Scytharian
Seal Hunters of the Frozen Ocean
Scytharian humans make up the overwhelming majority of the plebian class of Scytharia, forming a cultural symbiosis with the Bearfolk warrior culture. The culture also contains the occasional Khal'res immigrant or itinerant dwarven smith, but is human by a factor of at least 1000:1.
The humans of Scytharia are among the palest of Rhyduania. Hair color is almost always blonde, red or dark brown, and one color will usually heavily dominate the area around a particular village. A sizable portion of the population has black hair and darker skin, owing to descent from the people of Göthemir.
The majority of non-martial professions in Scytharian society are practiced by humans, whose manual dexterity far exceeds that of their Bearfolk neighbors. The typical Scytharian village is coastal, and during the short day is constantly bustling with the activity of fisherfolk and the tradespeople that support their craft. Some towns farther in from the coast focus on logging, and transporting the timber to the coast.
Bearfolk and human children are raised together in communal groups called sibkos, usually supervised by a human elder from the village. At age 15, children are moved from their sibko into apprenticeships with local tradespeople. A small few humans apprentice as warriors, serving as scouts and in spear formations that help funnel enemy movement into positions favorable to the bearfolk.
Culture
Common Dress code
Most Scytharian clothing is made from local hemp, or wool imported from the Karthin Cities. Some wool is harvested locally from wooly goats.
Clothing tends to be composed of multiple, loose layers. Outer layers are often dyed in solid colors, with reds, oranges and greens being most common due to availability and ease of use of the necessary pigments. Knotwork embroidery in the collars and hems is a widespread form of decoration. Woolen cloaks are almost ubiquitous, except for the absolute warmest months of the year.
Even in winter months, there's a substantial difference between a normal complement of clothes and deep winter gear worn outside the walls of a settlement. For venturing out into the snowy wilderness, layered fur coats, fur hats, and wool mittens become common place, and often go with a pair of snow shoes. Temperatures inside the walls are kept chilly but manageable by the many hearthfires burning in close proximity, but no such benefit exists outside.
Art & Architecture
Scytharian art is usually practiced in mediums that are practical, such as garments, or indelible, like stone carving or metal work. Paper is an almost unknown luxury to most Scytharians, and parchment is usually made with a purpose in mind beforehand. Visual themes include knotwork and other geometric patterns and stylized wildlife.
Tattooing is practiced, but not nearly to the extent that it is in @Normaer, and ink colors are limited.
The music of Scytharia typically features drone notes, complex harmonies, and story-telling lyrics. In collaborations with Bearfolk, the Bearfolk often fill-in percussive elements, like stomping or clapping.
Foods & Cuisine
Salted meats and fish, berries, mushrooms, boiled rumex seeds, skirret.
Ideals
Beauty Ideals
The people of Scytharia live in a land that requires constant hard work to survive, and their beauty standards reflect that. The most attractive people have bodies that sport the signs of constant toil: callused palms, muscular legs and arms, sturdy gait.
There is very little clothing that exists solely for its aesthetic value, and clothing designed for titillation via revealed flesh is completely unheard of. Shaving is almost completely nonexistant except in those settlements built around natural hot springs, where hot water is plentiful. Those capable of growing beards almost always do, and body hair is usually completely unchecked. With the exception of special events like weddings and coming of age rituals, almost all hair is worn in either short styles that stay out of the way, or kept in a single thick braid that can easily be placed down the back of a coat for safety.
Hygiene is heavily emphasized, with bathing any less often than once per week considered worthy of ridicule. Those towns which have hot springs within their borders generally have communal bathing areas and bathing is performed nearly daily by most people. Herbal soaps rendered from whale blubber are common and often carried in large amounts back to inland villages after their timber or ore has been dropped off. Hair brushes and combs are common items, and are frequently items of bespoke quality treated as family heirlooms.
Gender Ideals
Scytharian people have pretty much the same ideas as most human settlements of Rhyduania as far as which traits are feminine and which masculine, but worth noting is that the femininity of Scytharia is not a fragile sort. Scytharia is a hostile, rocky land, filled with predators and fed mostly by the sea. Women are armed just as often as men, and the culture does not create damsels who are frequently in distress. Nonbinary people are uncommon, but generally accepted. Trans people sometimes choose to make a journey to Nehemen to seek a permanent magical transition, but the journey is long and perilous, and few return.
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