Toeqtampii

## History

The Neollahqem were originally a dwarvish clan lost long ago. Nothing of their ancient history or ancestry survives. All that is known to them is that they are symbiotically bound to a fungus which infects them at a young age, and is the cause for their ability to dimly glow when excited or happy. They are smaller than other dwarves in the world, and have a sickly pale blue colour. They are mostly hairless, as the fungus growing in their skin restricts hair growth. It also causes them to live shorter lifespans, but makes them even more resistant to cold temperatures. Neollahqem apparently do not develop frostbite, and their body temperature can drop well below levels that would kill uninfected dwarves.

### Oral History

#### The Beginnings

According to the tales of the Noellahqem, they wandered in the underground, dumb and without thought for time unknown, having been driven into the "darkest depths" (*lzoemiiaute kahnoen*) by a being of the "coldest cold". One day, the God of the Gates found them, and granted them language (in Noellahqem; *seqoesallahq*—"His gift"). The early Noellahqem tribes (*lzametit*) continued to live in the "darkest depths" until the collapse of the underground.

#### The Collapse of the Underground

The collapse of the undeground is perhaps the most important story of the Noellahqem. The Noellahqem tell that the roof of the world began to crumble above them, and entire *lzametit* were destroyed by collapsing caves and eruptions of fire. The survivors of several *lzametit* gathered together and made a "great sacrifice" to the God of the Gates, beseeching him for help. Suddenly, a great abyss of blackness opened above the sacrifical altar, and as the Noellahqem stepped into the gateway, the darkness drank all of the light within them. The Noellahqem opened their eyes to find a blazingly light, and nothing but cold wind in the sky above them.

#### The Teachings of the Reindeer-Folk

In the first days in The Open Land—or "*Toeqtampii*"—the Noellahqem suffered greatly. It took hours for them to see properly, and even still the sun felt blinding. As night fell, a great cold wind blew across the the valley that would be named "Gate of the Big Sky Land", or the "Tundra Gate". On the third day of wandering without food or shelter, they were found by the reindeer-folk, or "*Noell Tiqtahq".* The reindeer-folk told the Noellahqem of their sacred purpose to steward the land and its reindeer. Their people had become fewer in number over the centuries as they suffered from disease and war, yet the reindeer continued to thrive. Fearing that they were the last of their people and soon to fade from the world, the reindeer-folk taught the Noellahqem the ways of herding reindeer, and how to feed, shelter, and clothe themselves. When at last the Noellahqem had learned all their was to know, they travelled with the reindeer-folk to the *Lahmoemau*—the "Great Pine". There, they helped the reindeer-folk move great standing stones and carved the sacred reindeer into them. The reindeer-folk then performed a secret ritual, and bound their spirits into the land under the *Lahmoemau*, leaving only their empty bodies behind.

#### The Shauit and the Lzou

In these first years alone in Toeqtampii, the Noellahqem folloed the traditions of the reindeer-folk and elected a chief called a "*Lzou*". Each l*zou* determined where and when a *Lzamet* was to migrate and camp, and was in charge of the *Lzamet's* reindeer. The Noellahqem continued the ancient tradition of the S*hametit,* or "clans". The ancient *Shametit* continued in an unbroken line from a maternal ancestor ("*Shau*") from before the collapse, and membership was inherited exclusively through the mother. While the *Lzamet* and its herd would be lead by a *Lzou*, each family and its *Qahqst*—tent—would be governed by the eldest mother.

### Written History

#### The Wall of Histories

The Wall of Histories was constructed between 300 and 400 years after the collapse of the One Herd of Toeqtampii agreement, and marks the beginning of Noellahqem written history. It was built in Noesnoet's lower cavern, a long, wide, square tunnel which once served as the slave quarters. The original two sections were written in equal lengths of the wall on either side of the entrance tunnel. To the left, the ancient oral histories of the Noellahqem until the founding of the One Herd agreement were chiseled into the stone. On the right, the histories recount the events of the Cold Years, the White Fire, the founding of Noesnoet & Kansuoel, the Norsumerian Wars, and the rise and fall of the Lzametau Noellahq Lashii agreement. Finally, it concluded with a note on the reigning Noellel (King) Amkis, the reforms to the monarchy of Noesnoet, and the motivations for building the wall—namely, the preservation of Noellahqem history in the face of continued Norsumerian agression.

