Nortfolk

The Nortfolk ("People of the North" in Predmova), are an ethnic group of men spread across the cold northern parts of Rathnir. They are considered both the oldest and the most religious ethnic group of Rathnir. According to legends, the Nortfolk originate from a small uncharted archipelago of Northeim in the far north of Rathnir and were forced to migrate because of a climate change that turned the islands from lush green tundras into ice-covered wastelands.

Physiology
There are three physiological traits the Nortfolk are famous for, all three came to being to help them survive in the cold climate of their long lost homeland. They are very pale and almost a head taller than most of men of Rathnir. They are very resistance to cold, preffering to settle in forests, tundras and taigas and staying away from plains, savannas and deserts. Their physiological trairs are often well defined for they rarely choose to marry with people of diffrent religions.

Society and Culture
The Nortfolk are a tribal society holding glory, honor, family and religiousness as their most important values. Ever since Northeim froze they were living in tribal villages and small communities within larger more organised towns, but in the recent days the idea of uniting Nortfolk under one state started gaining support. They are devout followers of the Church of Six Divines and base most of their culture and rituals on the said religion.

The Six Tribes of Northeim
The Nortfolk can be divided into six subcultures called The Six Tribes of Northeim, each tribe has it's own patron deity, architecture and worldview.

The Stoneheart Tribe, also known as The Tribe Unmourned are the followers of Byel, the Order. Long time ago the Stonehearts were the most influential tribe, later they lost most of their lands and nobility during an event only known as "The Stone Crumbling". People of the Stoneheart tribe have always used their skills of speech to bring unity and solidarity to the other tribes, making them great mediators, politicians and religious leaders. Their architecture is mostly created out of various stones, it's impressive symmetrical and organised.

The Blackblood Tribe are the followers of Chern, the Chaos. They value absolute freedom of individuals and tribes from any authority, to the point of being unable to find a fitting place to settle among the kingdoms of Rathnir. Their worldwiev makes them greate warriors, assasins and liberators of the opressed. They lack any architecture, for there's no place for permament structures in the eyes of the Chaos, they instead leave in small defensive camps that are easy to pack up and relocate.

The Fireforged Tribe follow the teachings of Igni, the Flame. They believe in the rule of the strongest, being the most fond of honorable duels and glory gained in great battles. Fireforged are the finest warriors of The Nortfolk people, often employed as mercenaries by Kingdoms of Rathnir, but are also honorable, so there's no money in Rathnir that would make them betray the other tribes in a war against foreign enemy. Their architecture is primarily defesive, they raise great fortresses and strongholds.

The Waterkin Tribe are the followers of Aqua, the Water. Their subculture has spend thousands of years living near large bodies of water, turning them into the greatest fishers and sailors of the Nortfolk. They almost exclusively live of the sea by fishing, trading and organizing naval raids. Their mission is to protect their sacred waters and other tribes from naval attacks. Their architecture is heavily relying on water sources, building their towns on stilts near or completly on oceans, lakes, rivers and swamps.

The Coldwind Tribe follows the teachings of Vikhr. Their subculture was the quickest to assimilate with the kingdoms of Rathnir, being fairly high and civilized for a tribe. They are the craftsmen and artists of the Nortfolk, they are peaceful, noble, prideful and intelligent. Their architecture represents their beliefs well, with tall, light and decorative multi-floor buildings with famous steep roofs.

The Treeminder Tribe are the followers of Terra, the Earth. They are living the closest to their ancestors of ancient Northeim, staying away from civilization and living close to nature. They survive of the land they reside in, making the most of all avilable resources by farming, gathering and taming wild animals. Their architecture is minimalisting and humble, often substituting their huts with repurpsed giant mushrooms, treehouses, caves and abandoned buildings.

The Soulfires
The Soulfires (nflk. Zolfiers) are the most important part of Nortfolk rituals, they are torches, lamps and fires fueled with a mix of dies, soulsand and magic that makes them everlasting and gives them a bright blue glow - recognized as the color of Populus' blood and human soul. Every Nortfolk child is gifted his own soulfire at birth and keeps it through his whole life. One would call that superstition, but the observations by foreign explorers confirm that no Nortfolk child without a soulfire has ever survived to adulthood and often die of disease.

The Birth
Child's Soulcandle (nflk. Zolkandel) is crafted by the child's father during pregnancy with the help of a local shaman or mage. Wealthier families decide to build a proper firepit instead of a candle. Shortly after the birth the Father adds a single drop of child's blood to the Soulcandle and takes it to a local burial mound to light it using a Soulfire of one of his ancestors, it is believed that at this point a child is gifted a part of said ancestor soul and shall carry his legacy forward. Along with that, the child often is given a second name after said ancestor preceded by the "soulflame of" title (ex. Chernoslav, Soulflame of Beowulf). After that event comes a small feast and the Soulcandle is placed within the house to guard the newborn family member from danger and disease.

