Tungrid (culture)

The Tungrid culture is a dying one - while it was widespread several centuries ago it has since declined due to systematic genocide by nations such as Harä and Kafetra. Several pockets of Tungrids survive under protection in northern Dalfore, where the liberal republican government treats them equally as first-class citizens.

## History

The Tungrids were originally a nomadic culture - they originated from the plains east of the Flentia River. They are first recorded as arriving from that east and settling in tent-cities near the Reman city of Eremanthus. A small portion of the Tungrids settled in these cities, but most remained in their portable settlements.

Following the Great Gap, whatever razed Eremanthus also spooked the Tungrids and moved them west. They reappeared near the city of Umberus but the Gap required a scapegoat. The Reman government named several cultural groups, including the Tungrids, as the aggressors and the legions garrisoned in Umberus turned on them.

Narrowly avoiding decimation at the Battle of Corsolius, the Tungrids struck out to the west. They were welcomed by their cultural cousins in the desert-plains nations of Lharina and Budhraine, where they founded the settlements of Khura and Siahkuy.

The Tungrids' luck didn't last. In 494 the consuls of the Reman Republic, suffering from internal struggles due to their oppression of minorities, declared that the Tungrids were still the problem. The other minorities blamed for the Great Gap had been suppressed, and many ruthlessly slaughtered, and the Tungrids were the only one left. Furthermore, the legions' pride had been stung at Corsolius.

So in 494 the Reman Republic invaded the Sharqiya of Ferahaa, the country the Tungrids were in at the time. After several years the war was at a stalemate and, with the Vardanid Empire threatening to intervene on Ferahaa's side, the Remans were forced to back down.

After the war, though, it was made clear that the Tungrids had outstayed their welcome. While some elements of the tribe tried to stay, the majority packed up and left in 499. Those who refused to leave were attacked physically and verbally by the Ferahaans. The areas around Khura and Siahkuy are still considered tainted by some, and it is not uncommon for human bones to be found in the fields around the towns.

Following their expulsion from Ferahaa, the Tungrids headed further west. They were spurred on by their leader - the charismatic and wise Adagan Khan, who insisted that they head to the Fields of Water present in Tungrid mythology. He identified this location with the West Sea based on descriptions he gleaned from Spurnian traders.

Their journey was not to be easy. They would have to either pass through the Kingdom of Varhold, a vast and powerful country unforgiving to foreigners, or take a shortcut southwest and risk destruction among the fractious and volatile nations of Suren's Desert's western reaches. Adagan chose the former, and his host of over one hundred thousand crossed the border into Lastornia several months later in early 500CE.

The Lastornians did not take kindly to the Tungrids - they were within the Reman sphere of influence and sent for help. When that did not appear and the Tungrid horde was passing by the city of Irun, King Falaris looked further west. He begged the warlord Kurt, hegemon of Varhold, for assistance. The answer he received was to let the Tungrids through and send an army to trail them. This was the beginning of the Irun Pact, a collection of countries concerned about the Tungrid presence.

The Tungrids passed out of Lastornia and into Varhold in early 502, followed by a contingent of Lastornians under Count Amadeu Galçeranos. They made good time; Kurt implemented an early form of scorched earth to funnel them towards the Vorge River. The Lastornians were joined by Varholdians, Spurnese and Lacrivians, who eventually challenged the Tungrids on the banks of the Vorge River in June 502.

The ensuing Battle of Vorgebirge was a decisive victory for the Tungrids, and its results echoed throughout the continent. Free to move, Adagan led the Tungrids across the Vorge and through the Kafetran Basin. Arriving at the vacant coast of the West Sea, they settled down and founded their capital tent-city of Ormol Camp. From here the Tungrids spread out, eventually settling the entire region between it and Ealsor.

In 528 Adagan Khan died and his lands were split between his sons - there ended up being around half a dozen splinter states. They distrusted each other and, while a few reached out for protection - Krasnar and Ormol were taken under the wing of Dalfore - most were invaded and annexed by Kafetra, Harä and Astarcia.

Even Krasnar and Ormol fell - they were absorbed into Dalfore once their rulers died. Everywhere else the Tungrid culture died out - Kafetra and Harä were both rising powers, and needed to cement their cultural identities. Thus minorities like the Tungrids were ruthlessly repressed - as of the modern day, Tungrid culture is all but gone north of the Hurva River.

In Dalfore, though, Tungrid culture has flourished. The inhabitants of Tungrid-majority towns like Niogar and Croscamp are famed for their horse-breeding, leatherwork and unique troubadorial style. Though going out of fashion now, Tungrid cultural attire was popular among the Dalforean upper class several decades ago.