| Also referred to colloquially as the "gulomen" or "wolverinemen". Known to be the most warrior-minded of the mustelid peoples, the wolverinemen can be very fierce in battle and can turn all rabid whenever you insult them or provoke them. While they have their own particular code of ethics, not always understandable to others, they are generally a honourable (if oft-foolhardy) bunch. Just like other human and beastfolk species, they inhabit several landmasses of the known world, but always stick to their cold, northern fringes. This to them is their ideal environment, their true paradise on earth. The material culture of the wolverinemen, while certainly still pre-industrial, is fairly advanced and well developed. Though they still use tools, weapons and even bits of armour that utilise stone, volcanic glass, bark, antlers and bones, the ones from the RP's landmass have a long and distinguished history of metallurgy. Bronze tools and weapons have been abandoned several centuries ago, and most of the contemporary ones are of iron and steel. But the wolverinemen are also proficient in goldsmithery and silversmithery, which has brought them much fame. Their simple jewellery, usually made from mundane or precious metals and adorned with more mundane gems (malakhite, garnet, volcanic glasses, etc.), is a well-respected and well-selling good that provides them with a fairly solid income. In addition to hunting, they also herd reindeer and elk, fish with harpoons and rods (sometimes utilising simple canoes and monoxyls) and trade with furs and bone or tooth trophies. Some tribes and polities of wolverinemen even establish their own fur farms and fish-raising ponds and dykes. Outside of flax growing and the occassional growing or trading of herbs and lichens as spices for their meaty diet, the wolverinemen don't really have a settled agriculture in the traditional sense. The wolverinemen of other landmasses tend to be different in customs and material culture and are often more prehistoric or archaic in this regard. Though wolverinemen trade with humans from near and far - especially via human channels like the nomads of northern Metsämaa - there has always been a degree of tension, friction and distrust between them and humans (particularly mining prospectors from abroad). Some other species of beastpeople don't have it easy either. It doesn't help that the wolverinemen consider most of their mustelid cousins to be "wimps and weaklings, pampered by the use of modern technology". Many individual wolvermen use patronymic-style surnames, rather than true family or clan names, utilising "-narf" as a suffix for sons and "-núar" as a suffix for daughters. E.g. "Harvenarf = son of Harve", "Harvenúar = daughter of Harve". \\ | Also referred to colloquially as the "gulomen" or "wolverinemen". Known to be the most warrior-minded of the mustelid peoples, the wolverinemen can be very fierce in battle and can turn all rabid whenever you insult them or provoke them. While they have their own particular code of ethics, not always understandable to others, they are generally a honourable (if oft-foolhardy) bunch. Just like other human and beastfolk species, they inhabit several landmasses of the known world, but always stick to their cold, northern fringes. This to them is their ideal environment, their true paradise on earth. The material culture of the wolverinemen, while certainly still pre-industrial, is fairly advanced and well developed. Though they still use tools, weapons and even bits of armour that utilise stone, volcanic glass, bark, antlers and bones, the ones from Aporue have a long and distinguished history of metallurgy. Bronze tools and weapons have been abandoned several centuries ago, and most of the contemporary ones are made of iron and steel. But the wolverinemen are also proficient in goldsmithing and silversmithing, which has brought them much fame. Their simple jewellery, usually made from mundane or precious metals and adorned with more mundane gems (malakhite, garnet, volcanic glasses, etc.), is a well-respected and well-selling good that provides them with a fairly solid income. In addition to hunting, they also herd reindeer and elk, fish with harpoons and rods (sometimes utilising simple canoes and monoxyls) and trade with furs and bone or tooth trophies. Some tribes and polities of wolverinemen even establish their own fur farms and fish-raising ponds and dykes. Outside of flax growing and the occassional growing or trading of herbs and lichens as spices for their meaty diet, the wolverinemen don't really have a settled agriculture in the traditional sense. The wolverinemen of other landmasses tend to be different in customs and material culture and are often more prehistoric or archaic in this regard. Though wolverinemen trade with humans from near and far - especially via human channels like the nomads of northern Metsämaa - there has always been a degree of tension, friction and distrust between them and humans (particularly mining prospectors from abroad). Some other species of beastpeople don't have it easy either. It doesn't help that the wolverinemen consider most of their mustelid cousins to be "wimps and weaklings, pampered by the use of modern technology". Many individual wolvermen use patronymic-style surnames, rather than true family or clan names, utilising "-narf" as a suffix for sons and "-núar" as a suffix for daughters. E.g. "Harvenarf = son of Harve", "Harvenúar = daughter of Harve". \\ |
| __Real world frame of reference:__ While it would be a bit of an oversimiplification, most of the wolverinemen of the Aporue continent could be described as somewhat similar to the Norsemen/Vikings of late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages. However, they are distinctly land-bound and have little interest in maritime matters. Their overall culture also has many parallels to the real world's Paleoasiatic peoples and even Greenlandic Inuits. In political matters, some of the wolverinemen have a Scandinavian-style proto-nobility of sorts, while others use a more peasant-centered system of governance. This latter system is somewhat comparable to Iceland during the Icelandic Commonwealth era, with rather democratically-styled public council meetings and rich peasants and landowners in lieu of actual nobility. The nomadic human tribes of northern Metsämaa who the wolverinemen share some technology and customs with are comparable to real world Saamis, a.k.a. Lapplanders. The wolverinmen of the more distant landmasses are, expectedly, something of a northernly Native American analogue - in the mold of Inuits, Yupiks, Aleutians, Tlingits and Nootka.\\ | __Real world frame of reference:__ While it would be a bit of an oversimiplification, most of the wolverinemen of the Aporue continent could be described as somewhat similar to the Norsemen/Vikings of late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages. However, they are distinctly land-bound and have little interest in maritime matters. Their overall culture also has many parallels to the real world's Paleoasiatic peoples and even Greenlandic Inuits. In political matters, some of the wolverinemen have a Scandinavian-style proto-nobility of sorts, while others use a more peasant-centered system of governance. This latter system is somewhat comparable to Iceland during the Icelandic Commonwealth era, with rather democratically-styled public council meetings and rich peasants and landowners in lieu of actual nobility. The nomadic human tribes of northern Metsämaa who the wolverinemen share some technology and customs with are comparable to real world Saamis, a.k.a. Lapplanders. The wolverinmen of the more distant landmasses are, expectedly, something of a northernly Native American analogue - in the mold of Inuits, Yupiks, Aleutians, Tlingits and Nootka.\\ |
