People of the mountain

> *"The people of these mountain tribes are far more resilient than even they know. For the forces of the world attempted to shape them into something, steal them away and change their destiny, and yet they resisted. Their lives lack any form of luxury, but they are simple and peaceful. In some ways I am envious"* -Travellers guide to Soi-
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**People of the mountain**, also called **Tuskran** are a group of **Ab human****s** that live in the southwestern region of **Soi** between the Stargazer Plateau and Goran lands. Though they often are considered incredibly intimidating and ferocious looking, the Tuskran are in fact a very docile herbivorous people that are one of the few other species on Soi capable of eating and digesting the **Sandgrass** that covers the Stargazer plateau. They are a primitive people that rarely venture out of their habitat, very rarely venturing into Goran land to steal beehives to trade with **Mamutok tribes**.

 History

The **Tuskran** people originate from a group of large, primitive, root eating humans living in the mountainous regions of the **Firelands** before it was conquered by the **Goran**. During the Goran expansion, the mountain peoples fled deeper into the mountain ranges to escape until the terrain became too unforgiving for Goran Terra forming to take root. This unknowingly drove them close to **Citadel** controlled territory, who's geneticist branch biomancers became fascinated with their body structure.

The Goran sought the aid of the Citadel to capture this breed and fold them into the Goran worker caste bloodline due to their strength and docility. The Bio-shapers of the Citadel agreed in exchange for the Goran providing supplies and the research facility. The program produced moderate success within a few generations. A significant population of escaped test subjects escaped into the mountains once again and the project was shut down.

## Appearance

> *"These mountain folk are terrifying to look at. On appearance alone, most would do anything to avoid a confrontation with them. With nothing to take from them and such an aggressive appearance, perhaps that is why they can afford to have such a gentle culture"* (Ashed scout journal)
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### **Morphology**

Tuskran on average stand just over two meters tall with wide thick builds, tough pale skin and high fat content. Their ears are short and close to their body completely absent of lobes, they lack incisors and have very wide square teeth.

Their mandibles have unique bone like protrusions that extend outward in a similar fashion to tusks, which were exacerbated by guided breeding programs before their people escaped back into the mountains. As a consequence Tuskran have incredibly strong, mandible musculature with very rigid jaw structure.

### **Fashion**

Tuskran wear little to no clothing, what little clothing they wear being made from goat hide and often decorated with lichens and flowers that grow on the mountains they live in. Rarely Tuskran will have shaped stone jewelry found from the natural flint and agate they find on their mountains or within the extensive caves systems they live nearby.

## Land

Tuskran inhabit a series of mountain ranges in the **Firelands** of Soi between the Goran nation and Stargazer plateau. The Tuskran live in the natural, sometimes shaped caves of the mountain ranges.

### **Climate**

The climate of their land is cold and frequently shrouded in cloud cover, the condensation of which is where they acquire most of their drinkable water if not from natural spring sources.

## Law

Law on the mountain is simple and often dealt with by the chieftain of the said tribe or personally. Due to the lack of personal property, theft is rare and most commonly dealt with on a personal basis. Harming others, being too violent, or other crimes against others can commonly result in exile. If a Tuskran does something so heinous to invoke the tribe's wrath, they may be stoned to death.

## Warfare

Tuskran do not make war with other nations due to a lack of organization, will, numbers and weaponry. In the rare case that a confrontation arises with Goran hunting parties mountain folk usually run. In the case of tribal confrontation

## Relation to other nations

The Tuskran rarely leave their lands, on rare occasions, a small group of them will venture outward with a Mamutok by way of the **Hearth on Wheels**. Aside from the rare traveling group, they only interact with their neighbors.

### **Goran**

> *"Run from the fire we would if we could, but fire spreads far and wide. Thankfully it does not reach us up here. Some of them are part of us, they took away their tusk, made them not like us. The fire burns away all and grows more of them"* (Tuskran history)
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They on occasion run across Goran patrols while attempting to carry away beehives, goats, or fruit from their land. The Goran will chase them, occasionally catching stragglers, but will not follow them too far into the mountains due to the amount of effort required to hunt them down and find them. Their thick skin and goat hides are enough to keep them safe from the majority of Goran bee stings, with the cold of the mountain killing the hive.

### **Mamutok**

> *"The people of the flats are good people. They trade with us for the sweet gold we take from the land of fire for the furs of their great beasts. They are a wise people, so at peace. We see by their scrolls and their god that they use the same magics as the men from the tower and this frightened us. How they dip their mind into such things and remain pure is unknown to us.* (Tuskran gatherer)
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The Tuskran trade honey, fruit, and other goods plundered from Goran lands for mammoth furs, and herbs for medicinal or cooking purposes. Tuskran occasionally run into Mamutok while gathering sandgrass to eat from the plateau, being noted as one of the few living creatures capable of eating and digesting it. They are wary of the Mamutok due to the mammoth people attempting to teach them higher mathematics, which the Tuskran recognized as similar "arcane runes" used by the Citadel and shun any knowledge of it.

### **Citadel**

> *"We remember the old tales. The dark tower of screeching metal and cracking lighting and the covered men in masks that took us from our home and gave us to the Goran. They came with dark magics and twisted beasts we could not fight or run from. We stay away from those lands"* (Tuskran Chieftan)
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The Citadel has long since lost interest in the Mountain folk, while still keeping records of the genetic experimentation and their biology, the interest to interact with them simply does not exist with the Academy. The Tuskran in turn avoid the lands around the Academy due to a deep fear of them and their magic.

## ~~Culture~~

> *~~"As much as I would love to uplift these people I fear I would only be bringing unwanted complication to their lives"~~* ~~(Friendly Missionary journal)~~
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> *"There is nothing redeemable about a race of monsters so cowardly that they'll not even attempt to fight. Their pathetic hearts preserve them, but what is a life without courage and honor? A cursed people they surely are, bereft of the strength worship of the Truest brings, living as animals in a way that not even most animals can stomach." -* Story Teller from the Broken Kingdom
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~~Boulder folk are a primitive stone age culture based in the mountains near the Stargazer plateau. They subsist mainly on grasses, lichens, cultivated fungi, and occasionally venturing into Goran lands to harvest fruit from the rae woods. The have had many peaceful encounters with the Mamutok, often trading honey stolen from Goran as highly sought after goods as the Goran bees cannot pierce their thick skin.~~

~~They live individualistic lives, forming tribes mainly for company and survival but with no formal leadership. They live in close family units usually in caves carved directly into the mountain face.~~

* ~~They have their own language, but some have been known to speak common and the language of the Mamutok~~
* ~~They use primarily stone tools and have been known to craft obsidian jewelry for trade.~~

## ~~Religion~~

> *~~"They cannot understand our ways, for even the most basic of the sky language is difficult for them. However we would wish no one else to share our borders"~~* ~~(Mamutok Tribe Leader)~~
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