Nations of Maran

# The Nations of Maran

The world of Maran is home to many different people who build troughout history many great civilisations.

This page is about the many different people living on Maran and the nations they built.

## The People of Senai

The continent of Senai is home to the Taran, the Molei, Sedaras, Teruk and Maraun peoples

### Taran people

The Taran originally stem from the Far West and their legends tell of the great city of Eidele where their ancestors lived. Whether Eidele really existed or not is still in debate, sure is that the Proto-Taran migrated into the Dian Mountains around three thousand years before Marana.

#### The Gorin Culture

The Gorin Culture is the oldest known Taranic culture. It is not known whether this culture is the same as the people of Eidele or not. Many also speculate that the people of the Gorin Culture were closely related to the Maraun people and that the Taran and Maraun separated around the fourth millenia before Marana.

#### The Western States

The Taran migrated into the Dian coming from the West. In the Western Dian they build the first distinct Taran settlements. The Taran found in the Dian mysterious fortresses built into the mountains. They could not explain their original other than that they were built by the Gods. One place where they found an entire city was named "The Mountain of thousand Gods" were allegedly thousand Gods fell in war in one day. The oldest Taranic states were all meritocrattically organised and still today the surviving states only adhere to their own rules and reject the kings of the other dynastically organised Taranic states. Today the remaining Western States, often called Old-Diandenr, are just a backwater place, especially after the Western Collapse in the thirdteenth century the Western States have essentially become isolated from the rest of the world.

#### Diadenr

The Diadenr are perhaps the most well known of the taranic people of classical times. Legend says their ancestors Diador the Wanderer came from one of the Western States, he was exiled by the ruling elites there. He gathered his clan and loyal friends and migrated eastwards. There they found the Valley of Ayurdar. Other western clans soon followed and founded their own kingdoms. The Kingdom of Krasnadar, Golosha, Sylikaidia and Gumleia were all founded in this time. The Kingdoms of Ayurdar and Sylikaidia were the most powerful among these states. Soon came War and in 636 after Marana the Kingdom of Ayurdar had conquered and united all other Kingdoms, except Sylikaidia. Diador the Great then proceeded and was crowned Neina (Emperor) of all Dian. With the later rise of the eastern Taran Empire the Diadenr quickly fell into irrelevance. Many, foremost Sansech kir Illiurset and his father, tried to bring back the old glory of the Diandenr but failed.

#### Sylikaidia

Sylikaidia was the one Kingdom not being conquered by the Ayurdar. Sylikaidia lies south to the Dian and always had the biggest population of all the classical Taranic Kingdoms. Sylikaidia has long been known for its spirituality and peacefulness. The country was for long ruled by monasteries and the so called Chylai Monks. Their interpretation of Taranism is called Chylaiism. The goal of Chylaiism is not outward, but inward, one has not to fight the evil in the world, but the evil within themself. After the Sylikaidian royal family withered away and the last King gave all his fortune to the monasteries the country was essentially ruled by the monks. This period of history is called the Sylikaidian Convent. This situation changed drastically in the fourteenth century when Maraun hordes attacked Sylikaidia. After the war the commander Alandir Karheten arose from the Jasawez Faction and became King of Sylikaidia in Dariewas and later Emperor (Nekut Neina) of the Empire of the West.

#### Imperial Taran

The eastern Taran people often call themself Imperial Taran. Their ancestors are the Marsimach people who lived at the eastern reaches of the Diadenr Empire in the former Kingdoms of Golosha and Krasnadar and what is now called Nagallra. The Marsimach were subdued and quickly became vassals of the Diadenr in the seventh century. After the Diadenr won the First Diadenr-Ceriadis War in 701 the time of the Wasler-States began. The Diadenr Emperor send them out along the Iren River and north to the Illey River to found new vassal Kingdoms for the Diadenr Empire. So were the Kingdoms of Nagallra, Mentral, Ireneia and Illeya created. Later, after also the Third Diadenr-Ceriadis War was won, Emperor Ashkantr united the Diadenr Empire, the Kingdoms of Nagallra, Mentral and Ireneia and the conquered Ceriadian territory and called it the United Empire, later known as just the Taran Empire.

#### Northern Taran

The Northern Taran or Gumlug originate from the people of the old Kingdom of Gumleia. They were sent out during the same time the other Wasler-States were founded. The Gumlug were tasked to explore the north. They founded the cities of Whitefield and Northport and made the later their Capital.
After Sylikaidia declared itself an Empire the Gumlug did the same and renamed themself Empire of the North and began to claim all lands north of the Dian mountains. Soon their expansionism collided with the expansionism of the Mjial State and lead to a devastating war at the beginning of the seventeenth century.

