Marcher

Anja, Annette, Barbara, Brigita, Elsbeth, Eva, Gertrudt, Heide, Katerina, Ursula, Walpurg

Albrecht, Alexander, Caspar, Dietrich, Felix, Hans, Hermann, Ludwig, Moritz, Stefan, Ulrich, Wilhelm, Wolfgang

Nobility generally adopt the prefix von prior to noble titles. Family names are generally based either on location (e.g. von Dovkala) or from the Marcher name of a profession (i.e. Schmidt, Fischer, etc.)

Marcher and Common are commonly spoken throughout, though Marcher is much more commonly spoken than Common away from urban centers, with isolated communities speaking rare dialects with only a few able to speak Marcher.

Marchers place a high value on social station and on privacy, drawing a strong division between work and home whenever they are able to, though this is often impossible in more rural areas. In this violent area, competence is valued far more than blood or lineage.

Because of the high emphasis on privacy, it is considered impolite to ask a Marcher about their home when meeting in the context of a business relationship, unless the Marcher of higher social station opens up first.

The dress of Marchers has evolved to closely resemble that of the Northern High Kingdoms of Nevaris and Aerluen, with men generally wearing elaborate heraldric tunics, leggings, and boots, while women tend to wear elaborate and colorful dresses, generally without heraldric emblems. Due to the cool weather, however, overcoats are much more common than in Nevaris. Adventuring women tend to adopt more masculine forms of dress. In contrast to other northern cultures, Marchers tend to wear strange three-cornered hats in brown or black known as "Tricornen."

In accordance with their duties in the Ausgleich, Marcher architecture is typically defensive in nature, with more emphasis placed on practicality for defense than on aesthetics. Towns and cities, like castles, tend to be placed on the high hills that characterize the Marches wherever it is possible to do so.
The art of Marchers generally takes the form of elaborate decoration of the internal walls of both buildings and cities, often of the beautiful wilds the surround settlements and characterize the rough but inspirational Marcher life. Many an artist has journeyed to the Marches in search of this beauty, only to realize that life in the Marches is more difficult than they anticipated, with raids by rogue Bolari tribes and Orcish barbarians from the mountains a fact of life, and art a competitive field due to the inspiration the landscape--and the hardship--provides.

Birth generally occurs at home, under the supervision of a trained midwife. Like all members of the Church of Kol, infants are Baptized in the Water shortly after birth.

Coming of age customs and ceremonies vary substantially from March to March. After a child turns 12, the process generally begins with seeking an apprenticeship in a trade or in additional parental education, as well any local customs. At or after 15, burgeoning adults are baptized in the Fire in accordance with Church tradition after seeking approval from both their father and their local priest. After this point are they allowed to levied for wars, allowed to marry, allowed to seek further education at a university, test to become a journeyman, or begin the process to seek ordination in the Church.

Funerary rites are broadly performed in accordance with Church liturgy. Memorial customs vary from March to March.

Like most northern cultures, Marchers view discussions of private family matters and airing of grievances publically as shameful, unless criminal punishment is being pursued.

Though the idea of what represents beauty physically is mostly the same across the north, Marcher culture places a great deal of emphasis on practicality and hard work as part of a beautiful woman (and, similarly, a handsome man). Calluses and scars are viewed with pride when not disfiguring, giving birth to the Marcher phrase,

"A beautiful woman without calluses is like a flower, good for viewing only, wilting at the slightest difficulty. A woman with calluses is like a mighty blooming tree, standing strong against trials and bearing fruit for all to see."

Though female adventurers and females in powerful social roles are not unheard of, they are generally seen as exceptional and are rarely seen as something to aspire to by most commoners.

Courtship is extremely different between nobility and commoner, with commoners adopting a wide variety of traditions as befits the wide variety of cultural practices within the many marches. Nobility tend towards the more elaborate and long-term courtship rituals favored by the court in Nevaris and Aerluen.

Most Marchers view marriage and childrearing as part of the same life-long commitment. Though lovers are not unheard of, they are universally frowned upon. Though not every couple has children, it is generally expected that they will eventually--a slight misunderstanding of Church doctrine that every couple needs to be open to the possibility.