Culture

Alterra is unity, honor, and victory.

As participants in Dagorhir, we expect everyone to maintain the basics of Alterran culture while at practices and events. This means you must choose an Alterran name, demonstrate the Alterran ideals, and exhibit loyalty and camaraderie amongst your fellow soldiers. Anyone may act the part of Alterran as much as they want by writing a story, conducting roleplays, acting, composing ballads, and drawing pictures. While this level of participation enhances the Dagorhir experience, we realize not everyone may want to devote their time to those activities and, therefore, we only require the very basics.

Choosing a Name

Essentially any persona can develop into an Alterran. The name you choose, therefore, can come from any background you desire. Although many people compile a unique name from various sounds, this is not the only way to choose a name. Other types of name development are listed below:

• Historical Name Lists
• Obscure Characters from Mythology
• Family Names (e.g. Great-Grandmother's Maiden Name)
• Word Translations
• Self-Descriptive Qualities

Consider your name wisely; it will follow your mighty deeds and will not be easily lost. Inappropriate names, such as names that refer to the modern era or are already in use, will not be permitted.

History of Alterra

Imagine for a moment the world we have today. The economic giant, the EU; the rising superpower, China; the overpopulated India; the raging Middle East; sleeping South America; desperate Africa; and an economically unstable United States. If the fragile frame humanity has built itself upon were to but catch a gust of wind, the whole world could fall. And the Storm approaches.

Imagine an ever inclusive, ever stronger EU. Would America strengthen NAFTA to combat the economic war? Imagine a war in the Orient. Or perhaps an alliance. How would the West react if China had Japan, India, or Korea? In these days of Terror, what is to stop a desperate attempt to save a failing economy or to combat a potential foe? Who can stop the inevitable dawn of a New World Order?

And this New Order is cruel. And it is efficient. They make the sacrifices necessary to reach the top. But the world cannot be saved this way. The economy worsens, violence becomes dominant. Entire cities loose power as infrastructure, oil pipelines, electrical cables fail. In an attempt to save their supremacy, the New World Order's vicar bans all firearms from civilians. They collect nearly all ammo, guns, and gunpowder. The massive program takes years to complete. And people continue to starve.

In their despair, families and friends move together for protection. Fathers and sons raid museums, farms, and movie sets for any sort of weapon. Gangs fight for food and territory, until this New World Order appears to eliminate the entire region. In this time of greatest darkness, the star shines forth.

The Grandmasters, then just children, can no longer tolerate the cruelty of the world. A viridian star wakes in their dreams to become a beacon for all. And so, in a time of hatred and victims, friends and former foes  all come together in one dream of victory. Honor and Chivalry are born anew. And Alterra, despite its inferior size and armament, maintains a zone of safety and peace- finally breaking the hold of the NWO.

Before long, people flock to the light and Alterra grows, becoming a country, a continent, the world.

Ideals of Alterra

Alterra is not the New World Order. We do not sacrifice the individual to the 'greater good' nor the world for mankind.

Alterra is not a gang. We do not live for death, we do not indulge the self. We are regulated, we are compassionate, we are open.

Alterra does fight to win. However, we understand that winning without honor brings no glory. We fight for glory, honor, and victory. This means that cheap tactics and illegal activities from Alterrans will not be tolerated.

General Alterran Culture

Our primary colors are Green and Black. The star is generally portrayed as green on a black background. This represents the "Life" of the Star being born amid the "Death" of night. Our riches, represented by gold thread, are woven throughout the daily activities of our lives and also the trim and decorations of our cloth. Our preferred metal is silver, our kindred Moon is bound to our past.

Many things in Alterra are named in Latin and our organizational structure holds many similarities to the Roman Legions. Our most common battle cry is "Ave Alterra," which means "Hail Alterra." Alterra itself is derived from the Latin words "Alter" and "Terra" meaning a New Earth.

The five-pointed star of Alterra is generally referred to as the "Signum Astri", which is latin for "the Sign of the Star". The Signum Astri looks like this: