Varushka culture and customs
A respect for family is central to Varushkan culture. Varushkans commonly use familial titles to show respect and friendship. Friends may call each other cousin, or even brother or sister if they are particularly close. Calling someone Uncle or Aunt indicates a significant degree of respect and acknowledges someone’s seniority and authority while grandfather or grandmother is usually used for the oldest and most respected members of the community. Individuals honoured in this way are usually treated just like any other family member.
Old age commands respect in Varushka. Older relatives who pass their wisdom and experience down to the younger generations are treasured. To the Varushkans, long years both grants, and demonstrates, wisdom. Fools die young, and their strength does not save them. Varushkan folklore includes countless stories where the young hero gets into trouble after ignoring the advice of their elders.
Varushkans have a tradition of gift giving before and after a journey. When a Varushkan leaves their family for the first time, there is usually a ceremony to mark the occasion, a celebration that culminates with one or more gifts. Travellers sometimes do not come back, or come back changed, so when family return from such travels, there is a second celebration where the returning traveller is expected to give gifts in their turn. Traditionally the gifts given to a departing family member are usually practical, while gifts given by the returning family member are usually decorative mementos of the travellers journey.
The Varushkan people cannot afford to suffer the foolish or indulge the lazy for long. The slothful, the ignorant, the arrogant and the petty criminal – anyone whose presence is no longer tolerable – receives an unlooked for parting ceremony, receiving the traditional departure gifts of a travelling cloak, a sack, a meal of bread and cheese, and a stout staff before effectively being exiled. Such individuals either learn harsh lessons in self-sufficiency or die in the wilderness between vales. The luckiest fall in with a group of travelling Navarr, while others end up joining a new community, become bandits or leave Varushka forever. While some hold grudges against the vales that threw them out, those who learn from their experiences and become better people feature strongly in Varushkan folklore.
Day is the time for hard work. Celebrating before the sun touches the treetops implies indolence and invites the land to punish you accordingly. Few celebrations are ever held during daylight and as a result many Varushkans appear dour and parsimonious at first. In fact, they reserve their merrymaking for nightfall when feasts, drinking, dancing, storytelling and singing abound. Feasting is not just for entertainment; in Varushka revelry is a powerful hearth magic that can help protect a vale from the malevolent forces that lurk beyond the circle of lights.
Anyone who lives in Varushka for long learns to be naturally suspicious of strangers. The land has many dangers and some can take a pleasing form if they choose to. Despite this they traditionally offer a warm welcome to any who stay after nightfall. Treating a stranger well is the first step to turning them into an ally, and encourages them to respond in kind – pitching in with the cleaning, the cooking and so on. Varushkans rarely let their guard down around strangers, but they know that treating them well is the best way to ensure prosperity and avert danger.
Bringing your own food and drink and sharing it with your hosts is a cultural expectation as well as common courtesy. Visitors who break the traditions of hospitality by being rude or taking their hosts for granted may be offered a drink or a meal “for the road”. This phrase is a pointed warning that your behaviour is offending your hosts and the visitor who does not mend their ways faces immediate ejection. Depending on the circumstances a wise visitor might decline the offer and ask instead for a bed for the night. A foolish visitor who accepts the offer or carries on causing offence faces expulsion into the dark night.