Rûn

Though the Rûn once had their own language, it has changed depending on the surrounding culture. Eventually, each House developed their own dialect that is unintelligible to outsiders.

The Rûn are often fiercely proud of their heritage and avoid outsiders, however, they are not opposed to romantic encounters with others and consider any resulting children to be fully Rûn. They do object to outsiders living within their communities, and so long-term partnerships with outsiders are frowned upon. Notions of honor among the Rûn usually revolve around one's perceived ability to provide for family and overall generosity to the weak. When dealing with outsiders and other Rûn families, it is the matriarch that instigates interactions or another family member on their behalf. Deals and promises with others are only valid if the matriarch has sanctioned them, and for a member of the family to break an agreement is to disobey the will of the House. When disagreements arise among a family it is often brought to the matriarch. However, the Rûn consider it dishonorable to disrespect the weak, the young, or the sick.

Rûn organize themselves into extended family groups and have little other forms of authority beyond that. The eldest family member is the leader and often governs a settlement populated by their descendants. Grandparents and great-grandparents are the leaders (often a matriarch), and her children are the framework of the rest of the community. Both the old and the young are provided for and honored. Children learn the crafts of their elders and study their family history, often in the form of complex songs and dances individual to each House. There is no money exchanged among the members of the House, because everyone is expected to give each other what they need.

The Rûn have different forms of greeting depending on different degrees of relation. For the elders, people bow to them and remain a step behind them ready to offer assistance. For parents, lowering the head is common. For aunts and uncles it is the same, while for siblings and cousins one would embrace. For children and grandchildren, one might choose to embrace or kiss the cheek and forehead. For outsiders, one might incline the head or simply nod.

Clothing changes depending on the location, but generally hair is worn loose and uncovered for women. Flowers are commonly worn in the hair during spring seasons, and young women often wear crowns of spring blossoms during ceremonies and celebrations. Each flower has a different meaning. Black clothes are worn only by the matriarch, and white is for children under ten years old.

The Rûn have not historically built many large or impressive buildings, but instead the family builds a humble walled-in community home with doors facing inward to a community yard where people gather. If the family grows larger, more space is added by building up, rather than breaking away from the outer wall. Stables for animals are on the first floor, as well as kitchens and workshops, while living spaces are upstairs. Homes are generally built from wood, mud, and rough stone bricks; however, the Rûn like to adorn their homes with carved rafters, pillars, or eaves. Furniture, since it is used by so many generations, is often intricately fashioned with carved scenes depicting family history on tympaniums. Common motifs for wood carvings are ram’s heads to represent strength and vitality, fish to indicate wealth, owls as dead spirits, and various leaf and flower motifs. Beyond wood carving, the Rûn are known for their skill with beads, often using stone, wood, metal, and crystals. A common ornament during celebrations is an intricate beaded shawl or necklace that covers the shoulders and chest with strung beads to overlay a garment.

Though food is highly dependent on the local options, since most Rûn have historically dwelled in inland areas of dense trees, grass, or marshland, stable ingredients include large amounts of seasonal foods. Nuts are ground into different types of flour, while berries such as blackberries, currants, belladonna berries, and apples are made into a compote or concentrate and aged into highly alcoholic beverages or even vinegar. For a milder drink, the compote is then mixed with water or tea. Fresh fish and snails are eaten as well as eggs, pork, and game. Some signature dishes include a mixture of wild grains and seeds which are chopped into a meal, often with chopped mint, onions, nettle, or thyme, and steamed with strips of willow bark laid over the top. This dish is often served alongside steamed eggs or fish. When trade is available, the Rûn also use wheat flour and dairy.

The Changeover Meal is not unique to the Rûn. It is dinner that takes place during the liminal day of each month. Interestingly, however, the Rûn do not observe any holidays or traditions related to the worship of any god. Instead, they have a celebration of the ancestors in the fall, and each House has its own set of sacred days related to certain events in nature such as the Flying of the Geese, the Maple Tapping, or the Waking of the Trees, and of course, celebrations for the birth of each family member.

Births are special times for the whole House. The mother is attended by her mother and/or other female relatives of her choosing. It is considered a privilege to attend to the mother and a sign of disfavor not to be chosen. Therefore, there often can be up to a dozen women helping the mother give birth. Fathers are rarely present, since often it is not certain who the father even is, and often he is not a member of the House. Once the baby is born, the mother and child rest for usually around three days, while the mother heals and bonds with the child. She is exempt from family duties and work and is taken care of by her relatives. During the pregnancy and rest period, the matriarch consults omens to divine the future of the child and tries to gain the blessing of the family spirits. Only after three days, or until both mother and child are fit enough, is the rest of the family allowed to meet the newborn. Often, they bring gifts for the child, such as blankets or treasures for later in life. The matriarch then blesses the child and announces what name the mother has chosen for them. The child is then moved to a common nursery in which they will be raised alongside siblings and cousins by all members of the House.

Children come of age in various stages. First, at the age of eight, the child will stop wearing white, signaling that they are ready to begin helping the family with tasks such as weaving, spinning, taking care of smaller animals and younger children, and so on. They also begin to learn basic herbalism and witchcraft if they show a talent for it, while others might prefer to help their elders with hunting or gathering. At puberty, they are allowed to travel with their parents on journeys, hunt for themselves, and participate as adults in family rituals. It is during this time that they start preparing for the journey, which happens when they turn between seventeen and twenty. All the young people of that age in the House gather and travel to other Rûn settlements, often joining larger parties. The purpose of this journey is to learn about the greater community of Rûn people and meet distant relatives from other Houses, as well as study new skills and learn new things to bring back when they return. It is also the time when most have their first partnering, which is a proud occasion for both sexes.

In such a small community, death is a significant event. Whether from old age or tragic accident, the dead are tended to by their closest adult relatives, when they are ritually cleansed of all mortal links to the earth and dressed once more in white. They are laid out in the center from sunrise to sunset and watched over by the matriarch during that time while the rest of the family grieves and leaves flowers around the body. At sunset, they are buried outside the walls, and a tree is planted over the grave. For a matriarch's passing, her likeness is carved into the tree, which is always an oak.

Most Rûn are small in stature and pale, though over the decades their features have blended with many other cultures.

Marriage is not recognized among the Rûn. Bloodlines are tracked through the mothers, and there is no limit to how many partners they can have. Jealousy is seen as greed and is therefore frowned upon. If two people have partnered themselves several times and intend to continue for the foreseeable future, they might be considered partners, but even in this situation, both are allowed to have other partners.

If a couple have remained together for a long while and had children together, the male in the relationship would take the responsibility of providing for the woman's children that she already has. In more modern times, such a couple might marry using a different tradition, and the woman's children would be considered the progeny of the new husband.