People of Stone

People of Stone refers to the the humans of the Broken Kingdom and those in the surrounding lands who share bloodlines with them. The name is taken from the original vernacular for the Broken Kingdom when it was known as the Stone Kingdom.

## Physical Characteristics

The People of Stone stand tall and generally stocky. Males typically reach slightly past six feet tall, females usually standing a hand to a head shorter. They are fair of skin; most burn easily and few hold a tan. Hair and eye colors range across the full spectrum which are normal for humans, however the combination of dark eyes and light hair is rare and considered a sign of a wild heart.

## Religion

The People of Stone in the Broken Kingdom and the immediate surrounding area generally accept the divinity and supernatural nature of the Truest King. Consistent with this, the populace recognizes the presence of magic in the world and the inexplicable is typically attributed to it. Magic or gods that cannot be seen and lack a physical substance typically go unrecognized and disbelieved.

This superstitious nature of the people leads them to qualify Biomorphs as monsters. Abhumans who stray too far from the norm, or who are too unapproachable, typically earn the title of monsters as well.

Commonly held beliefs among followers of the Truest King are:

* The Truest can sense the truth and the absence of it, making him impossible to deceive.
* The Truest is able to sense the prayers and faith of his followers. If you are especially devout and deep in your faith, his favor will manifest itself in small ways. Blows which would normally rend armor glance away at a poor angle. Swings which would normally go wide just so happen to catch enemies off guard.
* The essence of each person can be born again, but that right must be earned through accomplishments in this life. The order of rebirth become a pecking order with the most accomplished at times being reborn hundreds of years more quickly than those who have accomplished little.
* Those who die honorable deaths in battle, particularly deaths of sacrifice and valor which seal victory or protect others, stand first in line before any others for rebirth.
* The land of souls is a grey area, with little to occupy the dead. It is a test of the mettle of the soul itself that they are able to endure the lack of activity until rebirth. Souls who wait too long for rebirth are said to be forgotten in the living realm, their names and deeds becoming lost to history. Eventually those poor souls can lose themselves, disappearing into nothingness to never be reborn.
* As the only escape from the land of souls is through rebirth as a human, every time a baby is born the mother is honored with saving the soul from the horrible fate of being forgotten. This leads to highly fertile women being respected and sought after within the Kingdom.
* The souls of those branded as cowards stand last in line for rebirth, almost inevitably doomed to be forgotten into nothingness.
* The most pure of souls are those who live a life of valor and courage, yet somehow survive to die Elders of the land.
* As the Truest King is undying, his soul is the most pure of them all. The deeds of a hundred lifetimes sustaining his immortality. Selfless acts done in the name of the King perpetuate this, ensuring that the god-king shall never age and only grow in holiness and power.

### Death Rites and Internment

Death is a common occurrence to the People of Stone, an acquaintance around the corner that they'd rather not see but don't necessarily dread. Far more feared in the Broken Kingdom is to be humiliated and/or forgotten. As a result the most important aspect of a burial in the Broken Kingdom is for some measure to ensure the fallen are remembered to be taken. This usually takes place in the form of a dirge which is recorded at the soonest opportunity and added to history. Books on battles in the Broken Kingdom always start with the Dirge of the Fallen, the lyrics of the song which tells how each warrior fell recorded for memory. While the Dirge may not be the most accurate recording of a battle, it is perhaps the most respected part and will often be the only part widely remembered.

Disposal of the bodies normally comes in two forms. Inside the Kingdom, bodies are buried with a sapling inside sections of the forests which are no longer being actively logged. The thought being that the tree makes a living marker which will help hold the memory of the fallen longer. To this end it is considered very bad luck to cut down an immature tree in the Kingdom as you may be disturbing a grave before the rebirth of the soul. Outside of the Kingdom, funeral pyres are typically lit and the bodies burned to ash. In both cases, the armor of the fallen is surrendered to the vault of the local nobility, the weapons are returned to the fallen's family, and the fallen's other worldly possessions pass on to their heir. In any instance where there is no family or heir, the objects normally bound to such are instead passed to the local nobility.

