The Miirfolk put heavy emphasis on enjoying life, in both large and small ways. Whether throwing lavish parties, taking quiet joy in a beautiful sunset, or exchanging puns and banter with friends, they make a conscious effort to enjoy what they can in life. Even when times are hard and life is painful, the Miirfolk are the ones most likely to find glimmers of joy and hope, to smile and tell a joke that will lighten the mood. They take quick offense to those who would ruin their joy, but once apologies are offered and recompense made they are just as fast to forgive and move on.
The nation, like the fae who make up much of its population, is tightly tied to the seasons and cycles of nature. Much of Miirfolk culture revolves around performing specific actions, and avoiding others, at specific times of the year, so as to avoid disturbing the flow of the seasons and the cycles of the world. Everything has its season, and the Miirfolk understand and accept that all things must come to an end; they take joy in beginnings, strive to be fulfilled by the presence of something, and quietly mourn when something ends, while looking towards the future and new beginnings.
To perform a task with perfection is to exalt in the song of the world, and the Miirfolk believe that mastery of a craft is one of the greatest goals and achievements a person can have. They have an odd way of showing it, though, erasing a master’s name from history after their death and replacing it with a Role, such as the Blacksmith or Playwright, each of which is passed on to the next great master of the craft. This odd kind of simultaneous erasure and memorial is seen as the preferred form of immortality amongst the Miirfolk, letting the world remember your works rather than your name.
Faen’miir revolves around Queen Titania, the immortal being who saved the Miirlands from collapse a millennia ago and forged what would become the four Halls into a single unified nation. Her eternal presence and wisdom have created a stability and continuity that pervades Faen’miir culture, ingraining a deep-seated belief that so long as she and the Court and Halls she built to administer the nation still rule, and the Miirfolk honor and support them, everything will work out in the end. “Politics,” in the minds of most Miirfolk, is something reserved for local or regional concerns, rather than something they need to worry about at a national level.
Despite their long coastline, the Miirfolk are not masters of the sea. They can certainly sail, and regularly go out fishing along the Sundal Sea to the south or the Western Shore to the west. However, Miirfolk are deeply tied and attached to the land of Faen’miir, and very few have any interest in spending days, weeks, or months at sea.
Novelty is prized amongst the Miirfolk; those who discover knew ideas, places, people, or things are honored, and much of their cultural pursuits are focused on creativity and the drive to discover new things. This is most clearly on display in the incredibly vibrant artistic culture within the nation, but the yearning to find or design new things also applies to magic, crafts, and natural sciences — many of the most radical advances in magical theory and engineering got their start in the mind of one of the Miirfolk, though often enough it falls to someone else to turn their demonstration prototype or theorem into a fully-functional device or spell that someone else can use. To go forth into the unknown (whether literally or metaphorically) and find something new is one of the highest callings one of the Miirfolk can aspire to.
To bring something new into the world, whether a concrete physical thing such as a piece of art or a more ephemeral creation such as a performance, is to enrich the world and the lives of the people around you, and the Miirfolk revel in such things. Bards, dancers, artists, poets, smiths, weavers, alchemists, and more; all are valued in their eyes, even the ones with lesser skills. It is the act of creation that is worthy of praise, in Faen’miir culture, as much as the beauty or effectiveness of the result.
Great skill, in any art, is something that everyone should strive for. Whether cooking, martial prowess, songwriting, alchemy, or cleaning, whatever art or profession you set yourself to learning, the Miirfolk believe that you should strive to become great at it.
Every person is beautiful in their own way, and there should be no fear in showing your true self or in exploring your passions. Even those whose passions could be harmful to society are allowed to express them, provided that they channel those desires in ways that don’t harm others.
Being courteous and polite, no matter how trying the circumstance you find yourself in, is a virtue in many societies, but Faen’miir takes common courtesy and turns it into something of a national religion. Stories of powerful Fairies or Spirit Kings disguising themselves as lowly peasants or beggars, blessing those who aid them and cursing those who are too full of themselves to throw them a coin or two are common cautionary tales told to Miirfolk children. The idea that you never know exactly who you are dealing with, and so should always be courteous no matter who you’re speeking to, is deeply ingrained in their culture.
To lie is to tear at the bonds of trust that keep society functional, and to weaken your own metaphysical karma. Rudeness does the same, however, fraying the threads that keep people working together rather than fighting over every tiny slight. Faen’miir culture greatly prizes striking a balance between politeness and truth, wording your speech in such a way that you never intentionally mislead others but also are never unintentionally rude or insulting.
The Miirfolk are a creative and expressive people, and their names reflect this, with melodic sounds and expressive meanings. Their names are usually structured in “personal/given name + last/chosen name” format, with the personal name used by those familiar with them (similar to modern American first names) and the last name used to refer to them in formal situations or by those who don’t know them very well.
First names are elfin-sounding, rolling melodically off the tongue and sounding vaguely like Gaelic names. Native-born Miirfolk first names always include at least one apostrophe between two consonants, though this stylistic tendency fades quickly over the generations outside of Faen’miir. You can find examples in the generators below, though you’ll probably need to modify them a bit to sound more melodic and have an appropriate spot for an apostrophe.
Eladrin names - Dungeons & Dragons
Last names are combinations of two Common (i.e. English) words, put together to denote the area they’re from, their profession or that of one of their ancestors, or a particular story or tale told about them or their ancestor. A Miirfolk grows up with a last name chosen by their parents, but at some point after reaching adulthood it’s customary for them to choose their own last name as an expression of who they are or wish to become, and they keep that name for the rest of their life.
You can get some inspiration for your character’s last name from this generator, looking specifically at the last names:
The Winter Hall abuts the Grimmwold on Faen’miir’s northern border, and Grimmfolk naming conventions have percolated into the Winter Hall slightly. Miirfolk whose family have lived in the Winter Hall for generations often have last names that are combinations of Woldtongue (i.e. German) words, rather than Common ones, i.e. “Feuerblume” instead of “Fireflower,” or “Abendbaum” instead of “Eveningtree.”
Similarly, the Spring Hall shares a border with Aurendale, and Dalean naming conventions have slowly percolated through into Spring Hall traditions. The northern reaches of the Spring Hall have naming traditions similar to those of the Winter Hall, but folk whose family have lived in the southern half of the Spring Hall for generations often have last names using the southern Dalean tradition, i.e. based on a trade or profession, such as Iral’wyn Carpenter or Naian’sha Brewer.
Male: Voth’torin Redvale, Ealin’dil Cloudbell, Halaan’ril Feuerblume, Silet’relle Abendbaum, Iral’wyn Carpenter
Female: Rylis’ta Laceblossom, Loryn’dra Eveninglight, Silet’relle Abendbaum, Naian’sha Brewer