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raygun goth
2015-11-16, 01:13 PM
This thread is for the listing of cultural quirks or behaviors that could be used alone or in conjunction to create new cultures.

Some starters!

→ Adults in this town wear a red patch of cloth on their shoulders, like a unit patch.

→ Nobody in this town disturbs weeds lower than a knee, except in the winter, when they dig them up and take them inside until the spring.
→ The colors red and purple in this culture are considered base and common.
→ In this culture, you must not throw away, bury, or cremate bones of any kind - animal and humanoid alike. They must be used for something.
→ In this culture, long hair is manly, and shaved heads are feminine. Beards are absolutely disgusting.
→ In this country, going outside before sunup is taboo.
→ The color of death in this culture is green.
→ Adults in this culture can't call themselves adults until they have been lead astray by a fey creature and found their way back home.
→ Sex is not taboo in this culture, and is common as shaking hands.
→ Wearing more clothing in this culture is considered more attractive.
→ Eyebrow piercings in this culture ward off evil magicians.
→ In this culture, there are two languages - one for adults, one for children. You must speak in the language of whomever you have addressed.
→ This is a holiday where people throw beans onto their roofs to bring good luck.
→ This is a holiday in which natural-born magic users are worshiped as flesh-manifested spiritual beings who have tragically lost their memory.
→ This is a holiday in which holy signs are drawn on the back of hands, and the people reenact creative acts associated with these gods.
→ This is a holiday in which local nonhumanoids are welcome to town and even celebrated.
→ This is a holiday in which the local people cook snakes, small birds, and other creatures found in the crop fields and offer them up to goblins.
→ This is a holiday in which goblins emerge from their hiding places and dance and sing in the streets. People take their dogs inside this night.
→ In this culture, the color orange is abhorrent and insulting.
→ In this culture, it is morally unacceptable to put a tattoo on your non-dominant arm. Scars are okay, though.
→ In this culture, it is morally unacceptable to get piercings after the age of twelve.
→ The colors black and yellow are extremely common and held in high esteem by this culture.

Segev
2015-11-16, 01:49 PM
→ Adults in this town wear a red patch of cloth on their shoulders, like a unit patch.Ages ago, it was a mark of shame: a sign of Orc blood that those with it were forced to wear in order to prevent their "unclean" kind from mixing unknown with the pureblooded half-elves that made up the town. It was strongly enforced, but the slight edge in fecundity, combined with a tendency for girls to prefer "bad boys" and a bit of a closed culture, meant that eventually, the vast majority of townsfolk wore it.

Because the tell-tale tusks didn't really grow in until baby teeth fell out, and then later and later as the blood got thinner, the patches were forced onto people as they reached puberty, which was also "adulthood."

Finally, they were so numerous (and so tired of being oppressed) that they started wearing them almost beligerantly, and when some of those who didn't need to wore them as marks of either solidarity or just to fit in, they were brutally put in their place. It wasn't THEIR mark. A dark period involved more than a few forced rapes and some murders, but normalcy was eventually restored (the majority of townsfolk, even with the red patches, were horrified)...and the patches stayed. They were, in a few more generations, just marks of adulthood. The tusks have even largely faded away, as people stopped worrying about whether they were there or not and new blood slowly trickled in.


→ The colors red and purple in this culture are considered base and common.Ironic, because the wealth of the region largely comes from the plentiful red and purple dyes they can produce from the fields of flowers that grow absolutely everywhere. Unfortunately, they're so great for dye-making because they stain EVERYTHING. And they are, in this region's climate, opportunistic weeds.

The poor carefully dye their clothing and paint their properties in patterns of red and purple to minimize the appearance of messiness. Only the well-off can afford "indoor clothes" of white or other colors, which they keep carefully clear of the winds that blow dark-pinkish in off the fields; even they wear "outer coats" in the common, base colors to protect such finery. The very wealthy buy magically-protected fabrics which shed all stains; it's the mark of highest ostentation to have a brown and white garment that bears nary a tint of rouge or violet.


→ In this culture, you must not throw away, bury, or cremate bones of any kind - animal and humanoid alike. They must be used for something.The local cult is to a god of death and judgment. Burying the bones or scarring them with fire is seen as trying to hide their lives - which are said to be written in the cracks thereof - from his divine judgment. The least-respected are turned over to the clergy, to be animated as skeletons, that they may be put to gainful labor that they clearly failed in life; being put to ornamental, utilitarian use is a chance to stay with your family, be of use to them, and be at rest. What your bones become is a part of your legacy from your life, and must be approved by the cleric giving you your eternal rites.


→ In this country, going outside before sunup is taboo.The vile Night God is strongest just before the dawn, and may or may not sic vampires on those who are out in his domain. (Historically, a problem with vampire predation may have been an issue; it may or may not still be, but probably isn't quite as strongly so, or people would mention it more.)


→ The color of death in this culture is green.The nearby bog spumes a poisonous green gas into the atmosphere. Heavier than air, the village is built on stilts anyway and up on hills, so when the bog reaches out, it billows and coils beneath. The color is deadly, and so is associated with death.

→ Adults in this culture can't call themselves adults until they have been lead astray by a fey creature and found their way back home.The fey have set themselves up as a sort of shamanistic cult-focus. It's not "being led astray;" it's "being chosen for your adult's trial."

TheIronGolem
2015-11-16, 06:38 PM
A few things from various cultures in my homebrew setting:


White clothing is not for the living, it's exclusively for the mindless undead who perform most of the manual labor.
Related to the above, the undead are not people, but they are symbols of the people they once were. Damaging them or allowing them to fall into rot or disrepair is very low-class and uncouth.
Electricity in all forms is viewed with fear and superstition, and employing it in battle for any reason is considered morally and legally abhorrent, on par with most of the real world's view on chemical/biological weapons.
Eating is socially similar to using the bathroom - extremely vulgar to do in public, and creepy to watch someone else doing.
Leaving flowers on someone's doorstep is a threatening act, with the particular type of flower representing the type of act being threatened (red flowers for violence, white for humiliation, blue for financial ruin, etc).
Expressing agreement with someone (if not directly asked for your opinion) is a gesture of contempt, because it is taken as an implication that they are so rarely worth listening to that it's noteworthy for them to have a good idea.
Professions that use tools and weapons are masculine, professions that make tools and weapons are feminine.

TeChameleon
2015-11-16, 07:54 PM
→ This is a holiday where people throw beans onto their roofs to bring good luck.
... I initially read this as 'a holiday where people throw bears onto their roofs to bring good luck'. That would have to be one hell of a party.

And, just so I'm actually contributing something other than bizarre and hilarious misreadings, one from the campaign I'm currently a player in-

→ In this culture, arcane magic is almost non-existent, and the rare few that are born with it are considered to be gifted by the gods, and are brought up in the temples (the practical upshot being that you can only access arcane magic via multiclassing/hybridizing a sorceror with a divine caster).

Mr. Mask
2015-11-16, 09:51 PM
~Every winter, a virgin is tied to a tree in the forest as a sacrifice to the animals and gods there. This protects the village until the next winter.

~There are piercing contests held annually as a way of celebrating the gods. Some of them involve strings of thorns through private places.

~An important religious ceremony involves the god of hernias. He must be appeased before every major construction project, and money must be given to the priests so they can support those workers who are injured by such.

~The priests of this town will go door to door to ask for donations of food or money so that they can eat. If you refuse, they come back with weapons.

~Children are tasked to survive one night outside of shelter in the cold summer. If the live, then they bring good luck to their family.

~Children must prove their ability with a sling. They are not given bread until they can hit it with a sling stone.

~Children born with red hair will become vampires when they die, and so have rites performed at their funerals in this village.

~Vegetables must be harvested within a fortnight after becoming ripe, or else they'll die and become vampires, attempting to drink the blood of any who come near.

~The villages leaders are preserved and mummified upon death so that they can continue their wise rule. The priests and current leader will then go and perform rites, so that they can hear and obey the instructions of the dead.

