V mountain merfolk
The merfolk of the Long Sea V Mountains may not be very politically unified but they are culturally unified.
The V mountain merfolk stand out physically from other Merfolk swimming in the Long Sea. Most of the V mountain merfolk have dark purple hair as opposed the blue hair green hair, and black hair of most other merfolk.
V mountain merfolk skin tones, like most merfolk skin tones, tends to vary a lot from individual to individual but V mountain merfolk tend to be noticeably darker than most with dark shades of orange, blue, green or brown skin tones being common as well as combinations of these with variations of brown (blueish brown, reddish brown, greenish brown, etc).
V mountain merfolk have a huge variety in eye color. The tend to have vaguely tear drop shaped noses.
V mountain merfolk tend to be very emotionally expressive, brutally honest, fiercely loyal to their friends, and distrustful of strangers.
Culture
Major language groups and dialects
V mountain merfolk speak their own dialect of Mermish, a lot of them learn Sharkspeak as a second language and several words and idioms from the Karakhai have made their way into their vernacular.
Common Dress code
V mountain merfolk tend to dress pragmatically. Their clothes are generally simple and functional.
Near the surface, in warmer waters, they will usually wear the minimum clothing necessary to not be nude.
If they move towards the lower mountain slopes into deeper cooler waters they will add layers as necessary. If expecting combat, they will don armor if available.
One place they do allow for personal expression is in intricate hand crafted jewelry, ideally jewelry made by themselves or a close friend or family member.
Art & Architecture
V mountain merfolk combine earthy pragmatism with fiery artistic expression into a love crafts delighting in crafting weapons and tools that are both beautiful to look at and functional to use.
Given their home territory's relative scarcity of building materials, artificial structures in the mountains are limited in size and grandeur though they will try to spruce up their simple dwellings by putting simple decorative friezes into their walls.
Common Customs, traditions and rituals
Like most merfolk, V mountain merfolk value creative and sensual expression.
On average, V mountain merfolk are more outwardly pious than most other merfolk. Like other merfolk, most V mountain merfolk hold the Seeyirah, the daughters/sisters of the Sea as the center of their spiritual lives, especially Enosha.
Compared to other merfolk, V mountain merfolk tend to hold the Sons of the Sea Floor and the Sons of the Sky in greater reverence because they are more closely tied to the sea floor and sky in their daily lives.
The V mountain merfolk regularly deal with Karakhai more often than most other merfolk and t. They have assmiliated a lot of values from the Karakhai, especially a strong warrior culture and an accompanying preference for tough love parenting and a tendency for general machismo and displays of bravado.
Like with Karkahai, storytelling is considered an integral part of their heritage and entertainment.
Birth & Baptismal Rites
V mountain merfolk rituals for infants differ relatively little from most other Merfolk. A merfry earns his or her name on his or her "Swim Day".
The main difference is that V mountain merfolk only give their merfry half half of their names on their Swim Day. The second half of their name is given on the second anniversary of his/her Swim Day.
This results in most V mountain merfolk having hyphenated names with their second given name preceding the name given to them on their swim day.
Family, lovers, and very close friends may address a merfolk by their swim day name alone. When pulling rank, teachers, military officers, religious and secular leaders will address subordinates by their second name alone.
Most of the time, the norm is for others to address a merfolk by both names.
Coming of Age Rites
Boys and girls go through their rite of adulthood at age 15.
Alone or in small groups, adolescent merfolk swim down the slopes of the nearest mountain for a few weeks where they must hunt and forage in colder darker waters than they are used to as a test of wisdom and endurance. While surviving, the young man or woman is expected to forage some materials to carve or weave a piece of jewelry of personal meaning to himself or herself.
Funerary and Memorial customs
A typical funeral begins with a wake and meal shared by the bereaved as the mourners tell stories of the deceased.
Then the friends and family of the deceased have a somber procession where they take turns carrying the honored corpse deep into the open sea, cocooning them in a shroud with weights and letting the body sink to the bottom of the deep sea.
It is generally considered good luck to take the body inside the V rather than outside the V so the soul is cradled by the life giving V mountains.
Ideals
Gender Ideals
Like with most merfolk, V mountain merfolk are officially egalitarian but unofficially tilted towards a matriarchy with a about three fifths of leadership positions being held by merwomen.
V mountain merfolk value their men and women being well-rounded jack-of-all trades, but there are some gender norms. Mermen are more likely to focus on building and crafting and merwomen are more likely to focus on fishing/hunting.
Regardless of sex, all V mountain merfolk are expected to be able to proficiently know the basics of self-defense. Professional warriors are equally likely to be male or female.
Encompassed species
Related Locations
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