The People

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The People

The Theocracy of Ven Todir sounds a lot like a dwarf country, or at least were the main populace are dwarfs.
 
Sounds more like a religious dictatorship to me actually. By definition, "theocracy" means the rule of religion, priests and clerics ruling in the name of "god".
 
I meant it's location more than it's name actually. It is said,in the Nations threat, to be mostly underground and having a lot of mines. That's why it reminded me of dwarfs. But yeah the name theocracy doesn't really fit them to be honest.
 
If we're going high fantasy as seems to be the polling, may I suggest opening to species creation? I've had an idea for a race of bug-people I've been working on for a character and I'd love to play them in this shared world!
 
That will likely happen at some point, but I want to have the poll opened at least over the weekend first to set things in stone. Announcing the "official" results will likely come with at least a couple of new threads and I want to see just how big the divide is (as "high fantasy" is a pretty big spectrum and we'd need to make a call on just how fantastic things will get)
 
Dwarves make excellent Clerics in D&D, so it's far from outlandish or new.
 
Again, I feel as if there should be distinct cultures and people groups in this world. Not only would it be disengenuous for the world that we ourselves live in but it would also be a nice reason for said people groups to clash.
For example, what if the orc's culture was based on combat, and the number of people you fought, or the number of battles won, defined your social status, and your chances for a mate? That would give them good reason to endanger people and be kept in check, and provide a much better explanation than 'they're evil'.
 
DRB said:
Dwarves make excellent Clerics in D&D, so it's far from outlandish or new.
Click to expand...
Was literally going to say this about the Theocracy. It makes perfect sense with the Dwarven Cleric stereotype. Besides, who says they have to be different than stereotypical Fantasy Dwarves. They just can worship a god of the Forge or smithing or something. Boom, Stereotypical Dwarves in a Theocracy.
 
Lots of neat ideas here, and I think that the trick to "characters" is less about 'is X allowed' and more about 'Y is not allowed'. I'm always super hesitant to be dismissive of people's characters because I know how much they love playing them, but I've also been in more than one RP where all of a sudden characters from Dragonball or Naruto show up, which is a bit "reality breaking" for my tastes. Maybe having a sort of "no gods and nothing that is a 'copywritten' idea" (I use this *super* vaguely) so as to be permissive of people's bug-raiders, nine-tailed foxes, ninjas and demons without having Geonosians, Ahri, Naruto or Calcifers showing up?

Again, I'm weary of suggesting that "no" be an answer, I only want to suggest that some selectivity be present when characters exist in the world (obviously I wanna bring my fox!).
 
Some proposed additions. I'm also going to repeat some things that others have said so everything can be found in the same place. Thank you @AltSin for the link to The Ultimate World Building Template and Questionnaire.

THE MURKSHORES​
Work in progress. Will continue to be edited.​

Population

1. Are there non-human sentient species? Describe them.
The Murkshores city and town populations that are integrated into society mostly consist mostly of Orcs, Humans, and Half-Orc folk. Tribes of goblins, swamp trolls, hobgoblins.

2. Did the people evolve on this planet or come from elsewhere?
Most of the inhabitants evolved in these swamp lands, besides those that travelled from other lands and settled down in the Murkshores. However, many goblins were originally from Ven Tordir, forced out of their cavernous homes by the dwarves.

3. What is the relationship between the different species?
Colonies that are integrated in society get a long for the most part, trading and traveling along the main roads. Raids and attacks are common from the surrounding savage tribes, and unforgiving landscape.

4. Where and when did civilization begin?
TBD.

5. What is the total population of the the country?
There are approximately 90,000 documented residents living within the Murkshores.
22,007 residents reside within the capital, Taedmorden.

6. What is the level of technology (stone age, hi tech)?
Although the Murkshores lack a large volume of resource exports unlike many of the other countries, their technology is surprisingly advanced, especially when it comes to crafting armor and weaponry. They import a lot of their material goods from elsewhere and human and orcish blacksmiths work hand in hand to forge raw materials into something new. Their smithing skills are rumored to be unmatched to all but a few of the dwarven and elven race. One of the better occupations to make money are creating new inventions to sell and share with the rest of the world. As far as farming goes, they are extremely underdeveloped, a cause of the natural landscape.

