The Walts are several small independent districts in northwestern Marcosia, inhabited by the Walters, a fiercely independent people who are just as willing to wield swords as they are to wield plows.
Most Walters are Marcosian in appearance. However, they are generally shorter and smaller in stature, and have a greater tendency towards brown hair and green eyes. Walterwomen seem singly favored with appearance, and are considered to be very beautiful in most parts of the Armorican Lands. Walter costume varies with the Walt in which they dwell, though in most, men wear baggy trousers and plain, thigh-length tunics, and women wear ankle-length, long-sleeved dresses. Both sexes of Walters wear sandals, save in Connen's Walt. Waltermen wear their hair short or in a braid down their backs, and sometimes grow beards when they get older. Walterwomen do not have any specific style in which they wear their hair, but currently it is considered stylish to knot the hair behind the head.
Swordwalt
Swordwalters are a calm, slow folk, very traditional and conservative. They have slow tempers, but when moved to excitement they are volcanic. As the name of their Walt proclaims, Swordwalters know swords. Though they may or may not be good swordsmen, Swordwaltish swords are the finest made weapons in all of Marcosia.
Swordwaltermen augment the usual Walter garb with a knee-length jacket decorated with stripes of color that denote their community of origin (Green for Lees, yellow for Upon-the-Stream, blue for West Springs, red for Helbed-on-the-Hill, or black for Ravensburg)
Sentwalt
Sentwalters are sarcastic and cynical. Their Walt is the closest to Seduria, and has suffered much at the hands of Sedurian raiders. Sentwalters are old hands at battling the Sedurians, and know many of the Horsefolks' tricks. Sentwalters are gloomy and depressing to be around.
Sentwalterwomen typically wear a hood and mantle over their heads. Sentwaltermen often shave their heads.
Orwaltia
Orwalters (Despite Orwaltia's name, it is never permissible to call one an "Orwaltian") are the most worldly of Walters. Their large Walt is the least frontier and isolated of the Walts, and they see frequent trade and travelers from Marcosia. Many other Walters regard Orwaltia with disdain, saying that their closeness to Marcosia has made them soft.
Orwalters, due to their closeness to Marcosia, have recently been adopting the Arcturan fashions popular in Marcosia.
Marsh Walt
Marshwalters are full of laughter and life. They always live life to the fullest, due to the dangerous conditions of their Walt. They love to consume vast quantities of food and ale during meals, and always pursue their various business with consuming zeal. Marshwalters are sometimes called "Mudwalters" by disapproving neighbors in Kopswalt and Woodwalt. Marshwalters laugh at the tales told about the "supernatural horrors" of the Marsh Walt, saying that if such things dwelt in their Walt, they wouldn't be there, would they? And yet, at the mention of a Wytche or a Warg, they surreptitiously make the sign against evil.
Marshwaltermen always grow beards when they reach the proper age. Fashions in Marsh Walt always seem a touch barbaric, with decorations made from wood, shells, bone, and feathers often seen.
Durmswalt
Durmswalt is home to many thieves and criminals, and thus, Durmswalters are less inclined to be conservative and law-abiding than their more reigned-in (stodgy, Durmswalters would say) neighbors. Durmswalt was founded by Durmscario diScillo, a Zinaldian expatriate. Walters often tell strangers to be wary around Durmswalters; One never knows what things from one's personage might end up in their sneaky hands.
Some Durmswalters favor dark colors that are hard to see in the night. Others prefer wearing bright, flamboyant garb that makes other Walters shake their heads in disapproval.
Kopswalt
Kopswalt is much like Swordwalt, however, it is ruled by four marshalls who have ultimate authority over the inhabitants. Recently, one of the Kopswalter marshalls, Holbman Scaenhammer, discovered that the other three were members of a Wytche's coven, and they were destroyed. The current community elections to decide on the new marshalls have been rife with controversy. Kopswalt's position between the dangerous Marsh Walt and the equally dangerous Woodswalt makes many Kopswalters nervous, and it is rare to find a window and door not locked at night.
Kopswalters often wear blue, their national color.
Woodswalt
Woodswalters dwell in the midst of the Woodswalt, which had another name before they came to it: The Wytche's Wood. Woodswalters are a superstitious and nervous people, as befits their environment. There is no shortage of belief in the monsters of the Woodswalt here, and over every door one can find wreathes of wolfsbane and wytche-fire (OOC: Indian paintbrush). Woodswalters are excellent woodsmen, and will guide travelers through the Woodswalt, as long as said travelers are willing to guide themselves at the first sight of something spooky.
Woodswalters dress in greens, browns, and duns, the colors of the forest. Woodswalterwomen (a mouthful!) always carry staffs with a wreathe of of wytche-fire.
Blackwalt
Blackwalt was a prosperous merchant Walt on the border with Daaldag. Its inhabitants were industrious and hard-working. However, Scatha the Worm, Dragon of the North, reduced the entire Walt to a wasteland of ash and barren stone, with a field of black glass where the capitol town, Blownston, once lay. Walters now consider the place cursed, and say that the ghosts of the slain Blackwalters haunt there, unable to rest until the Worm is destroyed.
Lobbewalt
Lobbewalt is named for the Lobbe, a great statue of a spider that sits in the hills of this Walt. The Lobbe predates the coming of the Walters to this region, and is regarded as both a guardian god and a thing of evil. In any case, most Lobbewalters think of the Lobbe, and of the misty hills of their Walt, with affection, and consider that the Lobbe is a good way to scare off Sedurian raiders and make small children behave, at the very least.
Lobbewalters favor purple and gray clothing, and the image of a spider is a common decoration.
Connen's Walt
Connen's Walt is the newest of the Walts. Established by the adventurer Connen in the years after the Imperial withdrawal from Marcosia, Connen's Walt is often considered by other Walters to be the place to go if one wishes to do something bad. Connen's Walt is a young community, and few Connenswalters are as closely connected to other Walter families as other Walters are. Connenswalters are impetuous and bold, and have a sense of idealism about them.
Connenswaltermen favor heavy leather boots, and Connenswalterwomen favor leathern shoes, to the cord sandals of the other Walters.
Short Note on Walter Nomenclature
Walt- a district of the Walts; considered separate countries by Walters, but most outsiders see them as parts of the Walts as a nation.
the Walts- all of the Walts collectively. To outsiders, the Walts are one nation. To Walters, the Walts are a federation.
Walter- always refers to a person of the Walts. It is never permissible to call a Walter a "Waltian", "Waltishmen", or any other name save a Walter.
Waltish- always refers to goods of, places in, and features of, the Walts, and never to Walters.
Waltsman- Now slightly archaic, a soldier or, by extension, warrior, of any of the Walts. Should never be confused with Walterman, which refers to a male Walter.
Walter Names: See Marcosian names. However, the name Walter and variation thereof (Waltyr, Waltor, Waltair, Wulter, et cetera), are extremely unpopular mostly because "Walter of the Walts" sounds very silly.
Walter Last Names: "of (insert name)walt". For instance, Eddard of Swordwalt, Korren of Woodswalt, Tabba of Lobbeswalt, Batta of Connen's Walt. If one does not want to distinguish, one could always say "of the Walts" instead of "of (insert name)walt."