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The birth of a culture

Shaun b.

Dreamer
My WIP is centralised around a single culture. Barbaric in appearance, nomadic in dwelling and hardy of heart. I struggled for some time trying to come up with a name that would put all of these aspects towards the reader in a single word. It seemed to be a fruitless quest until I realised I was over thinking it.

My race of Barbarians are now called the Gael.

I've borrowed heavily from all the peoples of early iron age Europe all gathered under a single cultural umbrella. collectively, the people are the Gael, the land itself its called Gaelia.

What sort of image does this bring to the forefront of your mind?

Let me go into the land and peoples in a little more detail. Feedback is always cherished. We are all eternally students.

Gaelia

Gaelia itself takes up the northern half of a continent. It is set in the most northern regions of my world. The land is vast with many mountain ranges, flowing yet rocky grassland, large lakes and rivers. It has brutally harsh coastlines and a multitude of dense evergreen forests. It can be a foreboding land with little in the way of agricultural opportunity. The peoples of Gaelia split the land into five main areas, each controlled by one of the great clans and a sixth area that is completely neutral. The sixth area is central to the land and I have the place holder name of The Heartlands. The five other areas are separated by natural mountains or natural borders. At the Northern most part of the continent is an impassable mountain line with a single path that is passable. This area is known as the Graveway (place holder). In Gaelian legend it is the path that was used by the gods, when they left the land. It is sacred by right and also considered neutral ground. The Graveway is tended by the Druids. It is the resting place of hero's and clan chief's by definition.

Upon the death of a hero, or a clan chief the body is carried to the Heartland by the clan. They have right of passage through which ever land they pass, even in times of dispute. Upon entry to the Heartland the body is cleansed then transported along with a procession of Druids to the Graveway. A large ceremony is held before the Druids inter the body. Legend has it that when the gods return through the Graveway they will raise the hero's of old.

Gaelia has an eastern coast and a western coast, both running the length of the country. Many invaders have tried to land, but a treacherous coast line and often squalling weather makes it almost impossible to land any but the smallest of vessel. the coasts are fringed with sparse forests to the south and steep chalk cliffs to the north.

Winters are harsh and cold. The snow falling much heavier in the north than in the south. However even the southern weather is cold enough to drive the families and clans into winterholes (place holder). Winterholes are static underground dwellings. Often hid in the deepest forests or mountains. Families will weather the coldest parts of winter in these dwellings before the thaw.

The southern areas have some vast open spaces, the wind is generally unrelenting and rain common, even in the summer months. The plains are broken up by dense pockets of forest, spanning many acres each. Rivers and streams run through the land aplenty. In the northern regions the land rolls with chalk mounds, buried deep beneath the snow drifts.

This is of course only a brief summary.



Gael

The Gael as a people are varied in size and tone. They are gathered into five main groups, each group subscribes to one of the great clans. However most move freely and they are generally friendly to one another. Gael is a Gael as a goat is goat.

The Gael generally are very pale people. their hair tones tend to be of a darker hue. The hair and eye colours of individuals often gives a hint as to what great clan they belong to. The size of the Gael often differs from region to region. The Gael of the Northern areas are bigger in mass and muscle than those of the south who are very slight and wiry. Women generally wear their hair long, children generally have short hair save for a rats tail. Men can be with or without facial hair, they often have long hair on their heads. Some of the northern people shave their heads before going raiding or during times of mourning.

The dress of the Gael differs depending on region. The men of the south are generally bare chested, heavily tattooed and wear tough kilts or leather chaps. The men of the North are heavily laden with fur cloaks over skin covered with thick layers of grease. The colours they don depend wholly on the beast who's fur or leather they wear. Gael very rarely colour their clothes, and even then tend to favour the darker colours. Wool is common for vests, cloaks and head wear.

Gael culture circles around that of the clan. Each family gift supplies to their clan who in turn pays a portion of it to the father clan. The society is based mainly on the strength of their leaders, however cunning is also highly sought after and viewed as an attractive trait among the people and leaders alike.

