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The Normae are a fierce lot, their dialect of Northern Human is most similar to the Norse than any of their neighbors, they favor mounted warfare not dissimilar to their Horselord NEIGHbors, and are traders are as viscous as any Jeato or Venoan.

Legendary History:

The Normae, according to legend, arrived at the rugged forested coast they call home not long after the Giantsfall. When the eight brothers, the men who led the eight clans that survived the war and birth of the human god, it was said that Nor and mae, one a child of Vardic, of the Nadoric and the other of Cestamak, were wed, and in the custom of the children of Hesmaslan, Norjen son of Nadoric went with Maesren daughter of Cestamak out from the mountains to the plains. However, Mae, was not one for the saddle unlike most of her people and longed for the mountains of Norjen's homeland. Norjen, however loved the saddle, more so than his homeland but not more than Maesren, so Norjen's father Vardric, and Maesren's father Beyilmik, gave to the pair 500 unwed men and 500 maidens each, the two then went west towards the trade sea, where Rosmalo and his twin brother Austrous had already built the first cities. Rosmalo and Austrous took pity on the pair, but could not convince their clan to willingly give up on a claim, but they knew of a land harsh enough that their children did not claim but soft enough that the thousand men and thousand women they had could conquer. So Norjen with five hundred horsemen and five hundred footmen followed by Maesren's thousand maidens marched to the land now called Normae. Along the way, it was said that the god of man spoke to the pair, telling Norjen to mount his armored northern footmen, and have his mounted men to fight with their sword and shield on foot. He told Maesren to make a "crossed bow" and with such commands to solve the problems given them by their god, Norjen invented the stirrup, and Maesren the crossbow. When the couple arrived in the land of hills and valleys an army of sheep folk sought to meet them with spears braced and arrows nocked. However, Maesren, leading her maidens with crossbows and Norjen's army of heavy cavalry and light infantry scattered them, and there Norjen and Maesren, at the top of the hill they had driven the sheep from, they set their cows to graze, and built their home, thus founding the Normae people.

History since the legends.

Normae, for the longest time, was a minor human dutchy in a sea of Sheep kingdoms. It's a bit like a delicious fruit with a hard and spiny shell, the few sheep kingdoms who had the means to break them could use their extremely militarized population to train their own. Over time, Normae language, customs, and craftsmen established themselves across the coasts of the Sheep Kingdoms, gaining a talent for the seas as the sheep folk were poor sailors, fleece and hooves not being the best for the water-slik planks of a sailing ship. Eventually, the Normae duke's realm was fractured, making nine kingdoms in the land of cliffs and plains. Nine were sheep, goat, and cattle equally divided, one for seagulls, and two were Normae. During the Lich War, nearly a century before the Blackmane War, the King of Normae where Norjen and Maesren established their realm, inherited the throne of Strandia, the coastal Normae kingdom. The next hundred and ten years would see nine kings, two dozen pretenders and the land between the steppe, Trade Coast, Norse, and Trade Sea would be unified, finally under Roger I the Bold, though to say any one Norman King since unification was deserved of the title conqueror would be a misnomer.

War Customs

The Normae, due to the low population of the land in general, have always had more independent women than nearby anthro populations and neighboring human ones, the right of the bird to fly, as it is called, is the right of movement all women are guaranteed, and unlike the men's right to ride, doesn't require ownership of a horse, though almost every man does. Second is the "The Duty" which is the duty for all common men to learn to fight with his town's levy weapon, usually an ax, spear, sword, or more recently, a bladed polearm and how to use it both on foot and mounted. While common women are expected to learn to shoot a crossbow. People are only allowed to marry after their first time serving the duty. Common troops most often serve as infantry and scouts, with the average normae knowing how to ride, the army has the speed of a horde but the fighting style of a more conventional, though far smaller than most, army.

For particular crafts have their children exempted, though they must work for free or provide a certain amount of product for their share to their Duty, an example are smiths, who are expected to follow with the army but not fight, only make and repair weapons and armor.

Nobles are subject to the Levy, where noblemen, regardless of marriage status, are required to serve as mounted men, married nobles often serve as mounted archers, while unmarried or widowed men serve with lance and sword. Noble maidens often serve as mounted crossbows, riding close, letting a hail of bolts fly and returning behind the shield wall to reload. Married noblewomen do not often serve outside the siege, but famously, if their husbands are called to charge, they ride out as shieldbearers, pairs serving as a single unit.

