Brasnir

Brasnir (Brasnir singl.) are members of a sentient species that is home to Asteria, more specifically to Brassnia. Despite their resemblance they are actually closer related to humans than the Varnir. Brasnir are well known for their technological advancement and industrial revolution as well as their prudish and noble attitude.

As colorful and exciting as the Albish, as dull and secure as the Varnir. Their nation was born through conflicts and division and it's almost like its people never seem to have seen better days. If you meet a Brasnir you can be sure they're currently in an extensional crisis and they'll most likely hold you accountable for their troubles.

_{Unknown source}

Physical Description

Anatomy

While Brasnir are digitigrade they strongly prefer to keep a straight back and straighten their legs as much as possible, even though it might be uncomfortable at times. Standing with such tension also covers the fact that Brasnir are one of the smallest known sentient species. Reaching barely 1,55m on average most other species overtower them rather easily. Unlike their cousin species, the Varnir, Brasnir show no sexual dimorphism outside of reproductive systems and ever so slightly different appereance.

by Yarik

Pads

by Yarik

Brasnir have pawpads under their feet but none at their hands. Instead, their palms are covered in a lighter layer of very thin and short hair. Those whose life style requires a lot of manual labor, such as farmers and most of the working class, usually shave their palms (pictured right). This is both for a practical reason as well as an aesthethical one since palm regions that experience a lot of friction will show an extended loss of hair. Naked palms are a much preffered aesthethic compared to what Brasnir refer to as "patched palms." As a result furred palms with an even silky look and feel are a sign of great wealth and considered a very desirable trait.

Retractable claws

One of the most famous features of Brasnir is their ability to extend and retract their claws. While the feature could theoretically come in handy not only for self-defense but also everyday life, Brasnir consider the usage of their claws as a taboo. The display of extended claws is such a crime against their culture that the reputation of a person of public interest can be utterly ruined by a single event that involves their claws. As a result Brasnir tend to forget the existence of their natural weapon to a degree that perpetrators may even be caught off-guard should an assaulted victim choose to defend themselves with everything that is avaible to them.

Tails

Brasnir tails are thin and flexible but very densely covered in long hair. As their pelts quickly show a decline in quality when suffering malnutrition, sickness or toxins their richly furred tails have always been a popular target for an early diagnose of health issues. They also respond strongly to emotions, showcasting a large variety of subconscious movements and reactions that will be rather easy to read for anyone that is familiar with Brasnir body language. However, as their culture devoloped a strong preference for slick appereances and prudish behavoir their expressive tails became an obstacle. As a result almost all Brasnir shave their tails to a shorter hair length and many wrap their tails. Tail wrappings may be soft and flexible or hard and restrictive, which comes down to the individuals preference. Many young Brasnir prefer a very tight tail wrapping to get used to keeping their tail stiff and thus covering up their emotions better. Unwrapped tails are usually a sign of great confidence but may also be perceived as a lack of professionalism in certain social circles.

Ear and nose variations

by Yarik

While there are clear preferences and tightly defined beauty standards, the ears and nose shapes of Brasnir vary greatly. Ears can be small and round but others may have long pointy ones. Their noses usually are brigthly colored and roughly shaped like a square, but large round noses and dark variations do exist. Some consider dark noses on women unfeminine, but due to the rarity of such coloration it isn't a very common opinion. It is mostly present in people that know Varnir, whose women have pink and men dark noses. Similarly, those that hold a strong grudge against the Varnir may dislike long ears on Brasnir as that's also a trait found in both species while small round ears are unique to Brasnir.

Coloring and Markings

by Yarik

Brasnir are famous for their richly colored pelts of various shades of red, purple and blue. Famous enough that their pelts are a well received product in some cities of Gondwana, although Brassnia certainly doesn't deem the trade of pelts as legal. Monochromic Brasnir are rare and less saturated pelts or various shades of brown are usually a sign of a mixed bloodline, which isn't uncommon. Patterns usually are symmetrical and have sharp edges and clear divisions between individual colors. Irregular stripes exist but are much rarer than straight rings and dots.
Their ears share the color of their hair which tends to be similar to their main body color but individuals with a unique hair color exist.

