Frog Wearers

Culture

Major language groups and dialects

Hunting Chirps

Frog wearers who hunt in the Wilds exclusively communicate with one another through a series of chirps and whistles that mimic a deserted forest area.

Frog Songs

In normal conversations, the frog wears have a large pitch range that distinguishes their language from other varieties. This translates even when learning other languages; giving them a sing-song quality.

Shared customary codes and values

The people keep their hair short, tattoo their face and bodies, blackened their teeth and wear hats made out of fish skin. They wear clothing made out of plant fiber and tree bark and live in small communities amidst Grass Groves.

Average technological level

Metal Working

Snakes have a kind-of spiritual importance. Serpentine patterns appear on pottery, bronze drums, swords and tools across their ancestral territory. The toad is also important in religious and cultural context and is a sign of power and ability.
The most notable aspect of their culture is metallurgy. Blades made by frog smiths are extremely valued; said to be imbued with talismanic powers of toads and other mythical aquatic spirits.

Art & Architecture

Grass Camps

All that they have are typically carried on their backs. Camps can be assembled and taken apart again in the span of a day or less. However, they are perfectly happy to remain within stable dwellings when times are good.

Foods & Cuisine

Hunter Gatherers

Wearers range everywhere from the fringes of the plains of mount, holding onto the bank itself as it opens and expands seasonally. It's nearly empty when dry but often less than a meter deep during when wet; making it an unreliable source of clean drinking water, even at the best of times.
Instead, they must keep pace with the movement of the land if they are to sustain themselves. They prey on game, foul, berries and sap. Their whims are dictated in large part by what their home communicates to them. Either to hunt or live off the vegetation or work together to survive lean months. Hunts involve ambushing game or long night-time chases done in pairs using poison tipped arrows. When a large animal is killed, the camp would move closer to the animal rather than moving the animal to the camp.

Common Customs, traditions and rituals

The various bands can be found among roughly four places. They might:

1. make camp on the southern end of lake Tarnish
2. be sandwiched in between the open water and the swamplands to the east
3. settle the vast plateau joined by slow stumbling cascades toward the lakeshores
4. find them in the quiet lands west of the lake's southern tip where little exists but their tribe

They might even be found servicing around the 6000 strong town of Plaat

Coming of Age Rites

Solo Hunt

Hunting is immensely important to the frog wearers. So much so that it has become a rite of passage into adulthood for teenagers. However, the environment can be so fraught that failing bring back a kill is not seen as a failure. The participant is still welcomed as an adult.
Of greater concern, is when these youths are killed as part of another coming of age rite coming from the other side.

Common Taboos

Banishment

It is undisputed that many of the first settlers of Heresy were convicted felons and exiles. The stated motives diverge between being religiously prosecuted and chased away or that they willingly left in waves over a period of time.
In either case, to be sent out into the cold alone is considered a horrible fate.

Common Myths and Legends

Winter Sun

An echo from an early religion placed a heavy emphasis on the lone star in the sky.
The wearers believe that their people fell from the sun to the earth. When they die, they will return to the sun.

Ideals

Gender Ideals

Every frog wearer can trace kinship to any other. Somebody is always somebody else's cousin, uncle, son or partner. There is no real sense of individual status. With the exception of the elderly, all sexes are considered functionally equal in each familial unit.

Courtship Ideals

While they are mostly monogamous, that monogamy is not enforceable. Partnered couples are free to live with a family of either person or go their own way whenever they choose.

Related Organizations

• Ostoria

Related Items

• Frog Dress

Related Myths

• Banishment of Death

Languages spoken

• Water Warnings