~Ranged weapons have a test they must go through by the priest. They are given silver ammo with holy symbols. If they cannot hit their mark with this blessing, then the weapon is possessed by evil spirits.

~Girls make dolls of their elder siblings and their siblings' fiancées. When their siblings get married, the dolls are kept on an altar of protection for the couple.

~Insects have a good half and a bad half. If the bad half contaminates something, it can be cleansed with the good half.

~Great men in this city get free lunch, every day.

~This band is lead by a holy goose, who will give them victory in battle against a great evil.

~Liars are looked down on in this region. They must choose between swallowing a thousand needles, or being cut by a thousand blades.

~Travellers are required to prove they are wise before they may leave their village, and must answer the traveller's riddle.

~Cats are given great respect in this culture, and anyone who harms them are in danger from the masses.

goto124
2015-11-17, 01:28 AM
- When twins are born, the second to be born is a demon and must be killed.

- 'Experienced' women are preferred over virgins for sacrifice (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0554.html) (panel 4).

- Penguins are a sign of prosperity, good luck, and humor.
I love penguins 🐧🐧

Milodiah
2015-11-17, 02:07 AM
A personal favorite of mine:


The proper way to challenge someone to a duel over a perceived slight:
The offended party requests the transgressor to rescind his/her statements.
If they do not, the offended party punches them in the gut; it is considered cowardice to block or dodge.
The offended party asks again, and punches them in the gut again if he/she does not rescind.
Only then is a duel with potentially lethal weapons declared; if one cannot take two punches in upholding one's statement, then they are certainly not worth a duel.

Seto
2015-11-17, 06:35 AM
A few ones from my setting as well :

- In this country, slavery is absolutely taboo due to historical reasons. Slavers are killed on sight.
- On this island, when somebody dies, people honor them by consuming their roasted remains. The more important and respected the person, the more people come to the funeral banquet. Your proximity with the deceased determines what you'll be eating (genitalia are reserved for the spouse and children, for symbolic reasons).
- In this elven nation living in the forest, all nobility and military are given a magic ring that lets them move unimpeded at full speed through difficult forest terrain.
- In this arctic country, common contests for dominance in the tribe involve martial confrontation, duel of wills by sitting almost naked in the snow, or fishing contests.
- In this Drow society, every six years an assembly of those in power votes someone (everyone is an eligible target) to be fed to a gigantic sacred scorpion. It helps regulate the game of politics.

FlumphPaladin
2015-11-17, 08:56 AM
I can only think of a couple that I've taken a shine to, but I'll definitely use this thread a lot.


In this kobold tribe, tribesmen of a similar age call each other "brother" and "sister," with an age difference of a generation "father/mother" and "son/daughter," and with more "grandfather/grandmother" and "grandson/granddaughter."
Members of this tribe will not eat anything unless they have received it from the hand of another kobold. The only exception is when the kobold is alone.

Kitten Champion
2015-11-17, 09:39 AM
In this island empire, the colour of one's clothes expresses one's political viewpoints based on the noble houses traditionally understood political perspectives and representative colour. Based on this language, the degree to which colours are mixed & matched and what article of clothing is chosen for what can express elaborate political messages to someone fluent in the countries' politics, while everyone wears some black & white in allegiance to the countries' Empress and faith respectively. Foreigners unaware of what signal they're projecting can be targets for violence and suspicion of treason at the worst, or if they're lucky earn good will unknowingly.

In this Northern kingdom, due to longstanding history of Lycanthropes, inns offer free bed and a meal to travellers and local vagrants during a full moon - keeping the wine and song going as late into the night as possible. It's common practice to hang fresh belladonna in the window, and gift a silver coin upon the birth of a child.

In a distant nation, after a peasant revolt, only weapons which are based on farming/labour implements are considered worthy of admiration while weapons such as swords and spears are derided as pompous and impractical.

In the famed playhouses of a rich city-state, it's a common practice for plays to be given to other playwrights to compose several possible conclusions before the play is actually finished, while the last one is to be written by the original author and is considered the "true" ending. Patrons often return to see the same play repeatedly as the production shuffles in different endings into each of their performances in order to experience them all and judge - often over wine - which was the genuine article.

AceOfFools
2015-11-17, 09:52 AM
--Hair length is a legally enforced symbol of social status. A peasant or foreign commoner with long hair risks a beating and a haircut.
--Names are reserved only for family or intimate relations. Most people are refered to by their profession or a promenent physical feature.
--Everyone, regardless of rank, wealth or social status has a pet dog that accompanies them everywhere at all times.

Mr. Mask
2015-11-17, 11:28 PM
Milodiah: Interestingly, in Feudal Japan, raising your hand against a samurai would likely result in them cutting you down there and then. It would be considered justification for kiri-sute gomen, the right to cut someone down who has offended their honour (if they get this wrong, they can be executed). Another interesting thing, is two samurai were killed for brawling with bare hands (it wasn't to the death, and it was in a fairly public place out the front gate where they made a scene, so they had to kill themselves).

And of course there have been all kinds of duelling etiquette. One other form of humiliation is to ambush someone who refused to duel you then whip them with your belt--a servant is allowed to help you in this process as the other person refused to duel you. One good location to do this was just after they came out of church, so many will be there to see it. Throwing gloves was popular among gentlemen, where picking it up was acceptance of the challenge (slapping them with the glove, I think, was not proper etiquette but a way of antagonizing the target).

To be honest, if they can't put a man down in two unguarded strikes to the body, they're probably not worth duelling.



Goto: Advantage of virgins is it means they have no husband or children who'll miss them. That is probably the reason for the tradition.

goto124
2015-11-17, 11:53 PM
In a society that allowed females to 'deflower' only after marriage, apparentally?

Mr. Mask
2015-11-18, 12:19 AM
Well, if you're saying you have a case that proves otherwise, I'll be interested to hear it. Say, from a textbook or a history instructor in college? I have not been taught what you describe by either.

Marlowe
2015-11-18, 01:43 AM
-The culture finds the idea of sacrificing young people rather silly, but does make a point of, when a person has become too old and infirm to work, to throw them a huge party, slip hemlock in their drink, and raise their corpse as a skeleton to serve their family as a servant and guard.

-Aforesaid skeletons are still treated with a certain dignity. They did used to be grandma, after all. Having your house-skeles shined, nicely equipped, and richly clothed is just manners. In the event of guests you're expected to be able to tell the life story of all your family undead, preferably with amusing embellishments.

-The most popular hobby for the younger people is to sneak out and rescue the virgins (or more experienced girls) that everyone else seems obsessed with sacrificing. Waste not.

GorinichSerpant
2015-11-18, 02:03 AM
-The most popular hobby for the younger people is to sneak out and rescue the virgins (or more experienced girls) that everyone else seems obsessed with sacrificing. Waste not.

I'm not sure how my mind came to this, but I'm imagining two competing cults. One tries to sacrifice virgins, the other save them. It's gotten to the point where the dark gods that started the sacrificing cult have died out do to lack of worship and/or virgins and the two groups stopped really caring about the virgins as well. And they are simply trying to antagonise each other as much as possible.

Mr. Mask
2015-11-18, 02:49 AM
You can't really make a tradition out of that. You only need to be caught doing it once before it's considered sacrilege, and an act of war (and when the druids don't find the remains, they'll know something is up). Even the sacrifice mightn't be willing to comply, as her death was meant to protect her village (and intervening in the ritual may be considered to have undesirable consequences). Many sacrificial victims undergo some training and ceremony in relation to their duty, and some volunteer (look up the letter of Ahmad ibn Fadlan, for the only personal account we have of a human sacrifice, though we know a lot about several rituals from archaeological finds).

It'd be unusual for the elders to be secretly given the poison. Normally, they'd take it willingly as part of the ceremony to become the undead guardian of her family and to remove the pains of flesh and such. There are a couple of traditions I can think of that have that element of trickery, but a major passage into a higher or lower form like that would either be delivered violently against (aka: you kidnap your cousin's grandma and kill her so that SHE has to be the undead grandma, instead of your one) or for (people kill each other for the right to become undead), or through ceremony as an expected transition in life.

