Merenese

Name

What do these people call themselves? What do others call them? What meaning do these names hold?

### Overview

Quickly give a brief overview of these people.

## Physical Attributes

### General Description

What do these people physically look like on average? What is the range of appearances?

### Unique Abilities

What unique abilities do these people posses? Are these things magical or physical in nature? How common are these abilities?

## Geography

### Climate

What is the climate of these people’s native region?

### Terrain

Are there mountains, plains, forests, ext. In these people’s home region?

### Hazards

What kind of hazards are found in these people’s home region? Are they seasonal, constant, or random? Are they environmental or political?

## Economy

### Agriculture

What sort of farming do these people practice? What kind of crops are planted?

### Domestic Animals/Herding

What sort of animals have these people domesticated? Do they herd animals?

### Hunting/Gathering

Do these people practice hunting or gathering? Is this their main source of food or is it done seasonally or secondary?

### Industries

What kind of industries exist among these people? Are they created for home or foreign markets?

### Natural Resources

What other natural resources do these people harvest and use? How important are these? Are they harvested to be traded or for personal use?

### Trade

What goods do these people trade? Internal trade? External trade? How important is this to the country's economy? Is there a type of merchant class?

### Currency

What is used as currency among these people? How available is this currency?

## Political Structure

### General Description

What sort of political structures do these people use? How entrenched are these structures in the everyday lives of common people? Who controls these structures?

### Political History

How has history helped shape the political landscape of these people?

### Political Leadership

Who runs the governments of these people? Priests, warlords, landowners, bureaucrats, elected officials? How are these people chosen for leadership? How do these leaders justify their continue rule?

### Political Power

How powerful and centralized are these people's governments? Through what means do these governments exist and impact the lives of everyday people?

### Political Structures

What kind of structures exist in these governments? Does power lay at the top of a hierarchy or do those on the ground wield the real Power?

### Religion in Politics

What role does religion play in the governments of these people? Do priests hold more power than secular entities? Do they hold speciale responsibilities or positions?

### Magic in Politics

What role does magic play in the governments of these people? Do mages play a different role in government than non-mages?

## Views on other Cultures

### Subcultures

What kind of sub or non mainstream cultures exist among these people? How are they seen by the mainstream culture? What kind of interactions are allowed with this subculture?

### Minorities

What kind of minorities exist within these people’s society? How are they preserved? Are they treated as equals or as second class citizens? What kind of interactions are allowed with these people?

### Foreign Cultures

How are foreign cultures seen by these people? In what way do these people interact with foreigners? What kind of relationships are acceptable with foreigners?

## Cultural Appearance

### Adornment

What adornments do these people wear? Are they for special events or casual wear?

### Tattoos/Scarification

Do these people permanently alter their skin in any way? Do they get tattoos? Do they scare or brand themselves? Do these hold ritual significance? Do these marks hold certain meanings?

### Clothing

The Merenese are known to use vibrant colors to express their emotions and show off their wealth but there is one combination that should never be used in civilized times; red and black. The only acceptable times to wear those colors in combination is to a funeral or during war.

One feature that is always white is their sash, which is the sign of a warrior. A true fighter would never replace his sash no matter how dirty or bloody it became, since it showed that he was an experienced soldier and acted as a means to show off your professionalism and courage.

What sort of clothing do these people wear?

### Hair

Men style their beards with oils and ointments, and married men often keep their beards in cloves - one for each wife.

What do these people’s hair look like naturally? How do they style it? What is done with facial hair? What is different for men and women? Children, adults, and elders?

### Attraction

What is considered beautiful by these people? What are the standards for men and women? What is considered ugly? What is the difference between cute/handsome and hot/sexy?

## Cultural Creations

### Architecture

What styles of architecture is common among these people? What difference is there between informal commoner buildings and more large scale projects? Are these built to last or not?

### Art

They are known to erect shrines and statues dedicated to fallen war heroes, they serve as a symbol of admiration as well as an architectural wonder. However, since it's illegal to depict humans in any form of art, all statues are sculpted with beastly features.

What sort of art do these people create?