Culture

Core Values

The core culture Brassnia is what defines the mind set of the average Brasnir person. In an age of industrialisation and shaken faith, Brassnias culture strongly revolves around success. While Families attempt to rise to a higher class, success is also the most important indicator of a persons value - regardless of how that individual attained it in the first place. Someone born to success is believed to have been predestined to achieve it while anyone who rose to success is seen as especially ambitious, intelligent and strong willed. Ascending to a higher class with better standards of living is the ultimate goal for pretty much any Brasnir. While this attitude may appear as selfish greed, Brasnir also excell in charity work. Acts of generousity are rewarded with awe and a simple way of improving a persons or households prestige. Expensive charity projects aren't rare at all and often a family will favor a great reputation over their actual wealth as the former is far more valuable.

Community Life

Brassnias society is typified by class divide. Those who are fortunate enough to be part of the upper class usually don't perform any physical labor. Instead, they are landowners and hire the middle and lower class to work for them, or make investments to create a profit. Classes tend to stick to their own and form a seperated community. Since a persons value is directly determined by wealth, property and relations, the poor rarely have a way of reaching the upper class. Generally, lower classes aren't welcome to speak to those of higher class and in a similar way this translates to the different sexes. Young women have no choice but to stay chaste until rriage. They are not allowed to speak to men unless there is a parent or married woman present as a chaperone. Similary, it is unheard of young men to speak to unmarried women at all, unless they ask their parents for permission. The poorer the people, the less likely it is for them to follow these rules of conducts. Those that live from hand to mouth each day are often required to work in the lowest paid fields that employ and exploit both sexes equally. They simply cannot afford to act like aristocrats. ma

Family and relations

For the vast majority of Brasnir the ideal family life consists of a breadwinning man, a spouse, and children. Women aren't excluded from working but ever since the industrial revolution of Brassnia the possibilty of a wife who can stay home became the ideal for the working class. However, it is often far from reality and only few families can achieve this standard of living. Outside of larger cities Brasnir still live in much older forms of communities which usually means women are still the major work force in agriculture. Children grow up within their own family and since education isn't free in Brassnia many are taught at home by their parents and older siblings. As soon as children have matured enough to constribute to the families income they usually are expected to do so.

Gender Egalitarianism

In terms of gender ideology Brassnia has a strictly patriarchic system and culture. Traditionally, women are defined physically and intellectually as the weaker sex, in all ways subordinate to male authority. In private life women are subject to fathers, husbands, brothers and often even their own adult sons. At the same time men are viewed as easy to corrupt and as having an inherit vein of evilness and sin while women are believed to inherit pureness and being naturally faithful. Yet, men are seen as rulers and decision makers. Women are expected to act as the moral compass of their husband, guiding him and managing the relationships of the family as men generally aren't trusted with social tasks. Also, while men are considered to be the surperior sex this does not balance out any differences between classes. A young girl of a wealthy family is still considered far more valuable, influencal and important to society than a middle class man.

Gender Ideals

Men
The ideal Brasnir man is naturally the head of the family, the breadwinner and the guardian of all family members. Brasnir commonly refer to a husband and father as the protector and lord of a family. While men are accepted to have far more flaws than women, the ideal man is portrayed to be strong, loyal, rational, as well as generally calm and wise but also fierce and determined and always on top of his emotions, desires and evil nature. While Bransir culture favors surpressing behavoir, aggression and violence are considered to be terribble traits for males and, in theory, are unacceptable in higher society. The same counts for extensive consumation of beverage, gambling, general risky behavoir and sexual desire. All of these are accepted to be present in men but considered unpleasent traits and the male ideal is above all of these attitudes.

Women
The ideal Brasnir woman is a spouse and mother and the lady of the house hold. In poor families this means that she is the teacher of her children while in wealthier families women will command the house staff and arrange meetings with other influencal families. In either case she is ideally pure, chaste, calm and modest. In middle class women are also often ideally portrayed to be shy and quiet, while female aristocrats are expected to share some of the male traits such as being confident and on top of their emotions, something that Brasnir culture deems almost impossible for women. To the same time, many male traits are disliked in women which ends in a tangled mess of expectations that can never be quiet matched. Society is clear on what is unacceptable, however, which are feelings such as anger or impatience as well as any of the described male sins.