It's also rather unusual for an elder to be made a servant when undead. A lot of societies are tribal in nature, respecting the elderly. And them transcending into an older stage should be considered an upgrade in status, not a downgrade. Unless she was a slave in life, and was made undead at the behest of her master so she could keep on serving, then you would get an upgrade in status while still being a servant. Now, being important doesn't mean she won't work--everyone has to work as part of a rural village. But even if she spins thread or helps tend the fields, she'll be senior to the younger women who do so (lest they're part of a more important family).

TheIronGolem
2015-11-18, 04:05 PM
It's also rather unusual for an elder to be made a servant when undead. A lot of societies are tribal in nature, respecting the elderly. And them transcending into an older stage should be considered an upgrade in status, not a downgrade. Unless she was a slave in life, and was made undead at the behest of her master so she could keep on serving, then you would get an upgrade in status while still being a servant. Now, being important doesn't mean she won't work--everyone has to work as part of a rural village. But even if she spins thread or helps tend the fields, she'll be senior to the younger women who do so (lest they're part of a more important family).

If their undead-friendly culture is anything like mine, the people in it probably don't see your body as you. It's just a meat suit you ride around in for a few decades and then bequeath to your family upon your death just like the rest of your stuff. It's still symbolic of you so it should be properly maintained out of respect. But ultimately, it's still just an object, and using it for housework is no more disrespectful than running errands in the car you inherited from your deceased parents.

Mr. Mask
2015-11-18, 04:27 PM
From what I understood, we were talking about intelligent undead who retained their memories and personalities. In the case of a mindless zombie, it depends on the culture. The origin of the zombie from Haitian folklore, they were pretty concerned if they were any relation to the unfortunate individual. Egyptian culture maintained that the body was necessary to reach the afterlife, as do many other cultures. I'm not so familiar with cultures that have no regard for bodies. There are a few that practice endocannibalism as part of mourning and the funeral ceremony, and they'd be pretty disturbed to see their relatives walking about and tilling fields. I'd be interested to hear about your culture.

For that matter, having a corpse as a servant would be a bubonic nightmare. A skeleton with bleached bones might work, but any kind of zombie servant that decomposes will end up killing the village long before it becomes tradition.

Marlowe
2015-11-18, 06:11 PM
-"HEY, Dmitri!"

"Yeah, Sviataslav?"

-"Good work with last week with rescuing that young lady from across the river; but-"

"I know I know. She's already been caught in the hayloft with three different grooms. I'm starting to wonder about her virginatorial status."

-"Let's remember that in many cultures the word "virgin" simply means a young, unmarried woman; sexual experience notwithstanding. Why in German the cognate is simple "Jungfrau".

"Fine. Let's hope she settles down once she's got over being tied to a tree. Unless she decides she likes it that way."

-"It seems possible. Anyway, that lot across the river have sent a letter of protest asking that she be returned, and calling our customs "unnatural and abominable".

"AGAIN? They're the ones who keeping binding their young ladies to trees! What's with that? If it was people of any age and gender I could maybe see, but just the young ladies? They got issues. Anyway, let them complain all they like. We're the ones with the army of Undead, right?"

-"Yeah, so I told them to get bent. In any event, you'd better find some wire for Great-Aunt Tatiana's arm. Sergei sent her out cutting wood and seems her joints aren't what they used to be-"

"He didn't fix her up himself? Young jackanapes! I'll tan his hide!"

Mr. Mask
2015-11-18, 07:18 PM
A more accurate conversation would be, "...Where's Dimitri? ...Oh gods." When you find what the druids did to the poor guy. They were by no means dumb villains you could play around with. They were, in fact, very skilled woodsmen and ambushers. So if you dare to sneak around their settlement in small groups, you're going to give them new sacrifices (burning was the popular method). I wouldn't bet much on the ability of the zombie grannies, either. The Romans had trouble with the druids, as they were good at setting those traps and hill forts. So you'd mostly have to wage a defensive war with your undead garrison--and if you're ever forced to squash into a hill fort with the undead, you will die of plague within the week (and without the undead, I don't count much on the people who need zombie grannies for labour).

Of course, I've heard little about this prospective village culture. Maybe they're like the vikings, similarly savage but adept fighters and seamen (also liked to sacrifice women, and sometimes slaves when their masters died). If so, then you could try going to war with the druids--but it better be for more than saving one person who may or may not want to be saved (because, again, curse on family and family getting killed in war).

Marlowe
2015-11-18, 07:37 PM
Someone REALLY has a hard-on for sacrificing young women, don't they?

'K, some points. Yuu're doing a pretty standard thing of turning your favoured culture into a complete Sue, with whatever powers or skills required to impose their own fetishes over others, and you're making some very basic factual errors.

There's no evidence the Romans had any trouble with Druids, because aside from a few pages in Caesar there is no evidence that Druids even existed. Those few pages are often regarded as being simply propaganda by Caesar to justify his own campaign against the Gauls, aren't backed up by any other contemporary source, and don't square with what we know of Celtic religion.

I like the way you keep writing "zombie" and make objections based on that when I specifically said "skeleton" precisely for the considerations you've outlined.

Adeon Hawkwood
2015-11-18, 07:42 PM
You can't really make a tradition out of that. You only need to be caught doing it once before it's considered sacrilege, and an act of war (and when the druids don't find the remains, they'll know something is up). Even the sacrifice mightn't be willing to comply, as her death was meant to protect her village (and intervening in the ritual may be considered to have undesirable consequences).
A possible option for it being a tradition is that actually sacrificing virgins dropped out of fashion (possibly due to someone saving one and then organizing a revolt against the practice) but rescuing virgin sacrifices became a standard pre-wedding tradition. So on their wedding night girls (or guys if you want a gender-flip on the tradition) are tied up in the forest and their fiance sneaks out after dark to rescue them. The two of them then spend the night in the forest and come back early the next morning for the wedding (after ummmm... pre-consummating it). It is of course incredibly embarrassing if the rescuer gets caught during the rescue and even more embarrassing if the sacrifice gets rescued by the wrong person or worse doesn't get rescued.

JoeJ
2015-11-18, 07:45 PM
-- In this warrior society, friendly visitors to a village are expected to enter one at a time in full battle regalia and do a war dance in the village center, screaming and brandishing their weapons, while the villagers complement the visitors on how fierce they look.

-- Another society is ruled by a council of priests. Because these men and women are holy, they must never be angry or disaster might result. Therefore, the ruling council is never asked to decide any issue unless it is already known there will be unanimous agreement.

-- Anytime there is a major celebration in this society, one of the events is always a duel between all the spellcasters in town, with people betting heavily on the result. It is not usually to the death, however that is an occasional result.

Mr. Mask
2015-11-18, 08:04 PM
A possible option for it being a tradition is that actually sacrificing virgins dropped out of fashion (possibly due to someone saving one and then organizing a revolt against the practice) but rescuing virgin sacrifices became a standard pre-wedding tradition. So on their wedding night girls (or guys if you want a gender-flip on the tradition) are tied up in the forest and their fiance sneaks out after dark to rescue them. The two of them then spend the night in the forest and come back early the next morning for the wedding (after ummmm... pre-consummating it). It is of course incredibly embarrassing if the rescuer gets caught during the rescue and even more embarrassing if the sacrifice gets rescued by the wrong person or worse doesn't get rescued. Mm, that'd work.



Someone REALLY has a hard-on for sacrificing young women, don't they?

[...]with whatever powers or skills required to impose their own fetishes over others[...] I'm disgusted you would sink to such an insult. I enjoy humans being sacrificed? I would like you to apologize.

Marlowe
2015-11-18, 09:11 PM
Mm, that'd work.


I'm disgusted you would sink to such an insult. I enjoy humans being sacrificed? I would like you to apologize.

And I would like you to stop swinging the conversation back to obsessing on this objectional subject with the inevitablity of a pendulum, and then justifying it with pseudohistorical garbage. But we can't get everything we want in life.

