Mendarian cultures
From Vanathul Wiki
Common
Mendarian culture, as far as it can be called a cohesive culture, consists of several regions that share a heritage.
Aesthetic
The architecture and clothing style of Mendarians vary. The baseline is a fairly advanced medieval style, with the expected rural and simple aesthetic. In the urban centers the technological level is more advanced, and the innovation drives an equally advanced sense of fashion and building styles, venturing into a more refined pre-industrial expression.
Family
For the most part, the husband and wife is the core of a mendarian family. The man usually works, while the wife tends to all of the tasks of the household. With wealth the households usually grow, and the workload is offloaded onto service staff. Most families will also produce children.
A child in Mendaris is ideally raised by their mother and father for their first years of their life. At an appropriate age they usually attend some kind of school or have tutors teach them what they need to know about the world. The quality and duration of this education varies. It is not unusual for children to enter into an apprenticeship around the age of 14, if that is their course in life.
Religion
Having to a large degree immigrated from Mistwreath, the "official" Mendarian religion is Mistfaith, but over the centuries fewer and fewer place any real faith in the pantheon of their ancestors. Other inhabitants have more local heritages, and may practice a variety of other faiths.
In recent decades several new religious and a resurgence in occult traditions have taken root throughout Mendaris. This has produced many lodges and societies devoted to one or more of the enigmatic vestiges, or cults of personality around mesmerists and faith healers. There are even the odd alchemist espousing knowledge of eternal life that accrue a decent following.
Legislation
One of the unifying factors of all the regions of Mendaris is the common rule of law, at leas officially. In broad strokes a citizen is only forbidden from doing certain things (like murder, assault, theft etc.), and otherwise retains autonomy. Sentences are usually equivalent, e.g. death sentence for a murder or restitution for a theft, but it is up to the judge to mete out a fitting punishment. Not only as retribution, but also to deter similar acts in the future.
Laws are enforced by constables and other city watch that often patrol areas dense in commerse or where people congregate. Beyond the immediate enforcement, larger cities have dedicated investigators to identify and find criminals.
Regulations on magic
Though not common, the existence of magical practitioners necessitates a degree of inequality under the law, and cases where a crime is magical in nature, a tribunal usually take over the ruling and passing of judgement.
This arrangement of a group of wise men stem from the Mistwreath, where village elders, priests and other venerated figures may called to pass judgement on an accused criminal. It was reintroduced to in cases of magic following the unification of Mendaris. The reason, according to some, being that magic should be held out of rational legislation.
In broad strokes the rules usually are: Any unlawful harm done with magic should be rectified, dismissed or otherwise dispelled, with the cost falling on the offender. Any unlawful murder should be punished by death. The decision falls on the council as to what counts as unlawful.