Culture of the House of Hule

[Bad Juju]

Since we all of us will be entering the world as residents of the Hule Outpost, I thought it would be wise to pose questions to the staff about the culture of the Hule-folk.

1. What are the laws?
2. What is the generally held moral code?
3. What mores are there?
4. What are the folkways?
5. How do the Hule-folk conduct themselves in regards to visitors?

[Janarc]

Anything I say here is due to be contradicted at any time by Staff, as these are just my thoughts.


Laws: Hule is a rough outpost, a palisaded motte-and-bailey, and it's family-run. Thus, the laws that they have are down-to-earth and practical. Don't kill, don't steal. Don't cause fights. In disputes, go to older members of the Family for mediation. Punishment for the most severe crimes is banishment, apart from banditry - which is a quick hanging.

In regard to visitors: Hule-folk are friendly, as amiable as Beorians ever are, and pretty much turn a blind eye to who comes and who goes - so long as they don't cause trouble. All of Hule's income is from visitors, so they take pains to keep these folks happy.

[Bard]

Simple is right.

I like what you've put above, Janarc. I'd add that punishments for breaking the laws there (which would almost all revolve around the principle of "don't cause trouble") would be quick (not burdened with undue fuss) and in some cases, harsh (at the very least, efficient).

[Bad Juju]

Thanks for the replies, but what about their moral code, mores, and folkways?

[Bard]

Here's more of my take on it, at least (I ran out of time before and nearly missed the bus to work, heh). Focused mostly on morals and attitudes.

I think it's relatively safe to look at any medieval hamlet and take ideas from those. It's a hard thing to simply list and say, "These are the morals, mores etc of the folk of Hule" - there are too many shades of grey in each person. However, it is possible to generalise a bit.

We've identified some strong characteristics of the general folk of Hule's already.

Family is big. Consider what strong family means to you and you can shape your character's morals from that, easily enough. Large governments are typically unknown here (unless you count the Elves), so people would be loyal to each other (or for the opposite of that, simply out to survive, "every man for himself" if you want to be an outcast-type). For the sake of loyalty and trust, Oaths would be taken very very seriously by most.

Isolation/Superstition are big. Remember the medieval hamlet (imo anyway). We have the beliefs of the Elves, the "old gods", belief in nature itself by some, and the simple "I don't know/care" attitude of others. On this point, blessing or cursing another would be taken almost as seriously as an Oath sworn. The natural superstition of the unlearned Adan would lead him/her to put at least -some- stock in blessings and cursings uttered by themselves or others.

Learn to curse. Heheheh. Shakespearean insults rock.

Practicality is big. This would influence everything. In the interest of making sure "life" runs as smoothly as it can in such a harsh area, the morals of those living there would reflect that (in general). Janarc's already mentioned some of all this anyway, and it doesn't require further explanation.

Simplicity is big. Hand in hand with practicality. These are not folk from an enlightened society of political correctness and equal opportunity. Some characters may be so enlightened heh, but many (most, in fact) won't. Example: Eomer told Eowyn "war is the province of Men" - many characters of this Age will think the same, including in Hule's. But there will also be the women characters like Eowyn who basically tell the "Eomers" to stick it, and then behead a troll in the battlefield.

Elves are big. Heheh, the Elves would have a strong influence over the morals of the Edain (especially those who were close to the pointy-eared ones). Elves wed for life. No Elf would sleep with another outside of wedlock. They are loyal to their family, generation after generation. They keep their Oaths (generally speaking - and look at Feanor and his sons), etc etc...

So we have good reason for some characters who have adopted the Elves' ways to the letter, and other characters who would reject them completely, and of course every shade of grey in between.

Re Mores/Folklore etc

I think it's important to point out regarding mores and folklore etc - we can't detail everything in a doc for it so that players can RP to it. You can look at similar societies and come up with ideas of your own for things to put into the culture. Look at the Noldor in particular for the Folk of Beor (Elves in general for the Marachians). That will help too.

Really hope what I've put here helps.

[Falconer]

Learn to curse. Heheheh. Shakespearean insults rock.

This made me think of something that I'd just like to note. While I certainly love dialects and a diverse group of characters and characteristics, I was always a bit thrown off by the "commoner/low-life" accents at Shadows of Isildur. In reading Tolkien, the vast majority of the characters - including the people of Rohan, many of whom were not nobility by any means - speak in a fairly eloquent, even Shakespearean cadence.

I'm certainly not saying that this should be the standard for everyone, or that other accents might not exist, but I did want to flag this early - simply because the humans of Beleriand are mostly uneducated and work as laborers, for the most part, does not mean that they would not have a poetic vocabulary or need to speak like cavemen.

Just my two cents.

[Bard]

Yeah on dialects/accents...


I would suggest base your character's accent etc on where he is from, and how he's grown up. Rather than just think, "I'm a simple bloke, so I'll go with a bastardised form of cockney..." consider how much contact you would have had with the other races (Elves/Dwarves at this point) and how they would shape your style of speech.

Just not being able to read doesn't mean you can't speak half-decently (if you want to), depending on with whom you've been hanging around.

[Bad Juju]

Thanks for the replies, good sirs!

[Bard]

Something else I just thought of which I think is worth mentioning to see what folks think of it.

Consider suiting your accent (well, speech characteristics at least) to the language you're speaking. In Sindarin and Quenya, there are no contractions of words (i.e. "don't" instead of "do not") no colloquialisms (i.e. slang terminology, expressions of speech), and no swearwords (cursing was done elaborately, with finesse).

Taliska and other tongues like Haladin etc are perfect for all that, and for other accents like hybrid forms of cockney or highland etc etc, but if your PC is going to speak the Elvish tongues (given Sindarin is the common tongue here), it would be really good to see the kind of speech used change as well.

Just a thought. Not going to pounce on anyone for not quite doing this, but I'd love to see it come out in RP. What do you think?

[Falconer]

I love it, Bard. Simply love it.

[Bad Juju]

I am also quite fond of that idea, but before we do that, we need to establish what type of language we can expect. I would loathe to have it end up SOI in which everyone had different accents.

[Bard]

Again, it depends on where you're from, how you've grown up (to get down to specifics at least). However, in general you'd be looking at something relatively neutral. Neither posh nor guttertalk. You might see a lot of "ayes" and "nays" and less of "yes" and "no" *shrug*. You wouldn't see a lot of big, long fancy words except among the few learned there.

Even most sage/scribe/healer-types wouldn't be that "upper-crust", unless perhaps they've spent time with Elves.

There's room for brogues like, "I ain' goin' near it, so clear auff!" or "'Ere... wot's that yew say?" (exaggerating here, heh), as well as, "'Tis right bonny grand 'o ye to poot me up like this, lass!" and the typical, "I thank you for your hospitality", or the laconical, "Nay." heheh. Never forget the exotic, "For thine aid, I thank thee."

Is your character a talker? A laugher? A nodder (everyone seems to nod to everything... don't know why). Try to come up with a signature move or mannerism even, to match his speech/conversation style. Heh, he could even have a bad habit of some kind.

Hope this helps.

[Falconer]

The next time you're out, note the number of people who nod when speaking to another individual - it happens constantly.

[Bard]

*nod* will do.





Tee hee heee heee!

*plays his lute*

[Steppenwolf]

I'm curious, how would you address/interact other people? Does it depend on if they're a family member or not?

When you walk down the street and you make eye contact with someone, you generally nod to them or say good day in passing (at least in the rural part of Austria I visited). Does the same apply here? Would you curtsy to a senior family member? Would you curtsy to everyone?

What do you call a female stranger? Woman? A male stranger? Stranger? What about a family member whose name you don't know (yet)? Good sir, goodwoman?

What if you ARE a family member? What do you call each other when you're not using their name? I've heard things like "cousin". Is there anything else?

Edited to add:
I didn't want to ask all these questions without putting in some input, myself. Here's how I figure it might be like:
Family members call family member cousin, easy. Unless it's a generation above or below, then it's uncle/aunt or nephew/niece.

i.e. "Hello cousin." "Good day, Aunty." "Goodbye, Uncle Jim."

Everyone in the outpost calls a newcomer "stranger" until they give their name, whereupon they call them either "friend" or by their name.

i.e. "What's your name, stranger?" "Stranger, over here!" --> "Hello, friend." "Jim, over here!"

I'll add more as it comes to mind.

[Bard]

That sounds about right to me, aye.

"Stranger" or "Traveller" works well as each other.

More in a bit, when I can think clearly.

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