Mr. Mask
2015-11-18, 09:22 PM
You complete hypocrite. If you had said you were uncomfortable discussing it, I would've agreed to not. Instead, you swung the conversation back that way, and insulted me when things weren't going your way. Your behaviour is disgusting, and I will henceforth ignore you until you apologize for accusing me of enjoying people dying.

Mr. Mask
2015-11-18, 09:54 PM
-- In this warrior society, friendly visitors to a village are expected to enter one at a time in full battle regalia and do a war dance in the village center, screaming and brandishing their weapons, while the villagers complement the visitors on how fierce they look.

-- Another society is ruled by a council of priests. Because these men and women are holy, they must never be angry or disaster might result. Therefore, the ruling council is never asked to decide any issue unless it is already known there will be unanimous agreement.

-- Anytime there is a major celebration in this society, one of the events is always a duel between all the spellcasters in town, with people betting heavily on the result. It is not usually to the death, however that is an occasional result. These are good. They reminded me of a couple of others.


~ The well-being of the leader effects the state of everything. The leader spends every day performing ceremonies of purification for the sake of the nation.

~ Visitors are told to stand without moving as a priest tests them to see if their spirit is strong. The priest shouts and brandishes a weapon, performing with it near the visitor. If the visitor does not flinch from the priest's spirits, the visitor is welcomed. If not, they must come again after training.

~ Special coins are minted in honour of great victories and conquests. If the land comes under a new ruler, they receive the coins.

The Bandicoot
2015-11-18, 09:59 PM
A culture in which any and all public disagreements must end with a fight to the death.

Mr. Mask
2015-11-18, 10:03 PM
So, the renaissance?

I think the slightest reason I had heard for starting a duel was an argument about pigeons. A literal argument about pigeons!

goto124
2015-11-19, 12:17 AM
A culture in which any and all public disagreements must end with a fight to the death.


I think the slightest reason I had heard for starting a duel was an argument about pigeons. A literal argument about pigeons!

- All public disagreements must end with the death of at least one pigeon.

I'll see myself out.

YossarianLives
2015-11-19, 12:39 AM
-A pacifistic but very liberal and artistic culture where all major debates are solved via dance-battle.

-Shoes of any sort are only for the poor. The royalties feet never touch the ground, they are carried everywhere by a host of servants.

-The bodies of the dead are carelessly discarded with the exception of the skulls. These are kept in a huge vault beneath the royal palace. This tradition has been strictly followed for hundreds of years resulting in millions of skulls being stored in said vault. This practice started when a powerful group of mindflayers invaded the kingdom long ago. The fiends began converting the corpses of the dead into their own kind resulting in thousands of the abominations nearly overwhelming the realm. When the mindflayers were finally vanquished the tradition was started to prevent the repetition of such an event.

Mr. Mask
2015-11-19, 12:43 AM
- All public disagreements must end with the death of at least one pigeon.

I'll see myself out. :smallbiggrin:

No, no, stay. I want to hear more!


-A pacifistic but very liberal and artistic culture where all major debates are solved via dance-battle.

~A popular form of punishment in a town is being forced to wear a medallion for a length of time. While wearing this medallion, you may only communicate through interpretive dance. Breaking this rule involves rotten vegetables and catching greased-pigs in their pens.

Marlowe
2015-11-19, 01:13 AM
-A culture in which the landed gentry amuse themselves by camping bridges and preventing travellers from crossing unless said traveller can either best them in single combat or tell a really funny joke.

EDIT: Mr Mask. "Hypocrite" means "one who pretends to have principles that he in actuality lacks". It does not mean "Hinting to you that maybe your posts are skirting the edge of what's in good taste rather than telling you directly". It most certainly does not mean "Responding to you, using highly questionable logic and spurious assumptions, attacking their own posts".

However, it seems pointless to criticize you for this, since the meaning of the word is plainly only one of many things that you do not know.

However, thank you for your promise of silence toward me. I shall hold you to it.

Mr. Mask
2015-11-19, 01:52 AM
~Illegitimate children are given sir-names based off the land they're born in, rather than from their father. John Snow (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLpzHHbFrHY), for instance.

~Criminals may choose to serve at sea as sailors the wall in repentance of their crimes. Or, maybe you could allow them to go on pilgrimage as penance.

~Every summer, the people get weapons and go off to play mercenaries, then come back to do their boring jobs in the winter.

~Hunting pigs is the rite of passage for an adult.

~The nobles grow absurdly long nails to show they don't do any manual labour.

goto124
2015-11-19, 02:09 AM
How do the nobles write? Do they order their servants?

How about using utensils to eat? Do their servants feed them?

Mr. Mask
2015-11-19, 02:13 AM
Always wondered that myself. You can do a lot with pretty long nails--but some of the nails were apparently freakish long.

Oh, a better one was the king who grew his toenails till they curled, then had them cut off, polished and decorated with gems. He then sent them to his friends as gifts.

Fiery Diamond
2015-11-19, 02:22 AM
A lot of these are really cool!

-In this culture, giving a direct compliment to someone is considered extremely inappropriate. If you are a stranger, it implies a level of familiarity that is uncomfortable to the complimented individual - you cannot judge someone, even positively, if you do not know them. If you are a friend or acquaintance, it is feared that you will either give the target a big head (if they agree with the compliment) or give them a sense of pressure to fulfill expectations in the future (if they don't agree). If you are family, you should be able to communicate your opinion about whatever you felt like complimenting without saying anything because family should be close enough to understand one another's thoughts. The proper thing to do is frame a compliment in terms of the speaker's subjective experience: instead of "You play the violin beautifully," it is "I enjoyed listening to the violin music."

-In this town, everyone wears jewelry at all times. Children are given a piece in a ceremony days after birth - this is crafted by the priests and is designed based on divination predicting the child's future. When they reach the age of 5, they receive another, this one made by their parents as a sign of family. When they reach puberty, they undergo a ritual that involves making a third piece themselves; this reflects their individuality. When they marry, the multi-day wedding ceremony involves a paired set (often rings, but sometimes earrings or necklaces) that is created in a collaboration by the two and blessed by a priest; it represents the bond the two share. When they retire to be cared for by their descendants, their families make an especially ornate piece that signifies the respect and love for the venerable family member. Wearing any jewelry except from the aforementioned is taboo and will result in banishment from the town on the second offense. Wearing the jewelry of someone else is a capital crime and punishable by death.

-In the same town, the dead are cremated and their ashes kept in urns in the family household. The urns are large and have a number of protrusions on which to hang the jewelry of the deceased. Every year there is a holiday on which the jewelry of deceased family members is removed and cleaned in priest-blessed waters as a symbol of honor for those who have passed.

Mr. Mask
2015-11-19, 02:36 AM
~All compliments in this culture should be met with self berating. If someone says you are good at X, you insist you are only a little practised with X and still have a long way to go.

~Children have tight bands wrapped on their heads, so as to elongate them and give them a more noble countenance.

~For the first week after death, the deceased has at least his hand exposed so people can come and shake his hand. Many have adopted special gloves for these handshakes, which are used only for this purpose.

~In hunting, the first one to wound an animal has claim to it, and his claim lasts until three days since it was wounded, or until he leaves the forest.

JoeJ
2015-11-19, 02:48 AM
-- Hunters are forbidden to eat anything they have killed. Their kills are instead divided up among others in the extended family, with each portion assigned to a particular relative.

-- It is forbidden to mention the name of any person who has died. If two people have the same name and one of them dies, the other will immediately change their name.

PersonMan
2015-11-19, 06:02 AM
-- It is forbidden to mention the name of any person who has died. If two people have the same name and one of them dies, the other will immediately change their name.

Wouldn't this only work with a really small group, for a short time? You'd start running out of names pretty quickly.

I imagine the village where everyone's name is something like JohnSmithBob, to avoid naming the dead, would be memorable, though...

