#kempt

Vere

Based on France 14th and 17th Century Elements

Vere is a leading power on the continent. Military prowess is taught alongside reading, poetry, music, art, and language to encourage well rounded superior individuals. Condescension on slavery, but pets are used as an illusion of freedom. They exhibit their wealth in opulence and vanity. Architecture is grand palaces with gold plating and marble. Hidden alcoves are created to spur debauchery. Nobility are laced into complex embroidered doublets and very few use the same outfit for multiple events.

Akielos

Based on Ancient Greece

Akielos is the other large power on the continent. Differing from Vere in most things, they put more cultural importance on sports, military power, and strategy. Art and music are for enjoyment rather than cultural necessity and are often done by slaves as a way of spreading Akielon glory. Architectural columns are based more on function then sculpture. The heat has everyone wearing simple white cotton chitons, although the nobility can dye or embroider the hem of theirs.

Vask

Based on Medieval Vikings era

Vask is a snowy mountain region with a large cultural focus on war. People live in small huts and tents, depending on how much they travel. Clothing is often furs for warmth and leather for protection. Carvings is mostly working with wood and animal bones and music is war chants. Most fighting is internal between clans. Female dominated but constant struggle for power.

Patras

Based on 13th century Persia

Patras aims to maintain neutrality. Non-involvement and strategic trading has resulted in them avoiding conflict and keeping alliances with both sides in the battle between Vere and Akielos. Slaves are extremely important to culture as performers and builders. Intricate woven silks for nobility clothing. Weaving also used as an art form alongside sculpting and pottery. Heavy focus on symbolic symmetry in architecture.

Kempt

Based on Slavic culture and 16th century Russia

Good evening dear anon!

Wow this is such an interesting question. I have to admit that I'm not nearly as educated regarding cultures or history as other people here on tumblr. So, please take my answer with a smile and a grain of salt.

I think Kempt could be Monaco. Why? Well, Kempt isn‘t one of the big players like the other countries. Still, Aleron must have seen an advantage of marrying Hennike (I‘m just saying that pure love-matches were basically impossible for royalty). Monaco has money, and is a neighbour to France. Adapting that to canon: Maybe Vere even speculated that they could merge the rich, well connected and beautifully located Kempt with Vere when Auguste (who‘s as much Kempian as Veretian) would be king without having to anger anyone but more as logical consequence.

Going over to Patras, I think about Egypt. Like whenever I think about Patras I somehow think about Egypt. It’s just like that… Which is not a very good reason, right? So, to argue my point a bit: I get the slight vibe that Patras is like the “older brother“ to Akielos, but that Akielos is rising up to be more relevant for the future. Basically (and really in a very rough manner) Greece followed Egypt as advanced civilisation and for a short time (yes, she’s really saying that multiple centuries are a “short“ period of time… so sorry for any confusion) Egypt and Greece were even united under the same Emperor(s). So we could argue that there are some parallels. But as with my whole response: please, be aware that I‘m no historian and all the things I write here are out of pure hobby interest and not because I really studied the facts.

Then to Vask. Honestly, I struggled most with that one because (yes, I‘m European) most of the history I learned and got confronted with was so incredibly male I couldn‘t really contextualise Vask. However, I think I‘d probably see the Vaskians closest to the Huns. The horses, the half nomadic lifestyle and clan structure somehow fits. Although the huns were (once again) a male led society. Still, they were incredibly impressive warriors, which certainly matches the Vaskians. Additionally, I said “horses“ so easily, but it‘s a fact that the huns revered their horses. I can totally see that with the Vaskians too.

A few weeks ago on this blog, we discussed the origins of the word disheveled and why you can’t properly be heveled. But disheveled is not the only English word with a mysterious root affixed to a common prefix. Dishabille, like disheveled, came into English from French. The French word déshabillé is from the past participle of déshabiller, “to undress.” In the case of dishabille, the word entered English whole, and its French root habiller, “to clothe,” did not make the language jump.

While some roots don’t cross over from their language of origin, others fall out of use. In Modern English you can be overwhelmed, and you can be underwhelmed, but being whelmed is out of style. Whelm is entered in the American Heritage Dictionary with an Archaic label, meaning this sense is no longer in current use in English. It means to cover with water or to submerge, and it comes from the Middle English whelmen, “to overturn,” which is derived from Old English hwelfan, “to cover over.”

Disgruntle is another example of a common prefix affixed to a root that is not in use. Gruntle is from the Middle English gruntelen, which is a form of the verb grunten, “to grunt.” Given this origin, one might guess that disgruntled would mean “not grunting” and by extension, not upset (as grunts are typically noises of discontent). However, the dis- here is used as an intensive, yielding disgruntle’s common meaning today, “to make discontented.”

In some cases with well-known prefixes appearing before unfamiliar roots, the root develops a life of its own through a process known as back-formation. Back-formation is when a new word is created by the removal of an affix (or sometimes, by the removal of something mistakenly thought to be an affix) from an existing word. Couth from uncouth and kempt from unkempt are two examples of this. Couth (spelled cūth) was an Old English word while kempt (spelled kembed) was a Middle English word. Both fell into disuse, only to reemerge in Modern English through back-formation.