Kemrian Culture

Kemrian Culture refers to the culture of Greater Kemria, in particular that of the urban center in the region, the capital city of Kumaur, as well as the smaller town, Kairos, and the outpost at Stoneguard.

As a general rule, Kemrian culture (also reffered to as Kumaura or Kumauran) is that of borrowing, taking elements and influences from other nations and cultures in the region to create something distinctive.

Identity
The Kemrian identity is a complicated thing. Very little of the original culture of old Kumuur (dating back to the fall of the Valdreach Imperial Republic) remains in modern-day Kemria, which is now more influenced by its neighbours to the west and south instead of its historical ties to the Hanzeizh culture of Adytum and old Viodoxa to the east like the precursor culture in Kumuur did.

The most isolated and distant part of Silvay, Kemria tends to foster independant mindsets, lacking the reliance on the national or even provincial governments thta many cities in Cymru do. Kumaur and Kairos especially are self-sufficient due to their place in Sparwood Minor, while Stoneguard lies in the straits between Sparwood and Cymru, and thus has more contact with Cymrian Sirradra.

Due to this isolation, Kemrians tend towards being a proud, nationalistic people, determined to prove that despite their small population and harsh environment, they are not helpless-- or weak.

Influences
Much of early Kemrian culture comes from its neighbour in Eisenland, a nation that much of Kumaur's population came from during the Reunification Crisis. Much of the Kemrian citizenry in the early days of the region's revitalisation was composed of Eisenlandian politican refugees and their families from the collapsing Martial Republic as the Kaiser reclaimed control. Nowadays, Kumaur is still composed mostly of the descendents of these people and the sparse Silvish population that remained after the brutal Second Purple Insurrection, and retains its close ties to its sister city of Kaminhagen. Despite the distance between Kemria and Cymrian Silvay, Ryoujing has also had a strong influence on Kumaur, most easily seen in its clothing and architecture. With the Lord of Kemria being ethnically and culturally from Northern Sparwood, Kartek influence is also extremely prevalent, especially Gertek culture.

Clothing
Kumaur's climate is most importantly cold and damp, while the mainland is cold and marginally less Storms are almost daily, and even during the summer the weather stays fairly temperate. Cloth, leather, thread, and wool yarn are provided in quarterly allotments per person, as well as several pairs of shoes/boots a year (dependant on the job, and will be replaced regardless if worn down). Any other materials can be purchased at the market or from passing merchant ships at the port.

Masks
The most distinctive part of a Kemrian appearance is the rebreather systems (almost) every citizen wears. Kumaur's toxic air results in a reliance on respiratory protection. Most commonly, people wear a full face gas mask, though races with higher constitutions may wear half-face respirators. Almost all models are connected via a puncture-resistant hose to a centralised redstone-powered filtration system carried on one's person (often on a chest harness), though more advanced systems (often owned by military officers and government officials) are self-contained. Masks are usually made of plastine or heavy waxed leather. They are often heavily decorated, especially celestial (such as the Kemrian sun and stars or Silvish moon) or animal motifs, while Kemrian military units will commonly have their masks painted like skulls.

Casual
Due to the generally unpleasant weather of the island, residents tend to wear heavier, utilitarian clothing designed for function over form. Staying warm and dry is the foremost objective of all casual clothing, as most people spend their days at work or in school. Common day to day wear for Kemrians would include their base layers (often linen or cotton imported from mainland Sirradra or Kairos as well as woolen socks), a second layer for insulation, a heavy woolen sweater, wool or gabardine trousers held up by suspenders, a gaberdine or wool overcoat, heavy leather boots (often accompanied by leg wraps for added insulation), a woolen hat, and gloves. Fur (especially rabbit and/or caribou) and shearling lining on cloaks or in gloves are seen outside of work environments. On the rare warm-weather days, all schools and businesses are allowed to have the day off, and clothing reflects the fashion of Ryoujing to the south- layered cotton, linen, and silks in light colours.