AceOfFools
2015-11-19, 08:25 AM
--Wealth is considered shameful, and people go out of their way to hide the amount of money they have and avoid outward signs of wealth. People still work towards wealth (it is useful), but they try to hide any successes

--The rulling council counts vote by dice. Every time a vote is called, a councilor rolls a white die for yes or a red die for no, and whichever has the highest total is enacted.

--It is considered extremely rude to talk and eat at the same time. All meals are consumed in complete silence, or with instrumental music provide by people who are not sharing the meal.

Segev
2015-11-19, 05:11 PM
- Hearing a voice that you cannot identify the speaker of is considered extremely bad luck; who knows what it was that spoke? For this reason, speaking in the dark is considered EXTREMELY taboo.

- Since the left hand is the unclean hand, those who are left-handed are socially expected to be "sinistrous." Manners are inverted for them. A left-handed person who offers insult and plots sneaky pranks is showing affection. Politeness and helpfulness are signs of insult and contempt. The most lauded form of graciousness from a "leftie" is a very cleverly-worded back-handed compliment, which seems rude by cultural expectation of leftie behavior due to its overt politeness, but regains its "leftie" politeness by its subtle barb. It is believed that encouraging those with the sinister side dominant to behave in this fashion will trick the unclean spirits within into purifying themselves.

- Social status is inversely proportional to beauty. The lowest class, who are serfs and slaves, are the most beautiful. For this reason, the highest-status people wear the most all-concealing clothing, to hide their ugliness, with less clothing also indicating more status. Every now and again, a noble might be revealed to be more attractive than their level of concealment requires, and be cast down in status immediately as a result. Intentional marring of personal beauty is considered execution-worthy, though accidental injury that does so is considered a mark of divine favor and results in immediate increase in status.

Kane0
2015-11-19, 05:38 PM
A lot of these are really cool!
-In this town, everyone wears jewelry at all times. Children are given a piece in a ceremony days after birth - this is crafted by the priests and is designed based on divination predicting the child's future. When they reach the age of 5, they receive another, this one made by their parents as a sign of family. When they reach puberty, they undergo a ritual that involves making a third piece themselves; this reflects their individuality. When they marry, the multi-day wedding ceremony involves a paired set (often rings, but sometimes earrings or necklaces) that is created in a collaboration by the two and blessed by a priest; it represents the bond the two share. When they retire to be cared for by their descendants, their families make an especially ornate piece that signifies the respect and love for the venerable family member. Wearing any jewelry except from the aforementioned is taboo and will result in banishment from the town on the second offense. Wearing the jewelry of someone else is a capital crime and punishable by death.

-In the same town, the dead are cremated and their ashes kept in urns in the family household. The urns are large and have a number of protrusions on which to hang the jewelry of the deceased. Every year there is a holiday on which the jewelry of deceased family members is removed and cleaned in priest-blessed waters as a symbol of honor for those who have passed.

This is absolute gold. I can just imagine a party staying in town for a few days and ogling all the valuables just going to waste.

Adeon Hawkwood
2015-11-19, 07:35 PM
~All compliments in this culture should be met with self berating. If someone says you are good at X, you insist you are only a little practised with X and still have a long way to go.
So basically the English?

goto124
2015-11-19, 07:39 PM
I thought it seemed Japanese. Then again I'm not well-versed in culture.

GorinichSerpant
2015-11-19, 09:51 PM
On a similar note, in Russia people who give praise to their own abilities are considered incompetent, and those who speak modestly are expected to be very good at what they do.

Segev
2015-11-20, 01:38 PM
On a similar note, in Russia people who give praise to their own abilities are considered incompetent, and those who speak modestly are expected to be very good at what they do.

Serious question, since there are a number of ways to approach this nuance: How do you sincerely express that you are not good at something, so that people will not expect you to be good at it and ask you to do it when somebody else would be better?

e.g., if you could burn water, how do you make sure you're not given cooking duties when your party is camping out? Especially if your buddy can make a gourmet meal with spam and a knife?

Gravitron5000
2015-11-20, 02:47 PM
Serious question, since there are a number of ways to approach this nuance: How do you sincerely express that you are not good at something, so that people will not expect you to be good at it and ask you to do it when somebody else would be better?

e.g., if you could burn water, how do you make sure you're not given cooking duties when your party is camping out? Especially if your buddy can make a gourmet meal with spam and a knife?

I don't mean to interrupt, but I am the best cook of all time! OF ALL TIME!

GorinichSerpant
2015-11-20, 02:55 PM
Serious question, since there are a number of ways to approach this nuance: How do you sincerely express that you are not good at something, so that people will not expect you to be good at it and ask you to do it when somebody else would be better?

e.g., if you could burn water, how do you make sure you're not given cooking duties when your party is camping out? Especially if your buddy can make a gourmet meal with spam and a knife?

I think body language and the way in which you say it probably matter. I'm not actually sure about this...

JoeJ
2015-11-20, 03:10 PM
Wouldn't this only work with a really small group, for a short time? You'd start running out of names pretty quickly.

I imagine the village where everyone's name is something like JohnSmithBob, to avoid naming the dead, would be memorable, though...

It would work for a village of several hundred at least. Recycling of names would occur as long as they aren't written down (which is necessarily the case if the society doesn't have a written language). As soon as everybody who knew a particular person is dead there will be no memory that their name had ever been used at all.

Names in this society would obviously not be passed down or come from any culturally defined "set." People are named for plants, animals, and natural phenomena, or for noticeable physical or personality traits, or possibly just meaningless sounds that their parents liked.

It's also possible that everybody has multiple names, and only one of them stops being used when the possessor dies.

Mr. Mask
2015-11-20, 04:40 PM
Still, their filing and ID systems will go through heck.

goto124
2015-11-20, 09:30 PM
That quirk would die out when writing begins...

Marlowe
2015-11-20, 09:53 PM
Everybody in the town is named "Bruce Johnson", probably after some legendary founder. The locals have come to differentiate which "Bruce Johnson" they're talking about at any one time with tiny shifts of inflection and body language. Outsiders find this ludicrously confusing.

The culture eats hot spicy food in Summer and cold food in winter. They're unable to explain why.

The culture has no towns as such, instead clusters of family groups form tight alliances lasting generations, living together in fortified compounds from which they practice herding and cattle rustling. Feuds between family alliances are ubiquitous, while violence being members of allied families is considered anathema.

In another culture, feuds between individuals are resolved not by dueling or violence but by covertly delivering surprise gifts of flowers, chocolates and the like to the enemies loved ones. The winner of the duel is considered to that who finds the most ingenious way to sneak the most thoughtful gift into the most heavily guarded bedroom to the person most beloved by the enemy.

Mr. Mask
2015-11-20, 10:36 PM
In the town, someone has to work the sewage. The town makes everyone take turns. You can make quite a bit of money taking the job off a person's hands, as they'll pay a lot to get out of it.

Everyone's name is a number followed by a noun. Three-Maggot is more popular than it should be.

The town raises angry parrots. You're expected to feed them, else they'll get revenge by tearing your house apart at the seams.

goto124
2015-11-21, 12:58 AM
http://blogs.discovery.com/.a/6a00d8341bf67c53ef015391bcc8c2970b-pi

GorinichSerpant
2015-11-21, 12:48 PM
Serious question, since there are a number of ways to approach this nuance: How do you sincerely express that you are not good at something, so that people will not expect you to be good at it and ask you to do it when somebody else would be better?

e.g., if you could burn water, how do you make sure you're not given cooking duties when your party is camping out? Especially if your buddy can make a gourmet meal with spam and a knife?

I now have a better answer. If your bad at something, you honestly say you're bad, if your good at something, then it's considered good form to humble brag. "Oh I'm not that good an engineer, I only have 3 Phds and a Nobel Prize." It you call yourself the best at something, then you'll considered a idiot.

JoeJ
2015-11-21, 01:11 PM
That quirk would die out when writing begins...

If this is in reference to my suggestion of never reusing names, a lot depends on how writing begins and what it's used for. Customs could certainly be forced to change to meet the requirements of a conqueror, but if writing is invented natively it's just as likely that only nicknames are recorded, not "true" names. (Even if the true names are not otherwise secret.) Of course, over time the written name might become the "true" name, but the custom of people also having a nickname that is never used after their death could remain.

