Amalgams

A disclaimer: I'm certainly no expert on this subject, and will primarily compare my experience to that of the Amalgams I've personally met. As such this article will be rather brief.
An Amalgam is defined by the Crathlian government as being a human being whose power level (that is, the measure of how many aignaoithe power carriers reside in one's blood) is between 50.00 and 99.99. In practice (and indeed, prior to testing, this was the definition), an Amalgam is a human who has telekinesis but no other ability.
The majority of Crathlians are Amalgams. Thus their culture is crucial to the greater culture of Crathlia. Obviously, this also means that Amalgam culture is rather broad and difficult to define, varying with physical location and socioeconomic class.

Cultural Heritage

Amalgam culture evolved from that of the less-powerful underlings of Paragon warlords. While Amalgams are generally considered middle-class, they can be wealthier than some Paragons or poorer than some Dregs.

Language and Dialects

Crathlian Amalgams speak Crathlian, with a variety of dialects and accents based on physical location. Major dialects include:

• Lexport Crathlian
• Northern Crathlian (spoken in North Lautney)
• Mountain Crathlian (spoken in the Green Mountains of northern South Launtey)
• Dalry Crathlian
• Ridge Crathlian (spoken in southern South Lautney near the Ridge Mountains)
• Masthead Crathlian (similar to Ridge, but generally spoken faster)

Northern accents are considered the most posh, while Dalry and Ridge accents are considered the least-educated.

Dress

To Amalgams, Paragon clothing is considered formal. While it's often copied by some, it's considered overly presumptuous in others. In general, women wear knee-length skirts (felt circle skirts are quite popular among the youth), though they may also wear blue jeans or other sorts of pants. Men wear pants or shorts (knee-length at shortest) and usually don't bare their shoulders. Trendy teenagers of both sexes often wear saddle shoes.

Coming of Age

Since Amalgams come into their powers as young as three years old, their tenth birthdays are not as important as those of Paragons, though Amalgams are still tested for power level. However, a child's first power surge is still considered quite important, similar to a baby's first step.

Funeral Rites

Like Paragons, Amalgams are burned at their funerals to be returned to the dust from which they were made. Rural families usually plant their dead family member's tree on their own property or in the local forest; urban areas have forests outside the city limits set aside for the dead.

Family Names

The majority of Amalgams, particularly in urban areas, bear occupational surnames, some of the most common of which include: Smith, Farmer, Freeman, Mercer, and Monger.
This trend results from King Donovan Alderley's census of Crathlia, in which he decreed that Amalgams without surnames identify themselves by their occupations. Dregs were barred from taking occupational surnames by this decree so that it could be more easily determined which subjects possessed abilities.
During the industrial revolution, many city-bound Amalgams who still bore the names of their colonial ancestors or other surnames from that period (many location-based such as Brooks) opted to change their names in order to make themselves easily identifiable as Amalgams (and therefore more desirable to employers) rather than Dregs.

Major Organizations

The Order of the Black Hand is an extremist group common in rural towns that calls for the death of all Paragons.

Written by Cordelia Colbreak Evenbrook

by ReachingForStardust

Encompassed species

• Humans

Related Organizations

• Kingdom of Crathlia
• Tír na Creatlach

Languages spoken

• Crathlian