Ælnean
Culture
Major language groups and dialects
Shared customary codes and values
Honor
Oaths. If you say you are going to do something, people will expect you to do it. This includes loyalty to one's liege-lord.
Protection. Those who protect, rather than destroy are looked favorably upon by the Ælneans. Nobles are expected to be able to protect their subjects, which they do through their armies, but a noble who personally protects others is one who is considered to be a good lord.
Personal achievement accumulates honor. Achievements regarded as beneficial to society, rather than selfish ambition.
Measurement of Honor: One's peers determine whether their actions are honorable or not. Ælneans dislike when someone gloats about how honorable they are, they see it as egotistical.
Strength
If you want to protect something, you will need the strength to do so.
Strength of arms--being a good warrior. Ælneans are under constant threat of the goblinoids in the Greenboro Mountains.
Power of Words. Ties in to honorable oaths. A person needs to have the strength to back up their oath to do something. Favor diplomacy when conflicts arise between peers. Escalations of interpersonal conflicts are viewed as a failing of one's ability to properly exhibit their conviction through their speech.
Common Dress code
Tunic
The tunic is the most widespread piece of clothing that an Ælnean wears. Tunics were either short or long. Short tunics can by worn by men of all classes, while longer tunics signified that the wear is a member of the higher classes. Particularly simple tunics, typically common amongst the peasants, have a simple hole in the fabric for the head, which more stylish and complex tunics opened a short distance from the neck, with hemming and laces to allow for adjustment of the tunic.
The sleeves of these tunics reach down to the knees in length, and when worn the sleeves are pulled up to create rucking on the forearm. The sleeves are made this long so that they can be pulled over the hands during winter to keep warm. For those than can afford it, the hem of the sleeves are decorated with embroidery and ornaments.
Many people pull their tunics through their girdle and let the fabric fall over it, making the waist more noticeable. When one is engaging in more physically strenuous actions, the right side of the tunic is pulled further up to give the bottom hem of the tunic a slant. This allows for a wider range of leg movement.
Mantles
Mantles are popular with Ælnean men and women. They were fastened at the chest, or on one or both shoulders with either a brooch or fibula, and sometimes a ring that the fabric is pulled up through is used to fasten the mantle. Brooches and fibulas are often custom made to the tastes of the wearer, and are often elaborate. In more recent years, these mantles have become decorated with hemming and artistic patterns, and are dyed in vibrant colors. People of high distinction, such as nobles, or even the elderly, wear longer mantles. The royal family possessing mantles that reach the ground, completely covering one's tunic.
Stockings
While all people wore short trousers that reach mid-thigh, members of the higher classers, notable nobles and artisans, also wore stockings. Most stockings reach up to just below the knee, though longer varieties that go beyond the knee and up into the thighs where the hems are hidden by the tunic are also quite commonplace.
The legs were further decorated with cross-gartering. The cross-garter was made out of either strips of cloth or leather that are bound round the leg up to the knees to form patterns. Nobles further decorate the cross gartering with ornaments and dye the cloth/leather.
Shoes
Ælnean shoes are simple low-cut shoes at the reach as high as the ankles. They were fastened either along the front of sides, and were worn among all classes of Ælneans. More elaborate shoes would have openings along the instep. Nobles personalize their shoes with studs from the toe to, and around, the ankle, or addes lace embroidery to them.
Common Customs, traditions and rituals
Blood Price
Ælneans understand that diplomacy does not always work out, and that feuds between families happen. Should some commit theft, or injury or murder someone, the victim's family or clan can demand a blood price. Blood prices are paid by the perpetrator or their family/clan as restitution to the victim's family/clan or owner of the stolen property. Every man, woman, and piece of property has an associated blood price, which varies on social status. A peasant has a blood-price of 2000 gold, any sort of artisan is worth 3000 gold, both knights and Baronets are worth 4000 gold, Barons or Baroness are worth 8000 gold, Earl are worth 16000 gold, and a King is worth 32,000 gold.Gift Giving
The Ælneans believe that loyalty is something that should be rewarded materially and so give gifts. Gift giving is most ideally portrayed in Ælean literature and art as the reciprocal gifting of wealth between a loyal knight and their sworn lord. Knights are expected to gift a portion of their wealth, particularly wealth that has been collected during a campaign, to their sworn lord as a sign of loyalty. In turn, the lord will reward the knight for this tribute by bestowing a part of his own wealth to the knight, typically a monetary reward or an item of value, such as a well-made weapon or piece of armor or even magical items. A lord who does not reward a knight for their service and loyalty is considered to be a poor lord to serve, and a knight who does not pay tribute to their lord is similarly viewed as a poor knight, regardless of their martial prowess.Birth & Baptismal Rites
Naming Ceremony
For Nobles.The parents of a newborn child, do not immediately name the child. Instead, they wait a few months to ensure that the baby is healthy and survives the earliest stages of development (child mortality high, especially during winter). Once the survivability is ensured, the parents conduct a naming ceremony which legitimizing the child and welcomes it into the family officially.
