Waxeroi

**Waxeroi** are a mixed ethnicity of Heronoi and Arnadjanai origin. They were born since the 14th century AT, as the children produced by King Rauteko's wild parties to repopulate the eastern regions.

They and their "patriarch", Rauteko, were blamed for the Thralondian Invasion and oppression of Heronoja. The Heronoi believe that if Rauteko and his Waxeroi did not exist, the gods would not have sent the Thralondians to punish them.

## Terminology

The Waxeroi themselves prefer to be known as **Heronoi**, because they stubbornly insist that in spite of their Arnadjanai ancestry, they are still of Heronoi blood.

Because they still retain their Heronoi language, culture, and traditions, the Waxeroi of Siangwaan and nearby lands are known as **Southern Heronoi**.

## History

In the 14th century AT, Rauteko became king of Heronoja. His reign was marked by growing promiscuity, as he wanted to recapture sensual pleasures before the Human Sanctification Project. He once invited hundreds of young men and women as his harem, organising dozens of nightly feasts where they mingled with each other, himself, and his Arnadjanai male and female slaves. Then, he sent them to live in communes, where they produced hundreds of Heronoi-Arnadjanai hybrids to populate the eastern regions. As Rauteko became more cruel and sadistic, even murdering his concubines for sport, his guards stopped him and executed him so his brother Tewandarai took the throne. Although a large number of Heronoi planned to exterminate the hybrids known as "Waxeroi", Tewandarai stopped them from reaching the east, and permitted the Waxeroi to continue their loose lifestyle.

When the Thralondians conquered Heronoja, they subjected thousands of Heronoi to be killed and ground into fuel. To prevent the total extinction of their bloody crop, they created more clones to replace the Heronoi that were harvested. Because the Waxeroi were stronger and more unstable than their Heronoi kin, their men and women were kept as slaves and concubines, to degrade and break them into submission and fear.

After the Wraithstorm, the Waxeroi helped their enraged kin defeat and expel the remaining Thralondians. For almost a century they left the Waxeroi alone, but when a series of natural disasters struck the east, and an episode of Karakewe Shore (a local TV show) ended with a pogrom, many Heronoi felt that the time was right to exterminate the Waxeroi. Those that they did not kill fled to nearby lands, and those who managed to survive were treated like slaves and ordered to have their reproductive cells harvested. Another reason why they murdered hundreds of Waxeroi was out of a fear that the Waxeroi will become like the kodequara and might slaughter and dominate them.

Until recently, the Heronoi disliked the Waxeroi, seeing them as disgusting freaks. Even today, they also stereotype anyone who lives at the eastern parts of the peninsula with stupid savagery. The remaining Waxeroi who still live at eastern Heronoja were protected by the local Arnadjanai, Rakolans, and Norsefolk, along with hundreds of sympathetic Heronoi. At times when they were shunned by the rest of Heronoi society, it was the easterners who continued to feed the Waxeroi and help them adapt to modern life, ensuring them a place in Heronoja.

The Waxeroi of eastern Heronoja were also the country's only link to the distant land of Rukania, an old ally of their nation since its founding. Grateful for the knights helping them rebuild, some Waxeroi even behaved like Rukanians, wearing armour and forming their own knighthoods, though they were not recognised by the government until the present day.

King Atozajoro attempted to reintegrate them into the rest of Heronoi society, but his decision provoked riots in parts of the country. Eventually, due to international pressure, all Waxeroi were allowed to keep their citizenship. The knighthoods the Waxeroi formed as communities were also recognised by the government of Heronoja.

### Waxeroi society

In the years when the Waxeroi were autonomous, their society was slightly different from that of the Heronoi. Polygamy (and polyandry) was commonly-practiced: like their Arnadjanai brethren, they felt like wanting to produce more of their kind. They also invited more Arnadjanai to intermarry and breed with them.

Families in Waxeroi societies tend to consist either of: communes of men and women who breed with each other and raise each other's children as their own; three-parent households (of two friends and a spouse of the opposite sex); harems; and the usual two-parent households. Like their Arnadjanai ancestors, the Old Waxeroi were permissive of extra-martial relationships, either to satisfy their own carnal desires or to breed and produce more members.

These were also enforced by the Heronoi authorities to mock the Waxeroi's promiscuous nature by dehumanising them simply for being created by wild parties.

After the massacres, many Waxeroi chose to assimilate themselves into Heronoi culture. Some Waxeroi in eastern Heronoja instead adopted Rukanian mannerisms and traditions, living the lifestyles of knights swearing loyalty to Heronoja.

## Waxeroi of different countries

Sevraeja has a lot of Waxeroi, mostly because they happened to end up there due to the sea winds blowing them north instead of Rukania. In the north, they made a living as artists and craftsmen, as the locals were amused by their awkward behaviour, but pleased because they were able to eagerly learn faster.

Rukania's Waxeroi followed many other Heronoi, blending in as if they were the same. They were those whose ships were blown southwards. Being stronger than Heronoi, local Waxeroi in Rukania were easily picked for being knights. Like their northern counterparts, many of them were also eager to learn to be engineers, to prove that they are not barbarians.