Customs

Further Explaining the Right to Fly and Right to Ride

During the Broken House, the two century time when the Normae lived under two different crowns before the Lich War, in order to prevent the destruction of one dutchy resulting in the loss of half their people, the right to fly was introduced, whereby women were allowed free movement between Normae ruled lands, so that women of the Normae and Strandia could flee one to another. Later, during the Lich War, the Right to Ride was introduced, permitting any man free movement on horseback in the unified realm, in earnest, it was an effort to allow free movement of families fleeing the returned armies of Aleskandar, Konstanious, and Xerkius fighting their war of undeath. The Rights are tennum for the continued survival of the Normae, allowing a united sense of "kingdom" among the people. While there are cities that horses are not viable to keep in, most Normae families have taken much inspiration from the clan-based neighbors, with the nobility being the de facto head of their clan while only being a traditional "house" in name. That being said, cousin marriage is forbidden in the realm, but the clans remain, the idea of the "golden bond" being the very thing that keeps civil war at bay. Of course some kings have flown in the face of this, notably Guy II Duke of Strandia, who took the hand of the sole child of the last Emperor of Tespalia, a nation lost during the Lich War, though it did not spark a civil war.

The Guest-Friend Relationship

The idea of guest-friendship is one across all the peoples of the northern realms, human and non-human. It is the belief that friends who have shared a roof have a deeper trust than others, among the Normae, a relationship of guest-friendship is one the king extends to only a few individuals, with the noble apartments for guests and the like often being constructed within the keep or palace grounds to make it easy to move between the great hall and the quarters. Unlike the Norse, who believe guests must be invited and leave when they please without offense, the Normae are quite the opposite, guests may come when they may without offense, but must announce their departure. Leaving without announcing it is considered a great offense.

Marriage Rites

The marriage proposals are done by both sexes, and are very structured, every word must be carefully considered.

The male proposal is as follows: Let me bear your shield "Name of Woman" of "Clan, House, or Profession" and may us, with "weapon the man is trained with" in hand may we form a home and family stronger than any "fortress, castle, mountain, or hold"

If the woman accepts it she will respond as follows: "My shield is yours "name of man" of "Clan, House, or Profession" as you carry my shield, may I sharpen your "weapon".

Once these two are said, both answer yes at the same time.

If she declines his proposal it is as follows: I am afeard my shield is waiting for a different bearer, the one you seek is not to be found on my back.

Example. "Let me bear your shield Mary of the Weavers, and may us with halberd in hand maywe form a home and family stronger than any fortress" Asks Jacques

Shocked, Mary responded with the words she could say sleeping. "My shield is yours Jacques of Killigar, as you carry my shield may I sharpen your halberd?" She responds

At the same instant, both eager to say the word to seal their betrothal "Yes!"

If a woman is to ask a man it is as follows: Would you like me to sharpen your steel "Name of Man" or "Clan, House, or Profession" and as I do may you carry my shield. With this we may hold any hill and take any castle.

If the man accepts it is to respond: "My steel can use a sharpening, and I can carry your shield "Name of Woman" of "Clan, House, or Profession" till by back breaks. With Steel, Shield, and Saddle, there is no castle we cannot take, and no hill we cannot keep.

Then the two shall say "To the Keep"

If the man is to decline he shall answer. "My steel is sharp and oiled, the offer is welcome but unneeded, I'm sure there is someone else with a duller steel."

Family Customs

Women do work, like they always have, usually as weavers, bakers, maids, merchants, towelers and usually more either working with their husbands or with their families. Farming families usually keep to four field rotations, and of course everyone works. The only ones not expected to work are the elderly, pregnant and nursing women, and very small children. Those who are lame in the leg are often hired on as scribes and accountants of sorts, and failing that, night aides. Those who have lost an arm usually work as lamplighters, criers, and other such positions that usually favor the voice and legs over arm and hands. Those who are mad are tended by the church as are the sick and wounded.

Honorable Acts

Childrearing is perhaps the most honorable thing a woman can do in the Normae lands, with a pregnant commonwoman having more rights than a childless queen, while for men, finding a better way to do something is usually given high honors compared to a great victory, so much so that the inventor of the "hooving standards" which was a set of gauges used to better ferrier's making of horseshoes was given a full triumph while the Marshal of the Realm who won against an army who had him numbered three to two was given only a grand feast.

