Earlier I asked and no one really gave me anything so I went with the whole thing roughly being 2,000km both ways(still subject to change if anyone is willing to actually say anything or talk and discuss what problems they might have with this size)

Woah. That's exactly what I was talking about.

I think something a bit larger might be better, so that it at least takes a week or so to travel from one end of the continent to the other. That is, unless that's already what 2,000 km equates to...I have no idea >.>

Now to keep the ball that Ichigo threw rolling....

Old Alyrian Culture
Area of origin: Alyria (Ah-leer-ee-ah) (The part with the swampland)
Complexion: Olive toned (Mediterranean-looking)
Facial Features: upturned eyes, small pointed noses.
Hair: Thick textured, a mixture of light brown - dark brown.
Eyes: amber is predominate though brown is prevalent as well.
Average height: 5'8" (Woman 5'6" - 5'7", Men 5'7" - 5'8") Genetically their build lends itself to a swimmers physique in slenderness, a trait evolved from their fishing society.
Language description: High Alyrian - An ancient tongue, its origins are thought to be related to the Common Tongue as they share many features in grammatical structure. High Alyrian however has taken an arcane nature, compelling its speakers to solely speak the truth or be found unable to udder a word in the tongue. Writing however seems to not have the same effect, having been developed after the formation of the oral component, thus spoken oaths in High Alyrian are of great merit. The characters which make up the script for both High Alyrian and Modern Alyrian are borrowed from the Common Tongue, though due to the phonetic nature of the language certain letters and combinations of letters in the Common Tongue do not exist in Alyrian. (Ie: k exists but c does not, q does not exist as it is replaced with kw, etc)

The language itself is very phonetic in pronunciation with rapid tongue movement. Y's are incredibly common and pronounced as a latinate i (sounds like ee) or short i (as in igloo), unless at beginning of word, then it is pronounced as usual. Y's are typically the most common vowel in names. Double r's, and r's at the beginning of words are rolled. Each syllable is pronounced with equal emphasis, though an apostrophe makes a syllable last longer. To foreign ears, the language is quite musical with its rolled r's and their gentle sing-song way of speaking.

High Alyrian however is very much a dead language, and has been for centuries. New words cannot be added to the collective vocabulary of High Alyrian, and thus in order to explain something that does not exist in High Alyrian, one must describe it in a roundabout way. Thus, High Alyrian is typically considered very long-winded in comparison to Modern Alyrian.

Modern Alyrian is an amalgamation of a plethora of new, often foreign, words and slight changes to original Alyrian words that resulted from the absorption of lesser cultures into Alyrian society. The use of apostrophes fell out of use in many Modern Alyrian words and the language itself was more efficient, surpassing High Alyrian in use. Most notably however, the language does not have the ability to seize the tongues of liars, thus certain phrases and oaths in High Alyrian remain used as gestures of sincerity.

Society:The early Alyrians were a nomadic society that travelled around the marshes. As they established semi-permanent settlements in and around the swamps, their society evolved into that of migratory nomads. During the shallow seasons of the marsh, the men would be responsible for fishing, while the women would be responsible for gathering vegetation from the swamps. During the flooding seasons of the marsh, they migrated to a location farther away from the swamp. There they built farms for the production of grains. The oldest members of the early Alyrian society were expected to guide the people in matters concerning the corporeal and incorporeal. Thus, it is accustomed to respect elders in the children societies that have birthed from Alyria.

Gradually, the frequency of migration began to drop as the farms became permanent settlements. Having developed early boats for fishing, they constructed early ships to establish settlements along the coast and on the neighbouring islands. Meanwhile, the farms became major sources of grain produce for Alyria and they expanded further inland. As they spread, three very distinct cultures arose through the absorption of smaller cultures; those who lived deeper inland, those who lived along the coast and those who lived on the islands closest to the swamps.

A very spiritual and superstitious people, their ancestral homes in the marshes became known as sacred ground where only the most spiritual, or eccentric, people lived. Today, many people do not live in the marshes due to a myriad of myths, superstitions and legends surrounding the area. They do however continue to gather the various herbs and plants that are indigenous to the area.

background: The Old Alyrians were a nomadic people originating from somewhere in the north. The marshland was central to their society, serving as a source of food, shelter, medicine and clay with which they made pots and early images of their marsh goddess. As the early tribe grew, it became apparent that the marshland was an unsustainable location for a permanent settlement, and so the nomads followed the river to the sea.

