Marcean

Marceans are close relatives of Macavurians, with both being ethnic groups of humans from the same cultural hearth in Fron Aberaelwyd. It is thought that Marceans and Macavurians are descendants of what were once two rival kingdoms of the same cultural group in the south of Fron Aberaelwyd. According to Marcean folklore, a civil war broke out between two royal houses of an ancient kingdom which was ruled in a diarchy. The war was deadly and lasted nearly three decades, with the aggressors, the protesting Macavurians, losing and being forced out of the kingdom, migrating north towards Pwenlylyn. The Marceans, descendants of the house which had won the war, remained in the southern regions of Fron Aberaelwyd. Today, Marcean peoples are split between three kingdoms: Thecedor, Pantfelin, and Brontbran. Thecedor, an expansionist state, is a rival to the southern allegiance of Pantfelin and Brontbran, two more traditional Marcean kingdoms. Marcean culture is largely similar to that of Macavurian society, with both groups being closely related and having originated from the same peoples. Marceans speak Ceiglic, albeit an older dialect, and worship the Communion of the Six Divines, though the teachings of Stamatios and Sichkarak are far less popular in the Marcean kingdoms than in Macavuria. Rather, Marceans tend to place a greater emphasis on the year round worship of Somwël as well as Yul. Somwël, the goddess of agriculture and the harvest, is far more emphasized due to the lesser availability of arable land in southern Aberaelwyd, a result of the cooler climate and marsh-like geography of the region. Thus, famine is more common and the effect of a good harvest is much more substantial. Yul is worshipped to a greater extent by Marcean peoples due to the nature of Marcean society and its greater emphasis on physical strength and warfare as well as the concept of revenge. In Marcean society, it is not uncommon for an unlawful death to be avenged by a family member in a legal duel or an equal killing. For example, if one man killed another man's son, the other man could choose to duel the murderer in a fair and legal combat. If the murderer refuses the duel, his son may in turn be killed, typically by the victim's family. The Marcean people are fair skinned and tall and typically bear blonde or brown hair and green or brown eyes. They too have somewhat Indo-Aryan features as they tend to have thicker hair and many other characteristic similar to those of Macavurians. Unlike the Macavurians, however, they hail from a cooler region of Fron Aberaelwyd which tends to experience harsher winters and far less rainfall. This means that animal husbandry and herding are more common than widespread agriculture. Instead of large plantations and somewhat commercial farming, Marcean peoples typically engage in subsistence farming and herd a limited amount of animals, typically cattle or sheep. The marshes and wetlands have also led to the adoption of trapping and hunting various animals such as frogs, crabs, and various freshwater reptilians. The lack of arable land also means the cultivation of cotton and textile production is minimized, and clothing tends to be made from leathers, hides, and furs rather than cotton and other manufactured textiles. However, silk production is common in some regions of Brontbran and Pantfelin. Generally, Marcean art, architecture, and music is similar to that of Macavurians, though the themes in their art tend to surround conflict and stories of grandeur rather than daily life, emotional events, and relationships. Marcean society is known for its emphasis on law and order and the strong moral code it upholds as immoral acts are punished harshly and justice is firm within Marcean society. Marcean people are held to high standards of honor, trust, and morality by their peers, with everyone acting in the pursuit of a somewhat unified "perfect" morality. People in Marcean society are judged by their actions, not by their creed or birth: nobles and the upper class are not revered in the same way that they are in other cultures as Marceans instead believe it more important to honor their people and history as a whole. Sacrifice and heroic deeds are revered above all else in Marcean society, with heroes, alive and dead, remembered as martyrs acting in the pursuit of pure morality. This is the main disconnect between Macavurian and Marcean culture, one likely caused by the lingering effects of the civil war which split their people originally. The Marceans believed that the diarchy had failed and the rule of powerful monarchs was to blame and began to push for lenient, popular rule: they believed that the civil war and its ensuing bloodshed was a result of an overzealous centralized monarchy. Even though they had claimed victory, it was believed that the Marcean house was at fault for the war due to its refusal to properly share power. While this is echoed in the governments of Pantfelin and Brontbran, two fairly liberal kingdoms, Thecedor, on the other hand, is a Marcean kingdom influenced by imperial principles of order and authoritarianism but mixed with the conflict-heavy nature of Marcean culture.

Parent ethnicities