Wintermark culture and customs
Scars
Scars are important to the Winterfolk. According to tradition a warrior who emerges blooded from a battle has demonstrated heroism by finding a worthy enemy to fight, and is celebrated as a consequence. As a sign of recognition, some Thanes will cut a young warrior who has fought well in their first battle but not been blooded. Others will mark a young warrior before their first battle as a way to encourage them to avoid taking unnecessary risks. Some bands re-open old wounds before a battle begins so that those who face them can mark their courage. All such cuts are little more than a nick, but done with a sharp knife so that they bleed profusely.
When a warrior is wounded in a memorable fight, they will often encourage the Grimnir to treat the wound "so that it scars well." Scars are badges of honour, they serve as a visible mark of the warriors skill and permit them to boast about the battle later (there is rarely anything to brag about a fight in which you didn't get a scar).
Hospitality
Any traveller visiting a hall in Wintermark may claim one drink, one plate of hot food and a bed by a hearth for one night, without any payment or even thanks. This generosity is mandated for one occasion only; beyond this a hall owes a traveller nothing and may turn them out into the night. However, a guest who works for their sustenance and shelter is entitled to hospitality for another night, and it is customarily unacceptable to refuse a traveller who offers to work. Wintermark folktales are filled with stories of unwanted guests who overstay their welcome which usually end when a cunning Suaq tricks them into taking unmerited food or drink, or into failing to complete their assigned work.
Some Thanes choose to follow this tradition when camped with their people in the field, others refuse as tradition only demands they offer hospitality when in their hall.
Art and History
Crafting is second nature to the Winterfolk. Stone, metal and wood are carved with runes, but they are rarely painted, coloured or enamelled, as crafters prefer to show the beauty in the underlying colours of the materials. By contrast fabric and leather are often decorated with carefully painted or embroidered images that complement their colour and texture.
This nation is also known for its poetry, intended to be recited or sung rather than read. While epic tales of heroic deeds or historical poems are popular in formal situations, there is also a tradition of short and entertaining poems, often improvised, in informal situations such as a tavern. The high art of the Scop, the professional entertainer in Wintermark, is in the creation and recital of alliterative verse, the oldest form of traditional Wintermark poetry.
Riddles are also a national pastime. Cold winter nights are both long and tedious, and it is all too easy to fall asleep on duty or lapse into a numbed state of depression. Thinking up and answering clever riddles helps keep the mind limber.
The Winterfolk are not uneducated, but books and scrolls are treasured among them simply because paper and parchment fare poorly in the damp climate. In Wintermark, history exists primarily in oral form, or on rune-carved slabs of stone, sheets of metal, or artefacts of bone. The Winterfolk celebrate and remember the past, but they are never bound by it. This attitude to the past is the foundation of the Wintermark legal system where each transgression is judged on its own merits, rather than on the basis of past precedent. This practical attitude to legality helped to form the basis of the Imperial codes of law.
Age, Infirmity and the Good Death
The land of Wintermark is harsh but this serves to make the Winterfolk strong. It is the cold forge in which each of them is tempered. They face life unbowed by the ferocity of their land and refuse to acknowledge their own mortality. For this reason, death in their prime while striving to meet a challenge, is preferable for many to the weakness of old age. Warriors seek the good death on the battlefield, but the good death is any ending that comes while pushing yourself to achieve one final act of heroism.
A few choose to walk north into the Heart of Ice, the great ice-storm Sydanjaa, and are never seen again. Legend says that they battle forever against the creatures deep in the storm. When someone chooses to walk into Sydanjaa they do not imagine it will achieve anything, but that it is preferable to a slow decline leading to weakness of mind and body in dotage. There is a widespread acceptance of the idea that those who challenge Sydanjaa find the good death in an attempt to unravel the mysteries and riddles of the endless storm.
Those who are maimed or crippled by birth or bad luck are expected to strive to overcome any infirmity. They seek ways to compensate for any physical weakness, pushing themselves harder than their able-bodied companions or learning new skills that allow them to continue to strive regardless of any perceived disability. In legend, many Wintermark heroes are maimed or crippled by the loss of a hand or eye before they can reach their good death.
Funerals
Heroes are interred in the Kallavesa marshes, their bones lying in the dark waters alongside those of the first king of Wintermark and the great heroes who have come since. As a hero's life fed the nation when they were alive, their body feeds the marsh in death. “To sleep in Kallavesa” is a powerful metaphor for the rewards of glory and heroism, and to speak of “those who sleep in Kallavesa” is to invoke the very heart of what it means to live in Wintermark.
Wealthy thanes usually pay for a beautifully crafted wooden boat for their body which is then sunk beneath the waters. Paupers make do with a reed raft. Kallavesi mystics are skilled at preserving bodies for the long journey to Kallavesa.
In the past there has been conflict between the funereal mystics and the priests of the Necropolis in Highguard. The Highborn have strong traditions regarding the funerals of heroes and especially Emperors. Several times they have tried to claim that the remains of Winterfolk heroes who have done some great service for the Empire should be honoured by being interred in their cold marble crypts rather than lying in the swamp alongside their ancestors.