### Birth Rites

Due to the high death rates in the Broken Kingdom, and the thorough depopulation of the People of Stone during the Great War, the Order of Truths, by direction of the Truest King, now distribute the King's Bounty to new mothers. The Bounty is always paid in King's Cubes and increases with each additional child born. A mother reaching twelve children receives a significantly higher Bounty, a carved stone medallion to denote the achievement, and earns the honorary title Mother to which even the nobility addresses her as such. It is rumored that a thirteenth child born to a Mother often times begets a personal visit from the Truest King himself to deliver the Bounty.

### The Black Blade

The Black Blade is a meditation technique taught to the Armored Riders and as a part of religious services for those who profess the divinity of the Truest King and wish to draw closer to their god. Conveniently also the name given to the primary weapon of the Truest King, this meditation technique teaches one to empty their mind of all distractions, becoming the incarnation of focus between their mind, their training, and their weapon in hand. Those in the Trinity Order are expected to become experts in the method and able to teach the Armored Riders the method. The Magistrates of the Order of Truth are expected to fully master the technique as part of their truth-reading and their duty of being able to teach subjects of the Kingdom who come to them seeking further spiritual enlightenment.

## Culture

Speaking in terms of general temperament, the People of the Stone are passionate, stubborn, loyal, and proud. They, however, in general seem to lack moderation, pursuing everything to its furthest. Part of this unbridled nature leads to an odd dynamic where the people are typically gentle and affable up until a point, at which they turn violent very suddenly and then the violence abates just as quickly. Visitors in the area should not be surprised to see two men acting as friends in the morning, in a drawn out fist-a-cuffs in the afternoon, and fast friends again by evening. Most disputes are settled by non-lethal violence and generally resolved as quickly as they turn violent, parties moving on and forgetting about the issue. This may be aided by the frequency and unpredictability of revelries in the Kingdom, planned or impromptu.

The people of the Broken Kingdom have a lively and thriving culture centered around the ideals of personal honor and personal excellence. No matter what it is that one of the People of Stone do, they're expected to be the best they possibly can at it. The concepts of honor and excellence or "glory" are deeply ingrained into each child from before birth; it is not an uncommon practice to recite the Code to unborn children as part of a sleep ritual in all stratum of Broken Kingdom society. This leads to a number of entertaining situations with outsiders who attend the various Tournaments in the Kingdoms that help determine who is the best at which craft, in particular when the contests between bartenders and harlots take place. Naturally the winner of any contest has a party thrown in their honor when they return home. A well deserved stereotype for
the People of Stone is that of a large man or woman who eats too much, drinks too much, plays too hard, is too prideful, is too stubborn, too obsessive, utterly honest, dangerous in a fight, courageous and trustworthy.

The keystone of the Broken Kingdom culture is the Oath of Stone which is sworn by every citizen before a Magistrate (the clerical knights of the Truest King) when they complete their martial training during their seventeenth year. Anyone refusing to swear the Oath of Stone is exiled from the Kingdom. Due to the youthfulness of those who swear the Oaths, no branding is offered for refusal and should one who is exiled under such circumstances desire they can return to the Broken Kingdom and swear their Oath of Stone at the Cathedral to rejoin the society of their birth. While refusal to swear the Oath is rare, it is not uncommon for those who do so to join the Circle of Friends to the southeast of the Kingdom.

Living to an old age is uncommon in the Kingdom, particularly among the men. The adventurousness and fearlessness of the people creating a high attrition rate to the population which is only outdone by the high birth rate. It is rather fortunate that the most common past-time in the kingdoms is revelry, facilitating the wanton coupling needed to maintain and grow the population despite their knack for finding themselves in graves or on pyres by the age of forty-five. Those who make it to old age are called Elders and are highly respected, the People of Stone even quicker to become violent at disrespect offered Elders than they are about questions of the Truest King's divinity.