## Crafts

### Lzamet Ear Tags—Klemoelqom Lzametii

When the Lzametit bring their herds together on the migration to the summer herds together, the reindeer often intermingle. When the time comes to separate them, they are identified by the Lzamet's ear tag. These tags are marked on the reindeer calves ever summer by lightly scraping the right ear with a clean knife and infecting the wound with their fungal symbiote (Zamemii). On reindeer the fungus grows poorly, but well enough that it remains harmlessly localized to the wound. These fungus has the side-effect of also causing the tags to glow dimly in the dark, allowing herders to spot lost reindeer more easily in winter. Over time, these ear tags have become symbols of the Lzametit, including the settled Lzametit in which not all individuals care for the Lzamet's herd. The tags are often found on spears, bows, tools and other crafted goods that the Noellahqem make and export abroad. Below is the ear-tag of the Red Field Lzamet.

### Koqshianshesik—Skin Boat

Hunters in northern Toeqtampii traditionally hunted seal sparingly in the warmer months, instead hunting them in the winter when holes bored into the ice can tempt their prey into an easy trap. Slowly, however, many adopted wooden boats traded from villages in eastern Toeqtampii. These boats were expensive, however, and only the wealthiest tundra Lzamet could trade the most desperate eastern Lzamet for them. Lzamet in the northernmost reaches of Toeqtampii developed a local method of boat-building with a frame made from wooden sticks or whale bones, that they then stretch a reindeer- or seal-skin over. Now they hunt seals in the summer by trapping them between land and sea, ensuring an easy kill. This practice also opened up a whale hunt at sea, providing a bounty of meat every spring as the whales migrate through the breaking ice.

## Government

he Noellahqem divide themselves into tribes—or "Lzametit"—, each led by a man called a "Lzou". The Lzou is chosen by consensus, and usually remains in his position for a year. Across the Noellahqem, the people are divded into "shametit" for the purpose of organizing marriages. Each "shametit" is descended through the female line from an ancestral woman called a "Shau". While it is not forbidden, marrying within your own Shametit is considered unlucky at best, or vulgar at worst. Since reaching the surface, the Noellahqem have domesticated the local reindeer, and most Lzametit tribes migrate with large herds of reindeer around the tundra. Very few Lzametit are settled, with those that are mostly living in warmer areas or around riverbeds with small herds of reindeer. These Lzametit usually practice some agriculture using sophisticated techniques to cultivate plants despite the short growing season. The Noellahqem live in reindeer-hide tents held up by birchwood poles. Each family lives within a single tent, often with elderly grandparents as well. The Lzametit come together into large groups in the summer to calve reindeer and to minimize fly attacks. The summer gathering allows extensive trade and diplomacy as well, with large trade networks spreading bronze tools throughout the tundra from the settled Lzametit of the river valleys.

## Religion

### The God of the Gates

The Noellahqem worship a "God of the Gates", who supposedly granted them the ability to speak after wandering the deeps of the undeground in a haze. When the underground collapsed, the God of the Gates supposedly opened a way for them to reach the surface, and their new home. The Neollahqem perform ellaborate rituals to gain the God's favour, including ritual sacrifice.

The Soemnasel are a spiritual people among the Noellahqem. Most are male, but many women take up the profession as well. They often stay with their birth Lzamet, but many will leave and stay with other Lzou for as long as a year. The lzametit are expected to take in any Soemnasel who ask, and sometimes even eager to do so for the extra labour without committment. The Soemnasel perform all the duties expected of any other Noellahqem, but also provide spiritual and physical healing using ritual and herbal medicines. These rituals are often elaborate chantings done either at twilight or the darkest hour of the night, when the boundaries between worlds are weakest or the spiritual world is strongest, respectively. The Soemnasel also lead sacrifices to the Soemni Turuuqahq, replacing the Lzou in when present. Sacrifices of other humanoids, though rare, are only to be done under the supervision of a Soemnasel. As Lzonpansii has grown into a proper city, many Soemnasel have gathered there to exchange knowledge and practices, resulting in a stronger formalization of traditional rituals. Their role is thus changing in Toeqtampii, and as they become more organized, their power within settled Noellahqem society has grown.

