Silvish Culture

Silvish Culture (Introduction)
Silvay is a very large place, and so it has multiple different sub-cultures, though they can all be linked back to Old Kumuur (This should not be confused with Kemrian). Silvish culture refers to the cultures of Silvay -excluding Kemrian which is distinct (Kemria despite being the Silvish heartland and the geographic origin of Old Kumuur is no-longer a part of Sivlay anyway)- all the way from Salapet in the south to Stone-Guard in the north.

Old Kumuur is very old and regrettably little is known about it besides the affinity with sea travel and worship of the moon, the affinity with sea travel is what lead the Silvish people to the borders of modern day Silvay on the west coast of Cymru.

A common saying in Silvay is "May the Silver Moon shine over you", this references the worship of the moon that used to be very prevalent across Silvay, another reference to the past is the fact that "Silvay" literally means "Moon-land" in the Silvish language, or more accurately "Land of the Moon" (Sil=Moon Vay=Land).

Silvish Identity
The concept of Silvish Identity is held by anyone living with the Brouenhanzen of Silvay, even those that may not be seen as traditionally Silvish (Ryoujing) or those that have migrated into Silvay. Therefore there can be large regional Variations in Silvish Culture, although it is all considered "Silvish". These variations of the Culture is how it has adapted and changed since Old Kumuuri culture was prevalent throughout the whole of Silvay, with influences from the outside as well as from major houses from within.

Modern Silvish people do not worship the moon as their ancestors used too, however, it is common to have a respect for the Spirit of the Moon and include it with any religion that they do follow. The Moon is still respected as it brings the tides and it's stars are crucial for the navigation of the sea, all of which have helped Silvay become what it is.

Here is a list of the sub-cultures and the baronies of Silvay in which they are prevalent. (These will be elaborated on further down the wiki) North Silvish:


 * Miklagard
 * Krasnode

East Silvish:


 * Helheim
 * Lorinand

South Silvish:


 * Salapet
 * Hattersburg
 * Greenwall

West Silvish:


 * Ansicün
 * Ferrington
 * Lothrin
 * Stone-Guard

Ryoujinger Silvish:


 * Ryoujing

Each Sub-Culture can appear the be all one homogenous blob to an outsider, (except maybe Ryoujinger Silvish, that is very... unique) but to a local they are very clear differences between each one.

Sub-Culture Origins:
North Silvish:

North Silvish's derived mainly from what could be called as "Middle Silvish" what defines it today, however, is large influence from the Asagrim Clan, a very influential house in Silvish politics. The influence from the asagrim clan came from varangian.

East Silvish:

East Silvish's was also mainly derived from "Middle Silvish" and was mainly influenced by the old town of Vannes (now Lorinand) that was founded by Kedian, who had great influences in the region. After a group of migrants from Adytum came to the land around the town of Vannes and founded the town of Lorinand on top of it, they contiuned to develop the culture. The town of Lorinand was later taken on by Aspuo Asagrim who further developed and influenced culture in the region.

South Silvish:

South Silvish came from when Aussay split off from Silvay. Aussish was similar to Old Kumuur apart from one stark difference, instead of worshiping the moon they worship the sun as well. Modern South Silvish just respect the Spirit of the Moon as well as the Spirit of the Sun.

West Silvish:

West Silvish has its origins in the native Bodurian culture that originated in Bødur and "Middle Silvish" it had some influence from Aldric Eadhin Asagrim as well as Cherno.

Ryoujinger Silvish: Ryoujinger Silvish originated from the Findaran Silvish Sub-culture of the old county of Findara which itself came from "Middle Silvish". Ryoujinger Silvish became a thing when Findara(the city) was replaced by Ryoujing, a Silvish holding of the house of Bakuras. The Bakuras greatly influenced the existing culture, making the most... exotic Silvish Sub-culture.

Appearances
The people of Old Kumuur had a very distinct appearance, red hair, freckles, average height of 1.55m to 1.63m etc., however, modern Silvish people look less like this. Red hair and freckles is less common but still appears in places, there is typically a greater variation in appearances between the different regions of Silvay. The clothes of Old Kumuur was a lot of tartan and plaid long skirts and most other clothes being made up of simple woollens, lace would be a sign of wealth. Men would also have trousers of tartan with shirts and woollen or animal skin jerkins.

