Urmel (Er-mel)
Ursan that dwell in the primal forests of Usoram, the Urmel resemble panda bears and are much swifter than other ursan.
Culture
Major language groups and dialects
Like many ursan, the urmel struggle to pick up other languages, but often pick up Sylvan instead of one of the elemental languages when they do manage to grasp a new dialect.
Shared customary codes and values
A majority of urmel are pacifists, and would prefer to run rather than fight, but are well trained in defending themselves from the wild threats of the primal forest.
Average technological level
Like most ursan, the urmel prefer not to rely on technology. The urmel take this to its limits, living on the outskirts of the most primal areas of the world, the Feywild and the Wild Area of Usoram.
Common Etiquette rules
Insulting a urmels ancestors is the quickest way to anger a urmel, and many are quick to forget their nonviolent ways to strike an offender.
Common Dress code
Like most ursan, the urmel have little need for extensive clothing due to their thick fur and the pleasant warmth of the realm. They often wear long robes, often with matching colors to their fur patterns, as a sign of respect to those who have passed away.
Art & Architecture
The urmel are primarily nomadic, and thus build little in the way of permanent shelters. They often craft temporary bamboo shelters, that they slowly gnaw away at while they are staying in it, moving on once they have eaten a majority of it.
Common Customs, traditions and rituals
Unlike most ursan, the urmel do not hibernate, instead moving south in the winter, towards the warmer air of Ixuil and Levex-Casein.
Birth & Baptismal Rites
Ursmel often carry with them the ashes of their ancestors, and they often sprinkle some of these ashes on their newborns, so that their ancestral spirits can both watch over the newborn and gain a new, youthful experience of life through the cubs eyes.
Coming of Age Rites
Once urmel cubs are old enough, they must begin traveling the year-long migration route with their mother. Once their mother believes that they are capable of making the journey on their own, she leaves them and they begin their adult lives.
Funerary and Memorial customs
The urmel cremate their dead and rub their ashes into their fur, so that they may carry the departed dead's spirit with them until they too must leave the mortal world.
Common Taboos
Practicing necromancy is forbidden for a urmel, and an urmel who dwells and holds onto its grief is considered unspiritual.
Common Myths and Legends
A majority of Urmel worship Mel, the ursan goddess of the dead, funerals, and grief. It is believed that as An ascended Ygg she originally was traveling with a mortal partner. As she traveled, her mortal partner became deathly ill and perished, and in her grief, An faltered, unable to continue. Desperate to escape her grief, she prayed to anything that would listen, and Thanatos, the herald of Death, spoke to her, advising her on how to move forward. Accepting its advice, An cremated her partners body, and rolled in its ashes, so that its spirit could linger and remain with her forever. Once she completed her ascension and became a true goddess, the remaining ashes rose up and formed into Mel.
Ideals
Beauty Ideals
Unlike most ursan, the urmel don't work hard to constantly clean their fur, as they often have ancestral ashes coated into them. While they understand their devotion, many other ursan view the urmel as uncleanly for this practice.
Gender Ideals
Like most ursan, the female raises the cubs and the male leaves after mating, but otherwise hold no restriction on gender.
Courtship Ideals
The urmel congregate in the warmer months at their ancestral home of Morbog, where coupes meet, exchange stories, have meals, and mate with each other. Urmel parings usually last until it is time to begin migration again, when the pair goes their separate ways. If a female becomes pregnant and is unable to travel, they pair remains at Morbog until the cubs are birthed, after which the father moves on to a new mate and the mother works to begin raising the cubs.
Relationship Ideals
Like most ursan, the urmel are mostly solitary, but often converge with others on their migrations or at their ancestral home of Morbog. They are quite friendly, both their own race and of others, and often try to help others with their problems, even when unasked. They view many other races of Usoram, such as the Edaan, as foolish for trying to impose their will over the primal nature of the realm, but try to remain neutral to either side of a conflict.
Major organizations
The urmel are unrelated to any one empire, living prefering to live alone on the edges of the Wild Area. They can be found wandering all over the other areas of Usoram, and will often pick up work as funeral priests or gravediggers.
Random Urmel Homelands
| % Rolled | Homeland | Trait Gained |
|---|---|---|
| 01-35 | Cave-City | Style Sage |
| 36-66 | Bamboo Forest | Nature's Mimic |
| 67-90 | Non-Urmel Settlement | Inspiring Speaker |
| 91-00 | Unusual Homeland | (Roll on Unusual Homeland table) |
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