### The Polluit

In addition to the God of the Gates, the Noellahqem also worship many lesser deities. These deities are known as *"polluit"* (singular *"pollu"*), and generally guard or govern places, activites, and sometimes bloodlines. The most widespread of these is *"Tiqtau"*—The Great Reindeer—the steward of all the reindeer in Toeqtampii, who rewards those who treat them well with fertile herds and curses those who treat them poorly. Most animals in Toeqtampii have some great *pollu* protecting them, but the *Tiqtau* (reindeer), the *Kaquau* (otter), the *Manutau* (bear), the *Tampouau* (mammoth), the *Eoetsiau* (eagle), and the *Poepulu* (salmon), are some of the most imporant. Another *pollu* is of great importance, but is feared rather than revered. This is the *Siuiiau Niqitahq*—or the "Great Ice Bird". This bird is said to reside in the farthest north, and when it beats its wings the north wind of winter falls across the world until it draws them back in spring.

The *Polluit* that guard locations are often very localized, though several are broadly respected. Some are even considered to be one and the same as the physical location. For instance, the *Lahmoemau* (Great Pine) east of Lzonpansii is an ancient, gnarled pine twice the size of any other in Toeqtampii that is surrounded by standing stones with images of reindeer carved into them. It is said to be a *pollu* itself, made of the ancestors of the reindeer people who inhabited Toeqtampii before the Noellahqem came.

### The Great Ancestors

The "Great Ancestors" (*Talzasauit*) are rarely worshipped, and are usually only invoked in legal disputes in their respective areas. These are Qahzah, the Ancestor of Warriors; Qatil, the Ancestor of Crafts; and Tzushah, the Ancestor of the Hearth. Generally, a chief (*"Lzou"*) will render judgement in the name of the respective ancestor. They are, however, sometimes prayed to before battle, when completing some difficult handiwork, or when the home or family is in great need.

## Geography

Toeqtampii is situated in the far east of mainland Hyperborea.

### Natural Features

#### The Tundra Gate

Every year the nomadic Lzametit [tribes] north of Lzonpansii move with their reindeer through a gap in the Iltupoetit mountains known as the "Turuuq Toeqtillambauahq"— "The Tundra Gate". As spring arrives, they travel northward into the high-country away from their winter pastures and the biting insects that stalk their reindeer. While only a few of Toeqtampii's many Lzametit use the Turuuq, the gap is considered sacred to all Noellahqem, who believe the striking formation to be the place where their god—Soemni Turuuqahq—delivered them as the underground collapsed. Beyond the gate lays the open, flat tundra of the northern Noellahqem. Several Lzametit from the north meet those from the south at the summer pastures just beyond the gate, and trade with the southern Lzametit for wood, crops, and trade from abroad. This makes the gate not just a sacred site, but a meeting place for the dispersed Lzametit of the Noellahqem.

## Economy

### Agriculture

Agriculture is no easy task in the boreal forest, but the settled Lzametit have made it possible through domestication of native species and careful soil management. Reindeer are a pivotal part of the process, as the Noellahqem spread their droppings mixed with straw over their fields to hasten snowmelt and heat the soil. Dark ashes are also spread on the fields to soak-up the early-summer sun, and irrigation channels ensure the spring floods do not wash away the soil. Nearly all fields are within fertile river valleys, as few upland areas are capable of agriculture. The principle crops are Pulut, a nutritious tuberous legume grown in drier fields; and Llasit, a cattail grown for its young stalks and tubers. All settled Noellahqem supplement these crops with wild harvests of many species, including several berries such as Susum (blueberry), mushrooms, fish, moose, and of course, reindeer.