Where the hand of a Brasquerro man does not reach, the tip of his blade will instead.
[x]
Table of contents

01 : I d e n t i t y
02 : S o c i e t y
03: R i t u a l s & R e c r e a t i o n
04 : P o l i t i c s & R e l i g i o n
- - -

[Ambience]

01 : .. Brasquerro Identity

The Brasquerro are a vibrant group of Southerners hailing from arid valleys and sweeping farmland. A proud and noble people predicated upon a delicate balance of authority and rebellion. An intense division in class relegates the society severed in two, with a sweeping peasantry dedicated to farming and servitude, and a smaller elite echelon of knights and nobles often plagued by ineptitude and corruption. 

In spite of all that divides the Brasquerro manage an overall unified identity that walks along a delicate line of balance. The people pride themselves in their light of life, where even in the most dire of circumstances it is principally important to be a light against the dark. Outlandish celebrations and competitions, drinking and dancing, and musical exceptionalism are all hallmarks of both upper and lower Brasquerro society and speaks to their ability to unify while under all assumptions of political analysis they should divide.

Physical Appearance

The Brasquerro are a group of Southerners who are generally tan or occasionally darker skinned. The general populace is on the shorter side with the average man standing at approximately 5’7 and women at approximately 5’4. Eye color varies, but most commonly hazel, amber, and brown. Rarely genetic outliers with bright green eyes are prominent, and even more rarely if ever do individuals with blue eyes arise unless northerner blood is present. Hair color is far more diverse, but most commonly falls between dark brown and blonde, and less commonly dark hair is possible. 

Clothing fashion varies between classes, but in general all Brasquerro tend to wear more modest clothing. Anything that is particularly revealing is frowned upon for both lower and upper classes, for the former it is a matter of practicality and the latter a matter of modesty. Muted colors with bright contrasting accents are most popular among both classes, but there are many exceptions to this rule. In upper Brasquerro society lavish and exaggerated amounts of silver and gold jewelry is common and praised. In lower strata gold is frowned upon, but moderate applications of silver is hailed as a more proper application.

02 : .. Brasquerro Society

Class

Brasquerro society is deeply stratified, with a fundamental divide between the upper and low classes, the peasantry and the nobility, the impoverished and the wealthy. This divide in many ways fundamentally defines Brasquerro culture, where the upper class may do something in spite of the lower, or vice versa. It characterizes almost all aspects of their society and has been a poignant underpinning of practically everything the people do.

There is a very small emerging class between these two consisting primarily of tradesmen and women or craftworkers, but they are generally ignored by the vast majority of Brasquerro society.

Culture

The Brasquerro are a heavily militant people, among the upper strata there is a dominant culture of dueling, warfare, and military strategy. Even among the lower classes, an inclination toward service in the military is heavily acclaimed, based primarily on the fact one of the only methods of upward mobility is through military service. Incredible feats of military accomplishment can result in opportunity for elevation of rank, where a lower ranking officer or official can gain the right to challenge a lord of higher titleage. There are several rites the individual can claim, such as a challenge of fitness, of strategy, or of beasts. Among the upper class lack of military service is considered shameful if you are an able bodied man, even scholars who deviate from the path typically have at least a year of service before they enter academia. 

While military culture is prominent among both upper and lower classes, outside of wartime the culture relaxes significantly, and discipline wanes. Drinking and relaxation are markedly important among the Brasquerro, as time for leisure is considered exceedingly important alongside labor. In addition, the type of profession an individual is engaged in is critically attached to how they are viewed by larger society. Jobs that are considered to be serving the larger Brasquerro society are considerably more popular among the lower classes, while more individualistic or vain pursuits are more acceptable among the upper echelon of society. Farmers and doctors are exceptionally popular among peasants, while popular duelists or bullfighters find their fame amidst noble circles.

Gender Norms 

Brasquerro society is by and large patriarchal, but women are not explicitly disbarred from doing most things men do. For instance, while women are not encouraged to partake in military service, they are not actually disbarred from it. This was primarily for the common folk, if a family who had only daughters wanted any chance at upward mobility, it could only be acquired through a daughter’s enlistment. While the upper classes tend to ignore this fact relegating most women who enlist to the positions of scribes or runners, among the lower classes there are stories of magnificent heroines who defy all traditions and achieve tremendous success militarily before proffering a rite of challenge to a landed lord.

Outside of these circumstances though, Brasquerro women tend to generally avoid the military, as many lower class houses prefer not to send all their children to war, and upper class houses prefer their daughters trained in academics or the arts. Perhaps the only part of Brasquerro society that is majorly dominated by women is academia, this is due to the cultural notion of upward mobility via military service. Most lower class men who enlist in for military service can barely read when they did so. Oftentimes in scenarios where they could actually acquire the right to challenge a lord for their titleage and win, they were unable to properly behave like a lord or govern whatsoever. So the wives of these men would commonly become as educated as they could, to provide their family a worthwhile chance to actually take advantage of the social mobility afforded to them.

Brasquerro men are by and large relegated to tasks of hard labor or military service in the lower classes, and governance in the upper ones. And in the lower classes, there is generally an expectation of the men to strive for military excellence, so that they might garner an opportunity to challenge a lord in a rite of challenge. Among the upper classes there is an inverse notion, where there is an expectation of lords to be fit and well cared for, in order to prevent a well entrenched house from being disbarred. Though, this aspect of tradition died out when lords were permitted to declare champions in the rite of challenge.