They settled along the coast to the south of the marshes, farming the fertile lands as well as fishing in the bountiful seas. It was during this time of abundance that Alyrian culture began to flourish. They became highly spiritual, linking themselves with their environment, and a religion developed revolving around a marsh goddess (Dyrrys), an earth god (Arryst) and a sea god (Syr); all the sources of life for the Alyrians. As an isolated people, the Alyrians did not have much concern for warfare, instead focusing on cultural endeavours, predominantly those pertaining to arts of clay. They are known for their elaborate mosaics, pottery and sculptures. The Alyrians also extensively researched the properties of the plants indigenous to their sacred marshland, developing an extensive archive of poisons and potions. On the largest neighbouring island, the ancient city Arryndys was founded, becoming the centre of Alyrian culture and their first form of government; a kritarchy.

Nevertheless, despite their isolationist policies, Alyrian culture was spread through early literature, art, philosophy, and religion. Absorbing some of the lesser early cultures to the west and the south who sought the benefits of the burgeoning civilization. These slightly different groups contributed to the evolution of Alyrian culture. Specifically, the appearance of a new "Common" Alyrian tongue, developed as a result of a mixing of the languages of these lesser cultures with pure Alyrian which came to be called "High" Alyrian. As the Alyrians had never developed weapons or armour in preparation for full scale warfare, they could not defeat the peoples of the desert and thus the spread of their culture ceased along its borders.

Today, Alyria continues to exist, though only the Isle Arryndys and parts of the swamp are considered to be its territory. The rest of the area that was a part of Alyria has separated into various nations and kingdoms. High Alyrian is hardly spoken, including those living in Alyria, though oaths are often followed by "this I promise" in High Alyrian as a sign of utmost sincerity. Modern Alyrian is spoken by two thirds of the population, though the common tongue (of the continent) is the most prevalent.

***So which culture gives us our common tongue for most of the continent?

Speaking roughly the average human can walk, give or take, 5km/h on perfectly flat land.

with 24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week that would be 840km a week. By 3 weeks non-stop you could walk, in perfect flat conditions, 2520km.

It still feels small to me, but I was just putting out a very standard size hoping someone else would have some input.



As far as what our common tongue is, we would need to decide what group of people dominated enough area to influence the others into adopting their language to communicate. A Roman Empire kind of deal.

Also hopefully I illustrated your cultural zone correctly.

Pukutehtilikhekehtikuli [Pukut-ehti-li-khek-ehti-kuli] (People of the Khanate of Kuli)
Area of origin:
Historically: beyond the northern taiga¹
Currently: Kuli Delta
Complexion: Due to racial heterogeneity, it ranges from light to tan
Facial Features: Older facial feature synonymous with the Taiga and Tundra such as high cheekbones, slit eyes have mixed with stoney facial features of the desert. (See: mix Yupiks/Yuits with Persians)
Hair: Brown to Black
Eyes: Blue, Hazel, Brown, Black
Average height: 175cm 5'9"
Language description: Early language was unspoken and writing consisted of a pictographic script. Eventually these images evolved into an abugida, in which, if viewed critically, the words are abstractions of their meanings based on the old pictographic script, linking the development of the language². There are no spaces or punctuation when written, just as in a pictographic script, everything flows together. The only exception is that quotations are segmented off with lines³. Capitalization only appears at the beginning of lines, proper nouns and names are treated the same as any other noun or verb. The only time where capitalization can occur again in the same line is when quotations are used, as a person speaking itself is considered a line within the line. Therefore, after a quotation, the following section of the line can be capitalized again to denote the return to the original line (keep in mind that this is a poetic language. All written language is strongly suggested to be flowery and descriptive because word order does not matter outside of subject being first in a phrase and object being in the middle). Descriptors such as adjectives and verbs are between the subjects and objects⁴. A phrase is recognized as complete when the subject-object order is completed and a new subject-object order is recognized⁵.

When spoken, the language is heavily slurred and somewhat incomprehensible. Due to the desire to speak and write in a sophisticated manner Vowels are used as bridges between consonants, and certain letters appear more than others within the language⁶, giving it a unique sound. Plurals are made by adding a Z to the end of the word.

When romanized, entire lines are placed in brackets and the words are separated with hyphens (in the way I have written every word prior to the translation). When translating scripts, high law states that one must treat it like poetry and provide the original text side by side with the translation. The left page must feature the original script (whether pictographic or abugida, depending on the period of the writing) and on the right page the romanization must always go to the left side with the translation on the right side. Works are often translated on triptychs to give adequate room for both the romanization and the translation so that the original lines are preserved as best as possible to keep the meaning pure.

