BUILD YOUR OWN WORLD Like what you see? Become the Master of your own Universe!

Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild

Hair

In this period, this stuff is valuable. Cotd hair is a lot stronger than mundane hair due to natural Umbrite infusion. It's one of the toughest fibers around, making Cotd scalps quite a valuable (if gruesome) product of the battlefield. It's also very receptive to solid shadow, making it a useful sorcery aid- it can even be used to make a (weaker, more limited) practice that resembles basic xiphaem manipulation.  

Styling

Long hair is generally encouraged, since longer fibers are more useful. Lots of elaborate styles. Of course, if one actually wants to use the fibers, hair has to be cut. This results in a lot of styles incorporating both long and short hair- often one half long, the other relatively short.   A full head of long hair would be a sign of status- stating that one has enough resources that they can afford to leave hair uncut. Also a sign of confidence in one's safety, as longer hair makes them a more valuable target on the battlefield.   Some places, especially the more vulnerable, take the opposite practice, favoring short hairstyles: the idea is that in doing so, they become less valuable targets. They're seen as cowardly and defeatist, seeing as this sacrifices one of the greatest resources for a poor settlement to grow.  

Traditions

There's a lot of symbolism around giving another strands of one's hair. Among the lower classes, explicitly giving another just enough hair to make a string is a wedding proposal.   Lots of superstitions around this. Soldiers would, if possible, use bows strung with the hair of their lovers- said to make arrows fly truer, and strike harder. While bows tend to be interchangeable to some degree, bowstrings are quite romanticized and hold more individual significance.   Haircuts are a common punishment for various crimes. There are ideas of one only truly atoning once their hair has grown back to an acceptable length etc. It's also functionally a fine.    

Post-Period

After Vhagar's Law was implemented, Cotd hair could no longer be harvested from battlefields (due to there not really being any battles). The practice of growing one's hair out to cut it for crafts/sale (much more tenable considering Cotd lifespans) grew. Hair production fell overall, since people no longer needed to do so in order to equip their soldiers and maximize chances of survival. Nevertheless, a lot of old traditions and beauty standards remained, long hair being generally seen as desirable for both genders (also remember that Vhagar himself has hair of long, but underminable, length due to it pooling in his shadow).   Haircuts remained a punishment for middling crimes.

Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild

Comments

Please Login in order to comment!