In the latter case, PCs from elsewhere might face difficulties trying to investigate much of anything until they figure out that the names used for people in official records are not the names their friends and family call them.

JBPuffin
2015-11-21, 02:08 PM
Heating food is seen as a mark of disrespect to the animal/plant/other source it was derived from. As a result, most dishes involve plenty of salt and spices, and the priests/doctors are extremely capable of curing sickness from parasites and other issues caused by eating raw elk.
Eating fish is considered a sign of poverty and humility - "soup" kitchens serve sushi instead.
The more powerful you are, monetarily or otherwise, the more you serve. Not accepting someone's help is considered cause for a nonlethal duel with cleaning instruments (brooms, mops, etc).
Dressing in anything less revealing than a short-sleeve shirt will result in a lot of questions about what you're hiding. Pants are fine, but shorts are encouraged. The god of light prefers that the people feel his sunlight on their skin - it simultaneously denotes honestly and self-confidence, both admirable traits. The less clothing one wears, the greater the light-god's blessing on you. Ergo, priests often walk around naked.
Limes are a holy fruit; holy water is therefore actually lime juice. The goddess of agriculture encourages priests and priestesses to grow lemons and limes and give them out for free.
It's common practice to publicly give your hated enemies and most treasured loved ones lemons - rotten for your foes, fresh for your friends. This is because lemons are, along with limes, holy fruit; rotten lemons denote a lack of divine favor and therefore grave insults to a person.
Yellow and green are the colors of the divine; priests dress exclusively in them, and tying colored ribbons to one's person is seen as a mark of devotion. Warriors often wear wristbands and ankle bracelets in these colors, women tie their hair with green and yellow ribbons after marriage, and visiting dignitaries are draped in citrus-scented sashes.

GorinichSerpant
2015-11-21, 05:50 PM
The amount of theological debates arising from Key Lime Pie would be frightening.

JoeJ
2015-11-21, 06:24 PM
Heating food is seen as a mark of disrespect to the animal/plant/other source it was derived from. As a result, most dishes involve plenty of salt and spices, and the priests/doctors are extremely capable of curing sickness from parasites and other issues caused by eating raw elk.


-- In contrast, the people in another society consider cooking food to be part of what distinguishes people from animals. Vegetables are usually cooked, but meat is always at least well done and frequently burned, because eating raw meat might cause a person to turn cannibal.

LudicSavant
2015-11-22, 06:08 AM
-- Etiquette demands that a heroic feat be followed by a gloryfeast, a somewhat ritualized occasion at which a bard or herald should be present, if possible (or, failing that, notified next time you see one). Kinda like how a marriage is required by etiquette before consummating a relationship, and you need a priest. The gloryfeast is traditionally staged by those indebted to the heroes. Adventurers who save the king's son might be the toast of a city-wide gloryfeast, whereas adventurers who defend starving refugees from goblin raiders might see a gloryfeast consisting of a loaf of fresh bread and half a wineskin, consumed while huddled under a roadside tree for shelter from the rain.

This practice not only shows gratitude to the heroes, but also serves the practical function of keeping people abreast of the actions of powerful adventurers. In a world where mid-high level people exist, it's valuable for them to not be unknown quantities.

-- Bards serve as official witnesses, sort of like we think of coroners or priests. They also keep the records of noble family trees, and can testify on matters of disputed succession... which makes them crucial in cloak-and-dagger affairs.

bulbaquil
2015-12-06, 07:38 PM
- In this culture, it is considered polite to respond to compliments by openly bragging. Modesty is seen as vaguely sinful.

- In this culture, open display of awards and accolades is considered dangerous, as evil spirits are attracted to emblems of power. Kings and nobles wear peasant clothes and actively avoid ostentatious displays. Bards, actors, and other entertainers wear masks while performing so that nobody in the crowd can see who they "really" are. Authors write under pseudonyms known only to their publishers, and sometimes even the pseudonyms may be left off the book covers.

- In this culture, petty criminals are allowed to go free if they can defeat the town constable in a mud-wrestling match. Needless to say, the town constable is very good at mud wrestling.

- In this culture, it is taboo not to have sex and conceive a child before marriage. People will worry about barrenness if the bride is not visibly pregnant (or cradling an infant) on her wedding day.

- In this culture, as a rite of passage, young men are blindfolded, taken out to the woods, and tied to a tree. Those who manage to escape their bonds and return to the village are treated as adult men. It is considered shameful and childish to be rescued by someone else.

Segev
2015-12-06, 09:23 PM
* It is considered taboo for the firstborn son of a woman to marry or have anything to do with raising his children. Firstborn sons are to be born before she is married, and are seen as naturally wild, reckless and insanely MASCULINE (but not known for their responsibility). They are expected to have whirlwind romances and many one-night stands. A new mother marries a second or younger son with whom to settle down and have a stable family. A woman who marries the father of her first child is generally considered foolish, because it's "certain" that he'll abandon her. He's a cad for pretending otherwise with his marriage vows, and most priests won't even consider officiating over a wedding involving a firstborn son.

Doorhandle
2015-12-11, 05:49 AM
*Due to previous issues with viziers and reagents of all kinds, anyone who commands the country who is not of royal blood must have a damocles, an attendant who holds them near or at swordpoint at all times, and is liable to execute them at the slightest excuse. Of course this lead to further problems if the damocles is corrupt...

*The youngest heir inherits. Wouldn't want someone old and feeble to take the throne, would we?

Aaand two I put up on a similar thread many moons ago:

* It is tradition for the rulers of a land to wear chains of some sort, in respect to an old king. Said king wore the chains because he considered the crown a burden and responsibility a yoke; a far cry from the golden, jewel-encrusted chains worn by current royals. A side effect of this is that normal chains for normal purposes are "too good" for non-noble criminals, with them instead being bound in strong rope or even wire.

*All jousts, far from being a sport, are a ritualised duel to the death, used only in response to the most serious affronts. Armour is banned, and lances are barbed and poisoned for maximum damage to flesh: with the bouts lasting until the death of one or both participants, collapse or fainting be damned. Due to the near-certain mortality rate of jousts, they are a solemn affair and nearly always occur within a short distance of a graveyard, and preparing for the potential funerals is almost as important as the joust itself. Surviving a joust is an honor; surviving multiple jousts, however, is a bad omen and indicates a reprehensible nature, an overeagerness to kill, as well as an abundance of fiendish strength.

Ravens_cry
2015-12-11, 06:18 AM
At every well is a small clay (though sometimes hammered tin) figure in a long robes or dress with a conical hat and holding a cup. A portion of every bucket drawn from the well is poured into the cup, in thanks to the well spirit, and every spring equinox, a flower is placed by a young girl chosen from the area in a hole in the peak of the conical hat.
It is said in the morning the flowers are always gone.

Tall standing stones divide fields, with the shadow on the shortest day of the year equalling the length and breadth of land enough to feed a small family. In fact, a 'stone's shadow' is used as a customary unit of land.

The married men and women of the land have long embroidered scarves that they make together during their engagement. In fact, it starts as one scarf, but is split in two at the wedding. The men wear them wound around the capotain hat worn by both genders , while the women wear them as headscarves.

Gnome make items invariably carry a small shrine, sometimes simply a shrine mark with an engraving of the spirit's name, sometimes a tiny shrine on a chain or built into a nook, of the spirit of the item in question. Not just the spirit of swords, for example, but the spirit of that particular sword.

dargman69
2015-12-11, 02:00 PM
Every winter, a virgin is tied to a tree in the forest as a sacrifice to the animals and gods there. This protects the village until the next winter.