Society: Khakehtikuli acts as a stationary horde or khanate. They focus on raids around the Delta and the lake, but do not expand. Raiders take the bones of their victims as spoils and fashion them into jewelry, which they wear until death. The more jewelry, the greater the fighter. When raiders pass on, their bones are taken and built into a great altar that is permanently erected at the spot of death. One can follow the historical route of the horde from the north to the delta from the remaining altars alone. Major buildings are permanent (built from stone) and act as capitals of settlements which groups travel between. An average group travels an entire loop of their territory every 2 years. The horde acts as a lose confederation of tribes that pay absolute allegiance to the Khan in the capital of Kuyhryti [Kuy-hryti] (Kuy's Home), which is located at the point where the delta converges. If a member even dares to insult the Khan, he or she is brutally ravaged and brought half alive to the Khan, who kills the perpetrator personally.

Every 15 years, all the the major 7 and minor 4 tribes convene at Kuyhryti to nominate their champions to be the new Khan. These champions must fight one another (without killing one another to prevent blood feuds and keep the tribes on good terms), with the winner named the heir to the throne. If the current ruling Khan does not die in the next 15 years, the heir must defend his or her title the next time the tribes convene. The society does not see gender as a factor. If an individual can fight, they will always fight. The current Khan is a a young woman named Etrgyn.

Outsiders are treated hospitably according to the high laws, and travelers often return speaking of the great friendliness of the people. However, outsiders are treated well if they enter. Those who are raided are treated mercilessly because the law of nature states that in order for the horde to survive, they must kill. Through this strange dichotomy, raiders may revel in violent conquest one day and cordially have merchants from far off lands for dinner another. However, despite the prevalence of outside influence visiting the cities, the horde is extremely vehement to protect its roots, even to the point of still practicing the ancient animistic rites of the cold north. In addition, the arts, especially music and dance, are very important to the horde and they send out invitations to other civilizations to bring their innovations in art to the capital to entertain the Khan and the tribes. There are three undisputed poetic masterworks. The first is Hekit's Sitiryehtiliptst [Sitiry-ehti-li-ptst] (Story of the Past), which is considered an important historical document; the second is Stugtut's Deliktewtelikhez [Delikte-wte-li-khez] (Dialogue with the Khans); the third is Yimimwer's Ewedwtenetre [E-wed-wte-netre] (I walk with nature).

Background: The horde first originated somewhere north of the taiga. The only traces of that existence are the altars that exist there and the historical records that are kept in the capital. The horde has lived in the delta area for as long as other civilizations' records show, meaning that thousands of years ago the horde traveled down from the tundra and either wiped out or forced a cultural assimilation some Ur civilization, destroying its cities, monuments, and every other facet of its unique culture.

Almost immediately after settling, the Khan Kuy built his home and the home of all future leaders upon the capital of the old civilization. Because the horde never built quarries, all of the stone used to build their great buildings were recycled from the old civilizations' monuments and cities. Kuy's heir, Hekit, was the first Khan to espouse the arts and codified their language as poetry in motion. Under his reign the great masterworks of verse, music and dance were created. Hekit also called for the first of the structured raids. For years after arriving they harassed their neighbors for spoils, but it wasn't until Hekit that it was considered art and devotion to nature. Hekit argued that raiding was the true way of their past and they must recognize it was the one true path towards singularity with nature, the one way that they could become one with the poetry of the wind that causes the birds to sing their songs and the rhythms of the earth that coerce the horses to dance. For the horde, violence was art itself; violence was the ultimate expression of peace, because, as long as they raided, they weakened their neighbors and pushed them into a military state below theirs. Hekit used his people's desire to live by a certain aesthetic to create long lasting peace and train their raiders to fight and protect their peace.

Hekit's heirs were subpar in their handling of the horde, and over the next century the coalition began to show signs of fracturing. It was up to the third great Khan, Ihiliki, to reunite the horde under her banner. Ihiliki claimed her fighting skills were imparted upon her as a youth when the spirits of Kuy and Hekit copulated with her and impregnated her. She never had a child though, and claimed that she instead of reborn. She killed the fifth heir in Kuy and Hekit's line and took his throne, arguing that the Khan should not be a weakling who only ascended due to bloodline. Through this she brought the tribes together again by promising that through the competition, they have a chance at ruling. She also codified the high law that stated that the Khan was absolute due to his or her superiority at fighting, therefore crushing dissent by warning them that the Khan is needed in battle at all times.

