That is to say, the story being written. Just some general descriptive things I'm having trouble explaining in the text.

Dress

Men and women wear pretty much the same thing – loose pants with a drawstring waist and a tunic. The only major difference is that women's tunics are usually knee-length and below, and men's usually knee-length or above. Women also wear a cotton scarf, either around their neck, over their shoulders like a shawl, or over their head to give some shade. Men sometimes wear a belt or sash. Most people – male and female – wear clothes with simple block prints on them. The wealthy have embroidery and/or beads sewn on. Most people wear cord or leather sandals everyday. The wealthy wear cloth or felt shoes, but only if they won't be going outside (all the streets are packed dirt).

Everyone has long hair. Men wear it loose or in a cue, women wear it braided, either down their back or pinned up. For holidays or important occasions, those who can afford it oil and perfume their hair and hands. Both soft tissue and cartilage ear piercings are common. For some religious sects facial piercings denote a priest's specific role, but they're very uncommon otherwise. Women paint designs on their foreheads in white pigment, men paint their temples with red and white. (How often they do so and how elaborate they are depends on wealth and inclination. Most people do this at holidays at the least).

Children are considered pretty much sexless until puberty. Their hair is cut short, and they don't paint their foreheads/wear distinguishing clothing (belt or scarf).

Names

Commoners introduce themselves as [GivenName] tal-am (daughter of)/tal-ama (son of) [Father'sName]

Nobility introduce themselves as [GivenName] tal-am/tal-ama [HouseName]

No, you can't automatically tell which is which unless you know the names of the noble houses.

Political

Khaur used to be a city-state with villages which allied with it in exchange for protection. Azhran was their next-door neighbor, which became an empire. Gowarat is a small island nation.