### Molei People

The Molei live on the south-eastern coastland of Senai up to the Iren River to the north. Troughout their history the Molei build many great states, foremost the ancient Great Garienen, die Empire under the Sun Ceriadis and the Molei Union. In the past the Molei followed two major sorts of religion. The northern Molei prayed to the sun, the stars and the moon, while the southern people worshipped great and cruel animal deities. Today most of the Molei follow the Marist Religion.

#### Garienen

The nation of Great Garienen is one of the earliest states in documented history. The earliest traces of the Garienish people reach back into the 14th century BM. Most old cities favored one of the many deities. Sleta worshipped the Leviathan Uttak, Urak worshipped the Dove Ilka, Ach Atun worshipped the Goat Szöhrwis. Great Garienen had three deities. The Great Bull Gorka, lord of fertility and war, the Harpy Siskis, mother of wisdom and flayer of traitors and the Hound-Headed Snake Gröuwul, Lord of lies and devourer of the foolish. Great Garienen and its cruel Gods soon conquered a vast Empire. In a war lasting hundred years Great Garienen finally fell and was subdued by an Alliance of Arin, Mentasillis and Ulentian rebells. After the fall the region split into many smaller states, ever warring against each other. The King of Garienen Eyrl tried to establish a new Garienish Empire, but utterly failed.

#### Ulentia

Ulentia is the region south of Garienen called. Sometimes a land named Illjania is added in between Garienen and Unlentia. Today the Illjanish people are indistinguishable part of Ulentia.
Ulentia was the first country conquered by the Garienish and it payed the biggest toll under the Garienish rule. Finally the Ulentians rose up and allied themselves with the Arinians and Mentasillians in the north and together destroyed Garienen. Following the victory the Molay had a huge influence on Ulentia and soon the Ulentians adopted the marist faith from the north.

#### Orolia

Orolia is the land within the Os'Orol Mountains. It lies to the west from Garienen and Ulentia and east to Maraun.
The Orolians are isolated from the rest and live relatively peaceful in their mountains and aren't really bothered by the political squalors between the different Garienish and Ulentian states.
Although most Orolians are marist they keep much of their old worship, focused around the mountains, springs and ancient animal deities.

#### Ceriadis

The Empire under the Sun how Ceriadis is often called is one of the most powerful and influential Empires in history. Ceriadis was founded in the year 0 with the foundation of the city Ceriadis, which was later called Marana by the Taran. This Alliance of the Sun consisted of the four states Derial, Erelas, Larein and Jerim. The state of Ceriadis lasted untill the year 1047 when it was conquered by the united Taran forces. Even after being conquered the legacy of Ceriadis and the Ceriadian people remained influential.

#### Adilan

Adilan is the land north of Ceriadis called up to the Iren River. The people of Adilanis were for long the rival of Ceriadis. They reached their zenith in the second century, but reemerged in the fifth century as a great power and even conquered Ceriadis for a few years. The Adilan are organised in various city states and petty kingdoms who formed a Union in the first century BM. They are also renown for their excellent cavalry. The Adilan are called Karchan by the Taran people.

#### Molay

The Molay are the people of the Principality of Eshenta, the Kingdom of Arin and Mentasillis. The molayan lands are also the birthplay of the religion of Marism, the believe in only one God. In the third century BM the Molay were threatened by the Garienish and much of their territory was conquered. In return the Theocracy of Arin and the Kingdom of Mentasillis build an alliance and later also added the Kingdom of Eshenta to this Union against Garienen. This first Union between the Molay was called the Dominion of Mentasillis. In the fourth and early fifth century the Kingdoms of Eshenta and Mentasillis became part of Ceriadis and Arin an important Vassal. After the fall of Ceriadis the molayan states went into decline and founded the Molei Union to counter this development and oppose the rising Taran Empire.

#### Nebrech

The Nebrech are a bit of a special case among the Molei. They are technically Molei, but their way of life is much different than of the other Molei people. The Nebrech are a nomadic people living in the Nebrech Basin. They have just recently adopted Marism and their old faith the so called Nebrekan Stargazers is still a big part of their culture. The Nebrech or Walken, how the Taran call them, wandered east in the midst of the eleventh century and caused the Nebrech Crisis, which lead to the Third Diadenr-Ceriadis War. Although they were first allied with the Diadenr, they later joined the Molei Union under the name Principality of Nebriga.

### Sedaras People

The Sedaras are the people traditionally living north of the Iren River. Today they have been mostly assimilated by Taran and Molei who later migrated into the area. The Sedaras are a very diverse group reaching from the almost barbarian Ki'in to the sophisticated Akken and the ancient Kogorno. Their homeland reached from the Wild Cape up to the White Lands in the far north and the northernmost region of Llauq. The origin of the name Sedaras is unknown, many suppose it is related to the Taran word Sedan, meaning Swampland.