Because they keep such amazingly detailed records (all of which are preserved pictographs) of their past, they can recall many important moments, and know of the passage from the north. However, this is considered sacred information and is rare divulged to outsiders.

Notes
¹Historical record keeping located in the capital indicate that thousands of year ago, before the great migration, the horde lived as a series of tribes in the north. They eventually traveled down to the delta, though the exact reason is unknown.
²i.e. "Bird" in the pictographic script is an image of a bird. The abugida form of it is a grouping of letters that somewhat resemble the original pictogram. This makes the language hard for people learning the langauge because when vocabulary specifies a species of bird, the image of that type of bird is very similar to any other bird, making the differences very subtle. The new word and its sound have nuances that separate it from the root word, yet to those unaware, it sounds as if they are just saying "bird" with different accentuation, stress, tone, or inflection.
³ex. Kehuhiwhrit|Etihekitetiyishtemkitetu| [Kehuhi-whrit|E-ti-hekit-e-ti-yish-tem-kitetu|] (Kehuhi wrote, "I too, Hekit. I too wish for peace."
⁴ex. in English: Fred is the subject and Dave is the object. If we use the subject-object order, the structure of a phrase is:
"Fred...Dave..."
Everything between Fred(subj) and Dave(obj) are considered descriptor words for Fred(subj). Everything after Dave BUT before the NEXT subject-object phrase are considered descriptor words for Dave(obj), etc. This means that there can be an infinite about of words between the subject and the object as long as they make logical sense when read (i.e. not using two verbs when the subject/object can only perform one in a certain situation).
⁵Using note 3 as an example, Etihekitetiyishtemkitetu is considered a phrase. When translated, it either becomes two sentences or has a comma between the sections, depending on the translator's opinion of how the phrase reads. It's important to note that this phrase, when translated, reads as two sentences in English. The first has I as the subject and Hekit as the object, the second has I as the subject and peace as the object. However, in the original language this is incorrect. In the context of the phrase, peace is not the object only because Hekit already was the object in the phrase. Because of this, peace is nothing more than a descriptor word that adds flavor. While it's integral to the phrase and the phrase makes little sense without it, it is not considered an object only because it was overrun by the earlier object, Hekit. Keep it in mind that because the language has evolved from such a primitive script with Neanderthal logic that tangible things such as people are considered objects moreso than ideas and intangible things. So while peace might be an object within a phrase, any tangible thing that appears in the sentence takes precedence over it.
⁶The vowels of the language are E, I, and U. O and A do not exist. The most used consonants are K, H, and T, but nearly all the consonants in English appear in this language.

Just a rough guess of the area you'd want the current iteration of your culture to influence.

Also I'd like to ask some question about your culture to clarify some things, I'll type it up a bit later though.

Decided to ditch the nocturnal humanoids, they would probably be too removed, and were designed as a MUCH earlier group that what's going on now. Still trying this though, remember I'm not to good in actual cultural stuff, so be harsh if needed!

Zyelars or Zyphers
Area of origin: Zyelah (Marked Blue in below map)
Complexion: Pale
Facial Features: Small upturned nose, thin brow, and a long thin chin.
Hair: Reds, Oranges, rarely Blonde. (Perhaps rarely a pinkish coloration?)
Eyes: Yellows and Light Greens.
Average height: 6' (Woman 5'9" - 5'10", Men 6" - 6'2")
Language description: The Positive/Affirmative veins of language is higher nasal hums while the Negative is deeper throaty hums. These are possible to mix in the same sentence, and even the same word when it comes to names or a few select words.

Eventually a written language was formed, and was refined as the Zyelars interacted with other groups, that had such. It contained 2 cases in it's conception, Soft, in which had rounded letters and was used to mark the higher nasal hums, and Hard, with sharp, pointed letters that showed the parts of speech using the deep throaty hums. The earliest form of the written language used no punctuation for normal statements, but used the words already present in speech for questions, commands, etc. Later punctuation and Upper/Lower case would be adopted.

The Zyelar language contains 15 letters that roughly equate to the following, 4 of which are vowels and 11 that are consonants. They are combined together to produce mixed sounds, but the vowels always have a fixed sound.

e (eh), a (ah), u (oo), y (ie)
z, h, l, p, v, k, t, f, n, j, r

It is of particular note that every word of Zyelar origin begins and ends in a consonant. The letters y, h, and r also have special rules. A Soft h at the end of a word is silent. Y only exists in the Soft tense, while r only exists in the hard tense.

*When I write a Zyelar word in this post I'll put it in quotes then Soft case will be lower case, and Hard case will be upper case.

