Editing Stirland (section)

== Culture and Society ==

Stirlanders are cautious and thoughtful people who take a "long view" of life, more so the farther one travels east and away from the center of the Empire, into the tiny farming settlements in the hills. Rural Stirlander culture is remarkably similar to the culture of the heavily isolated mountain communities of the Appalachians and the Ozarks before the 1950s, with all that that implies, minus the inbreeding, as a result of the pride even the poorest dirt farmers take in keeping detailed and far-reaching family trees. Stirlanders have their own musical and storytelling traditions, their own folklore, and a set of social values that are tailored to their way of life, but in with the banjos and neighborliness lie the metaphorical snake handling churches and the "dumb hillbilly" stereotype. At their best, Stirlanders are more quaint than anything by the standards of everyone else, holding farm animal races and telling ribald tales in their thick accents and strange dialects. At their worst (and most exportable in the tales of annoyed travelers), Stirlanders cling to their customs so tightly that it blinds them to reality- and makes them an object of mockery throughout the rest of the Empire. The custom of the Stirhügels village has the children to throw pig shit at any strangers they see to drive away evil spirits- not because the stranger might be evil, but because this act is meant to protect the stranger. The custom of at least one village near Sylvania has every part of the house covered in garlic as to protect against the vampires, despite a lack of any proof that this has ever worked.

Incidentally, all of this would make an EXCELLENT excuse to prevent any potential revenue officers from discovering or even suspecting something like, to pick a random example that certainly isn't an accusation or anything, a vast number of stills and a high-proof grain alcohol trade that operates outside the imperial tax system. This isn't in the lore anywhere AFAIK, but geographically and thematically it works quite well for the same reasons people used to and still do dabble in moonshining in hinterlands and hill country irl. It might be of interest for writing army fluff or if your party finds a reason to take a boat up the Stir. 
 
Many Stirlanders, especially those who now scratch out a living farming in the hills and dodging Beastmen and various undead nasties, resent their ancestors' decision to sell the land that would become the Moot, some of the most fertile land in the entire Empire, to the halflings. The belief that halflings are all dirty thieves and con artists runs strong in Stirland, although the encroaching corruption of Sylvania and the resulting unnatural weather patterns likely have more to do with how difficult it is to farm in part of the province than the sale of the Mootland. Few probably understand this, as being an illiterate peasant makes it unlikely that one could grasp the finer points of magical meteorology, and those that do would probably be reluctant to admit it, as it's much easier to punt a stuntie than cleanse the corruption of undeath from vast tracts of land. As part of festival activities in many parts of Stirland, straw halfling effigies are packed with candy that has been "stolen," and children beat the straw halfling until he "gives it back." Officials strongly deny that this tradition has its roots in real lynchings.

{{Provences_of_the_Empire}}
[[Category:Warhammer Fantasy]]
[[Category:The Empire]]