The cultural makeup of Borran society is a product of successive waves of colonization by the Taur, the Seree, and Mirese peoples. Though tension between the cultures is low given their violent history, a person's ethnicity often indicates his or her social standing.
Nevertheless, after centuries of intermarriage, the lines are blurry, and there are few social barriers that wealth and ties cannot overcome.
The Taur were the first inhabitants of Borra, and are by far the most numerous. Borran society. By and large, the Taur are the poorest members of Borran's divided society. The Crisewrons and the Jisanics are the only two noble families in Borra of Taur descent, having successfully maintained some of their wealth and influence over the centuries.
In Beresh, skilled Taur artisans, mechants and tradespeople live well, but beyond its walls life can be difficult. In Nital Calam, they are little more than serfs, indentured farmers who toil endlessly to feed their families and earn their medallions, or risk slavery in the Baron's quarries.
Most Taur families are large, and eight or nine children are not uncommon, though few Taur live past the age of fifty.
The Taur are usually taller than the Seree, and stand a full head taller than most Mirese. Their features are broad, often stocky, and their skin coloration varies from beige to a rich brown. Their hair is fine and hair is fine and straight, often matching their skin, but Taur child are occasionally born with yellow or even white hair.
Taur usually have one name, to which they usually append their profession (Dessa the boat wright), a parent, (Tapra, Dibri's son) where they live (Gostio of Nobina), or sometimes a nickname (Potho the halfwit). Commonly, children are named after the long-dead heroes of the wars against the fey.
Some common Taur names:
Sole, Potho, Vacasio, Jipe, Titro, Riotono, Pewio, Pipre, Modase, Deto, Gostio,
Capicu, Jofu, Lioela, Dipuse, Peku, Tapra, Docisio, Jiwo, Dibri, Suhami, Jiva,
Bussio, Gonisa, Cino, Seala, Ketoni.
The fortunes of the Seree people have been in steady decline for centuries. After the arrival of the Mirese, they were displaced as the leaders of Borran society, and the recent declines in commerce have seen their fortunes worsen, and even the few remaining noble Seree families have had to abandon their lofty palaces for estates in the lowlands of Nital Beresh.
Though the Seree officially converted to Murianism after their conquest of the east, many Seree families still maintain small private shrines to their old faith, which venerates the dead.
The Seree have darker skin than the Taur, varying from a ruddy brown to nearly black, and have straight wiry black hair which they matt with tallow. Their eyes vary from pale brown to a startling orange.
The Seree, with their deep reverence for their ancestors, hold their ancestry in their names. Each child is given seven names - a given name, followed by the given names of his or her six direct female ancestors.
A child may be known by her friends as Wisma, but her full name might be "Wisma-Newino-Wasine-Macra-Nisana-Sacice-Sagrusu".
Some common Seree given names:
Sapro, Sumse, Nawusu, Masusu, Nudrane, Nudre, Wisma, Newino, Sacusi, Siskasa,
Mecre, Nessi, Nemaso, Wasine, Wuskuse, Macra, Samace, Sicine, Noskini, Nodre,
Sonwa, Namaca, Sanase, Mocrusi, Necra, Sinwa, Wasuse, Sinano, Segraso.
Mirese families dominate the ruling classes in Borra, often able to live lives of luxury, surrounded by servants and living from the incomes of their properties. Nevertheless, a few have fallen on hard times, having outlasted their wealth and unable to find a productive niche.
They are industrious and pragmatic, and skilled at the arts of war. Despite their other accomplishments, the Mirese are uninterested by history, and brought no literature and few written records with them from the north. Their traditional faith centers on the upper moons, and many rituals and secular ceremonies are carried out at night, under the faint light of Adanast and Crebenast.
The Mirese seem to be less fertile than cultures, for their parings rarely produce more than one or two children.
They are the shortest among the races, but are a deceptively hardy and strong people, and they are long lived in comparison, often living to the age of seventy. They are slender, for the most part, and their skin is usually very pale, greyish white. The males have little facial hair, and men and women alike wear their inevitably curly hair long, falling about their shoulders in black ringlets.
The Mirese usually have a given name, as well as surname inherited from the paternal line.
Common Mirese given names:
Clet, Throed, Fichet, Cleglet, Secithar, Glet, Pliec, Toplec, Throglar, Fexothar, Gled, Thoer, Coglat, Glithet, Tetigler, Cher, Threed, Coglat, Cliplex, Cerepler, Shed, Gluet, Fothrex, Gheshed, Recoghed, Cler, Ghoar, Roclet, Ghigher, Recithet.
In Borra, the smaller Mirese all share one of eight family surnames:
Hantosha, Plothet, Fedochet, Throchex, Retiplar, Copled, Glochec, or Rerughed.
Having accompanied the Seree, fleeing the decimation of the west, the Rumeen arrived in Borra several centuries ago. They were few then, and their numbers dwindle with every year. Cut off from their culture and history, the Rumeen have found it very difficult to adapt to life in the east.
They maintain several small communities near Rasori, and though they pay homage at Murian shrines, the stigma toward their peculiar religion has made integration difficult.
The Rumeen are a muscular, olive-skinned people. Traditionally their greyish-brown hair is are shaven from maturity, but more and more they have adopted the cropped cuts of the peasant Taur of the surrounding boroughs of Nital Beresh.
The claar imposed by Carothex's father, Tesiglar, was a final humilation, barring them from carrying the greatswords worn as part of their traditional ceremonies.
