Shugenese
A people founded on a sense of belonging, becoming one with nature and the cycle of life. A group based on meritocracy and unity, one's worth is decided both by your ability to help better the village itself, by whatever means. There is no set nobility or aristocracy; regardless of birth, a person's standing is entirely up to their own effort, for good or for ill.
Naming Traditions
Feminine names
Adriana, Angela, Arianna, Avellina', 'Aurora Berta, Bettina, Carla, Corinna, Cristiana, Diana, Elena, Elisa, Eugenia, Fabrizia, Federica, Francesca, Gabriella, Gianna, Giovanna, Giuliana, Ilaria, Isabella, Lavinia, Loredana, Lucia, Lucrezia, Luisa, Maddalena, Maria, Martina, Massima, Olivia, Ornella, Paola, Patrizia, Piera, Roberta, Simona, Silvia, Sofia, Sonia, Stella, Teresa, Vittoria, Viviana, Zarina, Zita
Masculine names
It's a habit among some families to name their children with a maru suffix. Alberto, Alessio, Alessandro, Angelo, Anselmo, Antonio, Bruno, Bernardo, Carlo, Cristiano, Claudio, Dario, Diego, Enrico, Enzo, Eugenio, Ezio, Fabrizio , Filippo, Federico, Francesco, Franco, Fulvio, Gaetano, Gennaro, Giorgio, Giuliano, Gregorio, Lorenzo, Marco, Mario, Martino, Massimo, Matteo, Maurizio, Mauro, Nevio, Norberto, Ottaviano, Paolo, Pietro, Riccardo, Roberto, Silvio, Stefano, Tommaso, Umberto, Valentino, Vittorio
Family names
Wáng, Zhāng, Liú, Freccia, Russo, Duàn, Zhāng, Qián, Tāng, Yǐn, Lí, Yì, Cháng, Silvana, Gallo, Alfonsi, Conti, Koktez, Mancini, Wolfsbane, Giordano, Rizzo, Lombardi, Moretti
Other names
Names tend to lean towards things found in nature or colours.
Culture
Culture and cultural heritage
The Shugenese tend to have festivals honoring the spirits of nature, respecting the plants and animals around them. The Leaf tends to like their festivals actually, serving as a good excuse to bring people together and celebrate, whether a birthday, a great achievement or just life itself. Leaf possesses a large number of artisans, performers, and designers, the people are drawn to fields that allow them to express themselves in creative and new ways, mixing their individuality with practicality, and having good-natured competitions.
Shared customary codes and values
The Shugenese places strong emphasis on comradeship and unity, both with their fellow villagers and with nature itself. And much like nature, they also do not believe in fair play; ambushes, sneak attacks, everything is fair game in a fight for survival. This attitude is why loyalty to ones village and those within it is all the more important; if you cannot trust your own neighbours, your family in all but blood, who can you trust? Packs are stronger than the individual
Common Etiquette rules
All residents are expected to be willing to put the good of the village first. All residents are also expected to otherwise strive to be the best they can and maintain a sense of individuality, acting as a united group, not a bunch of mindless soldiers. People in a position of power are expected to act with grace and not try to take advantage of their position, such actions serve to show that they might not merit it. People are expected to maintain general civility in conversations.
Common Dress code
The Shugenese clothing choices drift towards colours that will blend into their environment easily, greens and browns are seen often, more vibrant colours the more common as Autumn comes around. The warm climate tends to affect one's clothing choices as well, and residents tend to keep some theme fitting their spirit animal on them, such as fur lining or feathers. Between this and the encouragement of people's individuality, the clothing options tend to be very varied.
Common Customs, traditions and rituals
All children are brought together regularly to foster comradeship, usually with small playdates and as they grow, with multiple team activities mixed in with their teachings to give very practical examples of why cooperation is a good thing. Before a child's tenth year, they will undergo a vision quest to communicate with their linked spirit animal. It is believed that those undertaking this journey astrally project themselves to the realms of the spirits, guided along by the pull of their soul to the animal that fully embraces their nature.
Funerary and Memorial customs
The dead are cremated during a special funeral rite, their ashes spread in a manner suited to their spirit animal. Their life is celebrated instead of mourning their death; after all, they are ultimately continuing their cycle of reincarnation, and aren't truly gone. And in the end of the ceremony a lock of the deceased's hair is buried among the World Tree or Tree of Life's roots to strengthen his or hers and their family's link to it.
Common Taboos
Betrayal of those within the village is deeply looked down upon and can easily have one subject to exile or execution depending on the severity, barring some very extenuating circumstances. In the same vein, abusing one's trust is treated much the same, with the perpetrators fully looked down on. Reckless destruction of nature, not only does it harm future generations but it shows a startling lack of respect for the homes of ones spirit animals. While unity and helping each other are core values, implying that an able bodied person is incapable of providing of themselves or family is considered a serious insult; you are claiming both that they cannot care for themselves and that they cannot help the village. Care must be taken to balance helping someone who needs it without overdoing things.
Common Myths and Legends
"The World Tree has borne many fruit, there is a legend that one day, when the world is in turmoil, a Tree of Life, a sapling from the world tree, will bear a special fruit that will choose an avatar of life that will be destined to restore the world's balance.
Where is the Tree of Life, there is also the opposite, the great Ouroborous that roams the world, devouring those that upset the balance of nature and ensuring that none lingers too long on one part of the cycle. "
Ideals
Beauty Ideals
The surest sign of beauty is to show a full and healthy body no matter the gender, proving ones ability to provide for themselves and any children. People tend to aim to be physically fit, and usually, have at least a light tan, showing that one isn't afraid of the outdoors.
Gender Ideals
All genders are expected to be capable of defending themselves and the village if need be, but women tend to lean towards possessing more medical and stealth ability, to care for the injured and get those who cannot defend themselves out of harm's way. The men are more expected to be more upfront to an extent, to protect the others directly. That said, no one is going to complain about someone being multi-talented, and such diversity would, in fact, be encouraged as long as one maintains competency in all fields.
Courtship Ideals
The typical expectation for when when someone wants to persue a relationship is for, in the case of the unattached, the persuer to find their own way to convince the one they're after, generally involving a handcrafted gift, whether made by themselves or gotten elsewhere, the important part is for it to be something that cannot be casually replicated. In the case of a polyamorous relationship, all parties involved should be fine with the arrangement first.
Major organizations
Leaf Kingdom
Comments