The Gray Southerners
In the southern areas of Grayburn, the ocean currents help maintain a climate that knows no snow, and large areas don't even know cold. Instead the main problems are humidity, high temperatures, and local wildlife. The rainforest is a hostile environment, requiring more hunters and guardsfolk than in the rest of Grayburn. However, the lack of cold winters means a constant supply of crops and wood, making timber a very popular export product.
At the same time, the high humidity and temperatures chase off the upper class. For those amongst their ranks, being sent south is considered a punishment, while being sent north is considered a chance to prove yourself. The cold one can simply protect against by spending more, but the heat is much harder to deal with.
Culture
Common Dress code
In the rainforest, everyone has knives and brass knuckles on them. This way, they can defend themselves if attacked. Nearly all skin is covered, and hats are worn to protect against the sun. The hats are held in place with thin ropes that break easily, so they cannot restrain their wearer.
Art & Architecture
Outside the rainforest, curbed roofs are popular. Houses are built extremely solid, to handle the occasional heavy storm. In the mountains, houses are built keeping earthquakes in mind, and far away from any slope to prevent avalanches or rockslides from wiping out settlements.
Inside the rainforest, techniques are extremely different. Buildings need to protect against rain, wind, and wildlife, not against cold. As such, they are built with sturdy roofs, and solid walls with barred windows or narrow slits. This way, animals cannot sneak in. Nearly no underground areas are built, because of the same reason. Inside, rooms are large and often have large windows between them. Most buildings only have a single floor, so that it is easy to oversee the entire inside.
Some settlements are built next to rivers, with gated canals used to divert water into the settlement while keeping out wildlife. Others are built surrounding a brook, with gates at both ends. In those cases, the gates are heavily reinforced, since without an alternative route some animals may try to break through. Gaps in the gates are big enough to let fish and smaller snakes through, while disallowing larger animals to come through. Palisades often use planted Numbthorn specimens to help ward off predators.
In all cases, whether it's a farm, village, town, or city, a large corridor of land will be cleared of all bushes and trees, only having roads and short grass. This way, line of sight is guaranteed. The larger the settlement, the wider on average the corridor is.
Settlement-size plays a big part in construction, especially the security measures taken to keep out wildlife. Standalone farms are surrounded by fences with small gaps, that can be easily looked through. All farms include a fortified panic room in case any wildlife breaks through the barricade, from which an emergency bell can be rung to call for aid.
Villages will have centralized sleeping areas with sturdy roofs, around which roofless open work circles are located. This way any predator that manages to sneak in, will have no place to hide. Villages have an exterior palisade and a moat with spikes planted inside it. Often they are built on artificial hills, with the moat leading to dug out ponds to collect rainwater. Inside the walls, rainbarrels are also often used.
Towns are heavily fortified. Like villages they are surrounded by palisades and moats that quickly lead any water away. Next is a wall formed by connected houses. Their outside windows are covered by nets and bars. Inside of the wall-houses, large nets are hung over walkways to the central area. These nets have bells attached that will fall if the nets are ripped by predators. The central area is fully covered and houses all work areas.
Of the two cities, only Greenwood lies next to the rainforest. It has three moats, of which the outermost one is waterfilled. Deepwood Fortress is more heavily secured than Greenwood, due to being located in the middle of the rainforest.
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