Mannils (Man)
Mannil peoples once inhabited the central wilderness of Seranilion, the mountains and the valleys of what is now the Isles of Salt and Ash, and the Asurane highlands that have since sunken into the deserts, scrubland and stony cliffs of Hassagorne, migrating east to Balemon and the Verulean Peaks, and north, some even reaching Perilion. Though they are gone from this world, they left behind relics of early stonework and metalwork, cultural influences, weaponcraft, and music that is still remembered and celebrated today.
Mannils diverged from Amnils, eschewing the rolling plains for the defensible heights of the craggy peaks of the world, where they learned mining, stonework and metalwork to secure an enormous technological advantage against rival peoples of the time at the cost of limiting their ability to find sustainable sources of nourishment, which restricted their population to smaller numbers than the rich and varied tribes of the lowlands and encouraged trade between those peoples and the Mannils.
Mannils and Amnils were preyed upon by frost giants, with many lowland peoples believing the Mannils and their stone-walled towns to be in league with those pale tyrants, leaving Mannils to fear leaving the protection of their fortified homes, where the balance of power was tipped firmly in their favour.
When the Doom of Abishal drowned the world, Mannils became isolated and starved of resources, losing catastrophic numbers to starvation, dehydration, infighting and conflict with desperate Suranil refugees, pushing them to develop fishing and sailing techniques, which they began to use to migrate to other parts of the world, and sustain themselves in the new, oceanic age.
Eventually, Malari lords staged an invasion of Seranilion, enslaving most of the remaining Mannils, using some to further their studies of transformative natural sciences, and others to support their sprawling and luxury-rich empire. Towards the end of the Malari occupation, rogue elements of Malari and Teleri societies were able to spirit many sentient lives, human and malabrandi alike, away to the distant wilderness of Auregalion, where the remaining true Mannil people were able to go about recreating their clans and forts until centuries of discontent, then hostility, then open war with their elven benefactors finally extinguished their culture in favour of their neighbour Aurils and descendant Regals.
Naming Traditions
Feminine names
Dainwe, Maiwe, Manwe, Astonwe, Fallon, Herred, Dainrad, Mairad, Astred, Cenewe.
Women were named with reference to the beauty and virtue of others, typically in a way that cast them as passive and supportive voices for the dominant men in their societies. From Dainwe, river-wife to Manwe, man's-wife, to Fallon, birdsong, to Herred, stone-counsel, women were named to portray them as attractive to men, as clans were built on families, and couples were married for life. Women were generally named around five years of age by the women in their families, though the occasion wasn't publicly celebrated.
Masculine names
Dainel, Ealdan, Mangar, Stanton, Braidley, Benton, Bentley, Aston, Bert, Dalley, Osley, Reed.
Men were named with romantic inspiration in mind, often named for geographic places or beautiful features or traits associated with virtue. Osley refers to a field of deer, an important prey animal, while Stanton refers to a stone-walled town and Reed refers to a red or auburn hair colour. Boys were generally given names on their fifth birthday, when they were considered old enough to understand it, and when infant mortality was unlikely.
Family names
Erkenshold, Eirnshod, Woadey, Speltale, Roanhal, Erkenhal, Gotswol, Chesser, Delver, Fenrome, Crowe, Harlowe.
Ideals
Gender Ideals
Gender was a very clear thing to Mannil peoples; if you had breasts and female genitals, you were a women. If you had male genitals, you were a man. If an individual openly strayed from this duality, they were viewed with fear and superstition, and if they were fortunate, they were shunned.
Men were aggressive protectors, warriors, rulers, smiths and thinkers, and these things were idealised by Mannils as masculine. Women were nurturing, passive, supportive, thoughtful and wise, but quiet and demure until asked to speak, and these things were idealised by Mannils as feminine.
Parent ethnicities
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