[center] [b]Alenius - Cultural Information[/b] [hr] [i]A Land Reforged[/i] [hider=Mercy, Capital of Alenius] Mercy is a larger castle city extending down the forested hillsides, and towards the coastline. The metropolis is protected by a series of walls, having been built hundreds of years in advance of each other. Many of the internal walls have suffered greatly from time, and dragon alike, but instead of being left with gaping holes, new work has done on them regularly to repair them to their original glory. The city is divided into a few different districts dominated by the way ruling dynasties have prioritized them. Very few buildings peek out over the menacing walls, with the outermost one being the thickest, and the newest. Much water runs through these walls with aqueducts built-in beneath the top layers to provide water to the extensively wide population that drain into cisterns beneath the ground, and flow out to the sea. However, one thing that does stand out is an alarming number of towers. Thicker, tougher towers that are a bit stout, and have great width mark the cityscape. These structures are continuously being maintained. The areas central river snakes around the inner sections of the urban environment, and is reinforced with large canal walls, having been built up with short wooden palisades in the event of an incursion. These tend to have rectangular holes sparingly cut into them. The bridges are reinforced with more metallic gilded plates on top of stone to create fire-resistant architectural integrity. Despite being separated by districts, and walls of varying quality and age, the city retains its low architecture with a profuse stucco-like design that focuses on low columns, and railings bordering everything. The rooftops are inaccessible due to the peaking, and terracotta tiles of years past marking them, and in lower class areas, are known to be a rather frequent cause of death. However, wood was not a readily available building type contrary to the surrounding landscape, simply due to the frequent dragon attacks in the past, though after the Blackwell Dragon War, the forests around the keep have been cleared to make expansive fields around the keep, and to use wood more liberally as a resource within the keep and lands. That being said, however, there are many city streets which do retain signature scorch marks from prior battles. The worst scar on the city perhaps would be the main avenue, where many market vendors, and traders move to streamline their mercantile processes, but end up being the primary target for attacks. However in past generations, the city has undergone construction of safe rooms, and subterranean tunnels which are used as checkpoints intermittently, and have gone through fortifications and expansions by the Blackwells when they assumed control of the keep. The castle itself is magnificently appointed on the zenith of the hillside, having itself another wall around it, but with taller towers more closely placed together to create a fence-like atmosphere on the approach. The castle is wide and spread across the hilltop, like an acropolis, with the main keep being at the highest point but only a few stories tall with large spires, and spikes on the rooftop. Several gardens and atriums are sprinkled around, with the atriums doubling as a defensive front with iron lattice work overtop to allow shots through. Regardless of the lack of extreme height or roof peaking, the fortress has a number of buttresses supporting the outer walls. The buttresses have layered color schemes, and the entire estate tends to lean towards red and orange hues, being the colors of the family crest. The many archways show vaulted ceilings, and the railings are more often metal than they are wooden and have solid, opaque shutters that fold around the columns, and can be unlocked in case of attack. A series of cheiro ballistas, and onagers mark the castle grounds and roof, most seeming to have been repaired, and refurbished recently, if not built not too long ago. [Credit for description goes to an associate of mine off-guild, for he has a mind for architecture that I do not] [/hider] [hider=Local Dishes] The cuisine and dishes of Alenius are of a spartan nature, its people having little room for experimentation in the past due to the cruelty of their lords, and the infestation of dragons rending their agricultural life moot, and food a scarcity - so the people of Alenius made the most of very little, and rather than elaborate or extravagant dishes the people have developed efficient and simple meals. After the Blackwell family was placed in power, and agriculture was allowed to flourish, however, many exotic meals surfaced from the land's rich soils, primarily in the form of herbs and spice. [i]Dragon's Spit[/i] This is an incredibly spicy dish that resembles a gruel, and is almost a point of pride for drunkards in taverns everywhere, who challenge others to the consumption of the dish. Its intense spice aside, the dish is an amalgamation of many spices and herbs that come from the land, though its primary contents are a simple blend of grains that become enriched by the spices. A fulfilling and challenging dish. [i]Spite[/i] It is a particularly potent ale from the region. The ale is served steaming hot rather than cold, and is actually a rather bland drink once the heat dies away from it. Crafted