Baamorun
The Baamorun are the main group of humans found within the various orcish and half orcish nations of the Menayana region, a transition region between the Ferkuno savanna and Nisui'berezzar. As such, it is a diverse region in terms of flora and fauna, though it suffers from occasional droughts. The Baamorun have traditionally been found closer to the south of Menayana, with their larger population centers found on the lakeside regions, but there are pockets of Baamorun living in the north of the region. They are a very diverse group of people, something that has only been increased due to their contact with orcish peoples, with the mingling of the two creating entirely new ethnic groups.
Perhaps the most unique of the Baamorun are the pastoral Towarɗo. Traditonally migratory, they can be found all across Menayana, though they are concentrated in the east. Some have proposed that the Towarɗo are actually native to the northwestern corner of Menayana and that their migrations were encouraged by earlier invasions from giants and orcs. Whether or not this is true, the Towarɗo seem to have never settled down en masse, with small pockets of those who decide to settle found across the lands. Their only major urban center, the city of Berniwo, began as a trading settlement and export center, before being centralized and developed as the center of power for the medieval state of [tbd]. Excluding the city's population, the Towarɗo are generally occupied with herding and trading, as well as militarist occupations. Socially, the Towarɗo are organized into a semi-fluid caste system, with a large proportion of slaves, who are generally not ethnically Towarɗo, at the bottom. Many Towarɗo of solid standing in the castes were also recruited as honor guards in medieval times due to their supposed martial prowess, which is occasionally continued by the Luwarɗo.
The Luwarɗo are known as the Towarɗo who possess some orcish blood, and are essentially a subset of the community. Due to the similarities between orcish social organization and Towarɗo organizations, the two groups have been known to intermarry at higher ranks than the regional average. This integration has also been rather smooth when compared to other groups, giving rise to the Luwarɗo as a distinct group of Baamorun urukai. While not all Towarɗo lineages are Luwarɗo, a sizable percentage of their elites and upper levels of their caste system are considered Luwarɗo, and generally range from 20-50% orcish. Due to their high standing and distinct abilities thanks to their orcish ancestry, the Luwarɗo are often set apart from other Towarɗo. Not all Luwarɗo are high class though, with many Luwarɗo warriors of different backgrounds recruited as honor guards. Gnerally speaking, there are few lower-class Luwarɗo, with most of these being descended from violent unions during conquest and later being largely eliminated from the gene pool due to a lack of other urukai in the lower castes. Though the Towarɗo have played an outsized role in the region's politics, they are actually one of the smaller Baamorun groups by population, even when adding the Luwarɗo subset.
The most subset of the Baamorun are known as the Cieteylu, and they are found along the northern coast of the Mother Lake. This large lake, alongside the rivers which empty into them, have blessed the Cieteylu with excellent agricultural lands and moderated the region's climate to some extent, propelling the development of their societies. Those who controlled the agricultural lands and irrigation networks gained great power, and would eventually give rise to early kingdoms. Despite the fractouous nature of this power and frequent conflict with powerful nobility and warriors, these kingdoms would eventually expand, giving rise to the Baamorun golden age. Urbanization flourished, and trade and interaction with the Towarɗo expanded their power greatly. The discovery of gold in the mountains heralded great wealth and led to further expansion and consolidation. Eventually, the [tbd] Empire would unite the region, but this power was unable to fully flourish as it soon became burdened with corruption, infighting, and overuse of agricultural lands leading to a drop in production. While agricultural issues would eventually improve, the Empire would never recover, and began falling into warring states. The role of slavery in Cieteylu society would expand during these wars, with more and more Cieteylu becoming a part of the slave class, which previously had largely been dominated by conquered peoples. Although Cieteylu slaves were treated better, the increasing social stratification left the Cieteylu weak and divided and therefore easily conquered by the Orcish invasions. Since then, their caste system has been exploited by Orcs and urukai to keep them on top, but the order and stability brought by their conquerors has largely defanged would-be revolts. Of course, not all Cieteylu were conqured at the same time, and many small states persisted for decades after the establishment of the orcish states, with the warlords of Sanaéwum remaining defiant of Orcish authority.
