HARD-BITTEN

Houses in these villages are made of lumber, stone and turf.

Most citizens of these villages live in longhouses: long, proportionately narrow shelters, that are about 30 meters long and 8 meters wide in the middle. These longhouses contain a large room for sleeping, a cooking area equipped with an oven and open hearth, a food storage area, and a place for simple craft like textile making. The longhouses are usually one large room, but a tall half-wall may be constructed for sleeping privacy.

3 to 4 families live in these longhouses. These families are typically blood related, and a longhouse Grand Family could include parents and children, as well as the children's spouses and their own children.

Some families may choose to live in their own homes, though this is mostly dependent on if they inherited it, as many don't see a need to build individual homes as Longhouses have proven to be more energy efficient and warm.

Because much of the ground is frozen in the year, these villages rely on fishing and hunting to put food on the table. They hunt anything from seals, bear, and caribou, to small game animals like migratory birds. They fish often.

When the ground melts a bit, they tend to grow small patches of cold-season vegetables like: asparagus, beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, chives, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, Swiss chard, kale, leek, lettuce, onion, parsnips, peas, radishes, spinach, and turnips. They also gather wild plants like seaweed and berries.

Water is easy enough to access from rivers and wells, and is boiled for safety.

To light and warm their homes, people in these villages stick to fire. This fire can be fueled with anything from wood and charcoal, to seal and whale oil. Though these oils are mostly used burn lamps, or to create soaps or margarine.

Due to the weather and their distance from modern medicine, most people in these communities don't live as long as people in the Bunkers. An Illness could mean death if severe enough, though common colds and flus are survivable. They rely on Traditional medicine like plant, animal and mineral based medicines, spiritual therapies, manual techniques and exercises, applied singularly or in combination to treat, diagnose and prevent illnesses or maintain well-being.

They focus mostly on prevention if it can be helped.

Frostburn is very common among children and the elderly, and these cultures have gotten skilled in removal of fingers, toes, ears, and other appendages with poor circulation. Simple surgeries are also common, like bone resetting, trepanation, and bloodletting.

Many weapons exist in these villages. They are made of wood, stone, and bronze. Some of the most common weapons are: spears, bow & arrows, axes, and bolas.

While trade is a very popular, most people use bronze weaponry as currency, such as: arrow heads, spear heads, axe heads, etc. Weapons are a requirement when living in these villages, not only to defend yourself from animals but anything else that may attempt to attack you or your family/ village. This makes bronze weapons a stable currency, as everyone sees it in equal value. The trade of goods is less stable however, as some could see wood as significantly less valuable than the people who are attempting to trade it do.

The way one village governs itself could vastly different from the way another village may govern itself, but a long standing form of government that is practiced in a few villages is Aristocracy.

This Aristocracy is passed down through succession and power is typically handed over to the first born child and their spouse after the death of their parents. Due to this succession, these families are a bit wealthier than their fellow people.

Most outside human communities are small out of necessity, but death within them is common due to animals and extreme weather events. They call themselves “Hard-Bitten” (or just "Bitten" for short) and have a higher natural body temperature, around 110 - 120°F, that helps them survive outside.

These populations are made up of three groups: Average Hard-Bitten, which make up about 95%, Hearths which are about 4%, and Radiators <1%.

Average Bitten are born with the ability to regulate their body heat manually, and can fluctuate their natural temperature as low as 88°F and up to the temperature they were born with (110 - 120°F). This is mostly used to conserve energy when the extra temperature boost is unneeded. If they keep themselves at a high temperature for long periods of time, they will need to eat more to keep the temperature constant.

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Hearths are born without the ability to regulate their body heat manually. The temperature they are born with is their natural internal temperature for life, their body temperature is pretty consistent even in freezing temperatures (and resistant to outside manipulation, aka. Radiators are able to take heat from them without it heavily affecting Hearths), but they need more food to sustain themselves due to the large amounts of energy they use to warm themselves.

They are occasionally called “Bed Warmers” though this is a derogatory term.

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Radiators are born with the ability to manipulate other beings' body temperature (including the world around them, but this takes practice, and no one yet knows this ability exists), allowing them to steal heat from other beings and replenish their own, as well as do the opposite and give heat.

(This also applies to miniscule amounts of heat from things like snow, the air, or other unliving things, warming themselves in miniscule amounts unless they are taking from a large surface area. This technique is also pretty unknown).

They cannot regulate their body temperature without giving or taking heat from something, unlike average Hard-Bitten. Their resting body temperature is the one they were born with. This temperature fluctuates often if not in the appropriate environment, and is dependent on how much warmth they take from others. They can go over their resting body temperature, but they risk injury to their organs if they do so. They can also go under their resting body temperature, but also risk injury if it gets too low.

They are occasionally called “Parasites” though this is a derogatory term.

All children are encouraged to attend school starting from 4 to 16 years old. School lessons run nearly year round, but are temporarily halted in the warmest months of the year. Their education usually includes basic skills, Basic math, history, reading, writing, and weaponry.

At 16 a student can move on from the classroom setting, and work under a mentor. These mentors are usually a parent or other family member. Under this mentor children learn extra, specialty skills. For example: a kid working under a navigator might be taught advanced survival and navigation, while someone working under a fisherman would learn about sea navigation, tides, sailing and fishing patterns.

People don't have much pastime, but when they do they may play music, tell stories, dance, or drink together.

Law enforcement is mostly a neighborhood watch, and people of these villages are encouraged to report wrongdoing, but there are authority and police adjacent figures that can be reported to.

When someone is reported, it goes to a justice system of sorts, where village people are asked to judge what should be done. This process is usually communal, and public.