Ruwadhis

Distribution

The Ruwadhi people live mostly in the Nenian Plateau above the Nenaya Mountains, split between the region of Fard in the Somorican Empire and the princely state of Trama to its north, itself under Somorican suzerainty. To their south below the Nenayas is the northern Davanian Plain, which was the homeland of the Burjmani people, one of the eight tribes of the Mahanjat, from whom the Ruwadhi are descended. To their east and west is steppe that slopes down into deserts, the Por to the east and Blackrock to the west. To their north is the Great Savannah.  

Culture

Religion

The Ruwadhi people are predominantly Sikmath Shant Karotus. There is also a significant minority of Yamara Shant Karotus and a smaller minority of Furanists. The Yamaras and Furanists live mostly in the southern region of Fard.  

Red Hair

The Ruwadhi likely mixed heavily with the native Nenian peoples when they settled in the Nenian Plateau, making the red or auburn hair associated with the ancient Nenians, while still uncommon (~5–10% of Ruwadhis), relatively more prevalent among the Ruwadhi than neighbouring groups. Their name, “Ruwadhi”, derives from their word for “red” (from proto-Oecumeno-Davanian *h₁rewdʰ-). Red hair is associated with the pre-Shant Karotu Davanian fire deity Agni, and is highly valued and esteemed among the Ruwadhi. Among the small Furanist community, this association with Agni was subsumed into Furana.   Families will sometimes deny a black-haired man from marrying a red-haired daughter, or may demand he pay them a bādawṁ kima, or “spoil-price”, for their daughter. In some cases, this spoil-price exceeds the dowry the family pays to the couple. The Ruwadhi have numerous beliefs surrounding how to encourage having red-haired children, but the most prevalent is the belief that a child will have red hair if a woman conceives during a lunar eclipse (blood moon), or according to another version of the belief, has her first missed period just before an eclipse.   Because of the high esteem red-haired individuals are held in among the Ruwadhi, hair bleaching and dyeing with henna is commonly practised. The phrase “black eyebrows” (કૃષ્નાઃ ભવઃ, kṙṣnāı ẉawı) in Ruwadhi has long meant “something being passed off as something that it’s not”, as a person who has dyed their hair can be discerned from a naturally red-haired one by their black eyebrows. An alternate, rude version of the expression, “black cunt” (કૃષ્ના યેઞુક્ત, kṙṣnā yeñukta), also exists.  

Clothing

The Sardian cap (ધઙ્કાનં, dhaṅkānṁ), a peaked felt cap, commonly produced from yak wool, is worn by both men and women. It has been worn since ancient times, first by the ancient Nenians; though the addition of flaps covering the ears appears to have come about in later mediaeval times. In line with the Ruwadhi’s veneration of red hair, these caps are usually dyed a red or orange colour.   The shafan (ષક્ષાઙ, ṣaf̣āṅ) is a heavy wool coat worn by Ruwadhi men, both for protection from the elements and also as a sort of cloth armour.   Both sexes wear trousers, though women wear a thin skirt or wrap which extends below the knee over top and tucked into their trousers called a salo (સલો, salo), derived from the full body sari worn by women throughout Davania.   Owing to the climate, and in contrast to many of the peoples to their south and east (and the saurians to their north), small children are always clothed.  

Weapons

The dhelshi (ઢેલ્શી, ḍhelśī), also called a kris, is a traditional Ruwadhi dagger or shortsword with a serpentine blade. The Ruwadhis believe this odd blade curvature makes it better at cutting through the heavy wool coats commonly worn in the area. Outside of Ruwadhi culture, the dhelshi is viewed as an assassin’s weapon for its alleged use by (and potentially similar sound to) the Sikmath ḍaśī order which operated out of the fortress of Chartan in the late middle ages, though this sect was not primarily composed of Ruwadhis, and Chartan is well west of the Nenian Plateau. Ruwadhi men wear a dhelshi on their belt in almost all circumstances outside the house. The wearing of the dhelshi is seen as a symbol of manhood, and most boys are given one around the age of 14. Most adult women also carry a small knife used for domestic tasks, though it’s worn under the salo.   Firearms were introduced to the Nenian Plateau some time in the 27^th century as part of the Chaspethian Exchange. The Ruwadhis initially had to acquire both guns and powder from the Vhirachays to their south, who used this advantage to conquer the Ruwadhi states of Fard and Trama by 2680. By the 2710s, the Ruwadhis were making their own guns (called મોસ્ક્યાદઃ, moskyādı, singular મોસ્ક્યાત, moskyāt, borrowed from Ghogri मॊस्चत, itself borrowed from Tira Vellan μοσκέτων, ultimately from Varaso mosqueto) and powder. These moskyadi are long-barreled, large bore, mostly smoothbore matchlock or flintlock designs, with most of the flintlocks utilising locks from captured Tira Vellan or Enzimian muskets used by the colonial powers themselves or sold to various native states like the Vhirachays or Somoricans. These guns helped the Ruwadhis shake off the Vhirachays as they were themselves being conquered by the Somoricans in the late 28^th century. Moskyadi are frequently decorated, engraved, and inlaid, though poorer Ruwadhis will tend to have plain pieces. Besides warfare, these guns are frequently used for hunting, especially those which are rifled.  

