Life in Sunderwyl is a thing of constant striving towards a better world. The Sundalfolk are focused on working and living their lives, but they are always looking forward, always thinking of the future and how it could be improved for their children and their children's children. Starting works that they themselves may never see come to fruition, the people of Sunderwyl take great pride and joy in creating a brighter future for everyone.
This attitude affects how they see politics and cultural edifices as well. If the status quo is causing people to suffer, something must change. They do not tolerate corruption or greed in their politicians and other leaders, and the Sundal population as a whole is not shy about demanding accountability and results from those in power.
The decay that tools and built things experience in the Labyrinths at the heart of the island continent have bred a strong urge within the Sundalfolk to lever let things stay as they are — if you’re not working to make things better, then you’re letting them fall apart. This manifests in a number of ways, from a baseline obsession with taking care of their tools and buildings, to a general refusal to believe that anything cannot be improved with a little hard work and ingenuity.
The focus on progress and innovation can sometimes give the impression that they’re cold, valuing advancement and profit over people, but nothing could be further from the truth. Generosity is a cornerstone of Sundalfolk culture. They welcome anyone to their shores, and will put a stranger up for as long as they need to get back on their feet. There’s an instant response of “what can I do to help?” whenever someone is in trouble or in need; while the average Sunderwyl citizen won’t always be able or willing to give someone the shirt off their back, they’ll always look around to find what they can afford to do to help.
Hard work is the most fundamental part of what Sundalfolk value about people: the willingness to put in the effort to figure something out, to repair what’s broken, to keep the forges lit for another day, or just to put a smile on someone’s face. Inventiveness and courage are both praised extensively, but what matters most is a generous heart and a willingness to pitch in however you can. Everything else will work out, in the eyes of the Sundalfolk, so long as they all keep working together towards a brighter future.
Sundalfolk are constantly trying new things, tweaking the way things work, and theorizing about how to do things better. Those who pursue innovation are celebrated, and if their achievements work and successfully improve on what exists they are given great honors and put into roles where they can continue to build on their innovations.
Taking a losing hand and winning despite it through wits, guile, and chutzpah is one of the enduring ideals underlying Sunderwyl culture. They value quick thinking under pressure, and honor those who have turned bad luck or humble beginnings into good fortune. The ability to solve problems is prized by all levels of society, and those who are good at figuring things out and dealing with what’s going wrong are praised and rewarded for their skills.
Sunderwyl culture is a blend of the Sundal dwarven and Wylding fae cultures, but both of them prize the willingness to take risks — the dwarves to defend what’s important, the fae in search of new resources — and both value taking risks to discover a new idea or learn something new that could prove useful.
Unlike the Jadefang corsairs, Sunderwyl culture puts a fair amount of emphasis on measuring risks before taking them. If you knew the risks going in, then even failure is praised, provided that you had the courage and initiative to take the chance in the first place.
Do the right thing, even when it’s the hardest thing you can do. This ideal, honored with much more quiet sincerity than most outside the nation would believe, is the gentler side of Sunderwyl culture, encouraging Sundalfolk to be kind, to refuse to stand for injustice and intolerance, and to go the extra mile to ensure their fellows are taken care of.
There are limits, of course — the tales told may focus on those who go to great lengths and suffer greatly in pursuit of doing the right thing, but for most everyday Sundalfolk the ideal is just to be kind, to do small favors for each other, and to speak up when someone is doing something wrong. Their folk heroes might be true paragons of justice, but even the average Sunderwyl citizen does their best to do right by their fellow people.
If you were to sail alone onto the Republic’s shores, it is all but guaranteed that the first night you arrived, your belly would be full and you would have a bed to sleep in. Sundalfolk pride themselves on their hospitality, and much quiet social status is given to those who are able and willing to put people up for a meal or a night with style and grace. Whether it be pumping strangers passing through town for stories, gossiping with old friends over dinner, or even inviting enemies over to talk about ways they can avoid coming into open conflict, the Sundalfolk love a chance to host people. This emphasis on welcoming people in and believing in the best in people until proven otherwise, combined with the emphasis on hard work spread throughout Sundalfolk culture, means that anyone can have a place within Sundal society and be welcome upon Sunderwyl’s shores. No matter their heritage, their religion, their upbringing; if someone wishes to make a home in Sunderwyl, and commits to upholding the ideals of the nation, they can make a home there.
Sundalfolk names follow a pattern of “given name + family name.” Unlike in Faen’miir, where individuals choose their last name sometime after reaching adulthood, last names usually remain the same throughout life, passed down through a family like real-world Western family names. There is no adoption of a spouses’ family name upon marriage, and children are usually given the family name of the elder parent, whatever their gender. (This sometimes results in an odd kind of ageism in romantic matches between Sundalfolk who are obsessed with their children carrying on their family name, though such ideas are looked at with disapproval if they’re brought up in polite society.)