from a blend of herbs and spices, the drink smothers the thick alcohol used to brew it under a strong spicy musk, which leaves a bitter taste in the mouth, not unlike chewing tobacco, once the fiery sweetness of the spice fades. Usually the consumer is too drunk to notice or care about the aftertaste, and drink it in [b]spite[/b] of the aftertaste itself. [i]Hot Dish[/i] This dish is, perhaps, one of the only cultural aspects of Alenius that has persisted through the Blackwell reconstruction period. Hot Dish is a simple, fast to make, and fulfilling meal consisting of jerked meats being packed tightly in a bundle with hardtack breads and a tightly-wound bundle of herbs. The dish was made popular by refugees from the dragon-infested lands in the south, who when seeking asylum would often be supplied with these things and ended up grouping them together into an oddly satisfying meal. It would seem that generations of survivors and travellers have made Hot Dish a favorite of those travelling Alenius for its ease of transport and fulfilling nature, despite its minimalism. Any other meals are rather standard. [/hider] [hider=Customs] The people of Alenius have a handful of customs born of the circumstances of their land, and naturally these events revolve around the tyranny of House Willow, the dragons formerly plaguing their lands, and the rise of the Blackwells. [i]The Fall of Willow[/i] Nearing the end of winter, groups of men and children often get together to re-enact the complete, and utter destruction of the Willow military, and the routing of the House in comical, and often times, exaggerated ways. It seems to bring them good cheer to mock their prior tyrants. [i]The Dance of Dragons[/i]... and other marriage rites This is one of the queer customs that survived the Blackwell reconstruction of Alenius, and it's a tradition that exists through the rites of marriage. Those getting married within Alenius' lands are married within a ring of fire, which separates the groom and bride from those observing the marriage until the ceremony is complete. Those with weak constitutions might very well faint from the heat or water deprivation, but it isn't seen as an ill omen for this to happen, and the ceremony does not last very long, meaning this occurs incredibly infrequently. The marriage ceremony, and the marriage celebration are very separate for this very reason, and following the marriage ceremony is a period of revelry - often in the form of 'rehydration' through 'excess alcohol consumption'. [i]Competition[/i] Competition is a large part of Alenius society following the Blackwell reconstruction of Alenius - as rather than blood or status dictating socio-economic position, the Blackwell's value merit. The repercussions and benefits of this competitive spirit the Blackwell's have instilled are far reaching, and numerous, and depicting them would be redundant in usefulness and wasteful of time. [i]Fighting Rings[/i] In a land where fields were destitute, and coin scarce from the sapping grip of a tyrannical house, the peasants had little to entertain themselves with - thus the people of Alenius soon found entertainment in the gritty joy that is the sand pit. Circuits of fighting rings formed all through Alenius' lands, entertainment for those with nothing better to do originally, but after the Blackwell reconstruction coin began to flow through the land once more, debt was conquered, and gambling on these fights became a popular pass-time. There are other minor customs that marr Alenius and give it its queer, unique, air, though they do not merit description. [/hider] [hider=Clothes] The clothes of the people of Alenius are simple, and focus on function rather than form on all levels save the higher nobility of the land, and even then the Blackwell family's value of simplicity and effectiveness has skewed the upper echelon of nobility into favoring simplistic elegance rather than complex clothing. Colors are used more heavily than fanciful materials, though those who can afford softer silks and more comfortable clothes than the rough-hewn stuff of peasants certainly do enjoy that luxury. [/hider] [hider=Legends] [i]The Tale of Edward Fire-Heart[/i] The Tale of Edward Fire-Heart is a children's tale, a rather popular one at that, that quite possibly explains why so many people of Alenius stayed rather than fled in the years that dragons inhabited the lands. The tale of Edward depicts a man who owned a farm who travelled into the mountains after his home was burnt down by dragons. He had lost his wife and son in the fire and had nothing left to his name save the clothes on his back and a longsword of Dwarven Steel he had from years in service to the noble house of the time. When he arrived in the mountains, the story says that he spent years searching them and trying to find where the dragons laid their eggs or kept their young, or even where they slept so he could slay them in the spirit of revenge for his family. He survived by scavenging the scraps the dragons themselves ate, and every so often he'd glimpse one of his formidable foes in the sky, and rave at them madly. However, one day, many years after he entered the mountains, he did discover the nest of a dragon, and when he approached it he grew mad with wrath, and butchered the dragon's young and eggs. The dragon whose nest he had sacked returned shortly after