Huldufolk

Interpersonal Reactions

People generally view Huldufolk warily. Any one of them can be your average mortal, but its also likely (as far as an average person is concerned) to stab you in the back and sell your offspring to the Circus Circuit. This being the case, almost everyone views Huldufolk with a healthy level of circumspection. While the days of openly attacking strange Huldufolk for being on a boat near a shoreline are behind them, they cannot shake off the clinging shadows of their slaving past. 

Origin Archetype

The Huldufolk people are a taciturn, duplicitous lot and excel at jobs which manage these traits well. Grey to immoral, Huldufolk make great scouts, artisans and criminals:

• Enlisted Soldier, Entertainer, Gambler, General Labor, Nobilite, Occult Study, Sailor, Survivalist, Thief.

Character Archetypes

Starting low and working their way up as they forge a name for themselves, Huldufolk have the same drive for excellence as their Daoine cousins, but they lack that essential spark of the divine. So they fulfill many roles, but their natural ability to blind enemies makes them suited for less savory works:

• Alchemist, Artisan, Assassin, Bard, Scout, Sorcerer, Spy, Thief, Treasure Hunter.

Common Names

Feminine Names

Meheci, Noreno, Obseth, Sikliss, Saerlerth

Masculine Names

Muinde, Rylniel, Sivon, Sulvaec, Undyss

Unisex Names

Abidhu, Camifri, Elleri, Idvoru, Rathryr

Family Names

Huldufolk do not typically have family names nor have a high interest in their lineage. Notability of huldufolk is usually accomplished through the art or skill of the individual. Such as "Ticme who painted the king's portrait" or "Obsa who crafted the golden blade of Grex". So, while there is a social strata among the huldufolk, there are no family names. A person's standing is directly tied to their (or their parents') skill and fame.

Culture

They were slaves and the memory of it haunts them. Emotional creatures they are prone to lashing out in cruel and vicious ways at people they believe have mistreated them. Seeking to never fall to such a state again, they had often taken slaves from the other tribes, propping their own people on a foundation of their most feared memories. If they are the masters then they cannot be the slaves. However, the Year of Invasions was also a year of difficult lessons and the Huldufolk people learned they cannot survive in the harsh realm of Trynnalta without cooperation.
This reliance on servants and the lower castes has led even the boggarts and spriggans of the upper classes to grow decadent and lazy. Their wanton cruelty they visit on house servants seemed to be a byproduct of boredom and some cultural malice to someone they perceive as lower than they and still carries over into their serf casts, albeit with much less malignancy.
The higher in the social strata the Huldufolk and accompanying tribes rise, the more debauched and belligerent they grow. However, its worth noting that the lower class of Huldufolk, those that are still free but not nobility, are more akin in temperament to an average human. They still lust for the arts and entertainment without being inclined to wanton cruelty of their servants. Those that choose to travel abroad such as adventurers, sell-sword and merchants now breath a bit easier as the Huldufolk become more known for their art than their evils.

Native Language

Huldufolk speak Old and New Moni as well as a derivative of Sióg.

Customs & Values

Outwardly the Huldufolk are a capricious and flighty people. They were slaves once and they had to fight for their freedom. Thus, they remain suspicious of those with power and often come across as selfish and greedy, looking out purely for self interest. Many times this surface appearance is true, but beneath the scaled skin and slitted eyes lie incredibly emotional beings.

Huldufolk admire art in all forms and great skill is pleasing to them. Many, given the chance, find ways to turn their profession into an art form. Gratuitously taking weeks to craft objects or meticulously performing tasks until the result is nothing less than perfect.

Although they had once made extensive use of slaves, treating outsiders they acquired in raids with cold disinterest, greatly fearing the concept of becoming slaves again. There is no death penalty in their culture. If one is convicted of a crime he becomes indentured to the aggrieved party. A fate most consider worse than death.

The Food Chain - Among the aristocracy it is a regular affair to have some sort of party or lavish dinner at their homes. Inviting guests over in their multitudes. This usually leads to a chain event of traveling from home to home, indulging in the hospitality and dexterously navigating the treachery of constant frivolity among ones own duplicitous peers.

The Festival of Excess - The circus and the circuit are some of the most time honored traditions. Monthly events in the center of Huldufolk settlements or the coliseum at Aryngol; folk travel from near and far to see the spectacular performances of these latent perfectionists, the unveiling of artistic marvels or to watch blood and guts spill on the sands of the fighting pits to the raucous crowd jeering at the next foolish hero to die for their pride, or the Huldufolks' entertainment.

Common Etiquette

They don't trust easily, but they're not as reticent as Changelings. Huldufolk are personally insular and tend to avoid others they haven't had time to trust. As such, it is bad form to try and strike up random conversations with others and its seen as poor manners to invite ones self into a conversation with strangers.
Its also considered appropriate form to address a Huldufolk by their full moniker in the opening greetings. Not doing so can give one the impression of the person greeting them having no respect or acknowledgement of their skill or accolades. This can easily lead to offense.