Animals

The yak (કમરી, kamarī) is an important and revered animal in Ruwadhi culture. Utilised for its milk, wool, labour, and meat (among non-vegetarian Ruwadhis), it is central to the Ruwadhi’s way of life. Drinking horns made from yak’s horns are commonly used by Ruwadhis, especially for the drinking of mead during celebrations. A drinking horn is present on the royal seal of the Prawandas, the ruling family of Trama, where it is crossed behind a dhelshi.   The manul (હલાઙકિસ, halāṅkis) is also considered a national symbol, particularly in the northern region of Trama where it is more commonly seen. It is viewed as a proud and solitary animal, reflecting the independent culture of the Ruwadhis. For the Sikmath majority, its quiet and stealthy nature is also viewed as reflective of their interpretation of shamt to mean “silence”.  

Diet

Sikmaths are generally vegetarian, but the harsh climate and difficulty of agriculture on the high Nenian Plateau mean that strict vegetarianism is not widely practised among the Ruwadhi. Ruwadhi Sikmaths still hold vegetarianism to be a virtuous ideal, and vegetarianism among them runs between keeping vegetarian on certain days to pescetarianism to true vegetarianism, largely dependent on what their wealth will allow. It is common for pregnant and nursing women to keep to a vegetarian diet to ensure their child does not receive anything impure. This practice likely causes malnutrition, especially among poorer women. The non-Sikmath Ruwadhi population does not practise vegetarianism. Both communities incorporate heavy use of eggs and dairy, particularly yak milk, into their cuisine. Ruwadhis have extremely high rates of lactose tolerance, around 80%, comparable to northwest Sossian populations (Goths, Rossans, Vreziys), and contrasting with neighbouring and related ethnic groups (~5% for Thens to ~40% for Baltuns).   Some staples, especially beverages like butter tea and mead, were adopted into Ruwadhi culture from the ancient Nenians who first inhabited the area.  

Foreigners

The Ruwadhi are generally insular and distrustful of foreigners. They nonetheless trade regularly with their neighbours to the north and south, serving as an important trade link for exchange between the saurians of the Great Savannah and the peoples of southern Aresra. They consider it acceptable and even good to swindle a foreigner in a deal.   The Ruwadhi have historically been particularly hostile towards mustelins, which, while not unusual for a Davanian people, extends to extreme measures, including the wearing of the flayed pelts of mustelins. As mustelins have been practically extirpated from the Nenian Plateau for centuries, these practices are dead, but nonetheless, extremely negative attitudes toward them remain.   A notable exception to their distrust of foreigners are light-haired people, both ginger and blond, whom they believe it is unlucky to mistreat.  

Magic

Like in most cultures, true magic coexists with folk magic, the former being historically rare and limited in its utility. War mages were relatively common in the mediaeval period, but the Ruwadhi pursued almost no scholarly insight into true magic as the peoples to their south did, and as magic faded and became more difficult to exercise, the Ruwadhis were forced to adapt as everyone else. Today, belief in folk magic is near-universal, and it is widely practised, while true magic is very rare.  

Language

Ruwadhis mostly speak the Ruwadhi language, a Northern Buri Davanian language. The Ruwadhi language has a considerable number of loanwords from Nenian languages, particularly from Sardian. Most of these loans refer to ecology and geology of the Nenian Plateau, which the early Ruwadhis migrating to the area would not have had their own words for.