he had concluded his foul deed, and a great battle ensued between the two - a father who lost everything, and the great beast he had scorned. Edward overcame the beast after a battle that raged a week in length, but after his rage subsided, and he laid down to rest, his heart stopped, and he lay still forevermore in the very cave the battle originated. It is said that other dragons returned, and melted the very stone of the cavern, and buried Edward Fire-Heart's body inside, with the corpses of the dragons he slew. While the tale is grim, and lacking in fantasy, it made many children spiteful of the dragons, and later lead to the high quantity of would-be dragonslayers that the Blackwell's later drew from in their Dragon War. [b]The Warrior Poetess[/b] [i]Alyssandra Heart[/i] was said to have lived hundreds of years ago, and to have been one of those who sought to escape the dragons when they first became a problem in the land. Her poems, and epics are the most noteworthy writings to come from Alenius, and they are a matter of pride for the people of the land. Alyssandra Heart's existence is doubted by some, who claim her being to be fictitious and fabricated to hide the real author's identity, but regardless of this fact Alyssandra Heart's name and writings are renowned for their fantastic nature. Alyssandra is said to have died in combat with bandits who assailed her in her travels, though no report of her death can be found officially [i]The Grand Adventure of Narmora Stone[/i] This is an epic of Alenius culture, and is a fantastic myth written by the most famous writer to come from Alenius; Alyssandra Heart. This is considered by many to be her magnum opus, and to be the epitome of poetic content across all of Formaroth. Of course, this could be bias from those born in Alenius itself. Many believe the epic to be an auto-biography of the woman, though others dispute it as pure fantasy, but regardless it is a harrowing tale of morality and ethics. The poem begins by describing a woman who is aboard a great ship, sailing away from Formaroth and to the Elvish lands. She was a warrior, fleeing the dragons terrorizing her home in search of wealth and glory so that she might return home one day and save her family and kingdom from the dragons' wrath. However a storm struck the sailing ship, and soon the ship was splintered by the power of the tempest and the woman was left floating the sea on debris. She is said to have drifted for several days, before a great swell suddenly erupted from the sea and threatened to throw her weak body into its depths. She clung to her life-saving flotsam however, and soon is depicted to be face-to-face with the massive form of a Kraken. Alyssandra's poem depicts a Kraken as a [i]Massive shelled creature, with great tendrils bearing power and muscle. Its great beak could rend the sea, man, woman, ship, sword, knight, castle, and the sky itself into nothingness, and that its cry threatened to send the very soul itself from Narmora's soaking body[/i]. The kraken, however, did not even seem to notice Narmora floating there, and instead seemed to be in great pain from wounds it had suffered. As Narmora marvelled at the creature, she suddenly realized her danger had not passed - as a second swelling once more threatened to capsize her. A second Kraken had risen violently from the ocean, and plunged its massive beak into the body of the first kraken Narmora had witnessed - the two great beasts were doing battle! Their throes, and thrashes created such powerful swells, and waves that Narmora was sent rapidly across the surface of the ocean, and was carried far through the night at such rapid speeds she nearly lost grip to her life-saving flotsam on numerous occasions. However, she soon saw light in the distance, and within a few moments she was thrown ashore near a campfire by the waves that carried her. She fell limp then, and all was dark. She awoke much later, inside, dry, and with warm clothes. Her spear, a weapon of legend amongst the people of Alenius known as 'Fate' was missing however, and she sensed in her bones she was not home. And indeed, she was not, instead she was in the Elvish Imperium- the very place she had set out to reach, in the hands of a friendly mercenary group. She was lacking her spear, but soon she recovered and set out with this new mercenary group with a loaned lance, and she rode with them for several years through the queer lands. The poem then spends considerably time describing her adventures with this mercenary company, and the great battles she got in, and the numerous fantastic misadventures she took part in- including the riding of a unicorn, the discovery of a dwarvish city, the murder of an Elvish prince, the forging of a Dwarven blade, and the rediscovery of her beloved spear 'Fate'. With 'Fate' rediscovered, she took to the sea once more- and on her travels back to Alenius the sea once more held peril for her, though with her spear in hand and a song in her throat the woman slew the kraken that rose from the deep and threatened their passage home. When she returned home, it is said she took her mercenary company south to combat the dragons and never returned. Many still whisper that, perhaps, the legendary spear 'Fate' is lost in the mountains, and that it can be found by those who search hard enough for Narmora Stone's grave-site. [/hider] [/center]