Veitenlander
The wind howls low through the mountain pass, catching the hunter in a moment of stillness, his fair hair flapping loosely over his shoulders. The wolves are out tonight, he things, the sound of the mournful, lovely music fills the sky. Three moons smile down upon him and his bloody quest. He will find it and his family will feed. None shall starve so long as he can press his will on the wilderness. He tightens the grip on his spear as he picks his way through the scree and undergrowth. The wild shall bow to his will. The Wilderness will not conquer him. His father, his mother, his Jarl will know of his great nobility, they shall taste the fruits of his blade.
Naming Traditions
Family names
Veitenlanders borrow from two different naming traditions, in the narrow southern part of the country they have a much more Germanic sound, while in the wide open north they take on a Nordic flavor as the Veitenlanders are themselves from two distinct people groups united by religion and necessity. In the south, people tend to have names based around their occupation or wear they live, in the north their names tend to be based on their lineage and mythic lore.
Culture
Major language groups and dialects
The major language group is of course common, but this common has starkly varying accents, following the same general sound as the naming traditions of the regions of north and south. Language is used sparing and treated with great weight.
Culture and cultural heritage
Culture is passed verbally by story.
Shared customary codes and values
The biggest shared ideal among the people is the notion of balance. All things are a balance of law and chaos and ones life should be one of the same kind. Life comes with good and bad, birth and death, creation and destruction, ends and beginnings, fire and ice, dawn and sunset, and all things will reach their due end. The acceptance of these realities and careful determination of what one does with their room in between is the measure of a person and their value.
Average technological level
Lower than general among the human kingdoms.
Common Etiquette rules
Common Dress code
Functionality will always trump form, without fail. Furs and leathers and common as they are the easiest things to acquire. This is what people wear because it makes the most sense.
Art & Architecture
Art and architecture is straightforward and simple, not because the ideas of the people are not complex and worthy, but because of the savageness of the wilderness. The biggest ideas are best expressed simply. Architecture is what protects you from what is around you, it can instill fear, show power, or perchance be beautiful, but it first, above all, must be built for its function and show its function. Art is usually mythological in nature and this means that just as architecture serves a purpose for the sake of function, myth serves its function as the unifying force of people groups that otherwise would not abide settling among one another.
Common Customs, traditions and rituals
Birth & Baptismal Rites
Upon the birth of a child a feast is held in their honor seven days after. On that seventh day, as the sun falls beneath the horizon, they are handed two idols, whichever they touch first determines the goddess they will serve. Then the feast is held all night and at midnight they are given a Talisman of either Yaneel or Zeena.
Coming of Age Rites
A youth comes of age at 13 or whenever they complete their first hunt, downing a creature and carving it, by themselves, for their family or clan. Their talisman is then burned, to show that the strength of their goddess lives now in them rather than in the talisman.
Funerary and Memorial customs
Veitenlanders do not believe in burials, they take too long and are impractical. They waste land and effort. Bodies are traditionally burned in funerary pyres as litanies of their goddess and mythic promises of the afterlife are repeated by mourners. Great heroes are sometimes buried on the water by burning a boat containing their corpse.
Common Taboos
Common Myths and Legends
The Legend of the Mountain King: Rumor has it that Lonwulf himself was not slain by the two first jarls, but fled into the ancient vaults hidden under the Swartstrasse Mountains and wanders their still, mad as the day is long, guarding his new kingdom.
The Amber Fables: Also known as the Tales of Rurik Amber Eyes, the only son of Lonwulf. A collection of stories following his growth in fame and strenght as he travelled the world as an exile, growing in the ways of his people, even after he had been driven from them. He is a tragic hero revered throughout the land.
The World Tree's Heart: There is a rumor that a third sister of the beam, a sister of balance, lives in the world tree and an be sought for advice. This legend is part of the larger collection of stories about Lonwulf's son Rurik.
The Story of Two Sisters: An almost picture book rendition of the history of Zeena and Yaneel, well known throughout the land.
Historical figures
Lonwulf the Grey: The Last and Only King of Veitenland. His son, Rurik is also a beloved hero.
Rolf and Yarn: the two first yarls of Veitenland who overthrew Lonwulf, but began a war between them, the war that still divides the north and south.
Ideals
Beauty Ideals
In the culture of Veitenland the ideal of beauty is balance, that all things are balanced and have their proper result in the center of all things in which the law and chaos of the world, as expressed in their religion, are found at rest with one another.
Gender Ideals
This varies by north and south, in the south, the ideal man is a tradesman or perhaps a scholar, the ideal woman is the dutiful wife and mother, in the north the ideal man is a great warrior and hunter of wild beasts and the ideal woman is the shield-maiden who wades with him into the thick of battle to face the scarlet tide of gore.
Courtship Ideals
Courtship in the south is often a matter of convenience, marriages of practicality is common as keeping the land one is attached to going is deeply important. Whereas in the north land courtship is appointed and approved by the leader of a clan, depending on who the leader is.
Relationship Ideals
In the south, having a strong husband and his helpful wife raising a family is ideal. In the north, the family that rules their land or rules their family best wins. What's love got to do with anything? In the south, monogamy is expected whereas quite the opposite is true in the north.
Major organizations
The Brotherhood of the Beam
Diverged ethnicities
Encompassed species
Related Organizations
Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild
Comments