Luminese
Living amongst the fey has done much to affect the people of Lumin, both in how they speak, how they behave, and even in some of their mannerisms and their physical appearance. Fey magic is a wild thing that tends to leak out and touch the world around it. Even a totally normal person, if they've grown up in Lumin, will smile too sharply, move too fluidly, or speak a little strangely on occasion. It's best not to point this out, however.
Culture
Major language groups and dialects
The closer to Lumin's centre one goes, the less likely one is to find multilingual folks.
People who live near the country's borders are most likely to know Luminese and Trade , at the very least, though quite a few will also know Crecian , Yves-Speech , or Zanathan , depending which border they live along.
Some Luminese folk may also be able to speak the fey languages, but most don't bother because doing so only asks for trouble.
The College of Chenya is known for having its students speak only Trade because of the absolute wealth of ethnicites present, though finding a translator would not be difficult were someone in need of one.
Several regional dialects do exist, though most Luminese can still understand each other while conversing. Most differences can be attributed to the way the fey kingdoms are split within the country, though some other variances can be found in towns and villages bordering the surrounding nations. The Nightingale Family are known for speaking a semi-confusing mix of all four major dialects, due to them living in what is essentially the country's centre.
Shared customary codes and values
The Luminese value cleverness above most else. Being able to talk one's way out of a given situation will get a person farther in life than most other things, after all.
Charisma is another trait they value, though only to a certain extent. Overly charismatic people are off-putting to the Luminese, as well as people that are extraordinarily good-looking. Flaws are comforting to the Luminese, as the fey are vain creatures.
Common Dress code
Luminese clothing traditionally features many layers and is predominantly made of wool. It is most well known for being economical in its use of fabric, even with their evening wear. Instead of adding extra fabric for draping, Luminese finery will feature intricate embroidery.
Men's clothing will tend to consist of long underwear, trousers, and undershirt, a regular shirt, a vest, a jacket, and a sash.
Women's clothing is similarly long; they typically wear long underwear, a shift, a dress or long skirt, a vest and jacket, and a cloak if it's particularly cold outside.
While this is the most common way for folk to dress, very few will bat an eye at a lady wearing trousers or a man who chooses to wear a skirt. They have better things to worry about.
The most common theme in Luminese dress is the motif of Solasigh, made most often from undyed wool from Luminese Sheep. The most common colours are rich jewel tones and gold.
Art & Architecture
Luminese art features gold quite frequently, usually to depict Solasigh leaves, though many natural dyes are put into use to depict a rich array of colours.
The most common form of art would be the murals painted on peoples' houses, depicting both magical and non-magical flowers, as a sort of prayer for blessing upon the household. This is similar to their custom of putting up horseshoes on a door frame.
The next most common form is in textiles. Embroidery, knitting and crochet-work, and weaving are all activities that Luminese people are at least passably familiar with practising. It's one of the few ways to spend the majority of one's time during the 9 months of the year when it's too cold, dark, and dangerous to go outside after sundown. With so many people getting so much practice in the craft, it's little wonder that they have some of the most creative and intricate patterns to be found that equals that of Barquen fabrics.
Common Customs, traditions and rituals
Festivals
The most important festival to a person of Luminese descent is Sola's Festival. Celebrating the pact struck by Sola Nightingale and the fey that ensured the protection of the Luminese people within their villages, it is the only time when the fey are actively welcomed to interact with the human-folk and take part in the festivities. Birthdays are exciting occasions for Luminese folk. Every month a party like a small festival is held to celebrate those born in that month, though individual birthdays are typically celebrated as smaller affairs with the family. Common winter traditions are the playing of Luminese Rummy and storytelling. Stories are important, arguably essential, to Luminese culture. While most Luminese are adept at spinning stories, only those with great levels of skill are capable of making the art into a profession of their own. Professional storytellers frequently travel between villages to spread the tales they've gathered, in order to ensure that no piece of Luminese culture is lost to time.Weddings
Weddings traditionally feature gold as the predominant colour. Those that are to be wedded will weave each other a crown of Solasigh to be worn for the wedding and villagers band together to make a dress and jacket for the bride and groom from extra golden wool, adding in very fine embroidery that matches between the garments. There are a few traditional patterns for the embroidery, though these serve more as a base than an actual pattern to be followed. Each set will differ from the others, and it's common for the bride and groom to contribute at least a little to the fabrication of the garments. Families of the to-be-weds traditionally make a scarf for their future children-in-law to be worn on special occasions. Unlike ordinary scarves, which are made from golden wool, these scarves feature gold embroidery instead. Each family will also have their finest spinners spin a length of cord that will be spun together during the wedding to symbolize the joining of families. Wedding ceremonies themselves are actually rather short. Instead, once the lengths of cord are spun together, the entire village begins to hold a party in celebration. The newly-weds are given a small house to live in together for a few weeks, to get used to being married, then they move back into one of their family's houses to live.Birth & Baptismal Rites
Newborns aren't celebrated in Luminese culture, with the possible exception being within the larger cities on the coast. Announcing that one has a new baby is considered to be asking for it to be stolen by the fey. Birthdays are also kept small and quiet until the child reaches the age of six.
Coming of Age Rites
At age 16, those around a person actively change from calling them exclusively by a nickname to using the person's actual given name. This is said to be because children below the age of 16 aren't clever enough. If a child knows themselves better by a nickname than their true name, they aren't as likely to accidentally give their true name to a fey and sign their lives away. It's not uncommon for Luminese to continue going by their nickname after the age of 16, though many will have unique nicknames bestowed upon them by friends, family, and other loved ones.
Funerary and Memorial customs
Because the earth is too hard to bury anything, and cremation is too dangerous, the most common funeral tradition is a sky burial. Special clearings are found in advance and bodies are left there for scavengers. Some villages will have someone return to the clearing after a year to collect the bones, once the elements have thoroughly cleaned them. Collected bones are most typically used to line fire pits or are ground into fertilizer, depending on the village.
Common Taboos
The biggest taboo one can commit is to simply give one's name out to a stranger. This is, of course, because of what the fey can do with such knowledge.
The Luminese language and their etiquette is based almost entirely around taboo, predominantly relating to the fey in some way or another.
Witchcraft is also considered taboo in certain parts of the country, entirely due to Kennis Nightingale outlawing the practice during his leadership.
Historical figures
The Nightingale Family as a whole is considered very important, in part because of their work to unite the territory into a cohesive country in spite of the fey's influence over the vast forest, and also in part because of Sola Nightingale's decision to allow the fey forest to regrow, which ultimately allowed the Luminese people to peacefully co-exist with the fey.
Another major figure in Luminese history is Kendell Bradshaw. While not being of Luminese descent, they are famous for establishing the magic college in Chenya that really put Lumin on the map in terms of international importance.
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Related Organizations
Languages spoken
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