BRITON: Hold the Banner High

The Brittanic people are a culture on a quest– to earn glory, victory and renown. Some achieve it through the more difficult path of honor and hard work. Others see only the goal and will do anything to achieve it.

The people as a whole are separated by the Lady’s Challenge, a difficult test of aptitude, endurance (mental, physical, or both), leadership, and character that all aspiring nobles must pass in order to rise to the ranks of the ruling class. Even a Prince, son of the King himself, is only a member of a noble family– NOT noble in his own right– unless he has faced and passed the Lady’s Challenge.

Britons are a people raised on tales of glory and valor, stories of heroes, mighty deeds, and great accomplishments.

5 Things to Remember About Britons

  • Nobility is Earned, Not Born. 
    • To ascend to the nobility, EVERY aspirant must face the Lady’s Challenge, a difficult and sometimes fatal test of ability, resolve, and skill.
  • Live for Your Legend. 
    • A life lived greatly will be spoken of long after your bones are dust.
  • Glorious in Victory; Proud in Defeat. 
    • In all you do, those who are more skilled, talented, or powerful represent a challenge to be overcome and prove your greatness. Those less so offer opportunity; to be humbled by your station; to teach and train; to give back to those who support you.
  • Armor is for the Body, Not the Soul. 
    • Live your passions greatly, for the tales of the greatest heroes speak of their emotions, hopes and fears as well as their challenges and victories.
  • Steeped in Tradition 
    • Descended from the tribal Brynn who lived the land and the Tiberians who invaded it, a link to great tradition was born. The rituals of the Brynn, the pageantry of the Tiberians, merged together in a peoples born apart. From the chaos comes order in reverence and structure.. 

[GAME RULES LINK HERE] 

Briton Archetypal Heroic Virtues

(NOTE: These are not required for a player to take; these are simply the most common virtues among the Briton culture)

  • NOBILITY is a common virtue for Briton because the world needs those who are willing to stand up and lead with integrity 
  • ETIQUETTE is a common virtue for Briton because history has shown that adhering to organization, structure, and social conventions are the bonds that form a strong society; anything can be faced from a the bulwark of order and glory can be built on firm foundations.
  • JUSTICE is a common virtue for Briton because your word is your bond, oaths and promises kept in good faith are the foundation of civilization.

Costume & Kit

NOTE: There are no body type, height/weight, hair color or or skin color descriptions for any of the cultures in Brittanis. Costuming and kit are the way to demonstrate and roleplay your Ancestry. This is intentional. Play what you want to play.

  • Ancestry band: Britons must wear an Ancestry band of white fabric with a lengthwise stripe of BLUE. These must be worn on the left forearm and may not be less than 3 inches wide.
  • Kit
    • Styles: Idealized Medieval, Hollywood Medieval: The surcoat or tabard, emblazoned with their Allegiance heraldry, is the iconic Briton garment– a long tabard, usually belted at the waist, worn over long-sleeved tunics that come to the knee or ankle. 
      • See the Briton Pinterest Boards HERE for inspiration!
      • Gambesons (quilted/padded armor) are often worn as fashion garments, decorated with Allegiance heraldry and colored to match.These typically lace or button up the front, have detachable sleeves for weather considerations, and extend at least to the knees.  
      • Those who adhere to the ancient Tiberian lineages dress in Greek or Roman styles, with long draped fabrics (tonga/stola) and/or tunics with short sleeves and hem. It’s not uncommon for Britons to shift styles for the weather– the Tiberian styles are often favored in hot summer months. 
    • Weapons/Shields: The archetypal weapon of the Briton is the cruciform longsword coupled with the pentagonal “heater” style shield. Flanged maces and warhammers with back-spikes are also common. Ranged weapons are looked down upon by the nobility, but bows are common for smallfolk hunters and scouts. 
      • For the Tiberian Briton families, the gladius and falcata style of swords are often seen as heirlooms, and scutum-style shields are used as well. 
    • Armor: Of all the human cultures, the Britons wear the most, and the heaviest. Most warrior-types, regardless of gender, strive eventually to wear plate armor of some type. Leather armors often assume similar forms to plate, sacrificing flexibility for outright strength. Armor is designed to show the viewer who the wearer is, so their deeds might be recorded for all time.
      • Tiberian-leaning Britons tend toward those ancient styles of heavy armor: the banded lorica segmentata, scale armor, and muscled breastplates are common. Sometimes these armors have been passed down for generations. 