In the North of Silvay blonde hair has become more common than red, with many blue eyes as well, with an average height of 1.73 m. Tartan skirts are still largely popular among lower class women though many also have plain colour skirts though the shape has stayed the same from Old Kumuur with woolens still being widely popular. Richer women, especially those from the Asagrim clan would indulge themselves in the fineries of brightly coloured dresses that have a slightly tighter fit compared to the much wider skirts of Old kummur fineries such as necklaces are also more popular. Men have moved away from the tartan and plaid of Old Kummur, wide woollen breeches and brightly coloured Kaftans.

In the East of Silvay blonde hair and blue eyes are also the more prevalent hair and eye colour with an average height also of 1.73 m. All clothing is far more colourful, stiped or plaid skirts being just as common as bright white with accents of colour, women here are well known for wearing very brightly coloured dresses. Men wear very similar clothes as their counterparts do in the north.

In the South of Silvay Brown hair and Brown eyes are more common with an average height of 1.63. Clothing here is very commonly black, red and white with accents of other colours. Lace is still very common here and the jerkin is still popular among the men.

In the West of Silvay it is again comonly blonde hair and bluey-green eyes with and average height of 1.82m, officially the tallest people in Silvay. Clourful clothes in plaid or stripes are common here, often with about as many colours as you have fingers. In the past time there were a lot of waves of migrants from Postonic lands in Aldovir that are commonly mistaken for Silvish since their appearances are very similar to west Silvish as they are very high (1.85m) and more or less bule eyed with mostly brown hair.

In the area around Ryoujing it strongly depends on who the person is as to how they look or what they wear as it is such a melting pot of foreign influences it can't be generalised as well at all.

Houses of Silvay
The two largest houses of Silvay are the Asagrims and the Bakuras there are other houses out there, but these are the main two.

Cuisine of Silvay
A very common dish for a cold day is Grissuppe a soup made from pig often served with bread, herbs and butter.

Another common dish is Salmon served with blueberries.

Silvish Language
(Needs details on the Language)

Instruments
Silvay has many different instruments, each originating from its own baronies and each is played in a style of music common in Silvay, some are a bit random as they come from foreign influences. The instrumets (in no particular order) are: Nihera(Hurdy-Gurdy), Nyckleharpa, Heidurvik pipes, Mandolin, Pipa, Huqin, Other stuff found in Ryoujing, Hardanger Fiddle, Bukkehorn, Ritual drums, Bass drums, Kantele, Jouhikko(alto), Tagelharpa(Bass), Lorinand Concertina, Salapet Accordian, Aussay lute(Oud like) and finally Hattersburg lute which comes in bass(six string) and alto(four string).

Contemporary Style
Contemporary Silvish music is popular among the nobility of Silvay, especially in the county of Nidaros. It is a very old style of music making use of the: Nihera, Nyckleharpa, Bukkehorn, drums and Tagelharpa. It originates from the north coast of Sivlay, Lorton, Miklagard, Krasnode etc. It is heavily influenced from Kemrian music and has a rather deep sound to it with a large use of string instruments, such as:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1f6RjcZp_Y0 ...this.

Ryoujing Style
Music coming out of Ryoujing typically uses very foreign instruments such as the Pipa and Huqin etc., it is popular among those of the Bakura house and is played in the inner-city of Ryoujing.

Balladry Style
Balladry is very popular among the common peoples along the western and northern coast making use of the Heidurvik pipes, Mandolin, Hardanger Fiddle and Hattersburg lute(bass) and occasionally features the Nihera or Nyckleharpa. This type of music features singing in the form of story telling which scholars say is why the people enjoy it as they do not have a taste for the music and instead only listen for the tale. Here is an example of how this music would sound (this features the Nihera instrument, this is quite rare for this sort of music):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fs8Td5AKwxE

Folk Style
Popular in the same place and peoples of Balladry, it just consist of people singing about how things are or how people feel. Occasionally would feature a single type of instrument coming from Ballardry. It is very informal.

Aussay Style
This sort of music makes use of the Salapet Accordian, Aussay lute and Hattersburg lute(alto) and Heidurvik Pipes, it is popular among the common people of the south of Silvay. In taverns people sing along to songs, often with lyrics that they made up themselves (sometimes rather raucous), though when it is played in the courts of southern barons it goes without singing.

Polkkaa Style
Polkkaa is most common in the east of Silvay around Lorinand and Vannes and is popular among the common peoples there, though it is said that the count of Salapet has a taste for Polkkaa. It makes use of the Hardanger Fiddle, Kantele, Joujikko and Lorinand Concertina. There are lyrics for the songs, although they do also sound very nice without them; unlike balladry the lyrics often sing of current feelings that reflect the people instead of old stories. This type of music is growing greatly Silvay and is expected to become vastly popular in the near future. Here is an example of how this music would sound https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMszu_VgMfY