Neebrachters

OVERVIEW: THE NEEBRACHTERS

Hailing from the marshy flatlands along the southern end of the Woldermieer Bay, the Neebrachter people pride themselves in existing as a unique cultural and national entity within the greater region of the Fells, possessing a distinctly meritocratic and mercantile culture which mirrors their affinity for rhetoric, trade and a rich naval tradition as seafarers. They pride themselves on being a comparatively egalitarian society when put beside the Empire at large. They possess a rich tradition of government by a representative republican assembly, with each of the five provinces of the Neebracht Republic participating in the federal assembly. While the Neebrachters, bar diaspora populations, live beneath the rule of the Republic, belonging and loyalty are to one’s city first before they are to the Republic as a whole. Therefore the politics of the Neebracht revolve around the petty squabbling of senators attempting to gain the one up on eachother for the betterment of the city or province they represent. They are widely known for their excess wealth and lack of moral scruples when profit is involved.

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Neebrachters are typical of their Wolvard heritage, albeit with some distinctions. They are among the tallest people in the Empire on average, standing roughly in the range of 5’10” to 6’5” with Neebrachter women on the lower end of that scale. They are of a fair complexion, with most Neebrachters having a ruddy quality to their appearance. Blonde and brunette hair is most common among their population, with blue, green, and hazel eyes being predominant. While it is a cultural aspect and not true of all Neebrachters, many Neebrachters are on the heavier side due to their love for food and the culture around excessive feasting and gluttonous leisure in the republic.

SOCIETY

The people of the Republiek der vijf verenigde Neebrachtelande, or the Neebracht Republic, are divided between the three estates: the nobility, the clergy, and the commons. The Neebrachters are unique for their lack of a truly entrenched landed aristocracy, with the lines exceptionally blurred between the nobility and the burghers. More often than not, this translates as a disparity in wealth, with many Neebracht aristocrats often being impoverished in comparison to the excessive wealth of the local merchant class who glut themselves on the profit brought into the ports of the Republic through their extensive trade networks.

While agriculture is most common in the rural ranges of the provinces, the cities are bustling with merchants, artisans, and artists of every variety. Among the most respected professions are those of enterprising merchants in the import and export business, bankers, moneychangers, and painters. There is a special reverence for the banking system in the Republic and some of the most wealthy and affluent people. Consequently, many of the representatives in the States-General own or work in the banking industry.

The Neebrachters are notorious for what many foreigners consider to be an utter lack of moral scruples concerning politics, commerce, and monetary gain. The Neebrachter Republic has established a thoroughly meritocratic system where a man’s worth is determined by his influence and, therefore, his wealth. This has led to a cutthroat attitude in handling both business and state, with merchants often cutting corners at their customers' expense for the highest profit margin. It is commonplace for interfamilial squabbles over inheritance, with some going as far as to assassinate their own fathers, or vice versa, fathers their own sons and daughters in order to secure a bountiful inheritance.

Neebrachters, for the most part, do not have an overarching loyalty to the Republic at large. It is more so a matter of convenience, as the confederated provinces exist to maintain protection against outside contenders and for a free flowing commerce into the port cities of the region. Instead, Neebrachters will place loyalty to the local Vroedschap, or city council, above loyalty to the federal government of the Republic and will work, in all things, to the benefit of their city above the larger Republic. While this does not imply disloyalty, it does, however, make the States-General a political quagmire where representatives vie for local privileges and autonomy over pressing for actual innovation or progress that might benefit the provinces as a whole.

Beyond government and politics, Neebrachter society is heavily organized along the lines of mercantile guilds. Guilds exist in each of the major city drawn along the lines of professions. The most influential guilds are the Guild of Sint-Letuun, to which the bankers and moneychangers belong; the Guild of Sint-Nikodemus, composed of the painters and engineers; and the Guild of Sint-Mordsleij, which hosts shipbuilders, sailors, and soldiers. The guilds vie with one another for influence within the local Vroedschap, and they are often the starting point for any prospective Neebrachter who desires to enter into a political career in the States-General or elsewise ply a trade legally within the cities.

ART AND ARCHITECTURE

Art in the Republic has flourished in the last century, despite the Walderian Iconoclasm which essentially destroyed the market for religious imagery within the provinces. Painting has come to the forefront as the pinnacle of Neebracht high culture, with the local masters taking influence from innovations among the artists of the Cliffs. With the departure from religious subject matter, the focus of painting in the Republic has shifted towards depictions of everyday life, though especially the more debaucherous side of life in the cities; minstrels, drunks and courtesans are the most popular and enjoyed by the burgeoning middle class in the Republic. Portraiture is also commonplace, but it is reserved more for the upper echelons of society, especially the wealthier artisans and merchants.