### Architecture

Renowned for their masonry and stonework, it is no surprise that the People of Stone favor that medium for all construction. Structures made of wood are extremely rare in the Kingdom and generally used only for temporary structures. Typical construction for a building is of stone block or cobble exterior walls, wooden interiors, and ceramic tile roofs. While most rural buildings tend to have plain, brown tiles, the roofs of buildings in larger villages, towns, and the cities tend to be extremely colorful, often times sporting geometric designs in addition to solid colors. Due to the need for excellence in all work performed, the walls of buildings are often worked in designs. Many of these designs can be geometric in nature, but more valued are designs which produce scenes of nature, battle, or something that reflects the work that goes on in the building. A smithy, for example, would have scenes of the different steps to forging a sword etched into its exterior walls.

Defensive structures are a specialty in the Kingdom and the defensive aspects of the various castles and keeps in the Kingdom are typically off-limits to foreign visitors. The structures themselves are built around the idea that no defense is perfect, so instead focus on making every foot of ground gained as costly as possible. Common features include pressurized steam vents in sections of the wall vulnerable to ladders, gates entering into long hallways filled with murder holes and openings for spears to be used, sectioned defenses with each tower in a wall operating as a miniature Bastille. The superstructures of keeps and castles themselves usually extends underground, providing a defensive work which cannot be taken by standard siege weaponry and must be fought for step by step. The vaults, food stores, and water supply usually rest in the deepest sections of these structures. Larger towns and cities as well are designed to make life difficult for an approaching army, no road or boulevard ever leading directly from the city gate to the castle gates. The pathways of most cities are so winding that it often takes visitors months to fully learn their way around.

### Artwork

Artwork tends to be incorporated into most objects made in the Kingdom. Everything from household goods to horse tact and weaponry tends to bear some manner of design. The need to stand out is so deep that even farmhouses often sport complex geometric designs in the stone of their walls to demonstrate the skill of the masons who built them. This partially accounts for the generally slow pace of production, as every craftsman is to some extent an artisan as well. The master craftsmen of any profession generally are regarded as some of the finest artists as well. Devoted artists are valued members of society, though they tend to favor hardy and enduring mediums, usually bringing their creations out of wood, stone, or metal. An exception is made for painters, who work almost exclusively in portraits. These portraits are highly valued and, due to their ability to help keep individuals in the collective memory, have a religious significance given the cycles of rebirth.

### Boasting, Showboating, and Story-Telling

While lying and deceit are frowned upon to the point of being ostracized in the Kingdom, it is generally an accepted and encouraged practice to embellish the details of the world. The scale-maws fought in the swamp were not merely seven feet in length, they were twelve. When the story is told again, the twelve foot scale-maws are now even larger, or more numerous. Part of this is due to the value for story-telling as entertainment, part of it is simply a part of a culture where status is determined by deeds, and part of it is driven by the religious fear of being forgotten in anonymity. Boasting is rarely taken seriously, though often repeated verbatim if it made for a good story. This leads to significant confusion when outsiders visit, and has caused more than a few problems outside the Kingdom when someone is called out on their boasting (an affront so rude that it usually immediately leads to a brawl). The boasting carries on into the actions many in the Kingdoms take, as the best stories are those who still have a ring of truth to them. This means that many will attempt to accomplish their deeds in as flashy a style as possible, so that the embellishment can go that much further. Showboating is a leading cause of death among young Armored Riders, as they often push beyond their skills in battles while trying to impress their peers and onlookers.

### Judicial Matters

The judicial system of the Broken Kingdoms is generally considered to be quite lax. Overseen by wandering clerical knights (called Magistrates) trained in the Cathedral by the Truest King, there are very few strictures on everyday life. One must pay their taxes, not steal, honor their word, and not murder. Otherwise the Magistrates generally spend their time settling the few civil disputes which are not settled between the involved parties. Most punishments tend to be restorative rather than punitive in nature and only the Truest King himself hands down any form of capital punishment. Repeat offenders of nonviolent crimes will find their palms branded to identify them; while those who commit serious enough crimes are exiled (at times at first occurrence). To this end, a common greeting between strangers in the Kingdoms is for them display their unmarked palms.