Sandwitched in between the Cieteylu and Towarɗo in the east, one can find the Lukax. The Lukax are mostly concentrated in inland Menayana, but it is speculated they populated more of the coast until the migration of Abakhethiwe peoples into the region. Their belt of settlement can be found primarily to the east of the Menayana divide, though there are significant populations of Lukax to the west of this passage between mountains dating to more recent times. The Lukax are a traditionally sedantary population whose people have only rarely unified into significant states, generally not seeking outwards expansion or raiding. They are known to be able farmers and able mages, with their magically gifted often finding employment in the lakeside cities. Lukax have managed to be major player's in Menayana politics. For example, during the fall of the [tbd] Empire, many of the successor warlords were gifted mages, and of these mages a majority were Lukax. Thus, Lukax dynasties came to rule over much of the former Empire, and invited their people to settle the region. Once the orcs arived, many of these Lukax dynasties would intermarry with their conquerors, giving the ruling class of the urukai states a significant Lukax heritage. The Lukax have traditionally avoided practices such as trading and animal husbandry on a large scale, with the aristocracy typically hiring Towarɗo to do these jobs for them. The Lukax, due to their fluid social system, are known to be much more open to intermarriage with other groups, and therefore unlike most other Baamorun (who only intermarried with the orcs due to their great political and physical strength being seen as admirable and desirable) they willingly worked alongside the orcs. The Kingdom of Cajidime, in particular, was formed of an orcish-Lukax marriage, and not established via conquest. Traditionally, the Lukax have rejected slavery, but its financial allure has led to small-scale trade and passive acceptance of the operation when performed by non-Lukax. Though they reject slavery, they are known to support serfdom, which is often similar.
Due to the propensity for intermarriage between the Lukax, as well as the migratory lifestyle of the Towarɗo, those of mixed heritage between the two can be found, and are quite common. Known as Jiridije, they are typically viewed more negatively by the Towarɗo, who don't support intermarriage as much, but are viewed as cousins by the Lukax. The Jiridije often originate in the slave castes of the Towarɗo which is mixed between Towarɗo and Lukax, but relationships between free men and women have also been known. While the majority of their ancestry is from these groups, they do have traces of other ancestry, even, especially among those of the city of Berniwo, Al'salaanic heritage. Over time, with instability in the region, many Jiridije became free and they would go on to establish their own small kingdom, known as [tbd]. Although this kingdom has since fallen to orcish invasion, its legacy among the Jiridije is powerful indeed and is a point of pride. Perhaps due to their Al'salaanic heritage, or perhaps due to the influence of converted Abakhethiwe traders, the Jiridije have largely embraced the Illahic faiths, primarily Al'shahri beliefs. The Jiridije are primarily sedantary, marking them as distinct from the Towarɗo, and their use of slaves marks them as distinct from the Lukax. These things, combined with their difference in religion, has placed them apart from both their parent ethnic groups.
Easternmost of all Baamorun, the Lorotku are found in the borderlands of the Kingdom of Marawebe, where they have lived for centuries. A generally wet region due to rain collecting before it hits the Skytooth Plateau, the Lorotku live far enough away that they are not within Menayana's swamps, but still within fertile lands, which is enhanced by their nearby lakes. Whether they live lakeside or near the swamps, the Lorotku have a similar lifestyle centered around rice cultivation. They are known as rice experts by the rest of the region, with the Cieteylu being the only other Baamorun to cultivate rice. Where the Cieteylu practice primarily farming of millets with limited rice growth, the Lorotku focus primarily on rice. They are also known to cultivate palms (for wine and/or oil) and utilize small-scale fishing and animal husbandry for meat products. Due to their isolation from the other Baamorun ethnicities, and their general concentration into small villages, the Lorotku never developed a caste system, and remain mostly egalitarian, with councils of wise elders doing much of the governing. Desite their conquest by orcs, the Lorotku have largely been ignored, as their region is seen as mostly a backwater, and as long as they pay their rice tax, they are left alone.
Between the Lorotku and Cieteylu, the Moromtuk are most common. A pastoral group engaged in small-scale agriculture, they form a small population spread out over quite a large area. Although the Moromtuk lands directly border the Lorotku in the south, they rarely engage with them, as both groups prefer to keep to themselves. This is because, despite being similar to the Towarɗo in their economic practices and lack of settlement, the Moromtuk are generally not raiders, typically keeping to herding and ranching. This is partly due to them historically being dominated by the Cieteylu, who punished raids severely. The Cieteylu have a fairly small population, and despite being some of the first Baamorun to come under orcish control, seem to lack significant numbers of urukai in their ranks, as they were largely used as slaves and servants, not being seen as equal to the orcs. This has continued to this day, since most urukai populations are found in the south, the modern center of power for the orc-turned urukai kingdoms.
