Sylene
Declarative Letter of Separation from Syle to the Empire--
We are the people of the far north, hailing from the ice sheets and black waters of our frozen ocean. We are Syle, the Sylene, former walkers of the ice, sailers of the ocean. We pilot your merchant ships, we work in your palaces, we give you the furs your nobility require. We created the icebreakers, those metal behemoths that shatter the ice and create the clear roads of water for your wooden ships to follow. What have you done for us? Treated our people as lesser and primitive. Mocked our great city and how few settlements are up here. Whether or not you grasp the fact that there is no way for us to build the vast cities in the open air that you do, doesn't matter. You feared the far north and the shifting ice sheets. You feared the black waters of unknown depth. You feared the great bears and wild dogs that we tamed and brought to heel. The storm-raisers, the human-shaped creatures that sing up storms don't bother us, even as your ships come through to kill them. The Continent demands our loyalty. It demands our fealty. It demands our resources and in the same breath mocks our people and the services we provide. Syle will not be mocked. And if Pheaceton continues to do so, Syle will not provide any aid. We are not part of the Empire. And we will not aid it if we are denied human decency.
Naming Traditions
Unisex names
Alete, Galya, Gera, Kunik, Malik, Maryusa, Pasha, Sesi, Tartok, Zhenya
Culture
Major language groups and dialects
Shared customary codes and values
In a word, the ocean is what ties Sylenes into one group.
These are a people who live on and around the water, whether by working on boats or by herding livestock across the ice fields.
Average technological level
Massive ships called 'icebreakers' outfitted with steel hulls and rams that sail through ice sheets, breaking them apart for smaller ships to follow after. The few cities are heated and lit by burning oil, harvested from seals and whales.
Common Dress code
Thick furs and waterproof boots. Trousers and thick shirts, often layered under heavy hooded fur coats.
Common Customs, traditions and rituals
The two months of summer that reach Syle are marked by prepping for the long winters. The crops grown are harvested and brought in, and livestock are moved to the blossoming tundra to graze before they're moved once more.
Swimming during the few summer months is common, when oysters are mating and diving down to collect them holds less risk of hypothermia than most other months.
Coming of Age Rites
Much to the chagrin of most adults, the younger Sylene often dare each other to jump from the piers. This has turned into an impromptu adulthood rite, along with an adapted version, where divers then swim down to the ocean floor and back up.
Funerary and Memorial customs
The dead are put on pyres, their heads facing north, and burned with a mix of oil and myrrh.
Common Myths and Legends
Ideals
Gender Ideals
Each person regardless of gender must provide for the people. Whether that means hunting or working on ships is up to the person.
Encompassed species
Related Myths