The highest crime in the land is considered to be cowardice. Regardless of one's station in life, if one displays cowardice in the face battle, they're given the ultimate punishment of the Kingdom. The offender is first shaven and waxed fully from head to toe regardless of any pain inflicted in the process. They're then treated with a solution which kills the follicles of their hair rendering them bald as a newborn until the end of their days. This treatment is followed by being tattooed with a brilliant yellow streak from the tip of the nose up between their eyes and down their spine to the coccyx. Their name, the battle, day, and year of their act is then tattooed across their chests and backs so that their identity and action can never be forgotten. All other references to the Coward's deeds aside from the act of cowardice are erased from recorded History, in an effort to ensure that such an unworthy soul does not again enter the cycle of rebirth. Once this is done the Coward is released back into society but denied the right to any possessions including clothing, housing, tools, etc, even so much as a fork or a bowl. While Cowards are allowed to remain as beggars in the Kingdoms, the only sustenance that is legal to share with them is milk which must be drank from a bowl placed on the ground. Needless to say most Cowards quickly flee the Broken Kingdom in hopes of finding a new life in the rest of the Eastern Block.

### Marriage, Inheritance and Family

In the Broken Kingdom, marriages tend to be formalities and times of festivities rather than sacred bonds. It is not uncommon for unions to form and dissolve freely, however, once children are born between a couple they're considered lawfully obliged to the children. The entire affairs are typically settled between the parents and only in the event that an agreement cannot be reached do Magistrates become involved. Typically, in the event a Magistrate becomes involved, ownership of whatever means of supporting the family is present falls to the children, with whichever parent or relative that is going to be custodian of the children serving as steward of the estate until a child comes of age who meets the requirements of inheritance for the property.

Aside from the separation while children are underage, there are very few strictures as to the nature of marriage. Most conditions of the arrangement are left to those involved to decide. While the arrangements are typically between a man and woman in the lower rungs of society, marriages between men and multiple women are not uncommon among the upper stratum. While male to male and female to female relationships do occur in the Kingdoms in a permanent matter, these unions are not recognized as marriages as unless an adoption of children occurs.

Due to the violent nature of the culture and relatively frequent accidents during tournaments, widows are rather commonplace within the Kingdoms. Widows without children are generally considered to have never been wed, while widows with children are generally considered highly desirable, as her new husband gains many new potential heirs in addition to the land holdings. The children of the widow are considered to be in every way the children of her new husband, regardless of who fathered them. In the event that one tourney entrant causes the death of another, it is considered only rightfully honorable that he offers himself in marriage to the widow of the deceased. While the widow is under no obligation to accept, failure to offer is seen as a significant loss of honor.

The rules of inheritance are quite simple. The eldest child who follows the same craft as their parents inherits. This means that if a farmer's child becomes a weaver, they no longer inherit the farm but next oldest child who remains a farmer becomes the heir. In the event that none of the offspring chose to remain farmers, the Royal of the kingdom becomes the de facto heir, typically resulting in the sale of the property at auction.

This differs among nobility whose positions of leadership and the lands associated with them can only be passed on to knighted heirs. This means that, at times, noble families will often engage in some manner of industry as a way of warding off the possibility of being left bereft when the lands associated with the current patriarch or matriarch's position pass on to an heir who is not within the family. Perhaps as a result of this, the higher strata of Kingdom society is far more respectful of those below them than their counterparts in other lands. After all, even High Knights could fall to being farmers if events take an unfortunate turn. The Royals and the requirement of adoption into the family of any outside heir before they are anointed provide the only immunity to this possibility in the Kingdoms, but then the Royals answer directly to the Truest, a burden that no one else bares.

