Vialan

Naming Traditions

Feminine names

Olivia, Lily, Sophia, Emily, Amelia, Isabelle, Sophie, Eleanor, Evie, Charlotte, Chloe, Grace, Alice, Jessica

Masculine names

Oliver, George, Arthur, Harry, Jack, James, Peter, Michael, Charlie, Oscar, Robert, Alistair

Family names

The great houses of Viala tend to enjoy names defining the territory of their creation. Often this will include the name of the geographical area and the key trade of the people they rule over. An example of this is the ruling Edenwood family whose name comes from the forest of Eden and whose main trade is Wood. 
Examples of Vialan surnames are: Carpenter, Wood, Smith, Fields, Taylor, Gardener

Culture

Major language groups and dialects

The common tongue is spoken in Vialan as its principle language. Vialan accents vary between the north, the midlands, the south and the nobility.
Northeners tend to have a Temerian twang to their accents with deeper voices and often pronounced gestures to go with their words. Words are often shortened and phrases simplified leading southeners to find their counterparts more abrupt and at times rude. 
Midlanders tend to speak with a rhyming lisp to their voice that often drifts into a thoughtful pause in their conversations that is known as the 'Vialan drift'. They tend to speak with simple analogies woven into their words but little complexity. 
Southeners have the most honeyed voices and enjoy long and whimsical tales woven into their daily lives. Often Southeners will meet and share a long tale with one another adding details and wonderment, that all know to be false, into the tale as a way to past time.
Vialan nobles speak with a distinct pronunciation of every word in their vocabulary. They are known for their eloquence and tendency to speak with a charm that rivals the other larger kingdoms of the land. Nobles are happy to speak with a cutting precision when needed and threatened but can also swap out for a softer tone where it helps.

Shared customary codes and values

Vialans are a noble peoples who favour polite relations to one another and prize honour highly. Where honour is besmirched the injured party or the leader of their family is expected to respond and rectify the situation if necessary through a duel to first blood. Individuals who have besmirched honour are largely distrusted and mistreated in wider society. Those that stay are denied the same opportunities other enjoy and often ultimately leave to another village to restart their lives or turn to crime. 
A key part of Vialan life is oaths which are considered a sacred bond that cannot be broken. Oaths are often sworn over wood, dirt, a holy or culturally significant item or a weapon. Custom says that whatever you swear over will enforce the oath be it through divine will, the blade that will take an oathbreaker's life or legends of soil swallowing oathbreakers whole as if in a great maw. For this reason Vialans swear oaths only on matters they are willing to dedicate their lives to completing.

Art & Architecture

Most Vialan homes have a thatched roof and simple walls with wood being used in the construction of any building of note from taverns to churches. Beside the key structures of a settlement Vialans tend to have one room houses that serve as a place to sleep and store possessions with much of Vialan life taking place outdoors in communal spaces. 
Stone is reserved for major monuments such as defences structures of the nobility or major religious sites such as cathedrals.

Coming of Age Rites

The coming of age ceremony is central to Vialan life and occurs when a child reaches 14 years of age. At this age they are allowed to hunt alone, or without adult supervision, for the first time. They are expected to go into the woods and hunt a beast of their choosing and return with its carcass or some clear proof of the kill. The size of the beast does not matter to the progression to adulthood but larger beasts often earn more respect and admiration. 
When the carcass is returned the bones are turned into a hunting knife that stays with the Vialan for the rest of their life to show their adulthood. They are also then on allowed to court potential lovers, serve in the army and otherwise live as an adult in society.

Funerary and Memorial customs

Vialan funerals are most often a burning on a pyre the wood of which is gathered by their family and friends and the lighting being done by their eldest child, or failing that, leader of their family. Particularly powerful and notable Vialan's are given a woodlands burial in special Gravewoods grown near major settlements and often cordoned off to all but the family and guests of those burred within.

Ideals

Courtship Ideals

Knightly courtship defines a key part of Vialan society with peasants and nobles alike expected to court their beloved for at least a year before any marriage could be considered. Any individual is expected to court only one person at a time with multiple simultaneous courtships being frowned upon and considered improper.
Courtship is instigated by the interested party often by the gift of a flower or hand made item, often carved from wood. It is considered poor behaviour to spend coin on an initial gift which represents the dedication of the interested party. Choosing the favoured flower or an item that they have long desired is called a 'moon match' and is often celebrated with an agreement to begin a courtship. 
Over the following year courtship occurs through walks in the countryside, meetings at taverns and feast halls with more private engagements becoming acceptable after the sixth month of courtship. For the first six months two courting lovers traditionally are joined by other courting peers or their respective families to allow both families to get a sense of the prospective partner and ensure no ill behaviour occurs. 
Marriage is finally offered with the offering of a ring of twigs. If accepted both partners of the courtship are considered engaged until they gather a piece of metal ore with which to make a permanent ring. The ore must be acquired by each partner of the courtship though this can be by purchase. When both ores are gathered the pair takes them to a blacksmith who melts the ore down and forges two rings. These rings are exchanged in a ceremony overseen by a Tathamite priest and often involve the community of the courting pair. 
Courtship can be ended at any time by one of the two parties sending the other a broken branch of wood. If the partner accepts its end they send the branch back with a second break. If not they return it once more whole after which the parties meet with the parents of either to discuss the reasons for its termination and if there are any means with which it can be restored.