Languages and Gestures

1. What languages to people speak?
Common, and orcish.

2. Do most people speak more than one language?
Depending on where the settlement is located, it can vary. For the most part, settlements on the east solely speak orcish, while the further west you go more and more of the poplace can speak both orcish and common.

3. Is there a common language? For trade?
Common.

4. How do people greet each other?
Usually with a grunt or a head nod. Further east where the populace contains mostly of orcs, a greeting of respect is given between orcish warriors where both parties unsheathe their weapons and hold them upside-down, sometimes stabbing them into the dirt beside signifying a sign of peace. People also say "Mok'ra" which means "Hello" in orcish.

5. What is considered a rude gesture?
Western settlements have adopted common societal practices of what is considered rude. However in some of the eastern settlements, if you are not orcish you should not be the first one initiate the conversation. Wait until the other party has first spoken, and, if they do not, talking to them is considered rude.

6. How do they curse? Gods? Body parts?
TBD.

7. What titles / formalities are used?
TBD.

Family

1. What is a normal family unit?
An average family consists of a father, mother, and multiple children. In the east, orcs tend to have multiple wives. Western families allow interspecies relationships and eastern families do not.

2. Do people marry for love or other reasons? What reasons?
The reason for marriage in the east is usually in order for the dominant orc/leader to bear children.

3. Are the genders treated differently?
Yes, men are at the forefront of every conversation and large decision made, women are oppressed and have little say in political matters.

4. Who raises the children?
Both parents, however if the father deems their child weak, they can disown their child, in which case they are traded to surrounding tribes for food or resources. This is seen as a normal practice in eastern settlements.


Work and Culture

1. Do people live in happiness or fear?
Most inhabitants of the Murkshores stay within the confides of their settlements, rarely leaving unless to gather resources or trade. They tend to live in fear of the surrounding unforgiving dangers of the countryside.

2. Does the culture value strength or compassion more highly?
Strength.

3. Does the culture value wealth or generosity more highly?
Neither, they value strength above all else. Wealth has its place in the culture but for the most part in order to attain a high status of wealth and respect, one must display an action of great strength.

4. What are the common superstitions?
TBD.

5. Are the people diverse or uniform?
Fairly uniform unless they are traders or travelers.

6. How big is the gap between rich and poor?
There isn't much of a gap, Orcs take care of their own.

7. What do people wear?
TBD.

8. What topics of conversation are controversial?
TBD.

9. Which topics of conversation are safe?
TBD.

10. What constitutes a social faux pas?
TBD.

11. What forms of art are there?
TBD.

12. Is there theatre? Is it common or reserved for the wealthy?
TBD.

13. What is a highly desirable job?
TBD.

14. What is a lowly job?
TBD.

15. What are the cities like, if any?
TBD.

16. What are the houses like?
TBD.

17. Do most people live in rural or urban areas?
TBD.

18. Are there any domesticated animals?
TBD.

19. Are there professional guilds / institutes/ etc?
TBD.

20. How do you get into a professional guild?
TBD.

21. What benefits do you gain from being a member of a guild?
TBD.

22. Are criminals common or rare? What calendar is used?
TBD.

Celebrations

1. What are the major festivals?
TBD.

2. Describe a wedding.
TBD.

3. Describe a funeral.
TBD.

4. What are special celebratory foods?
TBD.

5. What sort of clothes do people wear on special occasions?
TBD.
 
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Seeing as how Ice has taken a stab at fleshing out the Murkshores, I thought I'd do the same for the Savage Lands. The reason I picked Savage Lands is because the name itself lends to some... unconventional... approaches to societal construction. So here's my take on the region:

RACES:

1) Are there non-human sentiens species? Describe them.

The original barbarian tribes inhabiting the Savage Lands all came from Human stock, but over the millennia members of other species have migrated or were conquered and enslaved by various tribes, leading to racial mixing. Now, the Lands are populated by an eclectic mix of various human and demihuman inidividuals. Half-Elves, Half-Orcs, even various Tiefling halfbreeds. Humans still make up the majority of the population, though.


2) Did the people evolve on this land, or came from elsewhere?

