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Culture

C�dana has culture which worships independence and romance �not necessarily the amorous type of romance, however. To them, the inspiring stories are the ones of people prevailing against fantastic odds, or rising in station because of skill, and a bit of luck; they�re full of royalty, intrigue, drama, and magic. Beauty, fame, wealth, and power are widely accept life-goals, and to lack the ambition for these things is looked upon oddly, as if you�re just �wasting your life away�, or are lazy. Sexism most definitely exists in C�dana; while there aren�t many laws oppressing women, women do not work in any jobs except those that could be thought of as �housekeeping�: laundry, cleaning, child care, etc. Well-paid work that might be typically female, such as baking and tailoring, is predominately male �women are not thought to have the capabilities to run a business, and so not much business comes to them. Women with pretensions of being high-brow do not work outside the home at all. The only laws that exist are those that prevent women from entering the military and those detailing inheritance rights in case no will can be found; including the one that requires an advisor to be appointed to an estate whose lord dies without an adult male heir (nevermind that his wife is still alive, and probably did more managing than he did). In direct contrast to Antierra, it�s considered suspicious (what are you hiding?) or prudish (what do you have against fun?) to not show emotion; if you�re not happy with something, C�danans expect you to say so, they�re not going to read your mind. Lying is not tolerated well, although anger or wine-fueled duels are. A quiet person is looked up on as, if not suspicious, then at least slightly dumb; don�t they have anything to say, doesn�t anything go on in that head of theirs? C�dana, being the more emotion-prone country, is also the place to be for art; they have plays, operas, many kinds of dance, sculptures, paintings, tapestries, mosaics, anything and everything.

C�dana also has a state-supported monotheistic religion. There is no outright persecution of other religions, but being of a different faith invites prejudice similar to that shown to women.

Government

C�dana is a monarchy, with a royal family and various noble houses. Since the king can�t judge every single trial himself, he does appoint some people as judges; however, there is no regulated exam or anything you need to pass, so there can be some serious corruption in such a system. The king is supposed to make the laws in C�dana, but, of course, nobles are welcome to suggest things. There is but one C�danan army in name; however, the state pays only for a portion of such an army. Each noble is required to outfit and supply a certain number of men for the army, so the overall C�danan army sometimes has divided loyalty.

Geography

C�dana is a very large country, covering many types of terrain. To the north and west lies its mountainous border with Antierra, although as one moves south, the land fades into hills, and then into the vast plains that make up the center of the kingdom. C�dana�s coastline is on the west side of the country. To the south the plains give way to desert.

C�dana�s biggest exports are those of textiles; cotton, silk, velvet, in any color or pattern you�d like. They�re also known for other types of artisans; glass, stone- and wood-carvers, and architects.

Clothing

Clothing tends to be sweeping and ostentatious, full of bright colors and bold patterns. Women wear skirts or dresses, of course (pants would be scandalous!), typically with low necklines and draping sleeves. Men wear the usual pants, tunic, and shirt, although the tunics are looser, able to be slipped on over the head, and belted around the waist; shirts usually have full sleeves. Hair is worn long and loose. Thigh-high boots, with a turned-down top have just come into fashion, although those more concerned about practicality than fashion still wear their halfway-to-the-knee boots, that just lace tightly up.

Miscellaneous

C�danans tend to speak with more of a drawl (you hardly ever hear the hard A), and very rapidly, without clear enunciation. Also, they pronounce �na� at the end of words as �nya�, so that �C�dana� becomes �kay-DAN-ya�, �banana� becomes �ba-NAN-ya�, �retina� becomes �reh-tin-ya�, etc.

Magic

Magic is fairly common in C�dana; most people know at least one person with some degree of magical talent, and most healers have some. Mages are the only profession forbidden from having a guild; it is feared that they would become too powerful if they were allowed to create such a group. The C�danan royal line has moderately strong magic, the result of many carefully arranged marriages towards the beginning of their reign.
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