The Zhulians

Across their various states and groups, dialects have emerged from a common language thousands of years ago, and have since become mutually unintelligible. Most of what we know about their languages comes to us from the Khartian's interactions with the zhulians to the north. The Khartians have described their language as a more guttural and fast-paced version of those found in Osian.   Because of this and other things, such as their physical appearance which closely resembles that of southern Osianic peoples, scholars have long speculated that Zhulians may be connected to the people found in that region. Some even say that Zhulians may have migrated to Viuzhul from Osian thousands of years ago, possibly even before the First Age.

In general, Zhulians are very connected to the natural environment around them, and this is evident when looking at various aspects of their cultures, such as their architectural tendencies, their culinary habits, and their religion. It is unknown how such a unique culture was developed, but some scholars have theorized that it may be due to their isolation from the rest of the world's interconnected cultures, as well as the uniquely harsh environment of the continent.

Because of their culture's expectation to live in harmony with nature, their settlement tend to not follow norms found in other region of Hysal. However, since the Zhulians have long since broken up into various separate cultures, not all of their settlement have the same appearances.    For example, in the kingdom of Kahaku, houses are built primarily out of stones, as cutting down trees is forbitten, so the only wood they can be used are from fallen logs. Thankfully, these are common in the region thanks to both the Tuzzas, and the numerous beavers in the region.   In contrast, in the misty forests of the Tree Top Tribe, houses are built along the trunk of the forest's massive trees, halfway between the ground and the canope, in a similar fashion to those found in central Mahador.

Like in any ethnicities spread over a large geographic area, the Zhulians have a varied diet and cuisine depending on the ressources available to them in their home region. However, a common trend linking them together is the fact that animal are rarely used as food.    The Kingdom of Kahaku's residents are only permitted to eat meat (Land and sea animals) once a month, while the inhabitants of the Realm of the four nations do not eat land animals as all, but do consume some of their by-products, as long as the animals do not have to be killed. There are exceptions, of course; the Tree Top Tribes do not seem to follow the trend as closely compared to the others, and instead seem to eat meat fairly regularly.

In the north of Viuzhul, four very different countries exist that are both ruled and inhabited by Zhulians, and while these countries share the ethnicity, they have vastly different cultures and governments.

Kingdom of Kahaku

The westernmost country, located across the two western islands of the continent, is called the Kingdom of Kahaku, and is mainly inhabited by humans, with large minorities of Soulmages, mainly Shapeshifters, as well as many Elemental Mages. Along with the Kharthian colonies of north-eastern Viuzhul, this kingdom and region is the most well known of the continent.

Realm of the Four Kingdom

The second country is called The 4 Kingdoms. This kingdom of kingdoms is a united realm composed of 4 competing elemental states, who wage ceremonial wars against each other as part of their religion and culture.

Tree Top Tribes

South of the kingdom of Kahaku, across the Teslian sea, is a large misty forest, composed of trees growing to hundreds of meters tall. Within this tall, skyward forest, lives a large community of shapeshifters. Wolfkins, Bearkins, Foxkins live on or near the ground, while birdkins, and dragonkins live in the tree's tallest reaches.