Peaktouched

Peaktouched is a term given to the human denizens of northern Raljikka's mountains, especially around modern-day Streeg, Jeralden, and Kes Joshawk. In more distant times, the peaktouched were said to have had their bodies bleached by the mountains' wind and snow, giving them skintones lighter than most other humans. The peaktouched primarily kept to the mountains, isolating themselves to truly understand the ways of spirits and the divine magic of the mountains known as shamanism. The more skilled among them were said to be able to see into worlds beyond and maintain the presence of guiding spirits that granted them wisdom no mortal could hope to attain in a single lifetime. Although many peaktouched never left the mountains, the few who did still had shamans within their bloodline, with spirits seeking out the children of the mountains and bidding them to come home.
After the Estvoldians arrived on Raljikka, shifting borders resulted in the peaktouched losing much of their autonomy. Gradually, they became assimilated with surrounding countries, with many shamans even being pressured or outright conscripted into battles against the Estvoldian colonists by the burgeoning Alamo Empire that sought to reclaim independence for Raljikka. Generations of intermarriage between the displaced peaktouched and the more dominant form of humanity originating from Wargäreim resulted in both a cultural and genetic demise of shamanism among humans. In time, the children of the peaktouched who could see and hear spirits lacked mentors, and their weak predispositions to shamanism were silenced, replaced by the Tumorid academic view of magic.
Category:Ealdremen Terms