Celian

Naming Traditions

Feminine names

Tani, Marie-Paule, Bernadette, Peggy, Anne-Marie, Laëtitia, Rachel, Sabine, Amélie, Adèle

Masculine names

Raymond, Daniel, Léon, Bastien, Christopher, Alexandre, Alceste, Michel, Hector, Théophile

Family names

Celian peasant family names are usually taken for their town of origin sometimes with the prefix 'de', a local term for of, added beforehand when they have left their birthtown. 
Examples: (de) Lavigne, Monet, Blanchet, Garnier, Moulin, Toussaint, Laurent, Dupont
Noble families tend to take their family name from the first name of the knight who rose them to power or in some cases the Ducal territory that they govern. Where nobles take the name of a town of origin, as is the case for some of the oldest families, they add 'de la', local slang for knight of, instead of just de to signify their authority. 
Examples: Eraçney, Grismȃut, Jasoir, Maret, Verson, Tourniquet, de la Morte

Culture

Major language groups and dialects

Celians speak a relaxed common tongue with wisps of Elven, Dwarven, Gnomish and Sylvan that appear as many common parlances and alternative terms. Celian aristocracy tend to shift between multiple tongues as a sign of their families wealth, education and connections whilst the poor speak a butchered common passed down from the aristocracy above.

Shared customary codes and values

Among the nobility Celian life is one publicly of honour, decency and patriotism but in private of plots, pragmatism and ruthlessness. Celian nobles live a life of decadent luxury furnishing their abodes with the latest in fashion and taste regardless of the expense. Indeed nearly all nobles houses have a debt that they are paying off to ensure they are not viewed as behind the times.
Commonfolk tend to live simple lives based around the church and their obligations to their lords. Most will work the profession of their ancestors unless they are able to impress their lord or some passing dignitary. Slavery is commonplace and even the poorest Celians can usually afford a malnourished half-elf to assist with everyday life.

Coming of Age Rites

Celian's usually view adulthood as the moment one loses their virginity which due to their courtly custom is most often, at least officially, their wedding night.

Funerary and Memorial customs

Celains are usually buried in cemeteries during a formal ceremony attended to by a priest. Nobles often have their own mausoleums in or near their families most original home and even when land shifts possession it is considered the norm to allow a family to maintain ownership of the burial ground. 
This burial custom has led to a particularly strong opposition to necromancy with the removal of a deceased relative from their grave considered to be a crime above all others.

Ideals

Courtship Ideals

Celian noble culture is highly chivalrous and committed to notions of a formal courtship. To start such an engagement a knight must bestow a favour upon the interested party and then request permission to court them by the leader of their family. The courtship then usually includes exchanges of poetry, gifts and sharing dances at formal ball at numerous noble events.
Celian intended rarely spend time alone until they are wed with a maidservant staying with the women or the entire family being present at meetings to ensure neither party takes the others virtue. For the formal wedding to occur the leaders of the two parties families meet and agree on the dowry given to the newlyweds, payment for the wedding and then together present the agreed treatise to their liege lord who must grant them permission. 
Weddings tend to be elaborate affairs during which a bedding ceremony occurs where the pair are taken to their room and left alone for the first time since their meeting.

Relationship Ideals

Celian marriages are considered unbreakable by the church with those who attempt to run away from their family or commit adultery facing a breach of canon law that results most often in branding. Married couples are expected to seek children within the first year of their union and then continue until they can sustain no more comfortably. Where families are infertile, such as with homosexual couples, orphans are given to them to raise as their own by the clergy, the refusal of which is considered highly gauche and often grounds for social exclusion.

Parent ethnicities

• Falaran

Related Organizations

• Royal Army of Celium

Related Locations

• Empire of Celium