Dark colours are preffered, as they are lower maintainence to keep clean; greys, black, navy blue, olive green, and dark brown are the most common, though sweaters being off-white and undyed are also not infrequent. All dyes are based on natural pigments, such as indigo, tyrian, cochineal, tumeric, and ochre. These pigments can be overdyed and mixed to create new colours or darken others. Embroidery is often simple, usually geometric or natrual motifs in a similar colour of a different shade, or occasionally a contrasting colour. Buttons are often carved of bone or antler, though some are also made from brass.

There is little to no disctinction between male and female clothing; almost everyone wears trousers in the workplace, though some people may prefer to wear skirts and dresses during days off. Young children usually often wear skirts as well, and are allowed to decide how they would prefer to dress when they begin secondary school.

Formal/Upper Class
Like casual wear, there is no gendered clothing in Kemria, even in formal or ceremonial clothing. Many formal styles are modelled after the fashions of Northern Sparwood, as well as various trends from Ryoujing, and elaborate embroidery is often present on the outermost layers. Like the lower classes, fur is once again a common presence in clothing, though differs in the animal it comes from-- sea otter, fox, and mink are all often found, along with seal skin. To deal with the cold, there are often several warm layers under flowier, lighter outer layers, often silks and muslins dyed coloufully. The upper classes and formal wear feature less dark colours as a whole, demonstrating that the clothing is not used for labour or that the wearer can afford to keep the fabric clean.

Military
During wartime, Kumaura combat uniforms tend to be faded olive drab, but more often than not will be cobbled together from scavenged gear. Since Kumaura are rarely combat troops and tend to favour being engineers when on the field, they wear less armour compared to other units, as it is seen as preferable to ensure that forward deployed units are geared as compared to those behind the front line. Due to the cumbersome nature of the gas masks worn in Kumaur, Kumaura troops will usually forgo their rebreathing system in favour of goggles and cloth covering the lower face and mouth for periods of time while on campaign or while in battle unless chemical weapons have been deployed. Uniforms also depend on the theater of war, and adjusted accordingly. All soldiers wear armbands displaying their unit insignia, as well as helmets (similar in style to the Eisenlandian Stalhelm), chestplates, gauntlets, greaves, and sometimes pauldrons. Armour is often an iron-diamond alloy, though diamond-netherite alloys are present in higher ranks, and some Kumaura officers wear pure netherite.

Dress uniforms are composed of a long, high-collared, asymmetrical dark blue-grey coat with brass buttons and a quilted red lining (revealed with a single open lapel), secured with a dark brown belt carrying a brass belt buckle embossed with the Sirradrii bull. Pants are in the same colour as the coat and tucked into tall, laced leather boots matching the belt (compared to shorter hobnailed boots used in combat). The uniform is accompanied by gold epulets (uncommon), an armband displaying their unit insignia or the Sirradrii flag, a peaked cap in the Eisenlandian style, leather gloves, and aiguillettes denoting campaigns participated in. Medals are not worn, and seen as unnecessary waste of materials, as bravery is expected and commonplace, therefore Kumaura troops are not recognised with special rewards.

Cuisine
Kemrian foods are intended to reduce the waste from an animal while also feeding the most amount of people in the harsh environment of the region. Food is often predominantly served hot, heavily spiced, with meat or seafood, accompanied by colder sides. Rations of meat, vegetables, milk, and grains are provided by the government to ensure that all people are recieving at least the necessary nutrients, but citizens are allowed to hunt, fish, forage, grow, or purchase any additional ingredients they might want.

The most common methods of food preparation would be stir frying, boiling, smoking/drying, pickling, or grilling over hot charcoal. Homes often have an open hearth, as well as wood or coal-burning stoves and some sort of brazier used for holding hot coals as well as grilling meats and heating tea. Bread ovens are communal and function throughout most of the day, every day, though some households would opt to have a smaller one and prepare their own bread.

A common tool for cooking and is a type of knife known as a saakiaq, which is a curved blade (around 15cm/6 in) attached to a perpendicular handle (often made from antler or whalebone) by two tines. Due to its shape, it allows for more force to be centered on the blade, which makes cutting harder foods easier. Saakiaq are used in a rocking motion, and can easily be used one handed, leaving the other free. The other common utensils are chopsticks (in the Ryoujing style) and spoons- forks are rarely used, and eating most foods with ones' hands is considered poor manners.

