only the Advari who were forced to outlaw it by the Cornelius family when they took control.
Major organizations
Berini Kingdoms, Berini Empire
1 In the real world, Sultan Suleiman of the Ottoman Empire lost a few of his potential heirs due to the fact that one of his wives manipulated the sultan into killing his eldest son (who was in my opinion the best heir to the throne of the sultan's sons) so that her sons wouldn't die in the fratricide that every Ottoman sultan committed when he ascended to the throne to prevent civil wars.
Parent ethnicities
Related Organizations
Related Items
Related Myths
Languages spoken
Related Locations
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