### Literature/stories

What sort of writing do these people create? Do they follow standard genres or archetypes?

### Music

What sort of music do these people make? What kind of instruments?

### Food

What sort of food do these people create?

### Calendar/Time Keeping

How do these people record the passage of time?

## Societal Structure/Views

### Marriage/Courtship

When a man has courted a woman for some time he is invited to her home for a dance - which will determine whether he will be allowed to marry her or not.

The dance commences, and all the women on both sides of their families are invited and are dressed in long silk robes, covering all but their eyes. They say that true love can only be seen in the eyes of your betrothed and if you can't find the woman who is meant to be your bride then it's seen as a sign that there is no true love between the two of you.

What sort of marriage and courtships do these people practice? Who initiates? What steps are taken in order to get married? At what point in their lives do they get married? Who is allowed to marry whom?

### Family

What do family structures look like among these people? How long do they last? At what point in their life do they form? Who are allowed to create a family?

### Pregnancy

How is pregnancy seen by these people? What is biologically different/unique? What things must pregnant women do differently? What are they not allowed to do?

### Naming System

What is the structure of a person's names? When and by whom are these given?

### Children

What role do children play in society? Who raises them? What is expected of them?

### Education

What forms of education exist for these people? What groups receive what kind of education?

### Elders

How are elders treated by these people? What roles do they fill? What is expected of them?

### Death and Burial Practices

How are the dead treated by these people? Are they buried? Cremated? How are they prepared for these rights?

### Inharitance

How is inheritance handled when someone dies? How does different classes handle inheritance?

### Class/Caste

Are these people separated by class or caste? Are these separations hard or soft? How do these different groups interact, if at all?

### Destitutes

Who are the destitute and down trout within this society? How are they seen? Are they helped or left on their own?

### Gender Structures/Roles

What sort of gender specific roles exist among these people? What is expected of men that is not expected of women? Vice versa?

### Sexual Identity

What kind of sexual identity exists among these people? Is heterosexual relationships the only acceptable type of sexuality? What non traditional types of sexuality are allowed? How are non straight people viewed?

### Personal Identity

What aspects of a person are most important to their personal identity? Is it their family, clan, state, profession, religion, ext?

### Courtesy/Manners

What is considered courteous or proper by these people? How does one treat a stranger? Family? Freind?

### Modesty

What is considered modest by these people? How important is modesty? What is modest for different classes and genders?

### Laws/Legal Code

What sort of laws and social rules exist among these people? Are these formal or informal? Enforced by a central authority or a traditional social order?

### Punishment

What kind of punishments do these people believe in? What punishments are given in response to what crimes?

### Drugs

What kind of drug use is acceptable or encouraged by these people? Under what circumstances are these drugs acceptable to use? Which drugs are not allowed?

### Language

What do these people’s language sound like? What relation does it have to other languages?

## Cultural Events

### Sports/Recreation

What sort of sports or other recreations do these people do? Is there a difference between professional and casual sports? Who plays what sports?

### Festivals/celebrations

What sort of celebrations and festivals do these people have? Are they centered around times of year? Point in people’s lives? Specific events? Birthdays? Funerals? Marriages? Puberty?

## Demographics

### Towns/Villages/Cities

What kind of villages, towns, and cities do these people have? How large are they? Who controls these population centers?

### Migration/Population Movement

How, and for what reasons, do these people move around? Are these short range or over long distances? Do they return to a set ‘home’ or is home always moving? Do the young move or does everyone? Do most people die where they are born or elsewhere?

### Exploration

Do these people explore new territory? How do they view exploration? What tools do they have at their disposal?

### Colonization

How do these people colonize new territories? How connected are these colonies to their homeland? What happens to the natives of these colonies?

## Conflict

### Military

What sort of military do these people have? Is it made of professionals or irregulars? How is gender or class important within these people’s military?

### Weaponry/Armor

What kind of weapons and armor do these people use? Are they of the people’s own design or taken from another people? What level of quality are these weapons? Do they export or import weapons/armor?

### Magic in Warfare

How is magic used as a component of the military? Do mages serve specific roles or are they treated like normal soldiers? What kinds of magic are used by these people in war?

