Cormyr, especially Waymoot & Suzail, but throughout that realm & its Dales neighbours what might be some fads/fashions among the younger human & demihuman denizens pre-time of troubles?
@jayeedgecliff
I mean if it were Waterdeep I could assume things like the wealthy kids
I LOVE these sort of Realmslore questions. So, here are the fads and fashions of the teens in that area at that time (where the “home” Realms campaign is still happily situated):
Item The First: Spreading from Sembia, the practise of wearing half-cloaks of flame-orange and similar flamboyant, eye-catching hues (and trims). These are off-one-shoulder, diagonally-cut pleated cloaks that descend from the shoulder they’re covering to the opposite waist or hip. Worn with lots of sudden turns, mincing dance steps, and thrust-out-hip poses to make them swirl. Entirely useless, very expensive, and irritating to older generations who regard their wear as playacting, “putting on noble airs” when you’re not noble, or “acting the fool, and someone else’s silly idea of nobility to boot” if you are noble. So, a fad that has stuck around for a few years. Signals the wearer’s attitude to all.
Item The Second: Spreading from Marsember: smoking (always with long, slender, ornamented/sculpted into fantastic beast-shapes or other designs cigarette holders, called “longdraws” or just “draws” in the Realms) cigarettes (called “rolldragons”) that are stuffed with perfume-sprinkled herbs. NOT hallucinatory drugs, just local cooking herbs like dried dill and powdered chives, but sprinkled with lavender-water and rose-water and other scented tinctures to change the taste and smell of the smoke. Essence of cherries a favourite. Older generations regard both the use of the longdraws and the use of the scent as effeminate, nonsensical “trying to act like nobles but succeeding only in acting as ridiculous idiots” behaviour.
Item The Third: Spreading from Suzail, the practise of trying to talk like an imaginary, exaggerated version of courtiers or nobles or royalty, with wild overblown phrases and flowery turns of speech and seventy-gold-piece words, usually with bowing and airy hand gestures and with purring or fluting or drawling delivery. Examples: “W-w-w-w-well I DO decl-AY-AH, ’pon my soul, upon my Watching-Gods-smiled-upon-SOUL!” and “Would it ’twere truly time for a fitting epithalamium, and not mere refreshment!” and “A snool and ranivorous luggard, to be sure!” and “His nigh-constant absquatulations leave me with crapulence, to say nothing—NOTHING!—of deepening borborygms!”
Item The Fourth: This comes from the Dales, and is just beginning: the collecting of mummified worms and leeches and slugs, posed on flat stones or fragments of wood or bark in little dioramas, often lampooning older members of society. These are traded, displayed on shelves and mantelpieces, giggle over, and the best ones are copied, often with exaggerated adornments and poses.
Older generations in these regions regard all of this as frivolous idiocy that often crosses the line into insolence. ’Twas ever thus.#Realmslore
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