#### Ki'in or Bolgokken

The land of Ki'in lies in the north-eastern corner of the Herlet Arlaran. Ki'in is home to many people, who since the twelth century began to call themself all Ki'in. In the eastern mountains live the Bolgokken, the people of the Woods. It is often said that the Bolgokken are both the purest Ki'in and the most primitive. The tribes in the central flatlands and the swamplands in the south have build more power chiefdoms, which often resemble smaller Kingdoms. On the rivers, foremost the Borgata, lives the Northern Riverfolk who partly consist of exiled Riverlords from the south and swamlanders who adopted their culture. In the Northern Mountains and the coastland were once the Kingdoms of Ki'intanav and Torlevon. Ki'intanav eventually fell when the Taran invaded, but remained an important place in the Ki'in culture. Torlevon became the only real city of Ki'in. Neighboring Ki'in lies the Drekkenland, the Drekken people are very closely related to the people of the northern mountains and the coastland. Most Ki'in, especially the Bolgokken, follow the belief in Kutri and Galmar and have a circular worldview in which the world comes from Ash (Leshet) and will return to Ash in the end.

#### Irnken or Riverfolk

The Iren River is called Irngam in the tongues of the Sedaras. The Riverfolk or Irnken how they call themself build their realms on the Rivers of the central Herlet Arlaran. In mighty houseboats their aristocracy traversed these rivers. Their society was partinioned into three castes. The Riverlords who lived on the boats, the mightiest of them never set a foot on land. The Ovikken (people living at the river bank) who lived in cities alongside the river and made up the common people of the Riverfolk and the Swamppeople who lived more inland and were aggruculturalists and basically slaves of the Riverlords.
The culture of the Riverfolk was almost completely destroyed during the thirty year long Irenland War. A few surviving Riverlords was given land by the Taran, but later assimilated into Taran society. A few others fled north into Ki'in and sought refugee with the Northern Riverfolk.

#### Akken

The Akkenland lies between the Green Stream and the White Stream, south of the Ikkenian Mountains and north of Nagallra. The Akken are a union of eight tribes; the Stieken, the Gotagu, the Marnar, the Theradi, the Rhok, the Farinthir, the Berradhi and the Valrin. The age of this union is unknown as the Akken strictly forbid anyone to write down their history. The Akken Tradition how their ritualistic way of life is called is very much opposed to the written word. Oral history, rituals, dances, tribal banners and robes are the way the Akken perform their history. Although they did conquer a vast territory in the early first millenia AM they never really were an expansionistic people and are more focused on themself and developed a very introverted culture.

#### Rekken

The Rekken originally come from the Northern Sedaras and are probably the descendents of an exiled warrior caste. They migrated into the northern Ikkenian Mountains around the third century AM and founded there their Kingdom. The Rekken enslaved the Ikkenian people and installed a strict patriarchical warrior society. When the Taran send out the Wasler to found new states they quickly established relations with the Rekken people. The Taran even helped the Rekken and made they their allies from very early on. Today the Rekken are often called the lapdogs of the Illeyans.

#### Northern Sedaras and Lasillauq

North of the Herlet Arlaran lies the land of Sedaras (not to be confused with the Sedaras people in general) Farther north begins the White Land and Llauq. The Northern Sedaras have a tribal lifestyle similar to the Bolgokken in the east. The Taran (Gumlug) who came into this area tried to ally with them too, but had a harder time than the Illeyans, because of intertribal wars. Eventually the Taran only settled in the coastal regions and although the Sedaras were technically subjects of the Gochneve Kings, they remained most independent until Gumlug transformed itself into an Empire.
In the Far North the Lasillauq people mostly live as reindeer herders.

#### Kogorno

The ancient city of Kogorno lies at the northern edge of civilisation. Its age and origin are unknown, most guess its age of at least five thousand years. Under mighty volcanoes the Kogornians lived millenia alone in the Old-North. This isolatio bred a xenophobic and arrogant race, fearful and disdaining of all people from the outside. To ensure their survival they harnessed the power of the volcanos and cultivated crops north of the artic circle.

### Maraun people

The Maraun are the people of the great western plains. They live a nomadic life and are often called barbarians by the Taran and Molei people. The Sylikaidians fear and hate the riders of Maraun and have a long rivalry. This rivalry led at the end of the fourteenth century to a devastating war and the rise of the Sylikaidian Empire of the West and the enslavement of tens of thousands of Maraun.
The religion of the Maraun people is mostly dualistic with minors deities inbetween. The two most worshipped Gods are the Sky-Father and the Earth-Mother, special priests called Birdmen and Earthwives.

