Larawak

The **Larawak** people (Larawiyaki: *Kąnééyi'i*) were a large confederation of tribes that inhabited much of the east half of Lakay. They were formed of countless native peoples; warriors, hunters, farmers, storytellers and explorers with a rich history.

## Kąnééyi'i

The banner of the Larawaks, traditionally dyed with crushed shellfish and woven inkstained fibers.

### Aliases

Larawaks, Horse Lords, Plains People, Lakayan Natives

### Known For

Most populous natives of Lakay, powerful warriors, notable artists

## Appearance and Adornment

Larawak people tended to have cool-toned medium brown skin, though there were obviously differences depending on subgroup and location. They tended to be slender and have naturally silky long hair that could be anywhere from black to silver, gold to green, though as mentioned later, hair was very important and sometimes was cut before war or after a defeat. They often adorned themselves with parts of the animals from their environment; feathers, seashells, shark teeth, and other trinkets. The coastal peoples had an intricate process of ritual tattooing done using needles soaked in ink from sea creatures, with ornate designs on the face and body.

## Traditional View of Gender

The Larawak people believed everyone had fragments of souls from the Creator inside them, which gave them special insight. Those who experienced life from not just the perspective of one gender were considered to be more enlightened and tended to make better leaders. On the other hand, those who experienced a soul neither masculine or feminine were thought of as objective and unbiased. These views were represented in identities, thought of as 'higher' than the physical form of the body:

* Hóówe - simultaneously masculine and feminine
* Kááwe - changing between masculine and feminine
* Zianh - feminine
* Hké - masculine
* C'łeení - neither

## Lineages and Leadership

The majority of Larawak people were elvenkind; sea and wood elves. However, there were also two notable lineages in Larawak culture which explained the emergence of startouched (aasimar) and helltouched (tiefling) members of the group.

Startouched individuals were often sought as healers, leaders in peacetime, and for balanced council. They were thought of as calm and clear-headed, peaceful and content. They were known as **Ts'kekané** (people of the stars). Helltouched individuals were prized as wartime leaders, great warriors, explorers and wayfinders. They were thought of as powerful and intense, restless and unruly. They were known as **Ósokané** (people of the flames).

Sometimes, in a tribe, a more calm leader might defer to a more intense leader during a time of conflict with enemies. When peace was restored, they would swap back again. Leadership tended to be passed down matrilineally, but in times of low confidence, new leaders could be chosen by the people or (rarely) though trial by combat.

## Cultural Traditions

Larawaks had a birth name and would also be known by many names, often taken after events in their life. For example, the Larawak ósokané chieftain known normally as Biting Shark was given the birth name *O:iakota*, which was his personal name. He was then given the name *Cetanwakuwa,* meaning 'he bites like a shark', when he came of age and the elders realised his hot-headedness. Then, after he helped win the day at the Battle of Fort Helena, he took the name *Kštwañi*, meaning 'he wins our liberty'.

It was also tradition that Larawak names were not repeated whilst the person was alive, and it was recommended they not be repeated by anyone but the original bearer's descendants until the original person had fallen out of memory.

They had a tradition of passing down intricate woven blankets and shawls. The patterns on these blankets were highly individual and personal to each clan or family.

## Origins, Territory, and Colonisation Overview

The Larawak people inhabited most of the eastern half of Lakay; their ancestors lived there since at least the -12,000s. Their main clusters of population were along the north coast, ranging from Flatfish Bay up to south of the eastern horn. Their settlements sprang up along the mouths of rivers where there was plentiful food, fish, and fresh water. Some of them settled further inland near rivers in the plains, and others found success journeying further south. Some Larawak explorers crossed the seas of the Wolcott Straits to settle some of the islands there.

They had several instances of contact with the other main native ethnic groups of Lakay. The Larawaks were aware of the Verdis, knowing that they preferred to live isolated under the mountains. They would have also encountered the ancestors of the modern day Bayut+Uiyet peoples. They would have known this ancestor tribe as animal tamers and hunters that lived to the Larawaks' own west, i.e. northeast of the desert.

## Tongue of Gold

The Larawaks spoke Larawiyaki, a complex language that was very hard for outsiders to pick up. It was a concept-based language with two vowel tones (high and regular), a lack of lexical stress, heavy emphasis on emotions & simplicity, and a free-flowing structure.

They themselves used the word **Laké'**, meaning 'the world', which was co-opted by the later Lusken Empire to give the isle its name in modern parlance. Many place names were drawn from spiritual meaning, often ascribed due to the presence of significant natural phenomena (such as 'where the sharks swim' or 'where the river flows').

## Imperialism from the East

After the advent of the Lusken Empire upon Lakay's eastern horn and straits in the early and late 1200s respectively, Larawak territory slowly but surely was impacted. The Luskens would chop down trees for fuel or arable land, impacting the natives' livelihoods. Several of their towns were destroyed or displaced to allow Luskens to build forts and towns of their own.

## Traders from the North

The Vortic Mercatorium settled Lakay in the early 1400s. However, they did not settle much land that overlapped with Larawak territory, and were much more amiable toward the Larawaks, trading more freely. In this way, the Larawaks acquired more crops, armaments, and more wood and metal.

## Modern History

In 1513, Machavellio Disforza killed the leader of the Léra Larawaks, the calm star-touched Born of Thunder, allowing her more hot-headed flame-touched son Biting Shark to take over, as part of Max's plot. He joined Born of Thunder on an auspicious wolf hunt but then killed her and staged it as the doing of a Lusken hunting party. This spurred Biting Shark to action; Max needed to give him a reason to want to wage war on the Empire, and it worked. Biting Shark himself also took a star-touched advisor, Starry Sky.

In later 1513, The Lakayan Liberators united the Léra Larawaks, the Uiyet, Bayut and Verdis tribes against the Luskans, and they stormed Fort Helena. The attack was a success, and from then on, the fort was known as Fort Thunderlord in honour of the fallen Born of Thunder, and the land was considered Larawak land.

Through the 1510s to the 1560s, the Larawaks were as equals and leaders of the Lakayan Federation, rather than subjects like under the Lusken Empire. Larawiyaki became an official language of the Federation, spoken by many of the leaders. *(It's always funny to imagine this; like, imagine a European governor breaking into fluent Navajo or Mohawk out of nowhere)*. During this time, very many Larawaks moved to cities or towns.

When the Federation ~~invaded~~ liberated Halcyon in 1561 and the city and its environs became part of the greater Federation, there was a large emigration of Lakayan Larawak people to Halcyon, until they formed a significant minority there. It would not be uncommon to hear conversation in Larawiyaki in Halcyon. Halcyian Larawiyaki became a divergent dialect of the language, and in fact, many loanwords then entered Euluska.