Animals
Livestock is not kept in Kumaur itself, due to the corrosive Verzhgene gas that permeates the city, but animals are kept on the mainland and on the smaller islands just off the coast of Kumaur. The only animals kept by households are often small birds (such as sparrows, pigeons, quail, and bantams) or rabbits (meat and fur breeds). On the mainland, the primary livestock kept are a type of domesticated caribou (which can also be ridden or used as pack animals, quite the sight outside of Kemria!), though aurochs, sheep, goats, and yaks are also raised for meat, fur, and milk.

The only animals kept for labour are skeleton horses, which are immune to the noxious gases of the island. They are also used for transportation and sport. Kemrian children learn to ride these horses at a young age, and are often competent on horseback by ten.

Wild game is very popular– hunting seabirds, turtles, and crabs along the shoreline is a common pastime for children, and twice a year (in the summer and early winter), seal hunts are sponsored by the government, with several hundred seals being killed per year. Even less common, and not part of the government-based programs, is whale or dolphin meat, considered a delicacy, though hunts are rare and only 1 or 2 whales, and maybe 5-10 dolphins are killed each year.

Slaughtering of animals is done as quickly as possible, while trying to preserve as much of the animal. Blood is almost always collected and used for other dishes, and organs are cooked or fed to other animals such as dogs. Organ meats and less 'traditional' cuts such as cheek meat, tongue, brain, and stomach is eaten while intestines are often saved to make sausages, though the eyes are always discarded, often buried where the animal was killed. Bones are used, either for food (stock making or bone marrow), tools (sewing needles, buttons, and other such small items) or art (scrimshaw and jewlery), as is the fur or skin.

Additionally, on the mainland, large dogs are bred and raised for hunting large prey such as boar, bears, and wild deer. These dogs are often bred to wolves, producing large, social, and intelligent pups well adapted to the cold climate, harsh terrtain, and demanding hunts. These dogs can also be used to pull sa

Common Ingredients
Display Content
 * Carbs
 * Rice (especially short grain and sticky rice)
 * Noodles (wheat or rice-based)
 * Bread (baked loafs and flatbreads, steamed buns in the Ryoujing style, or fried flatbreads)
 * Potatoes
 * Dumplings and Buns (often filled with meat or vegetables)
 * Proteins
 * Caribou
 * Rabbit
 * Small Poultry
 * Seal
 * Fish & Seafood (especially eel, salmon, mackerel, cod, crab, sea urchin, sea snails, and squid)
 * Eggs
 * Tofu
 * Misc. Wild Game (turtles, seabirds, whale, etc)
 * Fruit & Vegetables
 * Kelp
 * Radishes
 * Peppers
 * Garlic & Onions
 * Ginger
 * Stone Fruit (cherries, plums, apricots, etc)
 * Cabbage & Mustard (most plants in the Brassica family)
 * Bamboo Shoots
 * Soybeans
 * Sunflowers
 * Misc. Herbs
 * Berries
 * Winter Melon
 * Elderberry & Elderflower
 * Currants & Wild Berries
 * Dairy Products
 * Cheese (especially hard cheeses)
 * Yoghurt
 * Drinks & Alcohol
 * Tea
 * Soy Milk
 * Beer/Ale
 * Mead
 * Rice Wine (hot or cold)

Popular Dishes

 * Breakfast – Common Kemrian breakfast foods include predominantly starches, as meat is usually reserved for later in the day, though some families will eat grilled fish with their morning meal. An example meal could consist of rice porridge served with fried eggs, blood sausage, steamed buns, and fresh soy milk (served hot).


 * Lunch – Lunch is the least "standard" of the meals in Kemria, predominantly because it is usually provided by the employer or school, thusly depends strongly on the season, harvests, and economy, though hot, fresh food is always a consistent guarantee. A common lunch meal for students could consist of rice, a side of pickled vegetables, grilled salmon, and a kelp-based broth, while a meal provided to a factory worker could consist of fresh bread, tea eggs, cheese, pickled vegetables, and a thick seal meat and potato stew with vegetables.