Taboos

Betraying the confidence of immediate family, or causing them injury through treachery, is a grave insult to any Huldufolk who hears of it. This person will typically be ostracized from the community, banished from their region, and left to fend for themselves in the serf castes. For those not in a caern-rath, this could even mean having to fend for one's self in the wilds. Thus, many dishonored Huldufolk find themselves among Skilti bands in a way not too dissimilar to disgraced Lughlinn.

Art & Architecture

Huldufolk apply themselves with abandon to many forms of art. Paintings of bygone historical events, prominent people across the Inis, musical endeavors and even play acting of comedies and tragedies created specifically for the theatre are common and well loved.

They are most famous for their amazing and detailed tapestries that depict a wide variety of subjects including existentialism, emotional torment, historical dramatizations, mythoscapes of the imagination and even family portraits of the commissioner.

The Huldufolk seem to take great care in their works and this has led to some decent advancements in some places placing them near a renaissance level of technology in Aryngol and medieval in the outer settlements.

Clothes & Dress

Given the chance Huldufolk wear elaborate clothes with vivid colors and elegant trappings. Ostentatious clothes with high collars and puffed sleeves or revealing and slim clothes that accentuate their natural bodies. Both styles are accompanied by a variety of jewels and precious metals. During war they wear drab, natural colors that allow for easy concealment and guerilla tactics.

Myths & Legends

Lord Verithul Grex and Lady Argol Grex were supposedly the first and last monarchs of Aryngol and the huldufolk families before being replaced by a loose lords' alliance. The details are scarce, but supposedly Lady Argol died at the hands of her husband. She was much beloved by even the most cruel of her kin and so her death was felt keenly. For his crimes Lord Grex was exiled, some say to another world entirely, and replaced with the senate. This is supposedly the reason for both the Ceremony of Rancor and the taboo for domestic treachery.

Its made somewhat worse because most scant historical writings on the matter label Lord Verithul Grex and Lady Argol Grex as the ones who united the disparate Huldufolk tribes, including the boggarts and spriggans, into rising up against their Unseelie masters.

Funerary and Memorial Rites

Huldufolk die with some frequency either due to conflict with the Fwoarians, the strange monsters of their eastern region, or the malefactions of their competitors. When this happens, they, much like everyone else on the Inisa, are cremated on a funeral pyre in a quiet ceremony.

What happens after depends. Their assets and wealth will go to their spouse along with the power and entitlements that brings. Usually, this is considered adequate compensation. There is, however, the Ceremony of Rancor that can be enacted when a spouse feels their loved one's death was undeserved or especially heinous. What follows is a detailed investigation and if the aggrieved discovers ploys or treachery, as they typically will, this material evidence can be brought before a gathering of peers.

With their blessing the next phase of the Ceremony of Rancor begins; the aggrieved spouse challenges the immediate family of the offending party to single combat. This means that, should the aggrieved party be successful, they will have annihilated the entirety of the offending party's family excluding children. What is left is either sent into serfdom or, if the victor is charitable, they make add them as servants to their own home.

If the person who enacted the Ceremony of Rancor dies, it is considered just as they were too unskilled to mete out justice. If they decide to end the ceremony early at any stage, they forfeit their ability to ever call upon it again for this particular incident.

Beauty Ideals

Huldufolk have a loose concept of beauty. They tend to care more about how a person presents themselves rather than how they physically appear. A person with skill at arms, art or craft would be considered very attractive despite their physical characteristics. So much the better if this competency has brought them fortune or fame for their prospective mate to enjoy.

Gender Ideals

Huldufolk lack a real concept of gender. To the Unseelie slaves were slaves and so there was no discernment between the two. That twisted form of equality followed the Huldufolk even into their free age and they've never considered a need to change it. This means you'll see men and women fill many roles in society, both in the upper strata and the lower castes.

Courtship Ideals

Surprisingly, Huldufolk have a very human approach to courtship. It builds slowly over time and they tend to discuss their emotions freely if they trust the person. Slowly finding out their feelings as they get to know one another. In a society that uses subterfuge and blackmail as a means to gain the upper-hand on competition, being able to talk freely with a close loved one is a cherished thing.

Relationship Ideals

Huldufolk culture is filled with espionage and backstabbing which leads to a mistrust of their peers. Strangely, few relationships end in partners blaming each other for perceived slights from overly suspicious participants as one would expect. This is because it is considered an unforgiveable act to betray a spouse, thus they make strong life partners where they raise families and support one another emotionally by freely sharing and opening up to one another. 

Huldufolk value this emotional openness and thrive off closed ceremonies of extreme emotional showings to their closest family members which in turn inspires their art. This is something of an addicting ordeal though and more than a few Huldufolk have grown reclusive, refusing to deal with any other than their partner and withdrawing from the world.

Toscaire of Dòchas Ùr

The Council at Dòchas Ùr, also known as the Council of Toscaire, are the ruling body in Inis Mona. Here, representatives from all the tribes that have agreed to join the council convene to discuss, deliberate and conduct matters of state under the watchful eye of the Ard Righ or the Ard Banríon.

Unseen Courts

The Huldufolk are lead by a council of monarchs from the various families forming something like a loose senatorial council called the Unknown. However, unlike the Digir nations' senate, the Huldufolk gathering is more akin to a riotous party of over-indulgent dilettantes stabbing each other in the back almost constantly; both literally and metaphorically.