See above. The original inhabitants of the Savage Lands were human, but over time, much racial mixing has occurred. So the answer is, a bit of both.


3) What is the relationship between the different species?

Irrelevant. There is no species distinction, only tribal identity matters. That being said, how half-breeds are treated compared to humans, is a matter of each individual tribe, or even each individual family within the tribe. There is no established doctrine. Generally, there is no discrimination, since social status is based mostly on physical prowess and ability.


4) Where and when did civilization begin in the Savage Lands?

TBD.


5) What is the total population of the Savage Lands?

Unknown, since no official census is being kept. Estimates by outside explorers who survived an expedition there, put it in the mid 60,000's.


6) What is the level of technology of the Savage Lands?

Early-to-mid Bronze Age. Iron and especially steel weapons are valued, if they can be scavenged or captured from outsiders, but the inhabitants have no knowledge of ironworking. The Lands's mountainous regions on the other hand, contain abundant quantities of both copper and tin, making bronzeworking very viable for most tribes.





1) What languages do people speak?

Various tribal dialects, all descended from the same language of the primordial inhabitants of the region.


2) Do most people speak more then one language?

No. Unless different dialects are treated as different languages.


3) Is there a common language? For trade?

Most tribespeople generally understand neighbouring tribes' dialects well enough to trade with. No official 'common' tongue exists, though.


4) How do people greet each other?

Between friends/family - a mutual headbutt to the forehead, while holding each others' shoulders, or a full-elbow handshake, with shoulder-clapping using the free hand.
Between passing strangers - a nod or a brief fist-to-chest, accompanied with a brief 'hello' in the relevant dialect used.
One mandatory thing for both - eye contact must be maintained, else it is seen as an insult/sign of weakness/cowardice.


5) What is considered rude?

Varies between tribes, but one common rude thing to do, is, as guest in someone else's home, to refuse a sexual overture on the part of your host. In doing this, you imply that you think your host is 'unclean' in some way, or that you are disgusted by them. Both can lead to an honour-challenge issued, a fight to the death. This applies to both genders.


6) How do people curse? Gods? Body parts?

Both, however one of the most scathing insults, is to insult someone's physique, calling them scrawny or weak. Given the barbarian cultures' reliance on physical might, any curse involving that is considered extremely insulting to the recipient.


7) What titles/formalities are used?

Aside from calling a tribal leader Chieftain <name> (in case of a male leader), or Matron <name> (in case of a female leader), no other titles are generally used on anyone. 'Hey you' or something along those lines, is considered a perfectly acceptable title for most anyone else. Naturally, between family members, titles like Mother, Father, Brother, Sister, Cousin, etc. are sometimes used when addressing someone. Also, very close friends can sometimes address each other as Brother (male friends) or Sister (female friends), out of endearment.





1) What is a normal family unit?

Varies greatly between different tribes. In some, a traditional Father/Mother/Children unit prevails, in a monogamy-type relationship. Some tribes practice poligamy. Some even practice polyandry. And a few have eschewed the term 'family' altoghether, preferring more communal methods of raising children. For them, the tribe is the only family they acknowledge, and everyone in the tribe is either Brother, or Sister, with the tribal leader being the Father or Mother, depending on the leader's gender.


2) Do people marry for love? Or other reasons?

Marriage isn't an accepted custom anywhere in the Savage Lands. Being fiercely independent, contentious, and strong willed, the Barbarian people view marriage as a prison. When people choose to bond together, it is out of pure affection/love, and a desire to have a family (for the tribes that have families). For some, the bond is purely out of sexual desire. And for others, it's a means of advancing in the tribal hierarchy. In every case, those bonds are informal, and can be broken at any time, for any reason.


3) Are the genders treated differently?

Not for just being different genders, but for underlying reasons. Just like in the case of species, a person's value in a Barbarian society isn't determined by their gender or species. It's determined by how strong/fierce/combative/assertive they are, and how big a place they can carve, often literally, for themselves. Thus, since men tend to be naturally stronger and more combative, and can more easily develop their physicality, they tend to dominate the majority of tribes and therefore dictate social norms in said tribes. Most, but not all. Amazonian matriarchal tribes do exist, and given their minority, and being under perceived threat, they tend to be the most belligerent and violent of all barbarian peoples, in perpetual war with anyone who has an issue with their views and seeks to dominate them. A few tribes even practice a precarious balance of power, between genders, whether formed naturally, or decided on, by the tribal leader. But in general, as is the case with many things in a Barbarian society, given their primal ferocity - might makes right. Whatever the mighty happens to have between their legs, is irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.


