Cultures

There are many unique cultures in the Monster Garden world, all composed of different races in different places, with the ways these cultures interact making up the bulk of what the story is based around.

### Human Culture

#### Verus

Verus (pronounced 'Ver-roos') is a human country that holds a close connection to its religious beliefs and has an upward-looking ideology when it comes to its search for answers. "*Verus is the country which pursues the heavens, a lot of their architecture and clothing are inspired by the design of the Pillars and they have designed many constructs that were designed to climb the Pillars, to try to get to the top of them and seek answers*" - Simon. It borders and is at war with Ram after the Mana Core Incident. It is common for Verus to send mages onto the battlefield directly, making use of terraforming, fire, and wind magic among others. They also do business with the dwarves commissioning war-golems and retrofitting work-golems with armour and weapons. Verus previously had three pillars within its borders, but the expanding no-man's-land between it and Ram has consumed one of the pillars.

#### Ram

Ram (Pronounced somewhere between 'Rarm' and 'Rom') is a human country with a strong industrious, materialistic, and utilitarian attitude, similar to early 1900s Germany. "*Ram uses the pillars only for industry, for they are not looking to find what is at the top, they are planning to go down. Mana comes from within the Earth and they believe that whatever is at its source must lead to truth. Giant machines the size of churches used to dig their way to the center of the earth, though many of these machines and others like them lay dormant as the fuel source is running scarce. Infused oil as its called used to be produced at a power plant located in Verus called the Mana Core, though due to a giant explosion that occurred there and a storm that covered the area soon after, contact with the facility and surrounding cities has been impossible. The remaining fuel that was kept in storage soon ran low and tensions rose, as Rams religious pilgrimage into the core was halted due to Verus's refusal to export any more oil. One thing led to another and a war stuck out between the two countries. The war has now been going on for too long, with both sides going to desperate measures to win out over the other. Towns and villages bled dry of resources to sustain the fruitless fight. Innovations from both sides preventing the other from taking any ground for long.*" - Simon

It borders Verus who is currently at war following the events and consequences of the Mana Core Incident. They use scrolls to cast spells on the battlefield in conjunction with mechanisms of war such as artillery-style cannons, motors, and even a tank-style golem called the crawling king.

Ram holds two Pillars within its borders.

### Dwarf Culture

Many aspects of dwarven culture are covered on the dedicated dwarf page, but here's a summary: Dwarves live in winding tunneled cities built with two zones; one for the dwarves themselves as well as their golems consisting of tunnels with no regard for direction or gravity thanks to the climbing abilities of the dwarves. These tunnels branch to spherical rooms, denoted with the dwarven writing system, meant to be read by touch, written on doorways, along the pitch black tunnels, and even the bodies of the dwarves. The other part of a dwarven city is dedicated to a market, designed to be walked by the other races. These markets are set up with stalls lining the walls, each with a dwarf sitting behind their work. The dwarves do not yell nor boast of their work, they are obsessed with quality , andseek perfection in a materialistic sense, as such their work should speak for itself in that its quality is obvious just by looking at it.

Dwarves have two signature vices; 'dwarven alcohol' and a substance called grot which is smoked, these are famous for how potent they are to other races, commonly causing coughing fits and blackouts much to the dwarve's amusement.

### Elven Culture

Very little is known of elven culture due to how secretive they are, seen as mysterious and illusive by humans.