Druids are the religious leaders and advisors to the clan chiefs. It has been said more than once that the Druids control Gaelia. Druids are always viewed as neutral and often advise the chiefs for the good of the land or according to one of the animal gods that they follow. Druids are respected wherever they go and often afforded the highest courtesy whenever travelling. They follow the lives of normal Gael apart from the fact they cannot marry, they do however often father many bastards who are named 'Godgifts' (place holder) the boys are welcomed into the clan of the mother and often treated extremely well, more so than other children. The boys upon adulthood are taken to the Heartland where they train to become druids. The female Godgift's often marry into the family of the clan chiefs. Thus tightening the hold the Druids hold over the whole of Gaelia.

All of the great clans have bi-annual meetings, generally at the start and end of each winter to ask for mercy of the gods and to the thank them for a safe year. These gatherings are great events of celebration. Each Gael plays an instrument, the most numerous are large drums or flutes. Gael are widely known for their love of music, the meetings are known as wintersong and summersong (place holder). The events are when weddings occur, boys journey into manhood and great competitions take place. They are also when votes are cast for chiefs and officials. This however is mostly just ceremony, as more often than not a dead chiefs son is chosen over a more worthy Gael, even if the new chief is little older than a boy.

Gael train their children from a very young age in the use of the large powerful horn bows of their people. The bows need to be strong enough to kill pray from great distances. The Gael train in many forms of combat, however most come from the equipment that they use in day to day life, the axe, bow, spear, dagger, staff and very few in the actual usage of swords. All Gael including women can and are expected to fight for the call of the clan. They wear large circular shields of wood, covered in leather and rimmed in iron.

This is of course only a summary, but I think I have enough to get started on. Any questions or feedback?
 
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Jaredonian

Dreamer
An interesting read, but my only concern is that calling them Gaels will bring to mind the Gaels, which will probably start people noticing similarities in the cultures, particularly since you're basing your culture off ones that are similar, particularly when you add druids to the mix. Of course, this could be your intention but I personally am of the opinion that its usually better to try to keep some distance between your creations, and the things you're emulating or drawing inspiration from.
 

The Unseemly

Troubadour
Well, after reading that, I immediately saw an Indian America, with the Gael of different places as various tribes: Iroquis, maybe Aztecs in a more remote part of the land, etc.

I suppose the issue with such a culture is that it's quite difficult to get it to be authentic; the truth is that a large proportion of (for example) Iroquis or Aztec culture remains unknown, and I have seen books like this where you have a 11th century Indian culture with basically a white-peoples derivation of that culture. So this, I say, is something to be very weary of, as it can take a lot away from what otherwise might have been a good book.

There really isn't much to add onto what you've written. Your ideas seem quite defined, and really, as a person who rather prefers the storyline as to the world building, I'm much more curious as how you'll provide this information in a book.
 

Nihal

Vala
I don't know much about the Aztecs, only about Incas and their domination tactics - it's awesome, they almost never relied on battles preferring politics instead. His Gael looks closer to the North American natives, older Norse or Gaelic culture than to the Andes' people.

Anyway, here goes some questions you can ask yourself to further develop their background:

- What do these people eat? Are they exclusively hunter-gatherers? Do some tribes keep herds? Do they know how to cultivate the land? The food will limit the Clans' sizes.

- Are these tribes nomadic? In this case, how does it affect the territorial claims? Do they just sit happily inside their designated territories? What if famine or a great plague happens?

- You mentioned raids. Against whom? How do they keep from wiping out or assimilating each other? Enough hatred can move mountains.

- What is their creation myth?

- Do they trade? If yes, what? Think outside the box and inside your world. One of the most valuable commodity of the Incas was clothing. There were a kind of "royal" female, women who woven the best cloth and resided in "imperial houses". I don't remember the exact terms right now.

They held a high status and also played the role of royal brides, being married into prominent families to secure their support to the Inca's Emperor, exactly like the daughters of the European nobles. However, they weren't related by blood, only by their prestigious skill. If I remember well, the Emperor also had the control over the stored resources and gifted the clans, who were loyal in return.
 
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Shaun b.

Dreamer
Some very interesting points that give me a lot to think on. Reading back I can now see. where the likeness to the Native Americans comes from. This was unintentional and its my job as the writer to steer the reader. However, if I stand the cultures side by side they are not too different. A very good point in-fact and something that I need to think on further. For anyone interested, I shall be updating this post shortly with answers to the few cultural questions that were asked, as I will answer any further questions that are also asked.

Nihal - Your Deviant art page is simply amazing. You have some real talent!
 
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