The Cairnlanders
The dead walk in the Cairnlands. This is known throughout the Shimmering Seas, even in the far away Jungles of Kar'ack. The people of these dark woods and rolling hills are named for the monuments they build over the mounds of their ancestors, digging tunnels and catacombs into the earth to house their bodies. The cities of the Cairnlanders are often build atop these necropoli, and there are those who even inhabit the tunnels beneath the Cairn, sleeping, eating, and generally living side by side with their ancient dead. It is said that the Cairnlanders have even found a way to rouse the spirits of their honored dead to mate with them, a thought that has made them no less monstrous in the eyes of other cultures.
Naming Traditions
Other names
The Cairnlanders are a very divergent Imperial culture and so they do still have Latinate influence in their names, but I tend to also incorporate names from the Caucuses for them.
Culture
Major language groups and dialects
Ghostspeak, though Old Irontongue is still common in the Cairnlands.
Culture and cultural heritage
The Cairnlanders are, at least thought to be, related to the Imperials. The Old Iron Empire stretched into the Cairnlands and it is known that Imperials had settled there. But in the years since, the cultures have become unrecognizable. The practice of worshipping and serving Honored Ancestors clearly began before the Age of Storms, likely during the beginning of the Imperial decline.
Shared customary codes and values
Common Dress code
The Cairnlanders while living may wear whatever is needed to do their jobs for the Necropolis. Warriors wear as much or as little as they feel is necessary to protect their flesh from being marred. Work clothes are common, and often simply made, for they are functional before they are pretty. Most warriors will tend to wear heavy armor and war masks to protect their body, but those who are exceptionally skilled in their martial craft often consider it a mark of honor to go into battle with lighter or even revealing garb. As if to say that they have no fear of being marred beyond what the Cairnlord can heal. There is little difference in ranks among the Living, so all may wear as they please so long as it does not inconvenience them. Honored Ancestors often appear wearing their funerary clothes, this is more for convenience. They have access to all clothes that were buried with them, even if they've long since rotted away.
Art & Architecture
The Necropoli of the Cairnlanders are not tall cities. Rather, they tend to have several layers built into the earth with carved out caves and tunnels. The top of the mounds will often have more living than ghosts, and there are some who dwell there, but most consider those parts to be where the living work to serve the Cairnlord and the Necropolis.
Common Customs, traditions and rituals
A Cairnlander serves her Cairnlord. The Cairnlord is the ruler of the Necropolis, one from among the living who is made immortal by the Honored Ancestors. This may seem to be an odd choice for a culture that venerates the dead but the Cairnlord represents the bridge between the living and their ancestors. The Cairnlanders believe that the Cairnlord strengthens the connection they have with the ghosts of their ancestors. A Cairnlord (or Cairnlady) is a powerful necromancer who has the powers to heal the flesh, raise the bodies of the dead, and rouse the spirits of the recently departed to join the ranks of the Honored Ancestors. This is why the Cairnlander serves her Cairnlord. For it is the Cairnlord who has the power to grant them their place among the Honored Ancestors.
A Cairnlander grants this privilege for achieving what is considered a worthy death. This is not the same thing as a glorious death. A Cairnlander miner who dies suffocating from a lack of air while trapped in a collapsed tunnel awaiting rescue is just as potentially worthy to be made an Honored Ancestor as a Cairnknight who dies fighting the Imperial Legions and her Chosen on the Bloody Plains. In fact, had that Cairnknight instigated a fight for naught but his own fame and glory, rather than in the interest of the Cairnlord, then the Cairnlord may deem it to be an unworthy death, and not allow his spirit to awaken.
The Cairnlanders call what awaits the dead the Void. It is a nothingness that will destroy all their sense of self, their spirits cleansed and reformed into a new creature. They do not 'fear' this fate, for it is how life continues. However, an Honored Ancestor may continue to experience the world. They may share their knowledge. They may be venerated. They may choose when they will rest tranquilly. Only the Cairnlord has the power to condemn an Honored Ancestor to the Void, and the Cairnlord is empowered by the will of the Ancestors.