Flickerdart
2015-12-11, 02:09 PM
In this culture, ackowledging the ego is taboo, so saying the word "I" is considered the height of hubris. Instead of saying "I would like to rent a room at this inn" they say "Is there a room available?"
In this culture, only women can inherit property. When a boy is born, his father gives him a sword, with which the boy is expected to make his own fortune when grown.
In this culture, there are only elders and children. Their rite of passage into adulthood is a journey to distant lands in search of honor and glory - those who end up returning take years or decades to do so.
In this culture, the only measure of a person's wealth is the generousity of his gifts. Everyone keeps their personal wealth hidden, and always seek to repay a gift twice over, for not returning a gift makes you socially indebted to the gifter. The society's leader owns nothing outwardly, but is constantly giving things away.

Wardog
2015-12-12, 01:04 PM
- In this culture, anyone joking, telling stories about, or otherwise talking about virgin sacrifices gets tied to a tree in the forest.

Ravens_cry
2015-12-12, 04:12 PM
Woman of a marriageable age braid their hair, while girls let it hang loose. Married women cover their hair outdoors.

goto124
2015-12-12, 09:22 PM
The hair thing has existed IRL, hasn't it?

Cluedrew
2015-12-12, 10:40 PM
From something I wrote a long time ago: When they reach adulthood, males have there left ear pierced and a earing, which is actually rather large and curves around the bottom of their ear. The ring has three holes in it from which you can hang other rings, each ring has a particular meaning. The first is presented by the male's teachers when he completes his studies. The second is presented by the elders when (and if) he completes the Proof of the Beast (a trial by combat). The third is presented by his fiancée, when he hangs it from the main earing she becomes his wife.

Also anyone who deals with money is seen part of the lowest class. Higher classes can get by one there own strength and that of their family and friends.

Others:
A duel to the death actually ending in death is actually seen as a loss for the victor as they could not make the other see their strength in life.

All debts are released on the death of the detour. The god of balance will see to it that the spirit pays off the debt in a way before moving on to the next world.

AceOfFools
2015-12-14, 02:31 PM
In this culture, there are only elders and children. Their rite of passage into adulthood is a journey to distant lands in search of honor and glory - those who end up returning take years or decades to do so.

Where do the children come from, if people are spending their reproductive years abroad?

Strigon
2015-12-14, 02:37 PM
Where do the children come from, if people are spending their reproductive years abroad?

People come back home afterward; presumably, bringing their families. That's the only way I can think of it working.

Flickerdart
2015-12-14, 04:58 PM
People come back home afterward; presumably, bringing their families. That's the only way I can think of it working.
Yeah, exactly. People come back and either have families when they are in their 40s and 50s (just before menopause creeps up on them) or bring families back.

Or they kidnap orphans.

Segev
2015-12-14, 05:28 PM
Yeah, exactly. People come back and either have families when they are in their 40s and 50s (just before menopause creeps up on them) or bring families back.

Or they kidnap orphans.

There's also the possibility that that relatively brief period between physical and social adulthood might result in some kids being left by the departing adventuresome youths with their returned-and-settled Elders. Leading to a lot of firstborn kids being raised amongst their similar-aged nieces and nephews (who would also be relatively sparse, if the returned-Elders are having kids just barely to squeak in under the end of childbearing age). This would be a dwindling culture unless they did bring some kids back with them from their adventuresome days, which makes one question: how do they talk their presumably-married-out-in-the-world families into returning, when the non-member of this culture in the couple AND all their kids to that point were raised in a wholly different culture?

They probably would have a "wild but dangerously exotic seductiveness" reputation, with a tendency to love 'em and leave 'em (if they won't come with them) or "kidnap" their spouses into a life of adventure. Or even to kidnap their own kids from their lovers to take them back with them.

Strigon
2015-12-14, 09:27 PM
This would be a dwindling culture unless they did bring some kids back with them from their adventuresome days, which makes one question: how do they talk their presumably-married-out-in-the-world families into returning, when the non-member of this culture in the couple AND all their kids to that point were raised in a wholly different culture?

They probably would have a "wild but dangerously exotic seductiveness" reputation, with a tendency to love 'em and leave 'em (if they won't come with them) or "kidnap" their spouses into a life of adventure. Or even to kidnap their own kids from their lovers to take them back with them.

It would certainly take some work.
The original post mentioned seeking honour and glory; perhaps most don't make it back, but those who do make it back as heroes to the outside world - the males returning with a harem, so each man can produce many children?
Men can usually have children well into their twilight years, so this is what I'm thinking.

Children are raised to fend for themselves.
When they're of age, they are sent out into the world for glory and honour.
Most don't return, but those that do are heroes; rich and famous.
Those who return home are encouraged to bring home a harem; the larger the harem, the greater your standing.
Male members of the culture would likely provide most of the children, since 1 man can father many children at the same time, while women can't (without twins).
Since you return after you have glory, that's the same time you would gain your harem; any children would only be born after you've returned home, so they're raised entirely within this culture.
The people brought home with the heroes serve as workers and are well cared for, while the elders raise the children to pass on their knowledge and expertise.


A bit messy, perhaps, but it could work in theory.

Segev
2015-12-15, 01:27 AM
It would certainly take some work.
The original post mentioned seeking honour and glory; perhaps most don't make it back, but those who do make it back as heroes to the outside world - the males returning with a harem, so each man can produce many children?
Men can usually have children well into their twilight years, so this is what I'm thinking.

Children are raised to fend for themselves.
When they're of age, they are sent out into the world for glory and honour.
Most don't return, but those that do are heroes; rich and famous.
Those who return home are encouraged to bring home a harem; the larger the harem, the greater your standing.
Male members of the culture would likely provide most of the children, since 1 man can father many children at the same time, while women can't (without twins).
Since you return after you have glory, that's the same time you would gain your harem; any children would only be born after you've returned home, so they're raised entirely within this culture.
The people brought home with the heroes serve as workers and are well cared for, while the elders raise the children to pass on their knowledge and expertise.


A bit messy, perhaps, but it could work in theory.
"Bring home a harem" becomes inefficient with the distaff members of the culture returning home, though, in terms of birthrate. This seems like a culture more likely to only send the men out; women stay home because there's no real incentive to pursue "glory" that they can't bring back with them. Those that leave probably don't tend to come back, because again, this culture is not geared towards them very well. If they leave and wait to have kids until they come back, women will be running up against or beyond their biological clock, and unlike the men, can't parallelize the process with multiple partners. The system proposed just doesn't work for female children of this culture.

Also, unless this culture veers sharply towards the relatively evil, it's difficult to accumulate a harem as a nomadic hero. Not necessarily to accumulate a number of willing sexual partners, but convincing them all to stick with you while you're wooing another one? Doable in some cultures, but you're specifically in many others, so that gets a lot harder. So unless they're kidnapping and somehow coercing their partners into staying with them, the convincing is extremely non-trivial.

Even more so, again, for the female members of this culture, if they're supposed to accumulate a harem of males. Males in most cultures tend to be even less traditionally willing to "share" their long-term mates/spouses.


So unless the rules are different to still make "go out, get glory, and return a matron" worthwhile to the women of the culture, it's unlikely that they really send their girls out the way the boys do, if the harem thing is the main reason to wait so long and main method to ensure sufficient birthrate despite the age. (It also implies that the returning men have a number of younger women in their harems, if the Elder males are supposed to be reproducing well into their seniority. Their mates would still have to be of childbearing age, so would not be able to forever be of an age with them.)


It's workable as a highly patriarchal society of very charismatic and highly-skilled Elders with harems of women seduced and so besotted that they don't mind "sharing," but it probably wouldn't send out the girls. After all, they would be better off as part of the returning Elders' harems. Unless they go out with a youth when he leaves, wanting to be his first wife, or something. Definitely not a politically correct fantasy culture, though!

goto124
2015-12-15, 02:10 AM
Heh, the sexism does have its roots in biological differences, and makes sense in its context.

Madbox
2015-12-15, 04:08 AM
A city had issues with blood feuds in the past. To put an end to this, it became custom that families give up their infants once they are past nursing age, to be raised by another family. Everyone is aware of who their birth parents are, and their blood family is treated as extended family, while the adoptive family is treated as close family. Inheritances pass along adopted lines. Adult relations between both blood and adopted families is treated as incest, and adoption along those lines is similarly taboo. The resulting family trees are unbelievably convoluted, with several city clerks being tasked full time with keeping these records accurate.

