Thormalkian

Our people were driven from everywhere until we came together in solidarity. When we created the realm of Thormalk we were a group of disparate peoples who had one thing in common, we were twinsouled and supporters of twinsouled. We struggled through the great forest, making friends with the Fae folk who inhabited it. The Fae guided us to the great plain on the other side of the forest. Without their help we would likely have never found a homeland.

— Thormalkian Historian educating young students.

Naming Traditions

Due to the mixture of peoples who became the Thormalkians their names are a conglomeration of their originators.

Culture

Common Etiquette rules

For Thormalkians basic etiquette is using a citizen's preferred pronouns and name.

Art & Architecture

Architecture

The basic architecture of the Thormalkians is earthen buildings with sod roofs. Recently Thormalkians began building with stone. This development was accompanied with laws stating that the use of stone could not be above the plains. Stone buildings are dug into the land giving the people more arable land for their crops and horses.

Art

Thormalkian art is woven into the textiles and baskets created by their artisans. They create their own dyes and paints for their work.

Music is another art form celebrated within Thormalkian society. Musicians are valued for their accompanying of celebrations. Instrument crafters decorate their work with fancy scrollwork and paintings.

Foods & Cuisine

Thormalkians eat a lot of grains and a variety of meats in many different styles. From baked muskrat to poached fish to venison and beef depending on the region of the country.

Lake Veristo supplies fish, otter, and water fowl. The river provides beaver and fowl. The forest is rich in game meats, such as venison, boar(pork), grouse, and bear. The mountainous regions are home to mountain goats and fowl. The interior of the plains is rife with gophers, groundhogs, rabbits, and pheasant. In the marshlands there are muskrats and frogs.

Birth & Baptismal Rites

Every child is precious in Thormalk. When a new baby is born in a village the entire village comes together to celebrate. The new parents are fed by the offerings of their fellow villagers. While the birthing parent is in labour, the village cleans the house and brings gifts for the newborn. These gifts range from nappies to a cradle and everything in between.

Coming of Age Rites

Young people in Thormalk come of age when they begin their chosen profession. Those who choose to join the military are encouraged to train in another profession as well. Not all those who try out for the military make the cut.

New adults are professionals in their chosen career.

The community gathers around the new professional to congratulate them on their coming of age.

Funerary and Memorial customs

When a member passes away, the community gathers in the town square to send them off to their final rest. Each member brings a piece of firewood to build a pyre. The body is cremated in the center of town while the people reminisce about their life and bring up happy memories to share with their neighbours and loved ones. It is a celebration of life not a mourning of their loss. The night is filled with festivities and revelry.

Corrigenda    Humans    Thormalk      Thormalkian

Parent ethnicities

• Gaul
• Markian
• Reacher
• Shayshen
• Travelling Bards

Related Organizations

• Healers of Corrigenda

Thormalkian Tapestry

Thormalkian Lute

Simple baked muskrat recipe:

Cut meat into convenient pieces and soak in salted water overnight. Parboil meat for half an hour, drain and dredge in seasoned flour. Put meat in pan and add 1/4 cup vinegar and 1/4 cup water. Lay bacon slices over meat and bake until tender. It is served with corn and a green salad.

The celebration lasts from dusk to dawn, when the pyre is lit by the closest living family member of the deceased.

Common Taboos

The biggest taboo in Thormalkian society is to deliberately refuse to use a person's chosen name or preferred pronouns once they have made them known. The first offense results in a meeting with the local council with a warning. After their second offense they are shunned for a period of time. On their third offense they have proven they are not willing to accept others for themselves, thus they are banished.

Ideals

Beauty Ideals

Thormalkians believe that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Everyone has their own ideas on what it is to be beautiful.

Gender Ideals

Thormalkians do not enforce gender ideals. All members of their society may choose to do whatever they desire. Those born within the border of Thormalk may be assigned a gender at birth but are not required to present as such, nor use the associated pronouns.

Members of Thormalkian society who find themselves to be twinsouled are encouraged to come out and take their rightful place in society. Twinsouled individuals are highly respected and usually become members of the ruling council.

Courtship Ideals

Most courtships start when the children are fairly young, that is to say most courting couples have been friends for a very long time before they realize they wished to be with the other for the rest of their lives, though this is not the rule.

When someone wishes to move a relationship from friend to courting they craft a personal gift for their intended. These gifts are designed specifically for the recipient by the one wishing to court them. They are items which can be displayed or put away as keepsakes. If the courtship is accepted the partner will craft a gift to return. On many occassions both parties have given gifts at the same time.

Once a courtship has been finalized it is customary for the two to travel to the mountains in the north and spend a week alone in each others company. This is so they can learn of the habits of their new partner and how to navigate those within their own habits. During this tryst most couples spend time in the hot pools, dicussing their dreams and desires for the future.

During the courtship phase there are times when one or the other will discover they are twinsouled or will come out as twinsouled to their partner as the first person to know about it before it is revealed to anyone else.

Relationship Ideals

Thormalkians hold only one ideal when it comes to relationships; love whomever feels right to you. This is due to the persecution they suffered from others before they could find their own place in Corrigenda.

Not all pairings are romantic or sexually based. There are many couples who live together but never have children, or sex. Those couples who wish to have children but are not capable of having their own, adopt from those who have found themselves with children they didn't expect or were not yet ready to have.