Quageron

Quagerons (Dequa: [kʷäˈɦeɾo̞n] singular & [kʷä.ɦeˈɾo̞n] plural) are an ethnic group native to Rathnir. Originally from the state of Quagero in Huitca, they now reside mostly in the Dominion of Hо̄u Zhanaland. Their history of subjugation by more powerful empires has led to a very strong cultural identity, maintained even as a small minority on the world of Abexilas.
== Culture ==
=== Name ===
The name Quageron is Dequa for "Person of Quagero". This refers to the old state of Quagero in Huitca, which in turn received its name from the Quagero River which flowed through. This river was named such by the Zashit, using their word for the color yellow (Qua, meaning "Yellow" + Gero, meaning "Color"). This referenced the sandy clay in the river, giving it a yellow appearance. Despite not having access to Quagero for a long time, the word has stuck as the name for the ethnicity.
=== Religion ===
The primary religion of the Quagerons is Cardinalism. Being from the core of Huitca, they have retained a form of the religion most similar to its ancient roots than more mainstream forms. Isolation since the fall of Huitca made Quageron Cardinalism lack outside cultural influences from after the fall.
However, it is still not a perfect preservation of ancient ways. A lack of outside religious influence has resulted in a form of folk Cardinalism. The temples are less structured, individually standing as their own institutions without specialized dedication to any of the four lords. The distinction between macehualtin (commoners) and pipiltin has also completely disappeared, in part due to libertarian politics.
Quageron Folk Cardinalism also places a heavier importance on the dead. It is believed that those who were ordered in life will become ghosts once they die, so bodies and tombs are well taken care of. Every year on the Second of Luyander (Dequa: Luzondre [luˈzo̞n.d̪ɾe]) Quagerons celebrate the Day of the Dead (Dequa: Íl Dei Delnuertos) where altars to deceased family members are put out and decorated with flowers. It is believed that the ghosts of the dead will come to visit during the night.
A minority of Quagerons do not adhere at all to the Cardinalist faith, though. Due to large Centari dominion over Quagero in the past, some are members of the Slayerist religion. These people generally trace their ancestry to the region of Western Quagero (Zekeyolalosto) rather than eastern, where Centari influence was much higher.
===Language===
The Quagerons speak the Dequa language. This language is descendant of the old Rancher tongue spoken by humans of Zekeyolalosto, with a heavy influence from Huitca and the Traveler's Tongue of Centari. There is also minor Zashit and Alaari influence as well. In more recent times, words from Sikoto and Akashiren have been loaned. The full conlang can be found here.
====Phonology====
Dequa is a phonetically inconsistent language. This means that each letter does not always correspond to the same sound without many rules for when this happens. There are also a high number of allophones. However, the phonology at least follows an identifiable pattern, which is matched with the Jagdasian script in the official alphabet.
The language has phonemic stress. What this means is that the placement of stress in a word effects its meaning and could theoretically be in any part, rather than being determined by rules and carrying no meaning. Usually it is on the penultimate syllable of a word, but when it is not, the stressed syllable's vowel has an acute accent placed over it (á, é, í, ó, ú). An example of this is in the words Dequa and Dequá. Dequa refers to the language itself, while Dequá is an adjective meaning "Of Quagerons".
==== Common Words. ====
Ola - Hello
Chao - Goodbye
Timpo - Weather
Dei - Day
Noche - Night
==== Meta ====
From an out-of-lore perspective, Dequa is a language evolved from Spanish by putting it through naturalistic sound shifts and grammatical changes. Spanish was a widely spoken language in Quagero, but Pablito E. (IGN: BlockyPro2008) felt it was both unoriginal and unlikely. Therefore, an original draft of Dequa was created using elements of Spanish, Nahuatl, and English. This was meant to be the result of Spanish (Dubbed "Rancher" after the area of El Rancho) after cultural influence from Huitca and Centaris. After all, a couple hundred years would have passed in-lore, and the language would have evolved.
This original draft was put on hold after the end of Rathnir. Most of the original Quagero players moved on to El Degüello, but spoke real world Spanish instead of Dequa. Eventually, Pablito began to feel as if his draft was absolutely horrendous. It possessed features like noun gender changing consonants, phonology equivalent to English with a latin accent & random sounds added, and nonsensical arbitrary evolution from Spanish.
However, the idea of Quageron culture was revisited when Hо̄u Zhanaland kicked off. A new version of Dequa was created around October 2024 utilizing Pablito's new knowledge of linguistics and conlanging. Evolutions were applied in at least an attempt to be naturalistic, retaining many characteristics of our Spanish with softer influences from cultures that dominated the Quagerons. Thus, the modern form of Dequa was written.
Category:Cultures
Category:Culture of Akashiro
Category:Hou Zhanaland
Category:Talasi
Category:Lore
Category:Akashiro
Category:Languages