Swampfolk
This is it. You have completed your age rite week. You are hungry, cold, wet, and bloodied, but it is done. Your webbed feet and hands push back the water easily as you push yourself just a bit further to get to the small island you see in front of you. You are jerked back as you attempt to push yourself one bit further. The rough, slimy object pulls you back as you shove your head under the water, opening your huge red eyes. The murky water, filled with swamp grass, stings on your eyes, but you know you need to continue. You can now see that your foot is stuck within the roots of a vine covered willow tree. You attempt to curse, but water enters your mouth. You wish you had gotten your fathers gills more than ever now. You wait for a second, resting quickly, until you manage to yank your foot out, flying up to the surface. You see a mouse sitting on the root, and your eyes slightly fill up with tears. You thank the small creature for your survival, handing it the last bit of food in your pouch. It squeaks at you before dashing away. You continue swimming towards your home. You sigh as you see, finally, a familiar reptilian face standing outside your hill next to a pouch filled to the brim with materials you know have been selected to help you survive.
Naming Traditions
Feminine names
Femiline names tend to have more vowels. Examples include aeifi, uvia, arioa, aivola, aolia, etc.
Masculine names
Masculine names tend to contain more o's and more consonants. Examples include ornilo, erionivo, osivilo, offinol, uniwon, etc.
Unisex names
Unisex names tend to have an equal mix. Examples include Aronius, oriol, avilar, erioth, athiar, etc.
Family names
Names tend to have very few sharp sounds such as k, q, d, p, or b and tend to have a large amount of vowels. Examples include oolin, usolif, arevi, heneoh, aveio, etc.
Culture
Major language groups and dialects
They usually speak dreanesian as this is where they usually live, but they really speak whatever language that correlates to where they live.
Shared customary codes and values
These folk value survival above all else, but many also have a bit of empathy. If possible, a swampfolk will always help another if they are able to and it doesn't impede their own survival.
Common Etiquette rules
It is true etiquette to not steal kills from others, and never to take food. It is also widely common to not attack anything that can speak.
Common Dress code
Most do not even wear clothes, but those smart enough to make clothing usually wear scale mail made from the scales of fish. Fur is not worn, as it is considered very distasteful.
Coming of Age Rites
Families stay together to raise children. When a child reached adulthood, they undergo a rite of passage where they are sent out of the home to survive on their own for one week. If they succeed at this, they are marked an adult. They are gifted some tools to keep them safe, and sent out into the world.
Common Taboos
Wearing fur as pelts, killing rodents.
Common Myths and Legends
They see rodents as amazing and mythical, almost worshipful. This is slightly detrimental to them, as their homes are often torn and broken them. Their food is almost eaten by them.
Ideals
Beauty Ideals
People who adhere to a swampfolk style of life have almost no beauty ideals. They tend to believe in power and functionality rather than aesthetic. Most creatures here prefer creatures that are obviously stronger or better suited to living in their environment.
Gender Ideals
Gender is usually not too relevant, with the exception of mating and breeding.
Courtship Ideals
A typical courting process is as such. A female decides that she wants to have young, and leaves her home to find a suitable partner. Once she finds a mate, she will offer him a gift of some sort, which alerts him to her desire. If her reciprocates, they will usually live together until the spring season arrives, at which point they will usually have children.
Relationship Ideals
After courting, the male and female will live together. The intelligence of the creatures involved usually decides how connected they are. More intelligent species such as merfolk will usually develop love, and most continue to live together for life. Creatures always breed in the spring, so the children will be born in late summer, the ideal season.
Diverged ethnicities
Encompassed species
Related Locations
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