| Ludremonian
People Ludremonians
are a friendly people who love to talk and laugh and tell stories. They
tend toward fierce patriotism and they love their Regent almost as much
as their prince. Even centuries after the beginning of the Curse, it’s
still a major matter for discussion in taverns around the country.
Ludremonians are a pious people, loving the Church and defending and
honoring their members. Abuse a priest in the streets of Ludremon and
one is likely to end fighting a mob. Atavists are not loved, but
respected for their beliefs. Ludremonians have a muddled enough past to
share a cosmopolitan outlook. A druid might not have a mob save him if
he’s jumped in the streets, but the attacker will certainly be harried
by Hey now’s and What’s all this then’s. The people won’t
turn a blind eye and they’ll call a guard if that seems safe.
Ludremonians love foreigners (except for the Mab, the Keireenish, and
the Marnench). They find Maroldan merchants interesting and exciting and
even a pagan would likely be met by more interest than hatred, although
he’d have to withstand a barrage of missionary efforts.
Ludremonians are hard to impress but they love people who try. A good
story, especially one that seems to be firsthand and true, will likely
find many drink offers in a bar. A nice trick will find more. And then
competition. If the visitor doesn’t buy drinks for other suitable
stories or tricks, the offers will dry up after a night or two, but he
won’t meet hostility or wear out his welcome. He’ll just become known as
"that damned miser." The Ludremonians will say it with a smile if that’s
the person’s only offense.
Ludremonians have a greater than normal sense of self-entitlement.
Old women in villages aren’t afraid to tell off a noble. They might even
thump him with their canes just a little. They love their aristocracy
and they don’t have aspirations of class-climbing. Still, they aren’t
above telling a lord he "doesn’t know his arse from a pile of good
winter seed." Unless he does, in which case they might start talking
down to their "farmer lord."
It can’t be stressed enough, though. Ludremonians respect their
nobility. A village won’t storm a lord’s manor just because there’s
something suspicious going on there, even if it seems wrong. They might
even present a united front against outsiders provided the lord isn’t
sacrificing virgins or some other wicked act.
It’s probably this love for the aristocracy that makes their
rebellions, when they come, so terrible. They are peasants and the lord
is the lord. If either side violates his duties, the affront to
Ludremonian propriety will know no bounds. A lord who acts like some
pathetic merchant, or worse, like he’s a bad Angian, is on
borrowed time. A lord that doesn’t defend his people or brings them
direct harm is done.
Above all, Ludremonians are scrappers. If someone invades a village,
they will find harsh resistance. People who try to take candy from
Ludremonian children will receive a savage kicking. An old man who finds
his pocket picked is likely to punch the culprit in the throat.
Regent Scolyn is said (possibly apocryphally) to have visited Marnele
once while that king preened for war. He showed the Regent his finest
royal guard, resplendent in polished breastplates and beautiful
uniforms. The King showed the Regent the men at drill and their
marvelous skills on horse and in tourney. He turned to the Regent and
said, "These are the finest two-hundred knights in the world. Do you
think you can find any five hundred of your countrymen who could best
them?"
"Maybe not," the Regent said, "but I’d bet any fifty would try." |