#### Böchdue, Ulundue, Lo Kuyhun and Durda

The Böchdue, Ulundue, Lo Kuyhun and the Durda are the people of central Maraun, who live the Maraun lifestyle still like their ancestors. The Böchdue live around the Böchkan lake and the Böchkan and
Yhatue Rivers. The Lo Kuyhun live on the western coast and the Durda live in the south and often wander into the Durssu Desert and have contact with the Ehlhoc people south of Senai. The Ulundue live in the centre. Most Maraun live in smaller tribes of under hundred people. These tribes do exist in larger bands called Hordes. In Summer the men of each tribe gather and often go to war against each other or pillage the neighboring countries of Orolia and Sylikaidia. The Maraun have a strong reverence for the Sky and the colour blue, but also for the Earth and their holy mountains.

#### Qörai

At the end of the fourteenth century Sylikaidia rose and took "revenge" on the Maraun. They expanded their Empire into the plains of Maraun and enslaved a great many of its people. The people who became slaves called themself Qörai (a Bastardisation of Chylai). After the fall of the Sylikaidian Empire and the rise of the Federation of Maraun the Qörai became the leading class of the Federation.

#### The Alliance of Thirteen

The Alliance of Thirteen or Sutsem Arn is an exception within the Maraun as they are a very urban people. They live around the Bay of Süllcha, west of the Ahrmol Mountains. The Alliance consists of thirteen semi-indepedent states. Their relation to the rest of Maraun has been varied troughout history. In the beginning they often fought against their neighbors, but later established trade relation with them and in turn the Maraun helped to defend the Alliance.

## South of Senai

South of Senai lie the sub-continents of Amdzhel and Ehlhoc on the Western Landmass

#### Massela

The land of Massela lies on the Masselanian Plateau at the southern of the Os'Orol Mountains at the equator. Because of its location, Massela has long been isolated and developed independently from the rest of the world. In ancient times the Masselanians had intensive contact with the Garienish, but returned to isolation. Just during the Third Empire the Masselanians opened up again and even established colonies along the coast.

## Chilesey

Chilesey is an archipelago east to the Western Landmass. It consists of the two big Islands of Hilau and Ihalea and the various smaller Ihalenesian Islands.

### Empire of Krosao

The Emperors of Hilau say their lineage goes back to the legendary Krosao, their God of Fertility, thus their Empire is often called Krosaoan Empire. Krosaoan society is dominated by strict caste system and the ancient Clans. Each Clan traces their lineage back to a God and thus is legitimises them to rule over thus without such divine lineage, so they say. Most people within the Empire belong to some Clan which relies on a strict hierarchy. Only the highest Clan members are allowed to marry someone from a different Clan. The lowests members are basically property of the Clan. Before the Shewanese subdued the Hilauans, the Empire consisted of 28 Clans, highest of them the Clan of Krosao.

## The People of Lavad

Lavad is how the Southern Continent is called in Senai. It is actually a mispronounciation of Lang'Wiang, the Empire dominating the eastern half of the continent.

### Western Lavad

#### Anata

Anata is an island off the coast of western Lavad. The people of Anata lived in various small chiefdoms and later Kingdoms and Principalities. They follow an animistic faith similar to the faith of the Khiang on the mainland. At the end of the sixteenth century Anata was invaded by the Lang'Wiang Empire.

#### Khiang

The Khiang live on the north-western coast of Lavad. They are organised in many different chiefdoms that just united recently to counter the expansionism of the Laako Empire. Although the Khiang are lead by Kings the true power hold the Gorunhi, a caste of female Shamans.
By the mid of the fourteenth century the Khiang had successfully reduced the Laak to their original territory and even treatened their capital Lakohla.

#### Laako

The Laak people live in the centre of western Lavad. The Laak religion is called Laako Umi, the House of Laak, which is more of a societal structure than a faith. The Laak are lead by the Hainketo Umi, the Mothers of the House and are thus matriarchically organised.
Since the fifth century onwards the Laak build various states and conquered their neighbors. The so called Laako Empire, lead by the Hainko Umikau, reached its zenith in tenth century.

#### Kutweh

The Kutweh live in southern Lavad in the taiga and tundra of the southern subpolar regions. The Kutweh are seminomadic and live in tribal structures. The Kutweh are mostly reindeer herders. To conter the Laako Empire, the Union of Kutweh was formed by several northern tribes.
Many Kutweh have little dolls made of bone with them to protect them against evil spirits.