### War/Conquest

Do these people wage war? How do they view war? How are conquered people treated? How expansionary are they?

### Resistance/Dissent

What kind of dissent and resistance do these people practice? What groups are these targeted at?

### Raiding

Do these people raid? Is it acceptable to do so? Who is doing the raiding and who is being raided?

### Slavery

Is slavery allowed by these people? Who can be enslaved? Are children of slaves born free? What rights do slaves have? How can slaves be made free?

### Abandonment

When do these people abandon their home? When everything they have is destroyed do they rebuild or move on?

### Natural Disasters

What kind of natural disasters do these people deal with? How do they respond? From where do they believe these disasters come from?

### Diseases

What kind of disease do these people deal with? What is seen as the source? How do they deal with them?

## Religion (RELIGION NAME)

### Name

What is the name of this religion? What meaning does it have?

### General Overview

Give a general overview of this religion. What are its major tenets? How does it exist in the daily lives of everyday people? What religious leaders exist?

### Religious History

How has this religion changed over the years? How long has it been around? What major events shaped it?

### Religious Structure

How are the formal institutions of this religion constructed? What levels of leadership positions exist? How do these leaders interact with everyday believers? What informal institutions exist?

### Deities/Mythic Figures

Who, if any, are the gods of this religion? What characters exist in their myths? What powers do they hold?

### Sacred Lore

What books or collections of tales does this religion teach? Are they equally important? Who tells these stories?

### Creation Myth

How do these people believe the world and its people came into existence? How recent was Creation?

### Death

How is death view in this religion? What happens to a person after they die?

### Followers

How do followers experience this religion in their everyday lives? How important is it to them? Are all followers created equal?

### Sacred Sites

What sites or cities are considered sacred by this religion? How long have they been seen this way? Why?

### Religious Orders

What kind of religious orders exist within this religion? Are they militarily focused? Isolated or open to the public? Who is allowed to join these orders? What services do they provide?

### Heretical Groups

What heretic groups exist within this religion? How are they treated by members of the mainstream religion?

### Magic

Does magic play a part in this religion? Do mages play a different part in the religion than non-mages?

## Magic

### Connection to Magic

What kind of connection do these people have with magic? How does it influence them? How much control over it do they have?

### Social Views on Magic

How is magic viewed by these people? Does gender/class influence perceptions of magic? How are mages viewed?

### Styles of Magic

How do these people use magic? Are there distinct styles or methods of using magic? What schools of thought exist around magic?

## History

### Historical Period or Era

General overview of these people’s history in the named region.

## Legends/Stories/Myths:

### Name of Legend/Story/Myth

Text of this legend/story/myth, either a brief description or a full write up.

## Major Nations

### Name of Nations

General write up of this nation and its significance.

## Major Settlements

### Name of Settlement

General write up of this city/town/village and its significance.

## Major Individuals

### Name of Person

General write up of this person and their significance?

## **Marriage/Courtship**

When a man has courted a woman for some time he is invited to her home for a dance - which will determine whether he will be allowed to marry her or not.

The dance commences, and all the women on both sides of their families are invited and are dressed in long silk robes, covering all but their eyes. They say that true love can only be seen in the eyes of your betrothed and if you can't find the woman who is meant to be your bride then it's seen as a sign that there is no true love between the two of you.

## Appearance

### **Clothing**

The Merenese are known to use vibrant colors to express their emotions and show off their wealth but there is one combination that should never be used in civilized times; red and black. The only acceptable times to wear those colors in combination is to a funeral or during war.One feature that is always white is their sash, which is the sign of a warrior. A true fighter would never replace his sash no matter how dirty or bloody it became, since it showed that he was an experienced soldier and acted as a means to show off your professionalism and courage.

### **Hair**

Men style their beards with oils and ointments, and married men often keep their beards in cloves - one for each wife.

## Culture

### **Art**

They are known to erect shrines and statues dedicated to fallen war heroes, they serve as a symbol of admiration as well as an architectural wonder. However, since it's illegal to depict humans in any form of art, all statues are sculpted with beastly features.