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.
Naming Traditions
Feminine names
Birka, Runa, Yil, Lieh, Radi
Masculine names
Tor, Feim, Flokr, Sideng, Aerin, Svendrir
Family names
Bulfu, Fruli, Fupori, Vauret
Culture
Major language groups and dialects
Most Demians speak a language of the Draxu language family as a mother tongue but a sizable portion learn High Draxu 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.
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.
Shared customary codes and values
Egalitarianism:
The Demians have a shared belief that no man or woman is intrinsically more valuable than any other. One person can surely be better than another, but that must be based upon merit and virtue rather than birthright or gender.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.Common Etiquette rules
Hand Grip
At the first meeting between two people, the two are to grip each other's right hands and squeeze 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 leather garments and many wear a face covering cloth when outdoors in the winter months. In the summer months Demians will wear cloth 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.
Funerary and Memorial customs
Demians practice water burial, laying the deceased body on a specially crafted boat 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 so that they might be reborn. 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 take personal space very seriously in general, 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 a rather egalitarian view 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.
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
Comments