“ Pirates' many bejeweled rings and piercings actually had a practical purpose - when the pirate or sailor died, the rings could be taken off as payment for a proper burial, saving him from a watery grave. This could be tied into regional culture, or made into a quest (The Pirate's Lost Rings, etc.). Also gives treasure-seeking divers another thing to look for besides crusty old chests.”
“ A modern kingdom still strictly adheres to ancient traditions due to their long forgotten deity getting annoyed at the moral decay, appearing as an AI Singularity and forcefully correcting everything it sees as morally wrong. As such, even though the weapons and technology have improved, the culture hasn't.”
“ I have heard (from an Afghan man that I know) that in Afghanistan, they will construct kites, and then tie or tape pieces of glass and shards of pottery to the kite-strings and have 'kite-battles', where they try to use the sharp shards on their kite-strings to cut the opponent's strings.”