Vanuric peoples

Ruçi / Vanülaay

### Regions with significant populations

Vanuria: 818 000 - 940 000 Thuibrau: 360 000 - 410 000 Nacafi: 140 000 - 160 000 Yakta: 11 500 - 17 000 Imanlhasge: 3 700 - 4 280

### Languages

Letürusaaq, Ğanaruçi, Lashe Felse, Syerakë, Râşduranŷn

### Religion

Vetregetheism, Tribal beliefs

The **Vanuric peoples** are a human ethnic group native to the Dragon's Pass and once heavily wooded lands north of the Atelum Gulf and the Makacheti mountains on the Southern Shore of the Old World, who speak various dialects of the Vanuric languages - *Ğanaruçi* and *Letürusaaq*.

## Etymology

The terms *Vanuric* or *Vanurian* are the anglicised versions of the endonym *Vanülaay* from the *Letürusaaq* language - name referring to one of the most important of the still existing Vanuric tribes. Other names for the Vanuric peoples in neighboring languages also share this common root ​​(râş. *Açvanìrâyŷn*, rhâ. *Dhajhi uŋe Bhanûrâj*), except for *Syerakë*, which uses the name *Rukyë*, coming from the name of the *Ruçi* tribe in the *Ğanaruçi* language.

*Ruçi* (sg. *Ruçu*) descends from the Proto-Vanuric word *rax̆úçu¹*, meaning *nomad, shepherd, wanderer*, while *Vanülaay* (sg. *Vanüla*) is derived from the words *báx̆a* - *to control, to lead, to possess* and *núrıx̆u¹* - *animal, creature*.

The forms *Vanuric* and *Vanurian* are more common when describing the Vanuric peoples as a whole, but for differentiating between the *Ğanaruçi* and *Letürusaaq* speaking populations, the distinction of Ruchi and Vanuric (in this case, alternatively, Vanulic) is made. When referencing the whole ethnicity, Ruchi and Vanulic populations are grouped together as the Living Vanuric.

## History

### Origins & Tribal Divisions

It is believed that the Urheimat of the Vanurian peoples are the lands between the *Lecar* (Shtiver, and by extension, Tyer) and *Binüto* (Nirekyen) rivers, which they may have inhabited even a thousand years prior to their expansion into neighbouring areas. These culturally and linguistically coherent people are called the Proto-Vanurians, although already in those times there were divisions among them into *ölüri mategi* - 'Families' which were always present in their culture. Vanuric Family is more like a tribe than an intimate, small group of people - it is characterized by similar beliefs and a single dialect, as well as claiming to be descended from the same mythological ancestor. The Vanurian clans belonging to a single Family have always stayed rather close to one another, organizing a joint journey through the pastures, and if threatened with an attack, be it by other Families or by foreign peoples, swore to defend each other. Despite the differences and apparent animosity between the Families, which make them seem distant from each other, being related through their culture and ancestry allowed for a strong feeling of unity between the Families - this is evidenced by stories of when, even during conflicts, wounded members of hostile Families who could not return to their own home were taken care of by the enemy until full recovery. Inter-Family marriages were also common, especially among their leaders, who used this tradition to their advantage, by building alliances with other clans and Families.

### Before the Grasslanders' Expansion

For unknown reasons, about 200 years before the rise of *Sùudpejtomı Atsijowedum* - the Sunscythe Empire, a large group of Proto-Vanurians crossed the River Tyer, possibly by building a dyke, which may have contributed to river's redirection into the Vyevr Forest - the area has since become marshy and often suffers from floods. This group later split in two, the first remaining within the forests of the Southern Shore, and the rest moving towards the Great Grasslands. Soon the Vanuric Families thrived on fertile pastures that stretched from the Cafian Coast and the Rakshay River to the feet of the Syuhd Mountains. At the same time, tribes that originally remained in their native lands, harassed by barbaric peoples (possibly the ancestors of the Sabrewolf Riders) coming in from the north, were forced to migrate to the Great Green, where many of them quickly met their doom.

The Vanurians still inhabited these vast lands when, two centuries later, the *Htauhl'zè* people (the ancestors of the Grasslanders) set out into the plains from their homeland on the Rhahle Peninsula. Their rapid and violent expansion caused many conflicts with the previous inhabitants of these lands. Members of the eastern Vanurian population struggled especially hard, often brutally forced into obedience and taken as slaves. Most of the northern Vanurians were able to save themselves from the fate of their forest-dwelling brethren, because thanks to a better knowledge of the Great Grasslands and previous contact with the Cafians, related to the *Htauhl'zè*, they managed to join the population of the Empire unhurt, but in the following years underwent strong assimilation.