General Etiquette
A smorgasbord of cultural observations in no particular order at present.
On Sexual Maturity, Love, and Marriage
Rebmans sexually mature later than other races of people and their reproductive cycles are completely internal so there are no messy issues in the waters. Whereas an Amberite female might start to show signs of sexual maturation at about age 11-12, a Rebman girl might not until about age 17-18. Not that they're still mental children, just that their bodies wait a bit longer in their growth cycle, giving them a tendency to be taller and more slender as a people. The average height of a Rebman female is about 5'9" and men come in at about 6'6".
Rebma is much more (openly, officially) accepting regarding sexual preferences. In their world, it's not unusual for there to be lesbian and gay couples, given that they subscribe to lovers being the fiercest warriors, however that may come about. When it comes to duty and family, obtaining a surrogate or finding a male to impregnate a woman is normal, accepted, and not considered adulterous. In noble families, where partners are of the same sex, it's not uncommon to find that their surrogate or stud becomes a highly valued member of the House.
In many ways, it is an opposite reflection of Amber. Marriage in Amber is considered a financial or political proposition and rife with extramarital affairs whereas, in Rebma, a couple is meant to be committed to one another. Therefore, things like arranged marriages are not a normal way of life, and even when one does come up, it takes a lot of negotiating to ensure that the couple in question is compatible so that their strength is multiplied rather than divided. The exception to this rule may tend to be those of the Royal House, but even there much latitude is given. Power is only power if one can use it to have what one wants, as the philosophers say.
That said, Rebmans do tend to look down / be rather cold (at least at first) to intermarriage with outsiders. Stud service is an entirely different matter.
Children
Children are taught not to swim in the house. It's considered rude.
Fashion
Minimal. Men usually bare their torsos. Women usually bare their breasts. Flowy garments are kept to special occasions when one wants the drama of the swirl.
We Are Not A Subordinate Realm
Rebma was first. Amber was second. Rebma does not see itself as a 'reflection' of the kingdom closest to them. Rebma has its own deep history, its own deep magics, and its own deeply complicated relationship with its neighbors. The power of Amber is, unfortunately (from the Rebman perspective), mighty... but only the sea is eternal.
State Religions
Believe what you want as long as you believe in the Mysteries. Traditionally the Royal House of Rebma is considered to be semi-divine; the Queen is the head of religious matters, the High Priestess, the Splendor of the Deep.
There is one chapel for the Church of the Unicorn, but it and its adherents are treated a little bit like Catholics in Elizabeth I's England, with just a smidge more tolerance. At least adherants of the Horn aren't like the Heretics.
There is an underground, heretical religion, Its Name Shall Not Be Spoken Here, and anybody discovered to be practicing it is summarily executed. If the heretic is unlucky, the execution is not in the heat of the moment, but after Moire has decided what should be the punishment.
Fauna
Rebma is an enchanted underwater city, so its animals are a strange mixture of those that (from an outsider's perspective) seem like a straight reflection of land animals - for instance:
Cattle. But blue! They aren't part-fish. They're just: cows. But blue, and sometimes green, and sometimes they're dumb and get lost up the Oisin river where they can't breathe and they drown, and their body floats fully out of the Rebma into Amber and gives rise to stories about fairy cattle.
But there are also those which might seem mythological elsewhere.
Hippocampus. A very, very rare beast, part horse, part fish. Most Rebmans have never seen one in person.
Wasserreh. Part-deer, part-fish, rather delicate in appearance, they're numerous in the kelp forests and may be tamed. It's recently become rather fashionable to try and tame one for riding, thanks in part to the young princess Crique's well-known fondness for her pet Wasserreh.
And there are the animals you might typically expect to see under the water.
Sting rays, dolphins, all manner of fish, eels, etcetera. There is also a flock of colorful parrots and another flock of shining gold birds nobody knows quite how they got into Rebma, but there they stay, 'flying' around and trying not to get eaten.
The Circle of Pearl - on Shadows connected (only) to Rebma via Permanent(ish) Shadow Pathways
There are five of these, with specific entrance and exit routes. Unless one is a descendant of Oberon, one cannot enter these kingdoms by another way or walk to any other theoretical underwater shadow. Of historical note, one of these Whale Roads (as shadow roads are named in Rebma) is named Finndo's Way. Seems like every few years somebody notes that the Way is more difficult than it was.
Rebma trades with and counts these kingdoms as allies. Most of the time.
Player contributions re: these five shadows are welcome.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:17, Sun 24 May 2020.
