Sundrili Culture

## Food

Sundaril is well-regarded for its excellent dairy products: people of all classes dine on rich, creamy cheeses, stock their larders with herbed butters and creams, have access to milk, and serve rich puddings at each meal. Due to the importance of cows, goats, and sheep in the production of these items, many of the common folk eat low-meat diets instead of slaughtering their animals. These plant-based diets are rich in barley, potatoes, lentils, game meats, and fish if they live near the coast.

The upper-class of Sundaril eat a more varied diet: beef, wild boar, and geese are considered luxury items and are eaten to excess inside the walls of Leimancroga.

The classes are united by their shared love of marzipan, a sugar and honey confection which is then spun into intricate shapes and designs such as animals, flowers, and fruits. Each year at Christmastime, it is a tradition for Sundrili people of all ranks and class to hide a single almond in porridge and reward the finder with a marzipan pig. Honey is equally-important to Sundrili culture, both for its medicinal properties and its use in making treats like mead, marzipan, and cakes.

Sundaril’s main food exports are dairy products, oats, wheat and barley, onions, potatoes, sheep, and fish.

## Religion

For the vast majority of the Sundrili, their religion is Catholicism. However, it should be noted that the Sundrili have their own particular take on Catholicism, specifically the weaving in of their own pagan beliefs. These beliefs, originally intended to be rooted out by the Church, eventually merged into Sundaril's version of Catholicism, and the Church, unable to ever completely stamp it out, did its best to pretend that was how it was meant to be. The old festivals of Samhain, Beltane, summer solstice, and winter solstice are still celebrated.

### Tolerance in Sundaril

Beyond Catholicism, Sundaril has found itself becoming a host to rising amount of different cultures and religions. Abroad, many countries have found themselves growing more hostile to those different than themselves and their denizens have found it more prosperous to simply leave their homelands for new shores. Sundaril, with its religious history and their own prior gods being of all manner of races and appearances, originally was wary of the newcomers, but has since accepted them. Very few consider a man's skin tone to be his worth (though his titles, lands, and monetary value are still very considered). The new religions can ruffle some feathers, but only when they are shoved in another's face or when they openly contest each other. Thus far, the overall view has been, "You do in your house what you need to do, and I do in my house what I need to do."

## Courtship and Marriage

While a majority of marriages in the upper classes of Sundrili society are political and, therefore, arranged, true courtship is not uncommon. When one is interested in another person, it is common to approach the person with ribbon in one’s family colors or their favored one. From there, the person bows and offers it to the recipient. If they approve, that person will then take the ribbon and attach it to their clothing to show their approval. Once the official courtship begins, it is only a matter of time until the couple becomes betrothed.

From there, Sundrili citizens who do not belong to the peerage or aristocracy are free to marry as they wish.

### Betrothal

As aforementioned, marriages among the upper-class are political and arranged.

Families often craft betrothal contracts upon the birth of their children, though common law and the Church dictate that they cannot marry and consummate their unions until all parties involved are at least 18-years-old. Betrothals are free to broken without legal and financial repercussions before both parties reach the age of 16.

If a betrothal is broken after the age of 16 by the bridal party, the groom’s family is given approximately half of the promised dowry. If the groom’s family breaks it off, they forfeit all rights to the dowry and the groom’s family will pay restitution to the bridal party. If the parties involved are above the rank of Earl and/or the marriage was arranged by the king, neither party can end the betrothal without the king’s expressed consent. Failure to comply with this rule is punishable by heavy fines and the stripping of titles.

### Marriage

Marriages in the upper class are made for economic reasons. If one is lucky, they might grow to care for their arranged partner. For the most part, however, this is considered rare and unexpected. It is, at the current time, illegal for a highborn person to marry someone considered lowborn. Even amongst the nobility, marrying too high or too low from your station (such as a duke marrying a baron's daughter) can cause quite a buzz.

The commoners have a different story. While some still wed for economic reasons (usually the more wealthy one is, the more likely an economic arrangement is to be made), the vast majority wed for love or lust.

### Divorce

Divorce is currently illegal due to the Church's stance on it, though some couples openly live separate lives while maintaining their legally married status. This has led to some scandals and issues, as one might imagine.