These urukai, known as the Njitluame are the ruling caste of the Marawebe and Cajidime kingdoms. While other urukai states are primarily made up of Luwarɗo ruling families and aristocracies with Towarɗo, these two kingdoms have seen greater diversity in their interbreeding, and have formed a cosmopolitan urukai elite. Njitluame are primarily descended from the Lukax and Cieteylu on their human side, but those of other Baamorun descent, except the Towarɗo, are also considered Njitluame. Considered by many in the region to be powerful warriors and also great patrons of art and learning, they are heavily entrenched as the ruling castes, as mingling between the orcish migrant-conquerors and the local human aristocracy has created a stable pool of Njitluame. Still, composed mainly of the upper classes, they remain the smallest Baamorun population group.
The Luwarɗo are known as the Towarɗo who possess some orcish blood, and are essentially a subset of the community. Due to the similarities between orcish social organization and Towarɗo organizations, the two groups have been known to intermarry at higher ranks than the regional average. This integration has also been rather smooth when compared to other groups, giving rise to the Luwarɗo as a distinct group of Baamorun urukai. While not all Towarɗo lineages are Luwarɗo, a sizable percentage of their elites and upper levels of their caste system are considered Luwarɗo, and generally range from 20-50% orcish. Due to their high standing and distinct abilities thanks to their orcish ancestry, the Luwarɗo are often set apart from other Towarɗo. Not all Luwarɗo are high class though, with many Luwarɗo warriors of different backgrounds recruited as honor guards. Gnerally speaking, there are few lower-class Luwarɗo, with most of these being descended from violent unions during conquest and later being largely eliminated from the gene pool due to a lack of other urukai in the lower castes. Though the Towarɗo have played an outsized role in the region's politics, they are actually one of the smaller Baamorun groups by population, even when adding the Luwarɗo subset.
The most subset of the Baamorun are known as the Cieteylu, and they are found along the northern coast of the Mother Lake. This large lake, alongside the rivers which empty into them, have blessed the Cieteylu with excellent agricultural lands and moderated the region's climate to some extent, propelling the development of their societies. Those who controlled the agricultural lands and irrigation networks gained great power, and would eventually give rise to early kingdoms. Despite the fractouous nature of this power and frequent conflict with powerful nobility and warriors, these kingdoms would eventually expand, giving rise to the Baamorun golden age. Urbanization flourished, and trade and interaction with the Towarɗo expanded their power greatly. The discovery of gold in the mountains heralded great wealth and led to further expansion and consolidation. Eventually, the [tbd] Empire would unite the region, but this power was unable to fully flourish as it soon became burdened with corruption, infighting, and overuse of agricultural lands leading to a drop in production. While agricultural issues would eventually improve, the Empire would never recover, and began falling into warring states. The role of slavery in Cieteylu society would expand during these wars, with more and more Cieteylu becoming a part of the slave class, which previously had largely been dominated by conquered peoples. Although Cieteylu slaves were treated better, the increasing social stratification left the Cieteylu weak and divided and therefore easily conquered by the Orcish invasions. Since then, their caste system has been exploited by Orcs and urukai to keep them on top, but the order and stability brought by their conquerors has largely defanged would-be revolts. Of course, not all Cieteylu were conqured at the same time, and many small states persisted for decades after the establishment of the orcish states, with the warlords of Sanaéwum remaining defiant of Orcish authority.
Sandwitched in between the Cieteylu and Towarɗo in the east, one can find the Lukax. The Lukax are mostly concentrated in inland Menayana, but it is speculated they populated more of the coast until the migration of Abakhethiwe peoples into the region. Their belt of settlement can be found primarily to the east of the Menayana divide, though there are significant populations of Lukax to the west of this passage between mountains dating to more recent times. The Lukax are a traditionally sedantary population whose people have only rarely unified into significant states, generally not seeking outwards expansion or raiding. They are known to be able farmers and able mages, with their magically gifted often finding employment in the lakeside cities. Lukax have managed to be major player's in Menayana politics. For example, during the fall of the [tbd] Empire, many of the successor warlords were gifted mages, and of these mages a majority were Lukax. Thus, Lukax dynasties came to rule over much of the former Empire, and invited their people to settle the region. Once the orcs arived, many of these Lukax dynasties would intermarry with their conquerors, giving the ruling class of the urukai states a significant Lukax heritage. The Lukax have traditionally avoided practices such as trading and animal husbandry on a large scale, with the aristocracy typically hiring Towarɗo to do these jobs for them. The Lukax, due to their fluid social system, are known to be much more open to intermarriage with other groups, and therefore unlike most other Baamorun (who only intermarried with the orcs due to their great political and physical strength being seen as admirable and desirable) they willingly worked alongside the orcs. The Kingdom of Cajidime, in particular, was formed of an orcish-Lukax marriage, and not established via conquest. Traditionally, the Lukax have rejected slavery, but its financial allure has led to small-scale trade and passive acceptance of the operation when performed by non-Lukax. Though they reject slavery, they are known to support serfdom, which is often similar.
