Ietsahru

The Ietsahru are a scattered and harsh people spread over a harsh land. Raiders reviled and feared by those near them, the harshness of the lands makes retaliation near impossible and division among makes long term solutions unlikely.

Etymology
The title of Ietsahru is believed to ultimately derive from the Proto-Eralih words for "blood people".

Geography
A high valley between the great plateaus of the Eralih Empire and the mountains of the Huon League city states, the lands of the Ietsahru are harsh largely desert lands. Largely arid, farming is virtually impossible but edible plant life may still grow wild over the hills of this valley highland.

History
A forgotten people, Ietsahru are said by some to have dwelt in the valley since before the world around them came to be with the foul and cruel gods that ruled in that era. More likely, they are related to the Eralih and Dussarit peoples from ancient times. How they came to settle the valley is unknown but it is quite likely according to scholars that, they were driven out by more powerful tribes or else were the result of exiles who banded together to survive in the harsh climate.

Recently, bands of Dussarit have fled north. Some have joined tribes as guests, others have established themselves as rival tribes adopted many of the Ietsahru ways.

Government
Ietsahru are a tribal people with no over arching rule. Within tribes, governance varies wildly but is often determined by merit and skill. Some have a basic system of inheretance but the tribes are still small enough that this can and often is ignored when someone proves more capable. Much still relies on strength.

Economy
A nomadic people, they rely upon foraging of goods for daily survival. Surrounded by more prosperous neighbours, raids are common place by tribes suffering through harder times. Slave markets of the Eralih, Dussarit and Toryl as well as Huon and Fayn to a lesser extent all trade well with the Ietsahru for captured goods and people from these raids often from Dussarit, Huon, Toryl and Kergen. The Eralih and Dussarit have a market established for the recovery of raided goods with certain Ietsahru tribes and some border villages may ally with certain groups in order to prevent raids or else

Military
The weaponry of the Ietsahru is largely improvised, relying heavily on short spears, javelins and bows as well as whatever weapons can be traded for.

Infrastructure
None. Villages are very mobile, most people can carry everything on their own backs, with teams of four carrying the tents that they sleep in.

Language
The Ietsahru language is closely related to Dussarit and Eralih, existing as a third distinct language within. They possess all the vowels of the Eralih and distinguish between the long and short sounds of Dussarit vowels. Grammar borrows from both languages to the point where it is difficult to determine a single origin, though most hold that it originally split from Eralih and has since borrowed greatly from the Dussarit, though Huon and Kergen influence also shows.

Religion
Ietsahru believe in a wide variety of spirits and gods, along with the idea that revered descends join them, with the most exulted becoming equal to worshipped gods. It is believed that blood is the essence of the gods that must be returned to them, which leads to ritualistic combat between tribes, often ending in death, where the defeated opponent is sacrificed to the gods to commemorate a noble battle. Those who show cowardice are left to the scavengers. Often these sacrifices involve the victor and priest consuming a part of the vanquished as a sign of respect, then the rest being commended to the gods by use of fire that they might share in the feast.

A similar ritual takes place upon respected prisoners and sometimes even foes slain in battle, which invokes horror in many observers from near by nations.

Family
Wildly variable, in many ways the tribe as a whole is a surrogate family which sees to the raising and protection of the child. Though the individual mothers often take particular care of the children before they can walk and give them their names in youth until they earn new names in adulthood.

Ietsahru
Men come to a height of about 5'9, Women around 5'6, they are broad shouldered, though otherwise typically quite slender from hard living. Ietsahru possess a light natural tan, though exposure to the sun often leaves them appearing dark brown. Their hair is often similarly, a natural brown which is made several degrees lighter by the sun, when not concealled by a hood. Their eye colour is most often brown. Depending on the tribe and their relative prosperity, they might wear scant animal hides or else captured or bought clothing from near by empires, most often Dussarit.

Dussarit
Men come to a height of about 5'10, Women around 5'8, Dussarit are broad shouldered, often with rather slender weights. The Dussarit are rather darkskinned compared to the Eralih and Iesahru, believed to perhaps be the result of mixing with indigenous populations who in turn fled west. Dussarit hair is commonly brown or black and grows comparatively wild compared to that of the Eralih. Common eye colours are green and brown. For nomads and exiles who live in Iestahru, the clothing tends to take the shape of a hooded poncho roughly worn over light pants and some form of shirt, sometimes even with a scarf to cover the face, though some adopt the clothing of the natives. Green eyes, black hair, fair skin and plumpness are seen as the ideal of beauty.