The nobles hire a druid to conduct the ceremony. This druid, often with the help of an assistant from their Circle, will be dressed in Green robes and cloak, and carrying a distaff in one hand. The attendant walks beside the Druid as she enters carrying a bowl of holy water. The two walk across the hall to the seat of the Father. Once in front of the seat, the mother will place the baby on the floor in front of the father as the Druid comes to a stop.
The druid then holds the distaff aloft with arms spread, and tells the father to sprinkle water on the baby's brow. The father, when presented the bowl, reaches his hand into the water and sprinkles it on the child's brow. As he does this act, he announces the child's name. After the name announcement, the Druid does a short ritualistic dance wherein the Druid is said to look into the tapestry of fate and as the dance comes to an end, the Druid gives the child's fortune.
For peasantsSince most peasants cannot afford to hire a Druid to conduct the naming ceremony as a noble would, they typically turn to the midwife to conduct the ceremony in a druid's stead. Water is drawn from the nearest source, such as a well or river. Depending on whether there are any seamstresses in their village, the midwife may or may not have a distaff; if not, she may opt to use a branch from a tree. However, despite these shortcomings in terms of props, the ceremony is conducted much the same as for a noble. However, the dance is less ritualistic and more entertaining, as other village members will often join in for the dance. A fortune is not told.
Funerary and Memorial customs
Burials
The most common funerary rite is the burial. Ælneans dig out graves of varaible size depending on class. Graves for peasants are often little more than a simple rectangular grave dug into the ground that will just fit the body. Those who die in combat or particularly honorable members of the community outside of the nobility will have larger graves into which the deceased's most valuable possessions are place into beside the body. In addition to having their valuables buried alongside them, nobles will often have their graves line with the frame of a ship, if not a complete one for nobles who own a ship. The deceased and his items are placed in the interior of the ship, which is then buried. More often than not, this forms a burial mound. Kings have particularly grand tombs. Great mounds into which a large ship is built are common. The ship is decorated with shields of families that swore fealty to the king (symbolizing that even the death of one's king does not end their oath to him.) Each family loyal to the King will place one item into the ship before it is buried, and a noteworthy servant who loyally attended to the king will be sacrificed and placed into the ship beside the king's body so that the servant may continue their loyal service of the king in the afterlife.Cremations
Cremations in Ælnean society take one of two forms: the pyre, and the burial at sea. The pyre is the form of cremation employed most by peasants and artisans. The body as well as an item of sentimental value to the deceased are placed onto a pile of wood. Oil is spread onto the pyre and then set. As the fire burns, mourners will often give eulogies, and once the burning is completed, so to is the time of mourning. A burial at sea is afforded to those who can afford to have a burial ship built for them. As with the grounded ship burials, the body and their most important possessions are placed onto the deck of the ship, and oil is spread. The ship is then pushed out to sea, and when it is far enough away from the shore or docks, an archer alights an arrow with fire and shoots it at the ship. Missing the ship is a great embarrassment for the archer appointed to fire, and missing the target more than three times is often taken as an insult by the family of the deceased.Common Taboos
Oathbreaking
To go against one's word is considered to be one of the gravest sins one can commit in Ælnean society. Those who break their oaths lose their honor in the eyes of the people, and depending to whom the oath was made, breaking it can result in exile, or for especially grave forms of oathbreaking, such as treason, result in in execution.
A knight who has pledged loyalty to a lord or king that outlives his liege-lord is considered an oathbreaker. This is so because a knight is expected to die in the service of their lord; so if the lord dies before the knight, he is thus unable to resolve his oath and therefore breaks it. Further, should the liege-lord die in battle, the sworn knight's survival is viewed as a failure to protect their lord. Such knights are exiled by their order, in the case of Paladins, or independent knights who were not brought up by some military order will enter into self-exile. The most grave of offenses that a knight can commit is to kill their liege, which will often result in their execution should it be made known, even if the revelation is made years after the deed.
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