Due to the propensity for intermarriage between the Lukax, as well as the migratory lifestyle of the Towarɗo, those of mixed heritage between the two can be found, and are quite common. Known as Jiridije, they are typically viewed more negatively by the Towarɗo, who don't support intermarriage as much, but are viewed as cousins by the Lukax. The Jiridije often originate in the slave castes of the Towarɗo which is mixed between Towarɗo and Lukax, but relationships between free men and women have also been known. While the majority of their ancestry is from these groups, they do have traces of other ancestry, even, especially among those of the city of Berniwo, Al'salaanic heritage. Over time, with instability in the region, many Jiridije became free and they would go on to establish their own small kingdom, known as [tbd]. Although this kingdom has since fallen to orcish invasion, its legacy among the Jiridije is powerful indeed and is a point of pride. Perhaps due to their Al'salaanic heritage, or perhaps due to the influence of converted Abakhethiwe traders, the Jiridije have largely embraced the Illahic faiths, primarily Al'shahri beliefs. The Jiridije are primarily sedantary, marking them as distinct from the Towarɗo, and their use of slaves marks them as distinct from the Lukax. These things, combined with their difference in religion, has placed them apart from both their parent ethnic groups.
Easternmost of all Baamorun, the Lorotku are found in the borderlands of the Kingdom of Marawebe, where they have lived for centuries. A generally wet region due to rain collecting before it hits the Skytooth Plateau, the Lorotku live far enough away that they are not within Menayana's swamps, but still within fertile lands, which is enhanced by their nearby lakes. Whether they live lakeside or near the swamps, the Lorotku have a similar lifestyle centered around rice cultivation. They are known as rice experts by the rest of the region, with the Cieteylu being the only other Baamorun to cultivate rice. Where the Cieteylu practice primarily farming of millets with limited rice growth, the Lorotku focus primarily on rice. They are also known to cultivate palms (for wine and/or oil) and utilize small-scale fishing and animal husbandry for meat products. Due to their isolation from the other Baamorun ethnicities, and their general concentration into small villages, the Lorotku never developed a caste system, and remain mostly egalitarian, with councils of wise elders doing much of the governing. Desite their conquest by orcs, the Lorotku have largely been ignored, as their region is seen as mostly a backwater, and as long as they pay their rice tax, they are left alone.
Between the Lorotku and Cieteylu, the Moromtuk are most common. A pastoral group engaged in small-scale agriculture, they form a small population spread out over quite a large area. Although the Moromtuk lands directly border the Lorotku in the south, they rarely engage with them, as both groups prefer to keep to themselves. This is because, despite being similar to the Towarɗo in their economic practices and lack of settlement, the Moromtuk are generally not raiders, typically keeping to herding and ranching. This is partly due to them historically being dominated by the Cieteylu, who punished raids severely. The Cieteylu have a fairly small population, and despite being some of the first Baamorun to come under orcish control, seem to lack significant numbers of urukai in their ranks, as they were largely used as slaves and servants, not being seen as equal to the orcs. This has continued to this day, since most urukai populations are found in the south, the modern center of power for the orc-turned urukai kingdoms.
These urukai, known as the Njitluame are the ruling caste of the Marawebe and Cajidime kingdoms. While other urukai states are primarily made up of Luwarɗo ruling families and aristocracies with Towarɗo, these two kingdoms have seen greater diversity in their interbreeding, and have formed a cosmopolitan urukai elite. Njitluame are primarily descended from the Lukax and Cieteylu on their human side, but those of other Baamorun descent, except the Towarɗo, are also considered Njitluame. Considered by many in the region to be powerful warriors and also great patrons of art and learning, they are heavily entrenched as the ruling castes, as mingling between the orcish migrant-conquerors and the local human aristocracy has created a stable pool of Njitluame. Still, composed mainly of the upper classes, they remain the smallest Baamorun population group.
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