 * Dinner – Dinner is usually eaten with the family when possible, or at least not alone. Dinner tends to be richer and heavier than the other meals throughout the day, as the night in Kumaur is often very cold. Thus, meat is featured more, as are grains, noodles, and dumplings. Fried foods also become more popular for dinner, especially in the winter. Soups, stews, curries, and other such dishes are often present on the dinner table, often bulked up even more with the addition of things like rice and lentils, as well as grilled meat skewers, dried fish, and hot rice wine.


 * Sides – Pickled vegetables are extremely common side dishes, particularly popular are pickled radishes, mustard root, and cabbage (similar to kimchi), though melon rind, cucumber, and onions are also commonly preserved in this way. Tea eggs and meat or vegetable buns are a quick snack and often packed with lunches as a side. More exotic (to outsiders) would be muk'taaq (from Kemrian words for whale and fat)– whale skin and blubber– which is sometimes breaded and fried and served with sauce, or various types of seal meat (such as jerky, cracklins, or blubber). Cakes made of blood from an animal mixed with oats or rice, spices, and suet (similar to black pudding or blood sausage) are also popular, though other preparations for blood are equally commonplace. Pates made of various organ meats such as liver and brain mixed with fat are not uncommon, and served with bread. Various hard cheeses are also common sides, along with chili and/or garlic oil.


 * Desserts – Overly sweet flavours are not popular in Kumuar and Kemria as a whole, and most deserts are either only mildly sweetened or rely on natural sugars in fruits or other ingredients. Popular treats are sticky rice cakes (often filled with black sesame, red bean, or peanuts), sunflower-seed halva, dried apricots in syrup, egg tarts, custards, sweetheart cake (a type of flaky pastry filled with winter melon, sesame, and almond paste), and Gertek boortsog cakes (fried dough served with sweet cream, jam, and honey). In winter, sometimes children are given candied crabapples. Sliced fruits are also popular snacks whenever they are in season, as is a form of frozen desert prepared uring the colder moths known as ik'taaq (from the Kemrian words for ice and fat), consisting of a whipped fat or tallow (such as caribou tallow or seal oil), ground up dried fish or meat, berries, and honey, whipped until fluffy before it is allowed to freeze. Ik'taq is particularly popular with children.


 * Special Occasion or Seasonal – Some foods are less common, and saved for holidays, festivals, and celebration. Usually these foods are made from less common or seasonal ingredients. In spring, this could include bamboo shoots, fresh seal meat, rhubarb, and fern fiddleheads. During the midsummer festival, dishes could include whole sparrows stuffed with rice, meat, and raisins, as well as other dishes like fresh berries, nettle, young tuna, shark meat, fresh herbs, and dormice. Summer is also usually when the first seal hunt, as well as whale hunting takes place. Beginning in the autumn, mushrooms are often harvested, along with abalone, scallops, elderberries, hickory, and persimmons. In winter, hot pot is also a common meal for families, and often eaten during midwinter holidays. Additionally, the second seal hunts of the year take place in the early winter, so fresh seal meat is once again often on the menu for some time before the rest is smoked or dried to last for the rest of the year.

Seal Hunting
The twice-yearly seal hunts in Kemria are seen as rather controversial-- or at least the smaller summer hunt is. Seals are born in late spring, and before they are weaned and begin to lose their baby fat, around three months old, are often hunted. Strict regulations are placed on the amount of seal pups culled during this season, often less than 100 total taken. Even more regulated is the harvest of whitecoat pups, or seal pups slightly less than two weeks old who still have the fluffy white fur they are born with. Whitecoat meat and fur are considered luxuries, and often exported, though some wealthier citizens may own things made from or lined with the plush fur. Seal pups are killed during the early morning while the mothers are hunting, as it is seen as unecessarily cruel to kill a young animal in front of its mother.