Nicknames aren’t uncommon, but are usually only used by those familiar with the person, and are never used in formal situations or by strangers or distant acquaintances.
There are two dominant styles of names in Sunderwyl — Dwarven and Fae. Each are structured similarly, with relatively similar family names that have blurred over the centuries as the two peoples intermarried, but the style of first names is significantly different between the two.
Dwarven first names follow the same traditional naming customs that have been passed down since the Age Of Dust And Stone after the Godswar, with strong names that are only occasionally melodic-sounding. The “average” first name is two syllables in length, though single-syllable and triple-syllable names aren’t uncommon. You can refer to the first names in these two generators for example first names, though you may need to shorten some of them to make them work:
Dwarf names - Dungeons & Dragons
Fae first names are elfin-sounding, rolling melodically off the tongue and sounding vaguely like Gaelic names. Unlike their cousins in Faen’miir, Sunderwyl Fae don’t use an apostrophe in their first names, and their names tend to be relatively short; it’s uncommon for their names to be three syllables, and almost unheard of for them to be any more than that. You can find examples in the generators below, though you may need to modify them a bit to sound more melodic:
Eladrin names - Dungeons & Dragons
The naming convention common to both native Sundal Dwarven culture and Faen’miir Fae culture is the use of combined-word last names, such as Brightforge or Goldhammer. The Dwarven tendency to take family names relating to their profession or specialization within that trade was adopted by the Wylding Fae who immigrated to Sundland, though they tend to have more agriculturally-focused last names due to the nature of their home in the Golden Sea. Names can touch on tools used in their profession (Forge, Shears, Hammer, Plow, Pen, etc.), materials used in the trade (Steel, Clay, Wheat, Ink, etc.), items fashioned or services rendered by the profession (Helm, Flour, Scribe, etc.), or a particular masterpiece said to be crafted by a noted elder of the family (i.e., “Goldhammer” to refer to an especially fancy warhammer made by a family matriarch).
Note that while Fae tend to have more agriculture- and nature-themed family names and Dwarves tend to have family names focused on metalwork and mining, there is no actual restriction on what profession a Fae or Dwarf family name can involve — it’s not unheard of to find a Fae with a family name relating to blacksmithing, for example, or a Dwarf whose family name has something to do with animal husbandry or farming.
Family names tend to be at most four syllables, and usually only two or three; any longer and they take too much time to say and don’t roll off the tongue very well.
Sundalfolk who are descendants of a Dwarven Clan (see the page on the Dwarf lineage for more information) often insert their Clan name as a middle name, with a “do’” prefix to denote that their membership within the Clan. This can be done by any descendant of the Clan who has at least one Dwarf as a parent, regardless of the child’s lineage — the Dwarven lineage doesn’t always breed true when Fae and Dwarf have children, and so the Clans of Sunderwyl have taken a fairly loose approach to membership. (Note, however, that non-Dwarves cannot use Stone Calling as their Magical Tradition, even if they have a Dwarven parent and are accepted as a member of their parent’s Clan.)
Not all of those who can claim membership in a Clan choose to incorporate the Clan’s name into their own; it’s seen as an intensely personal choice whether to do so or not. While the Clans are happy to add new members to their ranks, they also expect loyalty and cooperation from their members, and some Sundalfolk would rather their allegiances be entirely to their family or Guild rather than risk having to choose between their Clan and their friends or coworkers.
Humans and Elves native to Sunderwyl often have names that tie back to the nation of their ancestors somehow, though how much of that cultural tie remains depends heavily on how long their family has been living in the Republic. Those whose parents were immigrants often have names that are identical to those in their parents’ home nation(s), while those whose families have been in the Republic for many generations often end up with fully Dwarven or Fae names, maybe with a first name based on their ancestral nation’s culture.
Male Fae: Nalvan do’Murrimar Silverhide, Lynwir Springtree, Korwyn Stonelight, Halmorn Anvilpyre
Female Fae: Savryn Greenglass, Relwen do’Nelthrak Deepmine, Pryna Brightbell, Nelandi Oakbarrel
Male Dwarf: Bergrom do’Lornne Blackspade, Thurvek Keenshear, Egrem do’Farhall Coldchisel, Bhaldren Swiftaxe
Female Dwarf: Dalvit Forgeheart, Hokvata do’Xarrak Windscribe, Tazka Bladewright, Zithrud do’Hanviir Wheatfield