Vdartaadruun

the people of Vdartaadruu

Vdartaadruu is a melting pot. The many city-states in the Tyumum Federation all have their own distinct cultures, and Vdartaadruu, as a tourist town, sees many of them. The oldest inhabitants are often partygoers who opted to stay for the nightlife and eventually settled down just enough not to return home (but they still stick around for the parties). Celebrations are loud and boisterous, language is complex, and government is democratic and reasonably fair.
Vessels often contain "body families" called srootyaf, where multiple entities that live within the same vessel, but there are also plenty of people who are called nookom, or "singlets," and they don't share a body with anyone else.

Naming Traditions

Other names

Vdartaadruun people collect epithets as they get older. Generally, people have one name that is used by most, which may be a collective name for a body family or the name of the single occupant of a vessel, and then epithets that are used in different settings. The most common epithet used is the party epithet, the kiishneaeevvdug, which varies in length but is often made up of sounds that are easy to hear over loud music. Other epithets include the family epithet, tyafshneaeevvdug, and the lover's epithet, griioozhshneaeevvdug.

Culture

Major language groups and dialects

Vruuv is the most commonly spoken language family, but Yìlmuhi is also popular in the south of the city. Vruuv is known for its complexity and agglutinative nature, where new words are created by combining other words into longer words. It has cases similar to that of Yìlmuhi languages, but they have fewer declensions.
Because of the many people who travel to Vdartaadruu, signage is also translated into multiple languages, and it is considered a sign of poor hospitality not to have translations. Translators who come to Vdartaadruu can often make a lot of money if they're willing to provide rapid translations of party invitations.

Shared customary codes and values

Vdartaadruun people value energy, passion, musical skill, tenacity, resilience, and strength.

Common Etiquette rules

Group gatherings are the norm, and spending time by oneself is considered a sign of poor health.
Similarly, mongamy is considered quaint and old-fashioned and most people have eschewed it entirely. Romantic jealousy is a sign of an insecure lover who needs to learn how to feel more compersion, or joy in seeing other people happy with other romantic partners.

Common Dress code

Clothes are optional in most occasions, but many people opt to wear clothes, even layered clothing. Attaching small bells, beads, and other noisy ornamentations is a common practice, and walking through the streets of Vdartaadruu is a very musical affair.

Art & Architecture

Music is a primary passion for many Vdartaadruun people, and many instruments originate from the area. String instruments and bells are the most popular, with various shapes and sizes, but other percussion instruments are popular, too.

Foods & Cuisine

The lab, or Iwati potato, is a common food in Vdartaadruu as well. Rather than mashing it, the preferred method of cooking is slicing the raw tuber and panfrying with salt and oil, often served with fish and the alcoholic beverage that is popular in Kugma, made from the nogmûdzhyum, or sap, of the zhorrork plant.
The drink, tuf, has an intoxicating effect that comes with euphoria and high energy, making it a common party drink as well.
Another common food in Vdartaadruu is koov. The flying mammiles are more popular in the forested areas by the party city than in the dryer areas by Lake Raro. Chopped or shredded koov is usually made into a cold salad dish mixed with an emulsion of egg yolk and neutral oil, nuts, fresh herbs, and spices to the chef's liking. Koov salad can be eaten for any meal and can be eaten as a topping on breads or eaten by itself.

Common Customs, traditions and rituals

Any time guests stay over, it is customary to have a party that neighbors are invited to. This helps encourage people to get to know one another. Neighborhoods are often tight-knit communities, but they welcome new members with open arms. Casual sex during these parties is also common, and it is expected to reserve at least one room of the house for lovers to congregate.

Funerary and Memorial customs

As might be expected, upon the death of the person, a party is held. Funeral parties are not just for the relatives and loved ones of the deceased, but the entire town is invited. Not everyone will go, but many people turn up to express their condolences and offer presents to the deceased that are buried alongside them while people dance and sing in celebration for their life.

Ideals

Beauty Ideals

Beauty is found in exertion, work, and play. Activity is seen as attractive, and others may use exercise, sports, drugs, or partying to enhance their energy and go for longer.
For Ildoar, long hair that can be whipped around while dancing is seen as highly attractive and a practical way of showing off. Sometimes they braid their hair to make the wild tossing more dramatic.
Rarites and Sela, who have feathers and shorter fur respectively, wearing beads and bells are shortcuts to a greater attractive level. Similarly, loud voices are attractive for their ability to command a crowd.

Gender Ideals

There are two types of genders within Vdartaadruun culture: individual genders and group genders. Individual genders vary amongst people, both singlets and body families, and they use a variety of singular pronouns, such as she/her or he/him. This gender is used in one-on-one settings and situations, such as between pairs of lovers or between doctors and patients. This gender is a deeply personal one, and it can change at any time.
Individual genders are held sacred and pronouns are respected.
Group genders, which often use plural pronouns such as they/them or ey/em, are used when someone is within a large group of people, such as during a party or in the audience of a show. While these can also change at any give time, it is less common for these genders to change, as they are often seen as a convenient way of keeping track of a person more generally and the attachment to the gender is not as strong.
The combination of the individual gender and the group gender make up the full gender of a person. Upon meeting new people, people often use their group gender pronoun until they get to know a person and begin to see them more regularly by themselves, where they will then reveal their individual gender.
Members of body families usually have their own individual genders, but occasionally the entire body family will share the same one.

Courtship Ideals

Relationships are only as strong as the number of parties they've seen together. Regularly attending parties with new people gives the couple a chance to see how their partner interacts with others as well as determine how they like to spend their time. Do they like to dance, to sing, to drink? Do they dance with others or by themselves? Answering these questions becomes part of courtship.

Relationship Ideals

Non-monagamy is the rule. Vdartaadruun people have open relationships and dedicated yourself to a single partner without leaving room for more is considered unnecessarily restrictive. It's not actively discouraged, but it's highly encouraged for people to seek out multiple partners. Partners can be of the same gender or of different genders.
If a body family is involved in a relationship, everyone in the family can be engaged with the same person, but it is not required. It is common for vessels with body families to have varying relationships amongst members, including relationships between members of the body family.
Long-term relationships are common, and it is most likely that as one goes through life they will acquire more partners. By the end of their lives, many Vdartaadruun people have, on average, about 8 partners who they share various parts of their life with.