4) Who raises the children?

See 'normal family unit'. Varies greatly between tribes. Still, given the motherly connection, many mothers do tend to involve themselves the most, with their children's upbringing.





1) Do people live in happiness or fear?

That is entirely dependent on one's carved-out place in tribal power structure. The strong are happy. The weak are anything but, living and dying on the whim of those stronger then them, as well as natural predators that are abound in the surrounding untamed wilderness. But that is their own fault, for being weak and unable to compete. Each tribe is a pack, and the weakest are culled by natural selection. There is no such thing as law enforcement, or militia to protect them. All that being said, even the weak can ingratiate themselves and survive, if they appease the strong of the pack. Pack mentality works both ways.


2) Does the culture value strength or compassion more?

Strength, by far.


3) Does the culture value wealth or generosity more?

Wealth has no real value for most in the Savage Lands, and generosity can help a tribe survive famine or drought, by people sharing with one-another, for the benefit of all. Pragmatism is a valued trait in the pack, and if generosity allows a tribe to endure, then that is what is valued the most. In fact, hoarding during time of need, is one of the very few punishable crimes.


4) What are the common superstitions?

That the sun will burn alive, those who climb to the mountain's peak. That hunting during the full moon will bring bad luck for the next month, during subsequent hunts. That a child should never be named after either of their parents. That eating the heart of a slain enemy, will imbue one with their enemy's strength in addition to their own. Just to name a few, out of many. Among barbarians, superstitions are many, and colourful.


5) Are the people diverse, or uniform?

Uniform by tribal custom, and hostility towards outsiders, VERY diverse as a whole.


6) How big is the gap between rich and the poor?

The pack/tribe takes care of it's own. Unless they are deemed too weak to matter.


7) What do people wear?

Animal-hide clothing of all shapes and sizes. Some woven items. Generally only enough clothing to cover their modesty, and, in winter months, enough to keep them warm and protected from the elements. Not to mention, displaying one's power in the form of a well-built, strong body, is a status symbol, as well as an attraction to potential mates.


8) What topics of conversation are controversial?

Varies between tribes.


9) What topics of conversation are safe?

Ditto.


10) What constitutes a social faux-pas?

Ditto. Also, see 'what is considered rude'.


11) What forms of art are there?

TBD


12) Is there theatre?

Do shamanic dances and performances count as one? If so, yes.


13) What is a highly desirable job?

No such thing as 'jobs' per se. Everyone does whatever they need to do, to survive/thrive. Unless a tribal leader issues a decree for something to be done, on a communal level, such as training beasts for war, building an embankment against a flooding river, etc.


14) What is a lowly job?

Ditto.


15) What are the cities like, if any?

No cities.


16) What are the houses like?

Varies between tribes. Mostly single-storey huts of one shape or another.


17) Do most people live in rural or urban areas?

No such thing as urban areas.


18) Are there any domesticated animals?

Plenty. For pets, war beasts, or beasts of burden.


19) Are there professional guilds/institutes, etc. ?

No.


20) Are criminals common or rare?

How do you define a 'criminal' in barbarian society built on the power of the strongest?


21) What calendar is used?

Day and night, and the passing of seasons. Most tribes have their own interpretation, though most are similar.







1) What are major festivals?

Varies on the tribe. But most celebrate a plentiful hunt, or a fertile season, or births of children. One thing universally celebrated among all tribes, is the defeat/conquest of an enemy tribe, in war.


2) Describe a wedding?

N/A


3) Describe a funeral?

Funerary customs vary between tribes. Some are elaborate. Some are as simple as burning the body. And every shade in between.


4) What are special celebratory foods?

Hearts of slain enemies in battle. Sometimes cooked/fried, but most often raw, freshly cut out of the bodies.


5) What sort of clothes people wear on special occassions?

Same as usual. Maybe a few ornaments or jewellery they wouldn't wear normally.
 
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