In the mountains far to the east snow is everpresent. The extra snow accumulated over winter brings the risk of dangerous unpredictable avalanches to highland settlements and the trails that connect them.

Among the Golanti tribes of the northwest, Firsthunt is a celebration and rite of passage held in late spring. The tribes gather each spring as the elk that are their primary diet begin the migration north, and hold a celebration that lasts long into the night.

In some parts of the world, legend has it that the lady of summer visits her brother’s home each winter and only her presence brings light, warmth, and joy to the lord of winter’s kingdom. Every year he tempts her to remain with him just a little longer by crafting items of beauty in ice and snow. Only mortal voices raised during Dawnsong remind her of the beauty summer brings to mortal realms and encourage her to return for another year.

Villagers tend to live an isolated existence, but
they have a community to rely upon rather
than just themselves. However, because the
community is small, hard work is an important
facet of daily life, with community members
each having their own critical role to play in the
survival and flourishing of the whole.

Tasked (perhaps by themselves) with taming a frontier of some kind, settlers are gritty, pragmatic…and often a bit paranoid. These folk must rely upon themselves and perhaps their neighbors even in dire circumstances, and the frontiers where they make their homes have a variety of dangers—potentially including other settlers. They are therefore often concerned with security and emergency measures..

The great advantage of an Imperial society is the ability to do things like infrastructure at scale, freeing up citizens of the empire to specialize. But that scale also typically comes with bureaucratic hierarchy, need for communication, and the drafting of residents to help during times of trouble.

Many collegiate societies revolve around a university campus and even the exceptions have developed specialized equipment for speeding the acquisition, distribution and protection of knowledge as well as the comfort of the scholars who produce it.