Wytches

The sight! The sight man! You will never experience anything like it!

Since the Wytchroot started appearing across Eynoria, folk from all walks of life have taken to using the hallucinogenic properties of the plant's roots both spiritually and recreationally. In many areas, many of these people have come together and formed their own small societies, known as "Communes", changing their names and calling themselves Wytches after the Wytchroots they consume. Many of these groups have developed similar customs and traditions, either through intermingling or convergent evolution.

Naming Traditions

Feminine names

Examples include: Bay, Calla, Camellia, Clover, Dahlia, Daisy, Hazel, Heather, Iris, Ivy, Jasmine, Lily, Myrtle, Olive, Pepper, Poppy, Rose, Violet

Masculine names

Examples include: Aster, Basil, Cicero, Coleus, Hawthorne, Linden, Moss, Oakley, Oliver, Reed, Rowan, Valerian

Unisex names

Examples include: Briar, Florian, Forrest, Ginger, Holly, Ilan, Indigo, Sage, Sorrel, Willow

Culture

Major language groups and dialects

Wytches typically speak whichever languages are dominant where they or their Commune is located. Many slip into a garbled version of Eynorian Common while under the influence of wytchroot, often called "High Common" by others to mock them.

Shared customary codes and values

Wytches value peace and cooperation, viewing violence as abhorrent. They value nature, partly because that's where their precious wytchroot grows), and object to the increasing industrialization across Eynoria.

Common Dress code

Many Wytches have a... loose dress sense. Local fashions and traditions are mostly ignored, and many like to dress however they want. Cross-dressing for both sexes is common.

Art & Architecture

The hallucinogenic properties of wytchroot have been a major driving force in Eynorian art over the last 900 years, leading to a rich and varied informal school of non-traditional, surreal artwork. Many Wytches take up artistic and musical pursuits, and many artists become Wytches.

Coming of Age Rites

Children of Wytche Communes are considered to become adults in their mid to late teens when they take large quantities of wytchroot and get extremely high for the first time.

Funerary and Memorial customs

Wytches often burn their dead. They lay the dead on a pyre, with many cured wytchroot tubers, then light the pyre. The resulting smoke gets all the funeral attendees and everyone for a mile downwind high.

Common Taboos

Violence. Wytches detest violence and will protest it at any opportunity. They will stand outside of guard barracks chanting anti-violence slogans, though not loudly enough to disturb the guards inside. They will follow armies around waving signs and placards denouncing war, but not actually get in the way because that would get them killed.
Eating meat is frowned upon, since meat implies violence against animals.

Common Myths and Legends

The myths and legends of the Wytches are wild and varied, and completely inconsistent. No two retellings are ever the same, even from the same individual.

Ideals

Gender Ideals

Many Wytches ignore the binary classifications of male and female, and some reject the concept of gender altogether. Much to their horror, this often puts them into conflict with more conservative and traditionalist people, group and organisations.