Due to the problematic terrain of the Republic, the Neebrachters have been forced to adapt to architecture and, through innovation of land reclamation practices, possess some of the most skilled engineers within the Empire. An elaborate network of dykes and seawalls between the Zuildegarde and Doornbjelt isles, which provide a natural barrier, protect the mainland from flooding and in recent years, many acres of land have been claimed from the sea through the creation of polders through this careful system of drainage and flood prevention.

Neebracht building is sober in all respects, and despite the vast inflow of wealth into the region, remains relatively austere with a heavy reliance on wood and brick construction with narrow houses and warm-painted facades. Neebracht cities are often considered to be claustrophobic, with tightly packed buildings frequently lining crisscrossing canals and water lanes that enable ease of transport of commercial goods through their cities. In the countryside, buildings are generally larger, and the picturesque sight of the windmill dots the farmlands.

DRESS

Neebrachter dress mirrors the people's wealth, with the inflow of money into the Republic allowing for a rather sumptuous luxury in choice of clothing. The prevailing fashion for men is quilted doublets dyed black, paired with lace neck ruffs and tunics, and trousers with slashed, billowing fabrics. Men, especially those in the States-General, will adorn themselves in tri-color sashes and draped fabrics representing their affiliation to the Republic. Women, on the other hand, favor imported fashions, a luxury accessible through the prolific trade of the Republic’s merchants, though they favor lace ruffs all the same and prefer long, pleated gowns and rich, dark, and expensive dyes like blacks or deep violets and purples. Wide-brimmed feather-topped hats are prevalent, especially among the Neebrachter soldiery and city militias. Men tend to wear elaborate moustaches and goatees and wear their hair at shoulder's length while there is a fashion for elaborate updos, buns and braided styles among the women of the cities.

CUISINE

The palette of the Neebrachters is influenced by the availability of exotic goods through trade with the Eastroam, Sadafeia and the colonies. While traditional fare inspired by their neighbors in the Fells and the Wetlands is commonplace, most dishes are often laden with the excessive use of foreign spices, a common complaint among visitors to the Republic from the interior of the Empire. With their ample access to imported foodstuffs, the Neebrachters have developed an extensive dining culture with restaurants and street vendors commonplace in the cities of the Republic. Most Neebrachters will spend their leisure time feasting; these feasts have become ostentatious displays of wealth among the rich burghers and craftsmen of the provinces and Neebrachters will often gorge themselves until they are sick at these gatherings. Because of this, obesity has become a common sight among the middle class and elite of the Republic and the Neebrachters wear it as a sign of pride and affluence; the saying goes, the larger a Neebrachter’s wallet, the larger his gut.

RELIGION

The presence of Walderian congregations dominates religion in the Neebrachter Republic. The Neebrachts were quick to cast out the Triumite Church in favor of the Unitarian movement's religious austerity and the Walderian brand's congregationalism, and are staunchly against slavery as a result. Iconoclasm was most pronounced in the Republic, when compared to all other parts of the Empire, and what few religious works of art survived the fury were hidden away by secret Triumites. While the Republic has eased up on its attitude towards Triumites and no longer engages in open persecution, the minority in the northern city of Aamstveld faces discrimination and statutes against open practice of the faith. Neebrachters are generally pious and take their devotions seriously, however, this Unitarian-leaning has failed to stifle some of the more debaucherous and cutthroat qualities that are too thoroughly ingrained into the local culture.

LANGUAGE

While common is the standard language of commerce in the Republic, Neebrachts is the first spoken language of the vast majority of people living in the provinces. It is a throaty and guttural sounding language, and it is often joked that it sounds like a garbled common, though it is more closely related to Drachensprak. The Neebrachters maintain a somewhat rigid naming tradition, the origin of which is lost to modern scholars. The first-born son and daughter are always named after their paternal or maternal grandparent, the second-borns after their maternal grandparents, and all subsequent children after aunts or uncles. Surnames often employ the particles de and van, typically associated with geography or occupation.

The following are examples of Neebrachter names;

Flavius Landhoordjin

Matthius Veelwrijpen

Dirk van Vlamaert

Aleta van Beek

Geerten de Wit

Roos van der Oord

WARFARE

Neebrachters are not overtly martial or warlike as a people, preferring diplomacy or subterfuge over open conflict. However, they do not shy from the battlefield when push comes to shove. With the advent of powder muskets as being more easily accessible, especially in the vicinity of the Wetlands, Neebrachter military formations typically consist of squares of pike-and-shot ranks to great effect. The smallsword and rapier are preferred for close combat, and there is a prominent dueling culture among the Neebracht upper class that facilitates some expertise with these weapons.

Far more comfortable when at sea, the Republic’s sailors excel in naval warfare, largely out of necessity due to the vulnerability of mercantile efforts in the far flung seas of the world. As a result, Neebracht merchant vessels are often escorted by frigates carrying roughly thirty to forty guns. Neebracht captains, as a result, are among the most seasoned in the Empire for their constant efforts in dealing with pirates while escorting valuable convoys to and from foreign ports.