The winter hunt is larger, and also highly regulated by the local government. After the summer hunt, all young seals are protected until they are two years old (distinguishable by their size and coat patterns), as well as any pregnant females, no matter the age. Unlike the summer hunt, which takes place on the shore, the winter hunts are often done on small boats using harpoons or rifles, a luxury reserved for the wealthier. In both instances, the goal is to kill the seals as quickly and cleanly as possible to prevent additional suffering to the animals, often aiming for the head, and failing a clean kill with a ranged weapon,

Language
The native language of Kemria is known as Kemhara. It is a fairly simple language, possessing a sobject-object-verb structure, no verb tenses, no gendered words (save for the differentiation between male and female animals). Words are often mono or bisyllabic, with compound words being used to form phrases. There is a high reliance on alveolar and post-alveolar phonemes, and is a somewhat guttaral, trilling sound that is distinctly alien as compared the Eisendel in the west, Silvish to the south, and Hanzeizh in the west. Traveller's tongue is spoken with an accent, which is faintly reminiscent of the Tovarishan accent.

Additionally, children in Kumaur are taught multiple languages in school, predominantly Hanzeizh, the Sirradrii national language, and Traveller's tongue. However, Silvish and Eisendel are both commonly spoken on the island.

Kemrian Sign Language
Due to the industrial noise, stormy weather, and masks, sometimes spoken words can be difficult to hear in Kumaur, thus Kemrian sign language was born out of necessity for communication. It is based loosely off of military hand signals, and incorporates both hands, though many words can be "said" using only one hand. Most residents are at least able to maintain basic conversation in KSL, if not being fluent.

Writing System
The Kemhara writing system is based on a simple alphabet, and is read from right to left, and top to bottom.

Entertainment
While Kumaur is a relatively serious city, the people do have leisure time and often enjoy their evenings with family, board games, gambling, music, and some sports.

Children often play games similar to those from Ryoujing, such as fede-zhi, in which players attempt to keep a weighted bundle of bells, feathers, and other small trinkets in the air without the use of their hands, as well as hafuqiu, where the bundle is replaced by a ball made of stitched and quilted fabric, filled with scraps of fabric surrounding a bell and is used to play a sort of handball-like game. Some hafu balls are so elaborately decorated they cannot be used in game and are more of a display of sewing and embroidery skill. Tag is common, but hide-and-seek is highly discouraged due to the dangerous environment of Kumaur. Playing soldier is also a frequent game, and mock battles are held in the streets with wooden swords and weapons, and occasionally adults will join as the opposing force for younger Kumaura to fight against. Children are often encouraged to play outside during times of nice weather, as it is fairly rare. Toys are often carved from whalebone or treated wood.

Most board games are 1 on 1, most popularly games such as Weigoqi, where two players attempt to surround eachothers pieces on a 19x19 board, Cine (played often on the weigoqi board) in which the players attempt to control as much of the board as possible based on dice throws and strategy, and other competitive strategy games. Chess and checkers are also popular, though not as common.

Other time-passing common hobbies are knitting, scrimshaw and woodworking, needlework and embroidery, falconry, fishing, and music.

Instruments
Kumaura music rarely involves more than a few instruments, the most common of which is the rosined-wheel, double keyed ninera, as it is fairly strudy, travels well, and produces a distinctive sound. Kumaura music tends to be similar to Kartek music, and on occasion can feature Gertek horse-head fiddles, though the instruments are rare in the southern reaches of Sparwood. Other instruments found in Kumaura music include bowed strings in the huqin family or bowed lyre family (such as the strakharpa), plucked or strummed strings similar to pipa or shamisen, keyed fiddles such as the nyckelharpa, toha (particularly popular due to the ability to be played by multiple people at once to form a melody), glass armonica, yaybahar, and zither-family instruments. Improvised percussion such as clapping, stomping, and hand drumming are also sometimes present. Sometimes concertinas and other bellows-type instruments can be found, though rare, and within the castle of Kumaur there is a singular pipe organ played on the infrequent holidays celebrated in the region. Of particular notice is the lack of instruments such as horns, flutes, and woodwinds. Due to the presence of respiratory protection as a mainstay of Kumaura life, these, as well as singing, is rare in their music, and often seen as strange. Any music with vocal accompaniment is reserved for marching songs, shanties (from Tortugan influence) or hymns, and are rarely found while within the city, preferred for when on campaign or travelling. Kumaura songs are usually described by outsiders as mournful, haunting, or sad.