Birth & Baptismal Rites
When a child is born among the Cairnlanders, it is given a single mark by one of its ancestors. This 'tattoo' is not ink and does not distort as the child grows, but instead will adjust and adapt. The mark can take the form of anything. The Honored Ancestor does not choose, but it is believed these marks represent a piece of the Cairnlander's soul. This is the only mark that they are permitted to bear, for it is not considered to have marred the flesh.
Coming of Age Rites
Cairnlanders do not consider the physical maturity of the living as a thing to celebrate, merely to note. The true coming of Age is when they are raised by their Cairnlord and take their place among the Honored Ancestors.
Funerary and Memorial customs
The tunnels of the Necropoli are filled with tombs and it is one of the most common tasks assigned to young Cairnlanders to dig out more tunnels, build more mounds, erect more Cairns, so that the dead may be interred. Burial goods are expected, for who can know which Ancestor will be raised by the Cairnlord and which will not. If one was to receive few or even no burial goods, it is a sign that the people of the Necropolis believe the death not worthy, or in the rarest of cases that the person was so disliked that none wish to see them awoken, regardless of how worthy the death may have been.
During their festivals, the Cairnlanders will provide memorial gifts to their Honored Ancestors, though unlike the burial gifts, these are for all of their family's ancestors, not any individual one. If a living Cairnlander wishes to give a memorial gift to a specific Honored Ancestor, it is usually for service rendered to that Cairnlander or a deep relationship to one in particular. An Honored Ancestor is expected to not ask for more than what they were buried with and what they receive at festivals. One who is seen as greedy may find his Cairnlander descendants going to their Cairnlord and the ancestor may find himself sent to the Void before he willed it.
Ideals
Beauty Ideals
The Cairnlanders find beauty in death, though that is not to say that they find a skeleton or a rotting corpse attractive. The Cairnlanders find beauty in the tranquility of death and so they find overly expressive facials to be more grotesque than the calm stillness of the recently departed. The living strive to emulate this 'serenity', which can make it difficult for those outside of the Cairnlands to get a read on their body language. Cairnlanders likewise prefer thin and shallow faces, what others would consider gaunt. They are among some of the tallest people in Terraneus, giving them a lanky, or at times even an almost gangly appearance to non-Cairnlanders. They, in stark contrast to others once more, seem to prefer pallid complexions to ruddy ones. However, that is not to say that they are unhealthy, for to rush death often will result in a marring of both flesh and spirit. As they often will live with the ghosts of their ancestors, they idealize the unmarred flesh. No tattoos or scarring is done outside of careful consideration for how it will change as they age, for a marred body at death can affect their beauty in undeath.
Gender Ideals
The Cairnlanders have little societal distinction between the genders. The body is simply a flesh cage for the soul within. Most people, when stripped of flesh and muscle, would be indistinguishable by sex to the untrained eye. And if one's spirit does not match their flesh, then it is but another failure of the body, not of the spirit. Cairnlords can be either male or female, man or woman, it matters not to the Cairnlanders.
Courtship Ideals
While living, Cairnlanders are expected to submit to the matchings of their Cairnlord. It is said for many among the Cairnlanders that sex with the living is but a chore they must endure to ensure that they will continue to be respected when they are the Honored Ancestors. This is an oversimplification, and Cairnlanders ARE still humans, regardless of what the people of Terraneus believe or how changed they have become. However, it is true that using rituals known only to their culture, many of the living Cairnlanders are consorts to their honored dead, regardless of whether they are married (in many ways it is almost more accurate to call it mated). When living Cairnlanders do court one another, it is usually not for the purpose of marriage, but simply that they have interest in one another and wish to be together...along with their Honored Ancestors, of course.
Relationship Ideals
The ghosts of Honored Ancestors often raise children in the Cairnlands, serving as their primary caretakers. It's not uncommon for parents and children to have bonds, but to many in the culture, the living parents are seen to still lack the experience to raise the children on their own, as they are often busy following the commands of their Cairnlord. Living Cairnlanders of a Necropolis are all expected to serve their Cairnlord obediently and loyally. The Cairnlord, in turn, is expected to help guide them to a Worthy Death. A Cairnlord who throws away too many of his Cairnlanders wastefully may find himself being stripped of the power granted to him by the Honored Ancestors of his Necropolis.
Parent ethnicities
Related Locations