Background/Society: (sorta just became mixed at a point so I combined them): An agricultural society, focusing mostly on tuber, gourd, and pod-family plants. Earlier in the history they were purely vegetarian, but after mountain poultry and goats were domesticated, eggs became a important source of protein, and meat was consumed rarely. Highly religious, with frequent festivals devoted to various aspects of nature. Family units are large and are expected to support members when they fall on hard times.

Zyelars were plain and hill dewlers inhabiting the North-Eastern part of the continent. They celebrate life and their Deity is believed to inhabit all creatures equally, and that any living thing can be reincarnated as any other living thing. They follow a karma system. Their actual laws are to be loosely interpreted between the family group(s) of the victim and offender and common punishments are indenturement or banishment, often the offender's hair was cut or shaved as a warning the person was a criminal. Speaking of, hair was important to the religious aspect of the culture, as all parts of the body are sacred. Goat farmers also developed a practice of keeping short hair as a form of penitence for collecting the wool of the goats, over all this lead to never cutting hair becoming less important, and a more prominent form of lesser penitence.

The reason for moving more into the northern mountains was probably drought, and once on the mountain, metals were discovered and the Zyelars began to use the metal for tools to more easily work the harder mountain soil. Although not martial, weapons of self defense were formed from hoes and shovels to make long-poled slashing and stabbing weapons.

Names: There exists in the Zyelar language both (what other cultures would consider) masculine and feminine names. However these names are superficial, due to the equality that the Zyelar believe in. It is not uncommon for a woman that chooses the life of hard labor to have a masculine name, nor is it uncommon for a man that weaves to have a feminine name. This is mostly due to the fact that Zyelars name themselves. That doesn't mean children are nameless by any means. Parents will still choose a name based on gender at birth, and the child will be called that until they reach an age of social maturity (but not necessarily physical/emotional maturity). This is a celebration called a "telaFyAR" and is generally agreed on by relatives of the individual, though it's rare, but not unheard of for a chieftain or a group of friends to host a "telaFyAR", these are usually accepted as true "telaFyAR", but can be contested. It is at this ceremony that the child can choose a new name that reflects who they are and who they wish to be. It is perfectly acceptable for them to keep their childhood name, or change it to the masculine/feminine.

Names can be pretty much any word from the language, but it is rare to see a name that doesn't have both a masculine/feminine. Those words are particularly found of z's and y's, and the masculine like e's, f's, t's, and r's, while the feminine like a's, l's, and silent h's.

"Zyeh" (lit male child, boy), and "Zyah" (lit female child, girl) are an example and relatively common names.

PREEDIT: Hope Whim didn't ninja me on anything.

For the Alyrian region, would you mind extending the area as far in land as that lighter line go (mountains?) and down the coast to that dip just before it turns dark green? Also feel free to ask, I edited a bit of things up there as well.

Yeah, that whitish area is a mountain. I guess it would be better explained as a series of rock formations, crags, mesas/tablelands. (or they could be whatever you want them to be. I haven't drawn the actual labeled *fantasy* map yet so if you think an area needs some type of terrain or a body of water is missing it could always be added!)


quick map update to suit complaints. Hope I'm right this time.

itsy bitsy update before I start asking some broad questions about our cultures thus far.

If the map were roughly 3000kms in both directions these lines would symbolize 3,000 - 1,500 - 750 - 375 with the smallest line being 120km, roughly the max distance anyone could walk under perfect conditions in one day. So, should it be bigger?

I'm really fine with a small continent as it is. It gives us more room to have reasonably sized continents across the ocean.

Yeah the size should be OK.

Also I propose LG or Ichigo should create our dominate culture group that gives the continent its common tongue!

I don't know who this LG loser is but they probably sucks at inventing culture groups. Anyone but him and/or her should do it.

Aw, come on. If I can take a shot at it you can to. You can do it real easy. Make a character, including the normal things, hair color, height, likes, dislikes, etc, and every time you find HE or SHE or the character's name replace it with the culture group's name or THEY. Then fill in anything we have you might of missed and you have a (very) rough culture group. You'll probably get into it before you realize and make something much better than I suggested just now, the suggestion is just a stepping stone. It doesn't hurt to try even if you decide not to post it; the experience will still serve you well.

Yo. Guys, the cultural groups are just the foundation we still need to get to the point of our actual countries >.>

I'll make another group if no one else can think of anything....>.>

I've been really busy lately and a bit lazy but I'll get to making a group, I promise.