### Martial Training

Every native of the Broken Kingdoms is required to participate in arms training and physical conditioning once a week. This is typically conducted on the sixth day of the week. Even the crippled and pregnant mothers are expected to participate to the best of their abilities. This is enforced with a rare ferocity; the penalty for avoiding the training being to be publicly stripped naked and strapped once by each member of the township and any visitors who happen to be present. The martial training goes further for the young. Boys and girls alike spend one week in three undergoing vigorous and martial training from the ages of twelve to seventeen and are still expected to attend the once weekly training the other two weeks. Starting at age sixteen, the boys and girls are faced off against each other in a two year contest. At the close of the contest, the top ten percent of fighters, regardless of gender, are offered squireship with the Armored Riders. After this five year period, the martial training becomes more gender-divided in the Kingdom, with men being trained strictly as heavy infantry with women being allowed to choose between joining the men or trained as archers and light infantry. When asked about this practice and the harsh enforcement of it, the Armored Riders who oversee it universally offer only one response: "In the face of evil, the only noncombatants are the dead."

### Revelry and Music

If there is one united thing that all the People of Stone enjoy, it is a good party. The people of the Kingdom are infamously raucous and are as prone to breaking out in merriment at the slightest provocation as they are at becoming violent. While larger affairs are typically planned, most revels occur by chance to a frequency of at least once every few days or as often as multiple times a day in larger townships where large fest-halls offer a nearly perpetual outlet for this behavior. Music and musicians, as a result, are in high demand in the Kingdom. Native music typically sports a heavy emphasis on drums with accompaniment by lutes, violins, simple horned instruments, and accordions. More complex instruments are a common import from the Circle, as are the phonographs that are created there. While unable to replicate the music-playing machines, there is a small, elite industry which makes glass records to be played on the phonographs. These records are extremely expensive as each one is hand made.

#### **Singing**

Singing is extremely common in the Broken Kingdom regardless of the level of talent. While the best singers are highly respected it is considered extremely rude to be disparaging of another's singing if the insult is actually true. The songs of the Kingdom typically accompany most tasks, and it isn't uncommon to hear voices drifting out of every workshop as one walks down a city road while the craftsmen work their trades. A lack of ability to sing is not considered to be a reason to not sing if the mood or boredom strikes you.

### Suicide, the Infirm, and the Elderly

Due to the high attrition rate, those who survive to a ripe old age enjoy a blissful retirement in the Broken Kingdom. They're supported communally by their villages, provided with all they need, and are routinely used as teachers for the youth. Many Elders also become story-tellers for the villages, a position of honor as they help to immortalize the deeds of the Armored Riders. It is generally accepted that there is no set age limit for becoming an Elder. What this means is that even young men who become too wounded or maimed in battle to participate in a normal life can take position as Elders. An Elder's status is determined by their inability to physically contribute to society, with their desire to continue to contribute. The able-bodied who attempt to pass for Elders are exiled as punishment, as they're essentially stealing from the entire kingdom. Generally speaking, Elders (be they aged or the infirm) are respected and treated very well. However, due to the culture of pride in the Kingdom, many of the youthful infirm soon take their own lives rather than endure an existence of having no boasts or tales to make of their own. Likewise, the aged Elders commonly chose a dignified suicide to end their days before the embarrassment of incontinence or dementia rob them of who they used to be. These suicides are very formal, sacred affairs where the surviving friends and family of the Elder who is to pass on gather and drink a final toast with them. No words are spoken, but the Elder places their drinking vessel upside down, quickly ushered to sleep and death by the poison they use.

### Work Ethic

Unlike the industrious Ashed, the People of Stone put little value in doing more work than particularly need be done. This doesn't mean the People of Stone are not hardworking, but instead emphasize the quality of work done over the quantity. A carpenter would rather produce one chair in a day's labor that would be a valued possession and remarked upon for its quality and appeal to the eye than to produce an entire dining set in the same period. Most manufacturing occurs in small workshops attached to personal homes, with no corporate structure to change the relaxed pace at which work is done. Exceptions to this rule generally tend to be smiths, as there is a perpetual need for their skills. Even if most who entered smithing were not already inclined to spend long hours in the forge, the demands of their customers would certainly keep them there. As a general result, there's always a slight shortage of things not food- or battle-related. People do not typically go without, but rather must wait for the good they desire to be produced, there being little in the way of ready-made stock.