Culture name: Laliëth
Race: Loreley primarily, but with huldra and human minorities. Loreley predominate on Iriath (about 85% of the population) with small huldra (5%) and human (10%) populations, with most huldra living in the north of the island and most humans in the south. Humans are more common on islands closer to the mainland that are peripheral to the Laliëth culture. Humans form a majority on Estermath (about 55% human, 45% loreley) and about 30% of the population of Amarniath (which is about 70% loreley). Huldra are the majority on the smallest islands north of Iriath, where there are few humans (most non-huldra being loreley).
Location:
(Covering at least a significant portion of this island, with related cultures covering most or all of the rest of the island and extending into surrounding islands)
Society: Laliëth society is relatively decentralized, with villages and towns mostly ruling themselves. Typically, a council of elders (mostly women as men conduct most high-seas fishing and thus are frequently lost at sea before reaching an old age) governs a village on a consensus basis, though in larger towns Laliëth societies have begun moving towards government more centralized around a few charismatic individuals who can command significant followings within the governing council. Conflict between Laliëth communities is rarely, and regional or village identities are not strong--the Laliëth are a relatively itinerant people, and it is not uncommon for a significant portion of the population of a village or town to have been born elsewhere.
Religion: The religion of the Laliëth is relatively permissive, focused primarily on minor sacrifices (almost never of living beings) for the safety of fishing expeditions and protection from the ravages of a wilder world. It is highly personal, with individual families or sometimes even individuals within a family maintaining their own shrines and conducting their own personal rituals. Priests are mostly unheard of, though in larger settlements men and women with the ability to speak to the elements have gained some respect and small followings - these include some shamans but also those without real powers. "Gods" as beings with human emotions and other characteristics have not yet developed in Lalaeth culture, which instead attributes divinity to various naturalistic forces that are appeased by showings of obeisance.
Economy: Fishing, some trade in sea-based dyes and pearls, ship building, salt production. Small-scale agriculture on land, stoneworking and pottery
Country names: Linlathgië, Innithan, Oramantië
Person Names: Baremer (M), Ren (M), Eliader (M), Ginmiëth (F), Asterth (F), Kaësth (M)
Place names: Iriath (main island); Amarniath (large island immediately south of Iriath); Estermath (large island east of Iriath, close to the coast); Unmenn (sea to the west of Iriath), Osermenn (smaller sea/bay to the east of Iriath)