Florestal: The People of The Old World & The Heartlands

From cuisine to fashion, Florestal is the leading nation in creation and innovation. The people of Florestal can generally be grouped into 3 main categories: Southern Old World, Central and Northern Old World, and Heartlanders.
People of The Southern Old World come from cities and towns like Barbaro, Delavige, Visentia, and the towns outside of Visentia. They tend to be quick-witted, crafty, and fashionably savvy. The average citizen's clothing varies. Most wear revealing clothing with bright colors and floral patterns due to the average temperature of Visentia being quite hot for a better part of the year. Ruffled collars, tunics, light coats, tights, wide-brim hats, and bicornes on men, whilst women tend to wear floral and pastel-colored dresses, corsets, cinchers, and head-scarves or felt and velvet hats. Artifice is a massive part of life in Visentia, for you can't go anywhere in the city without finding a tinkerer or their workshop. Many world-famous inventors live in the city and almost daily they find new ways to make life easier for the populous. Delavige is known as the capital of wine in Ordia, for vineyards stretch for well over a hundred miles across the somewhat rugged landscape.
The people of Central and Northern Old World are known to be hard-working and hearty. Despite their undeniable sense of fashion, they differ from Visentians when it comes to style and mannerisms, for these people are generally farmers, laborers, fishermen, and lumbermen. These people are from Challe, Oritt (Lake Marnet), Mocena, Ricoba, White Leaf, and River's Wheel. Men and women alike wear knee-high boots, felt shoes, coifs, doublets, light to heavy tunics, and hose. Women, however, are still most commonly seen in dresses and gowns. Varying on wealth, their clothing also has a wide variety of beautiful pastel colors. Varying between timid to incredibly cold, there is much variety from Lake Marnet to the Venezi Reaches. These areas are incredibly popular due to the unique climate that allows them to grow a variety of citrus fruits.
The Heartlanders are the outlier of the three. Resourceful and resilient, many Gentrovians insisted on keeping their land after having the countryside gifted to Florestal as a thank you for assisting during the Harushkan Wars)and becoming Florestinian citizens. The newcomers from the Old-World were happy to blend with them, sharing their culture, beliefs, and stories with the native people of the Heartlands as they worked together to regrow the scorched earth. Their clothing and stylings are known to be quite plain with simple colors, little to no patterns, and plenty of leather due to the vast amount of cattle that graze on the rolling hills. A simple people, the few large cities that are left in the Heartlands are bastions of blended culture, as too were the cities that once stood where the Ruins of Rosehill are today. They are known for cheese, wine, and exotic flowers that come from the city of Macento. Macento itself lay under a great aqueduct that is some of the last pieces of evidence of man-made leylines in Ordia.

Naming Traditions

Feminine names

Angela, Ghita, Isabetta, Joanna, Lucia, Samona, Veronica

Masculine names

Bernardo, Marto, Matteo, Roberto, Stefan, Tiaro, Vittorio

Family names

Noble Names: da Challe Fattore, da Vicé Abelli, d'Oritt Damiani, d'Rossi
The first part of a noble name da Vicé for example means "of Visentia" and the last name is their true surname. If they are to wed someone, they always keep the initial part, but change the actual surname. Da is used if the surname begins with a consonant and d' is used if it begins with a vowel. 
Common Last Names: Conti, Dorella, Luka, Maretti, Russo, d'Soricci
People who wed someone in their class typically combine last names. For example, Conti-Luka or Dorella-Soricci. People that wed someone above their class/station take their surname.

Culture

Major language groups and dialects

Ordian (Florestinian)

Culture and cultural heritage

Much of Florestal's culture is archaic; reminiscent of the civilization that once stood there before the Great Storm. Manners, architecture, and the matriarchy are all surviving philosophies of Talaj: a once-great civilization that had begun colonizing much of Northern Ordia (what Ordia was referred to as before the Storm) before its untimely collapse and destruction. Many Florestinians are descendants of the Matriarchy of Talaj, and just as many are descendants of Brish, the people native to the frontier of Northern Orda. Unlike Gentrov, Bharak-dur, and Sundervale, Florestal maintains the Talaji tradition of being a female-dominated society.

Shared customary codes and values

Values of the House of Sols and Duun

Average technological level

An inventor by the name of Selvi Harano recently invented the steam-powered engine.

Common Etiquette rules

Greetings involve handshakes and/or a kiss above the cheek.

Art & Architecture

Art: Dyes, painting, artifice, cooking, wine-making
Architechture: Pillars, arches, buttresses, stained-glass, golden embellishments, marble, granite, crystal, glass

Common Customs, traditions and rituals

There are many common customs in Florestal. Here are a few examples: permitting free bath and soap for travelers at inns and taverns, challenging someone to a duel by slapping them with one's glove, and removing your shoes or footwear before entering someone's home.

Funerary and Memorial customs

Florestinians tend to bury their dead.

Historical figures

Michele Carafa - rebuilt the House, re-founded the city of Marta, first pontiff of the House Madeleine Veneziano - established the borders of Florestal during the Treatise of Greyot Diana de Gila Montegu - first queen and tyrant of Florestal Giovanna da Marta Veneziano - first of the new dynasty of the queen, largely regarded as the finest ruler in Florestal's history Eros da Challe - first commander of the Regent's Watch, credited with adequately purging the Cult from Florestal for the first time in history but inadvertently began a witch hunt among the common folk Carina da Marta Veneziano - current queen. Largely hated for her declaration of war and refusal to concede

Ideals

Beauty Ideals

In upper-class society, being plump is considered attractive as well as having unblemished and unscarred skin.

Major organizations

Matriarchy of Florestal, Cult of The Dark Lady, Church of Suls and Duun.

by Sols

Styles of Men and Women's Clothing You Might Find in the Old World

Related Locations

• Ordia