In particular interest, there is only one situation in which wind instrument are used-- in Trausang-Ge ("war mourning tune" in Kumaura Silvish). It is a slow dirge played on a large overtone flute (based on the fujara) known as a Trausang-Di ("war mourning flute" in Kumaura Silvish), and occasioanlly accompanied by a string instruement, most often a huqin. Trausang is a particularly important type of music, played when a family member is killed in battle. The most common forms are after the death of a partner, child, or parent. The usage of a wind instrument is intended to represent a willingness to inflict pain upon oneself as an act of solidarity with the person killed, and is only reserved for close relations. Each piece is unique, and composed as part as funerary rites by the family and played during the mourning period. To have trausang is considered a high honour, as those who die in service to the glorious empire are seen as absolved of all sins committed in life and venerated as having fulfilled the words of Kumaur-- Honourable in Duty.

Technology
Redstone-based technology is fairly common in Kumaur, with water wheels, windmills, and lightning rods all playing a part in powering the cities factories, docks, and homes. Redstone also fuels the rebreather systems that citizens wear. Due to the high prevalance of redstone in the city, redstone sickness is also somewhat common, though often only mild cases due to the respiratory protection the rebreathers offer. Innovations with redstone tech also allow for the creation of inventions such as the Kemrian Automatic Portrait Machine. Redstone-based prosthetics are also commonplace as replacements for limbs and appendages lost in war or accidents.

War innovation is also not uncommon in the city, as the core of Kumaur's economy is the production and development of equiptment and weapons for the Sirradrii military. Kumaura troops also often take roles as combat engineers in wartime, and thusly have spearheaded the development of several types of explosives used for excavation of trenches, saps, and tunnels, as well as breaching charges. Attempts to make weapons capable of effectively launching smaller explosive charges (often incindiary or containing shrapnel) have been successful, but not widely rolled out due to the relative lack of effect as compared to the price of production and fielding such devices. Continued development is also in place regarding the production and fielding of mechanised war engines.

Architecture
Homes and buildings in Kumaur are built in a similar style to those in Ryoujing, though much less colourful. Homes are primarily constructed from deepslate, blackstone, bone, and spruce wood, though the air can slowly corrode untreated wood. All homes are able to be sealed completely from the outside in order to filter the air, allowing people to remain at home with no rebreather system. These systems are constructed by redstone mechanics and powered by the lightning rods that sit on every home to collect the energy from the frequent storms in the area. These also power the klaxon alarms that warn residents of particularly bad weather, raids, increased Verhzgene concentration in the air, or other emergencies. Underground construction is fairly common as well, and there are several large windmills planned for construction on the island in order to harness the high wind prevalent in certain regions of the island. In homes, there is a space before entering the rest of the house functioning as an 'airlock' of sorts, allowing for occupants to remove their coats, masks, shoes, etc. before entering.

Some larger houses (most notably in the castle itself and armoury) employ a particular form of construction which make the floorboard creak as pressure is applied, the resulting sounds similar to birdsong, which would allow anyone inside to be aware if someone was trying to break in or somewhere they should not be. Windows are usually 3 layers, with thick glass, a partially-sealable sliding wooden layer to manage light levels, and a sliding paper screen adding decoration to the room.

Interior decoration is usually, in the spirit of Kumaur, rather utilitarian. Most furniture is low to the ground, and made from natural materials and in plain, simple colours

Meta

 * As always, wiki done by foolscrow#9346 :D
 * If you would like to use my formatting go for it! If you want concent, please shoot me a DM on discord instead of just copy/pasting my entire wiki (looking at you Valron, I see what you did). I'm literally happy to help AND I take lore commissions.
 * The main influences on Kumaur are fairly obvious from the contents of the wiki I feel, those primarily being Mongolian/Turkic, Tang Dynasty China, WW1 Era Germany, Sami, Yupik, Edo Period Japan, and Warhammer 40k (especially the Armageddon Steel Legions, Death Korps of Kreig, and Adeptus Mechanicus). A lot of the stuff like food and clothing were borrowed from a variety of places (food being primarily based in Northern and East Asian cuisines, especially Mongolian, Sami, Korean, and Japanese, as well as some slight influences from western China, and clothing being a mix of 19th century European wear for the most part, particularly Irish fishermen and their whole looks).