PS: It is unknown how the father knows which Soulcandles on the burial mound belongs to the ancestors of his family, but it's speculated that the correct ancestral spirit guides him to the correct Zolkandel.

The Patronage
When the child grows up, it must perform a ritual of Patronage to fully enter adulthood. This is the time when the child chooses one of the Divines to become his patron and guide him trough life. After picking a deity, he must locate it's shrine and travel to it, the shrines are often located in diffrent part of Ranthir, so the travel may take up to months. After arriving at the location, the child lights the shrine's fire with his Soulcandle, then places an offering to the deity (usually the first food item that the child farmed or hunted by himself) in the fire and recites a prayer while his offering burns in the sacred fire. After that the child is considered adult and is allowed to leave the family home and start his own family. It is worth a mention that if a child shows a trait favoured by a certain diety before he comes of the right age, the ritual might be performed prematurely, with the help of it's parent.

The Marriage
Before two lovers can marry it's important that the man must provide a home for the newly created family, by either buying or building one. After the ceremony, both newlyweds enter their household with a priest to light the hearthfire of their homestead with both their soulcandles. After that a large feast for all the invited guests oftern proceeds.

The Burial
In the final moments of a Nortfolk in this realm, his Soulcandle must be placed near his deathbed. After his death a funeral pyre is build on top of the local burial mound, then his body is taken to the mound along with the Soulcandle of the deceased. He is carefuly placed on the pyre and the pyre lit with his Soulcandle. During the ritual cremation, his ashes fall onto the burial mound while his soul escaped the body with the smoke and shall be carried by Mortuus, God of Death to his afterlife. If they led a good life they'll be taken to the Hall of Populus to feast by the side of the God of Men, if not - to the Void, realm of Chaos where their soul will be desintegrated into formless essentia. When the funeral pyre burns out, the candle is placed around many others on the burial mound, if the soul of the deceased ended up in the Void the Zolkandel will burn out on it's own, if not it'll keep burning until one of their descendants decide to light the the Soulcandle of his child with his flame, giving his soul a new body to carry his legacy.

Burial Mounds
Rathnir is well known for wide variety of burial forms among it's varied cultures, from modern cemeteries to ancient catacombs. But the art of creating burial mounds practiced by the Nortfolk is the oldest out of all of them, suspected to be as old as first human tribes settling the realm. The Nortfolk chose this form of burying their dead mostly because of very limited surface of their long lost archipelago, they simply couldn't afford to waste precious land on large cemeteries or tombs. Each burial mound starts off as a large circular hole in the ground secured by a parapet of excavated dirt around it's perimeter. Over hundreds, sometimes thousands of years to fill it with ashes of deceased Nortfolk. When the hole fills up, the ash start to be pilled on it and secured with more dirt on the outer layers. Eventually the burial mound gets completly filled up and is closed up with dirt, leaving a characteristic grass-covered hemisphere.

Soultrees
When an ancient burial mound is filled to it's capacity and closed up, a local mage or shaman plants a tree sapling on the top of it. The sapling grows using nutrients and spiritual energy contained in the ashes, turning them into Soultrees (nflk. Zoldrevets). The spiritual energy in the soil has an unusual effect on the tree's sap, turning it light blue and increasing it's production, making it leak trough the bark. The sap of the Soultrees has psychadelic effects when consumed, making them objects of religious importance in Nortfolk society, who considers the sap a way of recieving visions from the divines and the ancestors. Under the right conditions a Soultree can grow without nutrients from the burial mounds, then the land is considered dangerous and the Nortfolk stay away from it.

Evil Spirits and the Undead
As mentioned in the previous chapter - the Nortfolk stay away from the Soultres that didn't grew on the burial mounds. The reason behind this phemonemenon is that a Soultree requires spiritual energy of deceased Nortfolk people to grow, and without a proper cremation (and a burial mound marking it's place) the soul can't escape the realm in crematory smoke, so it's forced to stay in Rathnir. The spirits that are stuck between life and death often grow envious of the living which turns them evil. Said spirits can often cause harm, bring disease and misfortune to people who spend time around them. Some spirits my even re-enter their long dead bodies, turning them into undead, who often are agressive towards the living, and attack every living person they see.

After large battles, many corpses can't be found, don't receve a proper cremation and are left to decompose where they fell, the soil of said battlefields is often rich in spiritual energy which alows wild Soultrees to grow. The spirits of the dead, unburied warriors linger around the wild Soultree, putting every unsuspecting traveller in danger of misfortune or death in the hands of the undead. Thus why the Nortfolk stay away from them.

Still W.I.P. come visit a bit later for more lore :D