Osmatek

A people hardened by life in the distant mountains of the Northern Kingdoms, with the Great Northern Wilds howling at their backs. Osmatek is a goblin word that means "Many Hearts," and it includes all those who live, train, build and fight for each other.

Suggested Parentages

Dwarven (Ember, Mountain, Snow)

Goblinoid

Human

Ogre

Orc

Culture

Major language groups and dialects

Goblin, Orcish

Shared customary codes and values

• Face
• Loyalty--to all Osmatek, but first to your Stronghold
• Protection
• Resilience
• Shelter

Warriors are cherished and celebrated for protecting non-warriors, who are celebrated and cherished for their crafts and works.
Self discipline and self-denial are seen as virtuous. 
The Osmatek do not answer arrogance with anger or warnings with words. They are resolute and indomitable, and when they fall silent they are more fearsome than when they howl war cries.

Common Etiquette rules

Eye contact is extremely important to the Osmatek. If you fail to meet someone's eyes, it means you find them beneath your respect.

Art & Architecture

The Osmatek architectural ideal includes steep, straight and symmetrical angles supporting bulbous domes and curving shapes higher up. This is symbolic of warriors protecting and upholding artists, mystics, and families.

Foods & Cuisine

Lots of meat. Not exclusively, of course, but many Osmatek are largely carnivorous. Life in the cliffs and mountains has made the the Osmatek extremely flexible in terms of what they'll eat. Fortunately, Osmatek cuisine and spicing is equal to the task. Otherwise harsh meats are steeped in alcohol, smoked in chimneys, salted, and otherwise rendered edible. Cattle, goats and yaks are essential to their survival. Hardy grains and vegetables are crucial. They make lots of stews.

Common Customs, traditions and rituals

Osmatek are expected, when meeting each other, to loudly declare their Stronghold of origin, and upon hearing the other's Stronghold, to know whether the two strongholds are friends, foes, or strangers. Two Osmatek can publicly identify each other as foes, but do each other no harm if neither is a warrior or neither are there on business of war.

Birth & Baptismal Rites

The parent, or grandparent, or other elder of the newborn is expected to loudly shout the name, family and stronghold of the newborn if they live four days after birth, officially making them part of then social group.

Coming of Age Rites

A new adult declares, again loudly via a shout, their name, trade, and loyalty to their stronghold from the public square.

Funerary and Memorial customs

Before the apotheosis of Ramius, the Osmatek gathered together to burn their dead and declare to the fire what made the dead special--their great deeds, their loves, their skills, the memories they share, letting those shouts rise on the fire. 
After the Apotheosis of Ramius, the Osmatek changed their rites. The dead are cleaned, dressed for war, and placed on a high platform. The ceremonial declarations challenge the Infernals, telling them that the Osmatek send another soldier to the armies of the Stern Lord, and declare the strengths of the fallen, of heart or of blade. Then the dead are left to the elements and the birds of the air. The priests and monks visit the Bone Aeries intermittantly, and when they find a corpse has become sufficiently skeletonized, the bones are interred in vast ossuary pits.

Ideals

Beauty Ideals

Strength and resilience are valued above almost anything else. Muscles and mass are greatly praised. Tattoos are preferred to be symmetrical. Angular lines and features appreciated.