What's the red limit for Centralization?
How well do our advisors think that building a wall will help the crime problem?
How trained are blackbirds for urban environments?
Can you explain more about how Enforce Law would work?
Advisors don't know.
They think at the very least it will crack down on tax evasion type smuggling and the like and make administration easier, which should have secondary improvements in how other crimes develop.
Blackbirds aren't that great in urban environments yet, although they're also the only warriors with even remotely the right training to deal with the situations.
Go out and make sure that people are in fact following the law.
1. How many Holy sites do the other known nation have?
2. Are they as impressive as ours or more impressive?
3. What is their current opinion on us, like for what are we known/famous for to them?
4. Has our Religion evolved any further and if so how?
5. Have our people some kind of physical (like fair skin from living in the forests, smaller build for our warriors from not eating meat all the day,) or spiritual (like some special prayer or behavior) tellings that sets them obviously apart from others and marks them as our people to our neighbours?
Each other the other major kingdom has at least two major holy sites that you know about, they likely have many other minor ones.
Most of the other major settled groups are of the opinion that the People are an odd lot who have lots of good stuff and are generally rather generous, but seem to prefer to keep to themselves. There's also the general opinion that they're kind of weak since they don't engage in much fighting, but they're probably strong enough to make fighting in the hills a pain, and while there's good stuff beyond the threat of another rival taking a swing before you've made it to the good stuff means that if they're not going to cause trouble you might as well leave them alone for the time being.
There is currently a significant amount of questioning of how exactly the spirits work. A sort of proto-theology is started to bubble away in the background. Major changes are unlikely to crystallize before the temple or library are completed though.
The People have about average skin tones for their neighbours, but they also have a wide array of neighbours and a lot of internal mixing so
everyone thinks that they look just a bit exotic in terms of skin and hair tones. The nomads think that they look just a touch darker than them while the lowlanders note their relative lightness of skin tone. In terms of hair the People have a much greater diversity of hair styles due to multiple traditions, a relatively lax view on policing that sort of thing, and more hair types than most people have. The basically complete absence of major pox scarring and the fact that the People don't have the same lower end in size as most sedentary people is also frequently commented on. Spiritually the People have a whole host of unique prayers and invocations that signify them as being the People rather than the host of unique prayers and invocations of other groups.
do we still have a Death Taboo?
Yes, there is a general taboo around handling the dead, especially outside your family, and it is forbidden to anyone not assigned by the shamans to handle any dead body showing actual signs of decomposition.
What does the Ymaryn Art look like? Can you point us to real life approximate examples in order to help visualization?
What are the specifics of an average Ymaryn's physical appearance? Are there differences between a full blooded Stallion Marcher and a Southerner?
What types of clothing do they wear in recent times? What types of designs are stitched into it?
Can you share with us any pieces of apparel or adornment that are specific to the Blackbirds and/or Carrion Eaters?
How do our women accessorize? How do our men accessorize?
E: What does an average home look like in Valleyhome? What does the average home look like in a non-city locale? What is the most prevalent shape in their overall architecture?
Ymaryn art tends towards the abstract with lots of knot work and geometric shapes. A common motiff is to take a serene geometric shape or symbol and surround or intertwine it with more organic seeming lines with curves and branches.
Clothing is primarily linen or wool tunics and either breeches or kilts depending on environment and local gender norms, with jackets, ponchos and the like depending on weather. The People make use of dyes other than the snail red-violet, but they are mostly more muted reds, blues, and blacks from plant and mineral sources. They make extensive use of decorations like necklaces, braclets, and pins to demonstrate various forms of success awarded to them by superiors and the community, forming an elaborate form of social communication. Wearing an unearned badge tends to earn a major beating at the least. Tattooing is also used, although it has a much more pragmatic purpose in the eyes of the People in that they are believed to have an influence on the flow of spiritual energies within the body. A warrior might have a sort of sunburst tattoo over their heart to strengthen their constitution, although this is believed to also make them dangerously hotblooded so they might also introduce symbols of roots and ice around their skull and head to help them stay calm and grounded, if also slowing down their wits outside of battle. For this reason, while ritual tattooing
is done, tattoos are seen of as being primarily medical in nature.
Aside from their masks, the most quintessential Blackbird regalia are their leafy cloaks and other such camouflage items, while for the Carrion Eaters they carry around surgical tools and little dolls with wound markings to serve as shorthand for what treatments to apply when they are in a hurry and need to consult their notes quickly. People find these intensely creepy and there are all sorts of stories about what they actually do, and the Carrion Eaters sometimes encourage them.
Both women and men tend to accessorize by doing their hair, with many different styles and objects used to tie and decorate hair.
The average home in Valleyhome is a three story complex in a U or O shape, made primarily of mudbrick and adobe with wooden support structures. The first floor is the primary economic area, centered around the courtyard area, while the second floor is the living and sleeping area with the top floor being for long term storage/extra sleeping space and more perishable items being stored in a cellar where it is cooler. Outside the major population centres two story homes holding maybe three generations and clustered along family lines tend to be more typical.
