Government:
Unlike the great Kingdoms and Empires of the west the Yemarae have no codified or centralized government. However, every year the nine Greater Chieftains of the land meet on the shortest day, the winter solstice, in an event called the Gathering where they work out their differences and agree upon common goals. Additionally, and while to do so is unusual, any of the Greater Chieftains may call their fellows to a Gathering if they feel something has arisen that demands the attention of the whole of the Yemarae people.
Notable Figures:
Wesetnea, Greater Chieftain of the Flowering Hills:Wesetnea is honoured as one of the few women to have ever challenged and bested the heir of a Greater Chieftain. By defeating the boy under the bones of the fallen god she proven herself to be a greater incarnation of the will of Raehe and in so doing earned the right to take his place as heir, a rare event regardless of her sex. That was a long time ago. For thirty years now she has presided over the southern reaches of the Yemarae’s lands, and there is not a soul among the people who would doubt her ability and resolve.
Jrete, Greater Chieftain of the Endless Green:Jrete is the most recently ascended Greater Chieftain, holding the title for fifteen years. A mere twenty nine he inherited his title from his father without challenge at fourteen, though some say the failure to issue a challenge was folly and the circumstances of his ascension have clouded his judgment to a frightening degree. It was Jrete’s father who first dealt with the plains folk, who came to that early agreement. It was that agreement that saw Jrete wedded to the daughter of the eastern Khagan and the plains folk seen safely through the Karae Skae so that they could strike against the hated westerners. It was that agreement which doomed the plains folk. Jrete has taken in the majority of those plains folk who survived the butchery, and now he seems to act more like them than his own kin.
Mekre, Greater Chieftain of the Falcons TeethMekre is seen by many as the strongest of the Yemarae, his deeds the stuff of legends and his bulk imposing enough to frighten even the most seasoned warriors. He is honoured by all the Yemarae for holding back the invasion of the tainted ones, never letting them step beyond his own lands and slaying them in droves whenever they tried. These days he is close with Jrete and the remaining plains folk. While many have already forgotten Mekre knows that without the plains folk the war against the tainted ones would still rage on, and he is forever grateful that this is not the case.
Culture:
((I will add to this as I introduce cultural elements IC))
Religion:
In the beginning there was only nature, and the gods. Great beasts who roamed the land and soared through the air with the power to make life itself. From the very soil these gods created the animals of the world in their image. In time the world was teeming with life, but in spite of all their power the gods could not create that which they so longed for, the companionship of thinking beasts like them. The cost was too great. Life and magic are intertwined, fundamentally, the gods knew this, and they knew that to imbue their creations with personality would destroy them; their life force would be drained completely by the act.
Yet still they yearned for companionship. In time this would be their downfall, for life and magic are intertwined and such was the magic of the gods that their very desires could bring things into being. The first god to fall was also the loneliest, Raehe, the great falcon that dominated the skies and frightened all other gods away. In Raehe's sorrow he willed the first bolt of lightning into being, and it struck him down. The god perished, but his will lived on in the Yemarae, the first humans who were born as the smallest parts of the gods own essence.
In time all the gods would fall this way. Humans would be born across the world alongside other, stranger, races. While most gods came to accept the change as it happened, some resented their deaths and poured hate into their last act. It is from these malevolent gods that the tainted were born.
History:
For millennia the Yemarae have lived in the mountains and hills of what they call the Karae Skae, the land of the sky. The ancient histories, passed down from shaman to shaman, tell the tale of how it was this land that gave birth to Yemarae, that when the great falcon Raehe was struck by the first lightning and felled it was they who rose from the carcass as the last vestiges of the ancient gods essence. Those same histories tell of how the Yemarae spread across the land. They tell of how the Yemarae once ranged far, from the Karae Skae all the way to the near mythical eternal water in the distant west. They tell of many things that are no longer.
For it was countless generations ago that the Yemarae were driven from the west. The armies that butchered those forgotten people, the traitors that turned on their own kind, they are known only in the vaguest of terms. What remains in the histories, preserved in its fullness, is a warning. A single truth the shamans have passed down for untold centuries: the people of the west are the first and final enemy. Through all the ravages of time the Yemarae have held onto that truth, so that while one day they may forget they shall never forgive.
It was this truth that led to the bargain which changed everything. Nineteen years ago a great horde from the east came to the Yemarae requesting passage through the Karae Skae to the western cities beyond. They told tales of immense wealth and decadence and offered the Yemarae a portion if they would guide the horde through the treacherous Karae Skae and into the all but undefended mountain passages leading to the west. Terek of the Endless Green, the Greater Chieftain of the eastern foothills and plains, called a Gathering and brought the Khagan and his offer to the leaders of the Yemarae, feeling that this was a perfect opportunity to strike at the hated westerners.
The others were hesitant, but Mekre of the Falcons Teeth ended the back and forth with a proposal to the Khagan: demonstrate your peoples integrity by ending the Tainted menace in the North and the Yemarae shall welcome you into the Karae Skae as brothers. The Khagan agreed, eager to add slaves to his horde and dreaming of the great bounty to the west he would have. The only stipulation was that the son of Terek would marry his son Jrete to the Khagans daughter when they came of age, binding the Yemarae to the people of the plains in blood as well as spirit.
Years passed, the Tainted proving a worthy foe, one that made a valuable addition to the Khagan’s horde as slaves. The agreement fulfilled the Khagan and his horde were led to the western passages, accompanied by a modest force of Yemarae warriors who’d married women from the plains folk in the intervening years. Terek, who’d become steadfast friends with the Khagan, rode with him in plundering the west. Taken by surprise many of the western cities offered tribute, others fell, and the Yemarae and their allies grew rich.
If the Khagan had been satisfied by his victories perhaps he would have only known glory, but in his triumph avarice overtook him. The cities of the west banded together to resist his horde, engaging him in a bloody war, one that ended with the Khagan’s slaves rebelling and slaying him, his family, and Terek. That defeat came fifteen years ago. The survivors of the horde fled into the Karae Skae and came to Jrete, pledging themselves to the man who would marry the Khagan’s last living child.
Since then the knowledge of the plains folk has changed the Karae Skae and its Yemarae people. Forges glow hotter, fields grow longer, and the people grow restless.
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