Strigon
2015-12-15, 09:23 AM
"Bring home a harem" becomes inefficient with the distaff members of the culture returning home, though, in terms of birthrate. This seems like a culture more likely to only send the men out; women stay home because there's no real incentive to pursue "glory" that they can't bring back with them. Those that leave probably don't tend to come back, because again, this culture is not geared towards them very well. If they leave and wait to have kids until they come back, women will be running up against or beyond their biological clock, and unlike the men, can't parallelize the process with multiple partners. The system proposed just doesn't work for female children of this culture.

Also, unless this culture veers sharply towards the relatively evil, it's difficult to accumulate a harem as a nomadic hero. Not necessarily to accumulate a number of willing sexual partners, but convincing them all to stick with you while you're wooing another one? Doable in some cultures, but you're specifically in many others, so that gets a lot harder. So unless they're kidnapping and somehow coercing their partners into staying with them, the convincing is extremely non-trivial.

Even more so, again, for the female members of this culture, if they're supposed to accumulate a harem of males. Males in most cultures tend to be even less traditionally willing to "share" their long-term mates/spouses.


So unless the rules are different to still make "go out, get glory, and return a matron" worthwhile to the women of the culture, it's unlikely that they really send their girls out the way the boys do, if the harem thing is the main reason to wait so long and main method to ensure sufficient birthrate despite the age. (It also implies that the returning men have a number of younger women in their harems, if the Elder males are supposed to be reproducing well into their seniority. Their mates would still have to be of childbearing age, so would not be able to forever be of an age with them.)


It's workable as a highly patriarchal society of very charismatic and highly-skilled Elders with harems of women seduced and so besotted that they don't mind "sharing," but it probably wouldn't send out the girls. After all, they would be better off as part of the returning Elders' harems. Unless they go out with a youth when he leaves, wanting to be his first wife, or something. Definitely not a politically correct fantasy culture, though!

Well, quite frankly, any culture that focuses on childbirth is most likely going to have some intrinsically sexist attitudes, and any culture sending people off to return when they're older will have to put a large emphasis on childbirth before they return.

But who's to say it's patriarchal? The original post was that there were only elders and children, full stop, so for whatever reason this culture sends out the girls to get boys as well. (And, let's be honest, if this awesome warrior woman showed up to a small town, killed a dragon, and offered any man there the ability to be her mate if they simply come to live with her, I think she'd have no shortage of volunteers.) So, it would most likely be:
Elders - both male and female - train children, offer counsel, live in the lap of luxury with their every whim catered to by those they brought back.
Those brought home - raise children, do manual labour, females responsible for childbirth. Live in groups with the elder they came with, until that elder dies; at this point, they simply become average citizens. They find their own place, maybe pair up with another "free" person, and any kids born are sent out on this rite of passage.
Children - spend all time training from a young age, fed well, highly competitive - leave at the age of ~13?

Flickerdart
2015-12-15, 10:59 AM
Hm, I guess we do have to specify the traditions further to get it workable:

Not everyone returns when they are old. People who manage to achieve something incredibly heroic very quickly can return in their 20s or 30s, although many will stay out there to chase further glory because clearly they are super good at it. Thus, the rare exception to the "children and elders" rule that does show up will be a super badass.
There should be some allowance for people to return in between adventures, as long as they do not mean to stay forever. Adventurers could come back to see their families and recruit new people for larger undertakings, and women could come back, give birth, and then leave again. Outsiders might never see people like them because they are not "out and about" - they haven't completed their rite of passage yet, and can't participate in the village's day to day life.
There should be a window for when the children can become adults and leave. That window can be later for women - say, a boy child must leave when he is 16, but a girl child can choose to stay until she is 20 to give birth to a baby and care for it for a few years, and then leave the baby with the elders and jet off to adventure.
The women might become pregnant on their adventures, come home to have the child, and then leave again.


This may work somewhat better if the culture isn't a human one. For instance, a variant of dwarf, elf, or some other race with a long "sunset" stage of life could rise to maturity as quickly as a human, but spend hundreds of years as old and venerable before dying. An insectoid species could avoid the entire thing entirely by having a spawning queen stashed away somewhere. A sexless species could avoid it all too. You could even get more specific and have a custom built phoenix type race where someone who lives to old age dies and is reborn into a baby (or a few babies, to keep up with attrition rates), and the rigorous regimen of adventure in its lifetime ensures that each generation is progressively more awesome.

Segev
2015-12-15, 12:24 PM
Given the biological realities of a traditional harem vs. a reverse-gendered harem, the "awesome warrior woman" who accepts youths as mates if they'll come with her still is inefficient about offspring numbers.

She'd almost have to have her personal harem of youths recruiting their own secondary harems of young women, which...well, THAT can't be anything but awkward.


Of course, it's also possible to manage a perfectly viable birth rate with monogamy. Perhaps those who already are in love can marry and have 1-2 children, which they leave with their parents, before leaving together, while those who reach the age of adventure without marrying have as part of their quest finding a mate to bring home with them. And yes, their children (if any) had while out and about are raised with grand tales of the life awaiting at home, and are encouraged from the time they can walk to be adventurers. Such "children of adventure" often accompany their parents home, already having achieved their Glory before ever having seen the land in which they now are anointed (very young) Elders.

Strigon
2015-12-15, 01:15 PM
Given the biological realities of a traditional harem vs. a reverse-gendered harem, the "awesome warrior woman" who accepts youths as mates if they'll come with her still is inefficient about offspring numbers.

She'd almost have to have her personal harem of youths recruiting their own secondary harems of young women, which...well, THAT can't be anything but awkward.


That wasn't so much meant to address the different child-raising efficiencies as it was to point out that the women wouldn't have much more trouble attracting mates than the men would.

In any case, I think it's been shown that there are many ways such a culture could keep its population up, which addressed the original question.

Mx56
2015-12-15, 01:58 PM
In this culture refusing a sincerely offered gift is a monstrous insult and is seen as grounds for a long lasting vendetta. The more extravagant the gift, the greater the degree of insult.
In one village, as part of a rite of passage, young people go out into the wilderness alone for 7 days and 7 nights. Killing any animal for food in this period is a mark of somebody who cannot be trusted to solve their problems without bloodshed, while finding others and forming alliances to survive is seen as a mark of leadership and intelligence.
In this barony, the ruler was once almost executed by a mob of angry peasants and only spared at the last moment, as a condition of allowing the baron to live a festival was established. On the anniversary of the uprising, the currently serving baron is placed in stocks and pelted with rotten vegetables.

LudicSavant
2015-12-15, 06:15 PM
A fun one from Legend of the Five Rings:

-- Etiquette demands that one refuse a gift twice, and accept the third time it is offered. The back and forth allows the giver to tell the story of the gift, and the importance of the gesture to the giver. To refuse too early says that the message behind the gift is not important enough to be heard. To refuse a third time insults the giver, essentially saying that the gift is not worthy of acceptance.

Cluedrew
2015-12-15, 10:02 PM
This may work somewhat better if the culture isn't a human one.I agree with that because I once wrote up a alien (non-human) culture that matched this description almost perfectly. The only difference is that all (most) members of this race experienced wanderlust during their early and middle adulthood. Also they were fertile later in their lives than humans.


Wearing anything on your upper body is seen as feminine and something most males avoid. (Except headgear.)
The culture uses a castle system, however which castle you are in changes throughout the year.
Patience is highly regarded, to the point many conflicts are resolved by telling those involved to sit down and wait until one group admits their wrong doing.
All official talk is expected to be sung or recited (as a song or poem). Speaking normally while not forbidden reflects badly on the speaker.

PersonMan
2015-12-16, 04:58 AM
The culture uses a castle system, however which castle you are in changes throughout the year.


I think you mean 'caste', though the idea of an absurdly fortified region where every town and village is inside massive walls is an interesting one.