The Smile Society

Known only as the Smile Society. This strange culture of people are renown for their strange tradition of wearing masks with smiles to represent their rank in a caste system. The culture is rather peaceful, and inhabits the island of Ridi-Ri. In comparison to other societies in the world of Thrae, the Smile Society focuses on reviving the forgotten gods or dead gods. They are the active force in the world of Thrae that keeps these unpopular gods from fading away from existence. By fearing these gods for what they are, they fervently keep them alive.
The children of Ridi-Ri are not dispersed into family units, as it is typical in normal society. Instead, this culture distributes their children to a single institute, a religious home of sorts where a nun is assigned to be a mother figure to groups of children at a time. These children are then taught in schools and given opportunities to choose their paths in order to benefit the society as a whole. The children pledge themselves to specific gods, however the entire island celebrates Phobos, following in their very motto of:

"Smile behind fear."

Men and women do have separate roles in their society, but only in the religious context; men are the warriors fighting for the society while the females stay to protect and teach the children. Father figures do not exist in the society and children are conceived during a festival celebrating a goddess of fertility rather than love. 
Because the Smile Society does not rely on family units, children raised in the nurseries take the name of their mother nuns. These mother nuns are often named after dead or forgotten gods and goddesses in hopes of bringing them back and blessing their society. The children and any babes born to the society act are name din the same way. Common names are alike to the roman gods: Venus, Mars, Vulcan, Juno, Etc. 
Children grow up, go to their religious services to pray to various gods and then attend schools where they learn to fight and survive. The people of Ridi-Ri are rigorous and powerful, but they are easy to agitate by insulting their practices, which resulted in their demise.
There are several types f masks in the Smile Society. There are the religious masks which are the only masks allowed to be painted or engraved with frowns or crying faces; the regular people have plain half masks, covering their mouths with painted smiles; soldier with full and rather demented scary smiles; and the leader's mask, which is a very simple and plain white mask with a painted smile, but his mask is especially powerful.
However, the people of Ridi-Ri have been long conquered by the Arcane Forces after a dispute originating from a Judeo-Christian Church missionary who accidentally offended a Smile Society leader, ending in his immediate death.

Naming Traditions

Feminine names

Similar to the family names, females are typically named after ancient gods that are either weak or are considered forgotten or dead.

Masculine names

Similar to the family names, males are typically named after ancient gods that are either weak or are considered forgotten or dead.

Family names

No family names exist, but the tradition of naming comes from the dead gods, typically the Roman and Greek, which have lost popularity over time, especially those who were not the major gods like the Olympians. Some family names, which are acquired via which nun mother you were raised by are: Venus, Mars, Vulcan, and Juno

Culture

Shared customary codes and values

"Smile Behind Fear".
The people of Ridi-Ri smile before their fears as they worship the god of fear and as a result find power in their fear as they overcome it, showing bravery. They believe in keeping history alive and remember the forgotten so that they never truly die. It is said that forgotten gods often have children with the people off Ridi-Ri, maintaining their power before the attack of Arcane.

Common Dress code

Masks with smiles must be worn and children are often dressed in plain white garbs. The only fancy wardrobes committed are for the religious leaders and the mayor of the community.

Ideals

Beauty Ideals

Those whose faces can naturally smile without their masks on at all times are claimed to be the most beautiful.

Gender Ideals

Men are warriors and leaders in the Ridi-Ri society, while females are care-takers and teachers in the society.

Related Locations

• Ridiri