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.

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?

Location
Where are these people found?

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?

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?

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?

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?

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?

Makeup
What Kind of makeup do these people use?

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?

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?

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?

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?

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?

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?

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?

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?

Historical Period or Era
General overview of these people’s history in the named region.

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

Name of Nations
General write up of this nation and its significance.

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

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.

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.

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.