Demian
Our people are strong and hardy. We do not let our minor differences divide us but take pride in the fact that we, diverse as we are, can count ourselves as one people.The Demians are a Human culture primarily based in the Crown Lands of Demia, though they are present around the Black Ocean world due to trade and mercenary work.
Naming Traditions
Feminine names
Birka, Runa, Yil, Lieh, Radi
Masculine names
Tor, Feim, Flokr, Sideng, Aerin, Svendrir, Armin
Family names
Bulfu, Fruli, Fupori, Vauret
Culture
Major language groups and dialects
Most Demians speak a variety of Draxu as a mother tongue with a sizable portion learning the formal High Draxu variation as a lingua franca in order to facilitate trade and to travel the Crown Lands.
Like many humans, Demians have an inborn talent for language acquisition and several are consequently bilingual or multilingual. Many Demians who have completed a Mercenary Tour become fluent in the language of the region they served. This has lead to a large number of Demians being fluent in Kosva languages such as Ekoyan, Radivian, and Anzelki due to the prominance of Demian mercenary companies in Zinruna, but proficiency in Kolu'a or Zivian are also common.
Culture and cultural heritage
The Demians are the descendants of the Domi, a group of seafaring humans who pillaged along the coast and eventually invaded southern Kedizlim as part of the Great Invasions against the Elven Dominion. Following the invasion, the Domi mixed heavily with the native humans genetically, culturally, and linguistically, creating modern Demian culture. It is oftentimes difficult to determine which aspects of Demian culture are descended from their Domi ancestry and which descend from their indiginous heritage. Some posit that the more universal aspects are Domi-derived while regionalisms are of indiginous origin, but this is heavily disputed.
Shared customary codes and values
Egalitarianism:
Demians do place much stock in birthright, believing that each person has the right to prove themselves capable or fail on their own merits. The Demians are thus generally averse to xenophobic, sexist, or other discriminatory attitudes that judge others on factors beyond their control.Respect:
Demians value a mutual respect among people. Members of Demian society can and do frequently come into disagreement and disputes may erupt, but they are expected to at least maintain the appearance of respect for their adversary and keep their disagreements purely over circumstance rather than personal animosity.Hardiness
Life in the cold and rugged climate of Demia has lead to the Demian people valuing a persevering and stoic attitude. Demians will work towards a task until it is completed and will only give up in the most dire of circumstances.Average technological level
Demians posess an early modern level of technology, making use of printing presses, metilurgy, compasses, and dark powder weaponry, though the applications of this technology is not universally distributed throughout their society and several more rural communities still rely on techniques and technologies of bygone centuries.
Common Etiquette rules
Hand Grip
At the first meeting between two people, the two are to grip each other's right hands and squeeze with force until one expresses discomfort. This is usually toned down significantly for foreigners or young children and it is not seen as shameful to be the one to express discomfort first.Elbow Grip
When two friends meet, it is customary for them to grab the other's elbow under the arm to express trust and familiarity.Common Dress code
The cold climate of Demia influences the dress code significantly. From commoner to Ekärti, Demians will all wear fur lined garments and many wear a face covering cloth when outdoors in the winter months. In the summer months Demians will wear cloth or linen garments, often with fur trimmings, and most laborers will wear simple leather trousers.
Foods & Cuisine
Demian cuisine is often steryotyped as bland by outsiders but the Demians do possess a rich culinary tradition in their own right. Demian cuisine is traditionally composed of pork, beef, wheat, root vegetables, fish, and milk. In recent decades as trade has spread further abroad, spices and fruits have been adopted into Demian cuisine.
Demians are also famous around the world for their ale, beer, and especially mead, often stereotyped as drunkards, though this is largely due to the fact that most foreigners encounter young Demian mercenaries if they encounter them at all, coloring perceptions of the culture as a whole.
Coming of Age Rites
Demian Mercenary Tour
For centuries since the Freehold's Revolution the Demians have plyed their trade as mercenaries in foreign lands. Over the decades, this has developed into a rite of passage for young Demians, who generally train for their time as mercenaries throughout their childhood, often serving for one to two year terms in their late adolescence, typically begining between the ages of sixteen and nineteen. This rite is considered an important part of a young Demian's life as it tests their valor, exposes them to foreign cultures and ideas, and gives them a chance to mingle with others from accross class and regional lines, often even serving as the catalyst for Demians to find their life partners.Funerary and Memorial customs
Demians practice water burial, laying the deceased body on a specially crafted boat or raft and setting it either out to sea or down a river after lighting it on fire. The Demians believe that Shorm, god of the sea, is responsible for returning the souls of the dead to the gods. Many Demians believe that failure to return the body to Shorm within a week will cause the soul to become lost and haunt the area in which it lived.
Common Taboos
Unwarranted Touching
Demians tend to take personal space fairly seriously. Someone who is not a friend or family member is almost never supposed to touch another outside of the traditional hand grip for the first meeting.Common Myths and Legends
The Freezing of Learbof
Demian tradition states that the now frozen Islands of Learbof were once lush and fertile land that was frozen by the gods to punish the Domi for their cowardly refusal to invade southern Kedizlim at the behest of the goddess Raja. The earliest written reference to this legend is in the poem The Last Summer of Learbof, one of the earliest literary works in the High Draxu language.Historical figures
Birka
Svendrir Smoke-sheild
Tor Varet
Aerin Bulousi
Ideals
Gender Ideals
The Demians have an egalitarian view on gender with both men and women preforming tasks on all societal levels, with the only real distinctions being that some priestly orders are exclusively for men or women. Both men and women fight, farm, and raise children in roughly equal shares. This gender equality is longstanding in Demian society, dating back to their Domi forbearers as evidenced by Dominion accounts of Domi women raiding coastal settlements alongside their men as well as several oral traditions of both men and women leading various Domi clans.
Courtship Ideals
Most Demians meet their partners while on their mercenary tour, usually one of the fellow mercenaries in their cohort, but the practice of taking local partners and bringing them back to Demia is fairly widespread.
Relationship Ideals
Demians value monogamous relationships with loyal partners.
Major organizations
Crown lands of Demia
Parent ethnicities
Encompassed species
Related Organizations
Related Myths
Languages spoken
Related Locations
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