Manniskarian Culture (Mân's-kli-ge-ten)
Also called simply as the Mänskligheten, the Manniskarian culture encompasses an immense amount of smaller groups, ethnical groups and ways that vary in many aspects, yet, they also share a good deal of values and manners that aren't found in the other continents,
Preomona and Brandjorden.
The Mänskligheten also represents a collection of worldviews and beliefs that was built over millenia, carved out of fallen and new empires, coupled with various religions.
Core Values
Regarding Death
Long before written history, the men of Humland (old engelian for 'homeland' or 'human land'), as it was called, were already very concerned with death. The earliest known tribes were already widely known for the behaviour of burying or burning their dead, as the oldest
Gammalism legends tell how friends and family must gather together to celebrate the deceased' passing, as if they were the ones to handle the dead's soul to the gods.
"During birth, we make merryments and spread our arms for the divine gift of life. In death, we must show gratitude and reach forth our hands, rendering unto the gods the soul they have once bestowed upon us."- Old Northern Proverb
Later in time, such belief changed and evolved, and it was revealed to men how they were not alone in the cosmos and that other planes existed beyond their realm, where life is fleeting, the realm of Mortals, Mellanvärlden. And so, as to demonstrate their worry for the dead's journey into the
Afterlife, it became a duty, a responsibility for people to care about the deceased, to protect their souls and bodies from the afflictions of darkness and the pitfall of suffering. During such eras, it was a common belief that souls were divine things, created out of the most powerful of substances and bearer of immense significance. Once created, a soul could never be destroyed, and so, after their mortal bodies finally conceded, their essence would be free once more. Yet, still attached to the living world, a soul needed guiding towards enlightenment, a path laid out towards Helhet, a state or condition of completeness, fulfillment. On the other hand, if the dead were neglected, the soul would instead decay into a state of chaos, of suffering, or simply Lidände.
It was much later on, approximately around 4000 IL, that such belief became more or less what it is now, in which mankind believes a soul goes to one of three places, a kind of 'paradise', which many believe to be
Larianor, the terrible pits of Kaorar or the forgottenness of Skuggar. The reason as to why a soul may take each destination varies greatly amongst the people, with the most widely accepted belief being that a good, virtuous soul is drawn or welcome to Larianor, while a vile and malign one is condemned to Kaorar, while Skuggar is a worse, dreaded destination to those who were cursed, neglected or otherwise violated in life and death. And so, whether the deceased's soul is sent to the Golden or Red realm is a responsibility and weight solely theirs to bear, but it is an obligation and duty to their kin that the living give the dead a proper burial and rite of passage, as to relieve the fallen of Skuggar.
Therefore, death is seen with utmost respect by most people and funeral rites are performed, in the majority of places, even for the worst of criminals. Such rites involve a small ritual, which will be covered further along this article, and back on the matter, it is expected of every individual to care for the dead. Should a man see his rival dead, either by murder or accident, no matter by whose hand, it is their obligation to see to their rites. Nevertheless, the same also applies to the possessions of the dead, as grave robbing is oftentimes regarded as a hideous, abhorrent practice, representing not only a form of disrepect, but also desecration of the dead's burial, which could carry consequences to the afterlife or even cause the corpse to become corrupted, from which countless creatures emerge. Finally, the worst practices known regarding such things are acts of necromancy and soul trapping, illegal in every port, village and city from Kronstad to Sarusa and sentenced with capital punishment nearly everywhere, for both practices are believed to almost guarantee the deceased's soul to be cursed towards Skuggar.
Offerings and Otherwordly beings
All around Människar, another tradition that is held dear by nearly all the peoples is the act of giving out offerings for the gods, angels or spirits that might influence their daily lives. It is not a matter of religious choice or superstition, but a symbol of respect to the cosmos and the world one lives in. Arialist devotees will place coins and make promises in the name of the
Golden God, asking for better times, for protection against evil, for healthy sons and daughters; A trerian warrior might toss a particularly succulent slice of meat at his own fire as an offering for Engel or Jorde, a sign not only of their affect for the Gammalist faith, but also a gesture of their respect with the beyond. Not only, but even a non-religious Sarusian might frequently spill down his mug of ale in honor of the dead, or simply as a gesture of good faith. Manniskarians believe the world around them is filled with meaning, with entities that watch over or at them from the immaterial plane, and so, dedicating an offering to whatever being that might be observing them is a common act, seen, like the funeral rites, almost everywhere.
Offerings become more meaningful the more important the occasion and the number of gathered people. While one doesn't have to toss away part of their everyday dinner, refusing to dedicate an offering during big festivals and holidays such as the
Solens Födelse or the Summer Solstice might attract quite a number of distasteful frowns from those around.
Prayer
One might often think prayers necessarily need a deity or superior force to be dedicated to, but this is not the truth in Manniskar, where a good deal of the population doesn't even worship
any particular god. Yet, the practice of praying is common to most, be it before a meal as their express their gratitude or after a particularly meaningful fulfilled dream.
In other words, praying is an expression of hope, a core value of the manniskarians, who lived surrounded by danger for nearly their entire existence, be it external or internal. Ultimately, people have aspirations, desires, fears and hatreds, and finding themselves alone in a grim, unforgiving land, they turn their heads to the beyond, be there or not anything or anyone to hear their pleas.
In practice, such pleads need not to be complicate or religious phrases made solely to be repeated without meaning, instead, it is seen as the most effective of prayers those that carry significance within the individual, even it means to simply turn their heads to the sky and shout a request for rain or food.
Rituals and Names
Similar to Prayers, and drawing back to the funeral rites, names rank amongst the most important qualities of mankind, for it is what gives them meaning in the world; without a name they are nobody, without a name they can't be remembered, without a name they are no more than primal beasts. The act of naming, anything or anyone is a way of giving meaning, purpose, power, which also applies to the act of evocating, be it whispering or shouting names out to the wind. A mother separated from her children utters their name as she looks out the window, knowing that the calling itself carries her feelings and longing for them, and some may claim it has real effects upon those called, for good or bad. Angels from Larianor and demons from Kaorar are oftentimes summoned merely by having their names evocated, which reinforces the importance people have about names, which is sometimes extended to animals, be them horses or personal beasts.
On the other hand, rituals are also a powerful thing and quite often not entirely related to Magi, which is the actual essence of Magic. Rituals encompass a wide number of things: sacrifices to deities, spiris or dead ones, acts of offering, moments of true meditation, meaningful curses thrown upon enemies and more. In Treria, hunters leaving for the forests sometimes lay down their weapons to the ground and lower their heads, a gesture of respect to the gods, in which the warrior asks for blessings while forfeiting his pride before the beyond. A sarusian maester attempting to translate a particularly tricky text will gulp down a glass of
Starwater and lie still for a few minutes, seeking enlightenment. A spellcaster, on the other hand, might outrightly do a magical ritual, drawing out an intricate hexagram filled with runes on the ground as they take a spot by the center, seeking to attune their power and increase their own understanding of Magi.
Hatred for the Wild
Because of their history, mankind has suffered greatly in the hands, claws, talons and fangs of the creatures that have and still do inhabit the continent of Människar, and because of this it has become deeply rooted in their culture that man stands alone in an eternal war against the wilds, (which culminated millenia ago in the
Culling of the Wilds) for a strong belief is held that "it is either us or them". The consequence of this is that people take pride and look up at those that slain and rid the world of other beings, be them wargs, demons or evil spirits.
Look out to thy brethren, cast your eyes to thy ancestors, look around thyself for danger, look down upon the evil that swarms the land. With might and courage, rise thine sword against the darkness!- Tome of Aeons
