Gaddish culture

A cultural group from the northeast of Uru. Most people of the Mountain Republic are Gaddish, and most Gaddish people live there.

* They highly value industriousness and hard work, having been an agrarian society before their industrial revolution a century ago.
* Their cuisine centers on dishes with a foambean base that absorb flavor from vegetables, sauces, and meats.
* Traditional Gaddish clothing is simple, suitable for work, and the same for men and women: a sturdy shirt and pants in tan colors, and an overtunic in a dark solid color like navy blue, crimson, or forest green. However, due to the explosion in wealth and trade brought on by their high levels of technology, many Gaddish now wear elaborate and inventive fashions sourced from around the world.

Gaddish names follow a three word pattern: a given name, a “linkname”, and a surname (family name). An example is Thomas Rem Fermis, the current premier of the MR. “Thomas” is his first name, “Fermis” is his last name, and “Rem” is his linkname.

As in many cultures, it is acceptable to address someone by their first name only or by their last name only (e.g. “Mr. Fermis” or just “Fermis” if you're writing a newspaper article.) However, a full name must always include the linkname -- “Thomas Fermis” would seem awkward and wrong to someone Gaddish.

The linkname is almost always a single syllable and is chosen to make the person's full name sound “better” when spoken aloud. It often reuses vowels and consonants from either the first or last name to do this. It has no actual meaning. A linkname is initially given by one's parents, but it is common for a Gaddish person to change it to suit their tastes, sometimes several times throughout life. A linkname is also sometimes used on its own as a nickname, but only by close friends of similar ages. Thomas Rem Fermis's siblings and college buddies probably call him “Rem”, but his parents would not.

Gaddish born as Legacies have longer names to account for their multiple identities. The names are five words instead of three: the fourth word is another linkname, and the fifth is the name of the person whose memories have been inherited. (Usually this is a first/given name. However, since the name could be from any culture, the “rules” of Gaddish naming often need to be stretched or broken to properly honor the person, at the discretion of the Legacy.)

For instance, if Thomas Rem Fermis had been a Legacy and inherited the memories of a man named Brockith, he might have taken on the name “Thomas Rem Fermis Reck Brockith”.