Militias

Militias are a requirement in all cities, however unlike most peoples human and otherwise, the entire population of the Normae is mobilized, during the Siege of Aeks'Onse a city of a staggering hundred and fifty thousand people as large as a full half of a hollow Norse mountain-keep, the city dug mines to outflank the forty-thousand attackers. So, wedged on one side by fifty thousand infantry and cavalry and the other by a hundred thousand wall guards, the shocked senseless coalition of Trade Coast peoples, Lizardmen Mercenaries, and an full elven divine host, were broken and shattered on the wall.

Justice

The Normae believe in hierarchical justice, as in, if a noble slays a merchant family's son, the noble must pay a blood price and may even be stripped of his title, where if he slew a peasant family's son, he would have to pay a blood price, or negotiate justice with the clan of the family which has drawn blood more than once. Should he have slain another noble, losing his titles would be the least of his worries, worst would be becoming a bondsman of the family he would become a de facto slave, though usually a slave-warrior. That being said, in the cities, justice is a fickle thing, usually involving poison, a dagger, or both.

Other races

The Normae, due to the long war, are incredibly distrustful of everyone, barring the human horselords, Teuts, and Normae. The sheep, goats, and shaggy cattle realms that surround them have had tenuous periods of rising and falling, though none had the same history and tripartite agreement the Normae do. Clans of other races are subject and entitled to the same rules, privileges, and rights, as the other clans, the problem is the urban populations, wherein the clans cease to function and interracial and intercultural tension runs high, even between the Strandians and Anciens, the two divisions of the Normae. Clan marriages are the usual way interracial marriages occur, unless its battlefield love. The only races that are fully integrated into the Normae are the Dyir deerfolk and the Hestens or Horsefolk.

Class Relations and Taxes.

Only landed men have to use honorifics when addressing lords and ladies, though even this is optional for clansmen and women. Lords are forbidden to enter brothels and are forbidden from drinking in places where there are no rooms for sale. Merchants are forbidden from wearing livery unless in the service of a lord or if they wear the livery of a clan which they are part of. Peasants must work two days of every week on the fields of the lord of the land, they must also give one twentieth of their harvest in tax to upkeep the arms and armor of the people. A further one tenth is given to the church to upkeep the church. Merchants by contrast must pay one fifth of their years end profit as tax. Craftsmen, except millers, bakers, butchers, smokers and meat driers, must surrender a tenth of production as tax, the exempt groups must provide free services to the lord for their tax i.e milling the lord's grain for free. Those who tend to the sea must yield a twentieth of their catch, salted, smoked or potted, as tax. Lord's must pay one fifth of their tax to the king in gold, refined goods, or spices.

Demographics:

There are some two hundred and ninety hearths in Normae, of which the average hearth has nine people representing the rural population. There are some sixty thousand fireplaces in the cities, with an average of six heads per fireplace.

One in three hundred people are nobles

Three in eight people are merchants, craftsmen, and other non-noble non-peasants.

Eleven of twelve are in clans

Half are farmers of some sort or another

One in twenty live in stone walled cities

Three in fourteen are human

three of fourteen are some variety of sheep or goat

Fifteen in sixteen households own a metal pot

Two in fourteen are cowfolk

Two in fourteen are deer folk

Two in fourteen are seagull folk

Two in fourteen are horse folk

The Economy of Normae

By value the top exports of Normae are iron products (weapons, tools, and decorum), followed by alcohol (Normae Stout and Strandian Whiskey are most common), and, tobacco, dairy products, and finally wool textiles.

By tonnage however, the top five is Corn Grains (Barely, Millet, Rye, and Wheat), dairy products.

Half of the population is employed as farmers, ranchers, and hunters.

One in fifty people are: Miners/Quarrymen, fishermen, loggers, mages, weavers/spinners, scribes/accountants.

One in a hundred are: Potters, merchants, leatherworkers, tanners, smiths, other metalworkers, carpenters, shipwrights, brewers, guards,retainers, and their lords, ferriers, apothecaries, priests/church folk, tutors/teachers, towel-makers, cheese makers.

All are trained to use weapons

The rest are either too young or too niche to be recorded.