Family

The Brasquerro have incredibly tight-knit families that span generations and keep close together. It is not uncommon in both upper and lower houses for sons to marry and bring their wives into the home of their parents, where their brothers will do the same until they eventually inherit the house together. In the upper classes, this is somewhat less common, where power squabbles will leave siblings dead or married off for political gain, but it is still held in spirit in an attempt to appear in kinship with the houses of the peasantry. 

03 : .. Brasquerro Rituals & Recreation

Rites of Challenge

Rite of Beasts

The Rite of Beasts is the challenge a lower class Brasquerro can render unto a higher class one to acquire a status elevation after a significant military accolade. It is the most popular of the rites as it involves the two men entering an arena of some kind with an agreed upon beast. The beast is riled up by any means necessary before being unleashed upon the pair. The two challengers then must ‘dance’ with the beast while attempting to induce the other to falter. This dance involves fancifully evading the beast and attempting to prevent your opponent from doing so. While engaged, both individuals are granted weapons, but it is against the tradition of the rite to engage one another in a full on duel. The most common beast used for the tradition is a bull; however, the technical manner of the rite is that the challenger may choose the beast. The duel goes until either individual surrenders, or one is declared dead. 

Rite of Fitness

The Rite of Beasts is the challenge a lower class Brasquerro can render unto a higher class one to acquire a status elevation after a significant military accolade. It is the lesser equivalent to the Rite of Beasts, and is selected far less often. It entails a competition of feats of strength, endurance, and speed. The two challengers compete directly and whoever outperforms the other is victorious. Among Brasquerro culture it became more common to treat the Rite of Fitness as a thing to do purely for ‘fun’ or friendly competition, as it is not nearly as severe or weighty as the Rite of Beasts. Though, per tradition, an individual can technically render this challenge unto a lord. 

Rite of Strategy

The Rite of Beasts is the challenge a lower class Brasquerro can render unto a higher class one to acquire a status elevation after a significant military accolade. This is the least common of the rites, and has rather passed into obscurity as a game played by the upper classes. It is a board game meant to test the capacity for an individual to think like a military leader, and is rarely if ever selected as the rite of challenge by challengers. It is primarily because of the perceived imbalance between the strategic capacity of a landed and educated lord and a lowly peasant who entered military service.

In each kind of a rite, the challenged may choose a champion, but the challenger may not.

Symbols of the Brasquerro 

The Bull

The Bull is considered a symbol of strength and Brasquerro austerity, primarily due to its association with the Rite of Beasts. Many wealthy or noble houses utilize the animal or its horn in their symbolism and consider it a bastion of their identity, while the peasantry affiliate it with one of their only methods of upward mobility.

The Deer

The Deer is considered a symbol of frivolity and serenity, and is associated strongly with peacetime conditions. Brasquerro consider the appearance of deer in the field a sign of good harvest, and believe it to be an animal representing a coming age of prosperity. It is even spoken in tall tales that in the time following the collapse that not a single deer stalked the fields, and that was why everything fell apart. Most houses strongly affiliated with the common folk or farmers hail this as their sigil.

Recreation & Cultural Hobbies

The Brasquerran people are hardy, dedicated, and often preoccupied with their work or responsibilities, but they all share an affinity for the occasional downtime that comes their way. Like other aspects of Brasquerran society, their preferred forms of recreation vary between the upper and lower classes. While the lower classes enjoy a variety of different activities, such as recreational dueling, bullfighting, and various musical festivals, one particular sport has risen to prominence above all others: football. Football is such a loved sport that they have turned it into an organized activity, where every town and village has a football team that represents them, or even two teams, depending on the town's size. All of these teams are then organized into different leagues to compete for the best football team among all the leagues. Comparatively, the upper classes look down on the physical nature of the commoner recreational activities, preferring more intellectual and militaristic pursuits. In place of duels, the nobility often competes with each other through chess matches, with duels reserved for only the most egregious and irreparable disputes. Wargames are also a common outlet for the upper class to settle differences in a civil, enjoyable manner without having to resort to physical violence.

04 : .. Brasquerro Faith & Politics

Faith and Religious Traditions

Most Brasquerro worship according to their profession or lot in life, but there is particular importance among the common folk placed upon the Umbral. The Brasquerro have a general sense of self righteousness, and while the lower class of society continues in their deference to their lords, they often feel that there is an inadequacy in the governance of their leaders. In these cases where they feel the law of the land to be inept, there are often calls of upheaval and social change. In times long past, it would have perhaps been an incident of all out revolt, but in more recent history it pans out in the form of the application of the rites of challenge. 

Regarding Occultism

The Brasquerro have a general disinclination toward the occult and aberrant. This is based primarily on a general weariness by the entire population regarding the potency of the arcane and its role in the ultimate collapse of humankind. There is not an outright hatred or revilement of magic, but rather a general pragmatism about its application and prevalence in a given society.

Politics

Brasquerro politics are not quite as cutthroat as most other cultures. There is a general agreement regarding matters of the upper class about how things should be done and managed, and disputes are handled with an air of friendly debate. This is largely due to the lingering fear that the lower classes will overthrow the existing upper class. So from a sense of self-preservation, most ladies and lords lean toward cooperation for the sake of stability.

Reserved.