Personality

Ever bent towards glory, and with the inherent ancestral Brynnic stubbornness as a foundation for Tiberian ambition to build, the average Briton is a driven individual, working to advance his or her personal station in life and society at large. In the mind of the average Briton, a day not spent on improvement is a day wasted. From the lowest peasant farmer to the highest nobility, there is an inherent belief that nothing worth doing is worth doing in half measures. Thus, education in both bok learning and hard skills are of high importance, and practice in those things is common. 

Though more often than not kept in check by Tiberian-influenced poise and social sensibilities, the passion and temperament of old Brynnic blood sometimes lies just below the surface. Insults to honor or personal integrity are deathly serious slights, and both alliances and grudges between persons and families are complex and mercurial things. As vibrant as their personalities, a Briton will wear colorful but practical garb appropriate to their duty and standing, dressed to impress at any opportunity. As each day presents new chances for glorious words and deeds, one must be well accoutred and equipped to meet all challenges, social or martial.

Life Span

Britons enjoy the standard human lifespan for those who live in an age where magic exists, but likewise so do monsters. Most do not live past the age of 70. 

Naming Conventions

British and explicitly Arthurian names are good for Britons, and those leaning Tiberian tend toward Roman names. 

Family names are old and bloodlines often kept by written and oral tradition even amongst the common folk, so that the glories of generations past are continued in the present and future.

Religion

As a rule, the average Briton is pious and reverent to the Gods of the White Court, being raised on the tales of mighty divine deeds and the deeds of the faithful. Rare is the case where any Briton grows up beyond walking distance from some manner of temple or shrine to one of the 7, or beyond the council of any priest or priestess of the White Court. Much like with their Tiberian ancestors, the most commonly venerated of the Gods is the Lady of the Lake, in whose purview lies nobility, knighthood, and righteous action. Closely second are the cults of Arturian, the Father of Old, and Aureus, Bearer of the Scales.

It is considered taboo for Britons to use The Lady’s name of Aenryia. Only the anointed clergy of the Goddess do so; all others uninitiated to the clergy simply refer to her as The Lady or The Lady of the Lake.

Though uncommon, the following of the Old Gods is not unknown to the Britons. Most often in these cases, the following is amongst Brittanic Mages who venerate Eldrea in their pursuit of secret and arcane knowledge.

Hospitality

For Britons, the assumption of hospitality is an opportunity to excel. Hospitality to visitors, guests, and travelers serve twofold purpose: both a means of demonstrating one’s skill and as recruitment. To excel at hospitality means that a Briton knows how to pay attention to detail, and succeed down to the smallest task, and showing off that same skill and expertise allows the Briton to analyze his guests up close, noting their own skills and talents. 

Briton assumed hospitality lasts until the next dawn. Beyond that, a host is free to extend an offer of continued hospitality or expel any unwanted guests. 

Like all cultures, the Britons use hospitality as a means of collective self-preservation. Knowing that you have at least shelter awaiting you at the nearest settlement, regardless of whether they end up as friends or enemies, facilitates travel and trade in a monster-haunted landscape. 

Society 

Ancient Brynnic tendencies towards filial and bonded loyalty to kith and kin have blended seamlessly with Tiberian sense of honor and social standing, leading to the aforementioned expansive pull each House possesses. Vassals of each house proudly wear the colors and insignia of their feudal lords, if allowed, and rarely act in such a way as to shame their sworn House.

The interplay between the Houses within the Heartland and surrounding realms can be both covertly and overtly vicious, a game of political, economic and martial chess where the advancement of the particular House’s agenda is the foremost objective. While several are closely allied, many more are bitter foes, both made so by conflict both domestic and foreign in recent dark and uncertain years.

Relations

The character of a person’s Allegiance is usually the first thing a Briton considers when judging worth and merit. Because even those with family loyalty can seek a new Lord to bend the knee to, the actions and demeanor of who you have chosen to swear to is of primary importance to Britons. 

In effect, the basis of your merit is determined by who you choose to associate with. Beyond that, while personal prejudices towards particular cultures, peoples or cultures may exist as regional trends, displaying overt bias against any individual for reasons beyond that individual’s own actions is commonly considered uncouth and unbecoming. A person is best judged by actions, just as any Briton would wish themselves judged.