Tjaunorja has a large community of Waxeroi, who were welcomed for being Heronoi. These became among its fighters and engineers who aided its defences, and moved on to help revolutionaries break Bivos from Arantarese rule.

### Siangwaanian Waxeroi history

Siangwaan has the biggest community of Waxeroi, both outside Heronoja and in the world. In censuses, they are mostly identified as "Heronoi", much to the delight of this blonde community who proudly consider themselves as Heronoi, leading to erroneous claims that "Siangwaan has the biggest community of Heronoi in the world" when it was still their homeland of Heronoja.

The Waxeroi of Siangwaan arrived to the country at around the 19th century, after the Karakewe Riots led to massacres and many of them fleeing to other nations. Most Waxeroi settled at the farmlands in the south to replace emigrants who left for the cities. Locals complained that the Waxeroi looked attractive, but were more noisier and annoying as they enjoyed picking brawls and fights. They also made jousting more popular in the south.

Noticing that their behaviour may had been the reason why they were banished from their former homeland, the Waxeroi started emulating the Heronoi of the north. keeping themselves more neat than before. Ever since their arrival into Siangwaan, the Waxeroi still considered themselves as Heronoi. Many pureblood Heronoi who migrated south in search of adventure and freedom also intermarried Waxeroi farmers, because they were still considered as fellow Heronoi.

In 1901 AT, eleven out of the sixteen members of Siangwaan's national jousting team were of Waxeroi descent.

## Characteristics

Waxeroi look very similar to their Heronoi relatives, having blonde hair, blue eyes, and peach skin. However, their bodies tend to be stronger than those of Heronoi or other humans, but not as tough as those of Arnadjanai. They also have stronger desires than their Heronoi kin.

Being descendants of Arnadjanai, Waxeroi suffer from the usual urge to be violent, even among females. This is how come gyms in eastern Palkyrian countries are full of blonde men and women.

## Culture

Many Waxeroi still insist that they are just as Heronoi as their pureblood kin, so they adopted many aspects of traditional Heronoi culture. Some tend to train their sons and daughters to be more "formal" and "gentlemanly/ladylike" to make other people respect them, but their formal attire and polite attitude made them seem outdated or "stupid" to outsiders. Nonetheless, in daily life and especially among younger Waxeroi, their attitudes would seem more vulgar, from going around shirtless to being too romantic, and getting into brawls and fistfights.

Waxeroi boys like to take off their shirts, especially when near friends. Some females also do it, but they usually wear a tank top to cover their breasts.

Waxeroi people tend to be more romantic than other people. Some Waxeroi households are even polygamous.

Although most Waxeroi worship the Heronoi gods, some also syncretise with deities. Three popular deities in Waxeroi religion are Baldr (the god of courage), Freyr (the god of freedom and blondes), and Odin (the god of outcasts). Whereas the Heronoi fear and avoid Odin as a god of death and ruin, the Waxeroi openly embrace Odin as their guardian, because they believe that Odin is the lord of outcasts like them, so he might accept them into his arms.

## Notable Waxeroi

* Kuruso - a painter from Heronoja. He and his wife, who is also a Waxeroi, emigrated to Siangwaan to find more freedom and to avoid harassment.
* Gworofando - a farmer boy from Gwai Yuen. He is Kuruso's eldest son. Although he was the victim of bullying due to his obsessions over his friends, his same friends helped him overcome his bullies and become a sports champion.
* Wiresa - a blue-haired girl from Gwai Yuen. Like Gworofando, she was also hurt by bullies and frightened by nightmares, making her a more violent child. But with her friends' help, she learns to overcome her rage.
* Komata - unlike most Waxeroi, she does not like fighting or showing off her skin, preferring to emulate "pretty princesses". For this supposed "weakness", other Waxeroi girls bullied her, although Wiresa and other friends stood up to protect her.
* Komawe - she is Komata's more mature sister. Unlike Komata, she can fight, but only as a hobby to spar at training dummies; and she prefers to wear trousers.

## Trivia

* The author once considered writing about what might happen if Gworofando (a Waxeroi) and Paxoti (a pure Arnadjanai) fell in love, as it involved a man and a woman born with more physical strength, and it amused him.
* In Siangwaan, where many Waxeroi live at the southern farmhands, Waxeroi (and Heronoi in general) are treated like the local equivalent of a "redneck" or so-called "white trash". A far cry from the northern relatives who tormented and drove them out, the Waxeroi are more vulgar and loose, resulting in blonde jokes being more common among Siangwaanians.
* "Danny" (Дѣнні) is a mocking nickname directed at ethnic Heronoi males, and also at Waxeroi men. It refers to a fictional man with blonde hair who does stupid things, ridiculing Heronoi as a race of stupid people. A stereotypical danny is awkward, drunk, and shirtless.
* Gworofando and Farondo remembered when their classmates used to call them "dannies" (јобанноје дѣнніје).
* The female equivalent of a danny is a danela, stereotyped as socially awkward, drunk, wearing skimpy dresses, and going after men. Danelas and dannies often go after each other.

## See also

* Kodequara
* Heronoification