Beauty Ideals

Men
For the most part men just try to differentiate themselves from feminity which results in standards that aren't supported by their biology. There have always been clear beauty standards for women and ideals for men just devoloped as an opposit of those. As a result Men are preferred to be taller and broader than the ideal woman, have a short and neat hair cut. Ideally men also have more muted colors than women, allthough Brasnir do not differ in colors or patterns based on their sex at all. Aside from these physical attributes anything that projects wealth and a great character is considered attractive. This is why ideal men are often portrayed in uniforms that indicate a well paid and steady job.

Women
Women are expected to have hair no shorter than their neck line. Locks and waves aren't very common but considered a trait of great beauty which is why women of higher class often style their hair accordingly. Generally a silky and soft fur as well as unshaved palms are highly favorable but this is the same for men as only wealthy people can afford hair and fur care. Outside of that, beautiful women are also often portrayed with full, lush tails. This, however directly contradicts their culture of not displaying emotions publicy. Such tails are usually subject to forms of art and erotic content.

Common Etiquette

As Brasnir have a very strong sense of smelling and hearing they are theoretically being able to read the moods, emotions and to some extend, intentions of other people they meet. By nature, at least. This collides dramatically with their culture of discretion and privacy which is a major driving factor in how they behave and dress to counter this. The already mentioned shaving and wrapping of their naturally expressive tails is one form of restricting the showcase of emotion. Another one is that they use perfumes to a really great extend so their natural scent is completely overshadowed. Due to how necessary covering ones own smell is, perfumes are such an important article in Brasnir culture that a person would choose it over a warm bath if they can only effort one of these.

Interspecies relations

Ablish Valks

Despite their great anatomical differences, Brasnir and the ablish Valks share similar core values which allows for far better relations than one would assume. They can generally agree about many factors, such as manners, classial divide and determining the worth of a person depending on various superficial factors. A large difference is their treatment of different sexes. The Ablish don't use gendered speech, despite speaking the same language and do not make any differences between sexes by law or rights. Brasnir that regularry travel through Albion are adviced to not let that part of their culture shine through as it is very easy to anger an ablish woman by treating her like she would be treated in Brassnia. Ablish generally do not learn much about Brasnir and are often oblivious to this giant factor of their culture, which makes individual meetings much easier than they'd really be. A rather funny factor is that both people tend to use an enormous amount of perfume, allthough for different reasons as Valks simply have a weak sense of smell.

Varnir

To many outsiders Varnir and Brasnir sound and seem related, which is true in a manner of history. However, they do not only have vastly different appereance, they also have large cultural differences. Varnir and Brasnir genereally have a difficult time getting along. While Brasnir favor professionalism and discretion to an extend that requires the masking of emotion, Varnir are used to a very open form of expression that knows little privacy. As a result, Brasnir perceive the related race as backward and uncivilisated while Varnir think of the others as deceivers. In Brasnir culture Varnir generally are depicted as dirty, without manners, living a backward life with little progress and are generally believed to have low intelligence and a far more animalistic nature. Varnir living in Brassnia experience a very systematic opression and Brasnir aren't very welcome in Varnere either.

Lifespan

Male: 70
Female: 74

Average Height

1,55m

Average Weight

60kg

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Various shades between blue and red, reddish browns are plenty but white to black pelts are rare.

Origins: Brassnia
Brasnir Organizations:
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Brasnir Characters:
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Quotes:

The fine people of Brassnia are well equipped with manners and class that the northern uncivilised dogs do not know. Any ablish that ever had the pleasure of meeting Brasnir professionally should know this and not name these two siblings. Whoever speaks lowly of Brasnir due to having had an unfortunate encounter with the people of their lower class should know that they themselves think of their scum the same as we do.

_{An ablish aristocrat}

The greatest skillset one requires to trade with Brasnir is to be able to cover up your absolute detest when seeing, hearing and smelling them. They all look like different colored puppets, smell like a perfume shop and sound like they haven't seen a good day in a decade. They call it manners but even our best mannered folks still have more expression than these rat-tailed people that are always trying to pay less than last month.

_{A varnir tradesman}