Blay'uran

The Blay'uran, also sometimes called simply the Blay, are a human ethnic group indigenous to the Arndzvord region as well as parts of Berīt Narūm and Nivazimam. They are both a linguistic and cultural outlier, with no other close languages or cultures. Still, they have long been subject to cross-cultural exchange with the neighboring Ursumar peoples, and incorporate many loan words into their language. The region of Arndzvord they inhabit is a temperate region home to dense forests and bounded in the north by soaring mountains populated by dwarves. Their portion of Berīt Narūm is drier and more arid, but being higher in elevation, remains temperate. Since antiquity, the Blay'uran have been an important source of timber, and although their lumber is considered slightly inferior to the high quality Ursumar cedars, it remains valuable.

The Blay'uran people were first noted in Ursumar history books over 3,000 years ago, during the reign of the city of Drēz. Noted for being occasionally involved in raiding and occasionally paying tribute, the Blay'uran were considered a fiercely independent people. They would remain tribal well into the reign of (former) Bāblus, when their people would largely become exposed to Ursumar culture, and the first Bla'uran were directly integrated into the Divine Empire. Still, most Blay'uran remained independent, though most began paying tribute to the Ursumar. However, following the reign of Bāblus, the tribes would take advantage of Ursumar disunity to escape their control, and while the city of Trūnth would assert some control over the mountains, even receiving tribute from as far away as modern Mayr'yun at some points, by the end of the Ashēryk-Trūnth diarchy in 1013, the Baly'uran had regained full independence.

Still, they had been exposed to the Ursumar culture and religion, which led to a slow transformation of their society. The reassertion of control over their mountains by the Divinity of Edil would reinforce these trends, but Edil fell in fire and war, and Ursumar control lapsed once more, not being re-established until well into the reign of (Latter) Bāblus. With Bāblus' powerful dukes competing for influence, many sought to dominate the mountains and valleys of the Blay'uran, taking advantage of the trade in lumber, stone, and ores togrow their own power. Once the Divinity of Ashēryku seized control of the divine throne, the Blay'uran would largely be incorporated into the Divine Empire as provinces, with only small, remote states being allowed to keep nominal indepndence. This created a patchwork of dependencies, with some parts of Arndzvord under direct rule of the Emperor, other parts being autonomous vassals, and pockets of tribes merely paying tribute. With the whole region outside a few dwarven holds dependent on the Divine Empire, Ursumar culture continued to grow. Some rulers and elites even adopted the Ursumar religion of Alwatian, leading to societal shifts and unrest as traditional shamans competed with Alwatian priests for power. The rapidly modernizing societies of the Blay'uran led to their greater connectivity to the world, and many Blay'uran began to find employment as mercenaries in Ashēryku's wars. Following the Great Kinstrife of 1700-1721, these Blay'uran mercenaries were considered more loyal than native Ursumar, and were enshrined as an honor guard, with the ranks of regular mercenaries greatly expanded. They were some of the most well-prepared troops during the war between the Tögsgölgüi Ord and Ashēryku, and performed most of the offensive maneuvers until the tributary armies arrived to save the day. Such extensive combat drained the Ashērykan treasury, and upon learning they were no longer to be paid the mercenaries deserted. The honor guard itself held the emperor hostage and eventually killed him when he did not deliver their payment, although they were then slain by the new emperor. This marked the end of the Blay'uran mercenaries as a major force, as though the Divinity of Bēlqūašdu has made use of them they are far more limited in scope than they once were.

Under the Divinity of Bēlqūašdu, the Baly'uran would be centralized into distinct provinces, and though autonomous region continued to exist, they were under increasing control of the Divine Empire, though their distance from the imperial center allowed for a measure of local autonomy. Despite this centralization, the eastern parts of the Blay'uran civilization was never fuly tamed, and remained mostly composed of tributaries thanks to the rough terrain. Bēlqūašdu's influence was mostly limited to river valleys in the east, though this of course projected its own sort of power as trade depends on these river systems. With Bēlqūašdu suffering a humiliating defeat against the centaurs in 1974, things became much more chaotic. Most of the Baly'uran nations have taken the collapse of Bēlqūašdu's Empire in stride, gaining autonomy before becoming bold and seizing independence. This collapse has also stopped tribute payments from arriving as the Blay'uran no longer fear or were able to rely on Bēlqūašdan military might. However, many of their people have been heavily Ursumized, and there are many who would immediately swear fealty to a restored Divine Empire.

The Blay'uran have long lived in the vicinity of the orcish Talpehlari peoples, and such close contact has over time led to a large amount of urukai, known as the Kinasl. Such urukai have long been powerful figures, as they are seen as powerful shamans. In the south especially, their number and authority increased during the 18th century, as many Blay'uran men went to serve as mercenaries, leading to greater intermarriage between orc men and human women. This growth in population led to the Kinasl assuming direct control over the southern states, first as governors and then as warlords. These Urukai governors were a flashpoint between factions of the Divine Empire, as they were less likely to sell orc slaves down the river, thus angering the pro-slave trade factions. Following the collapse of Bēlqūašdu, many of them saw an opportunity to expand their military prowess and forge truly independent states. They invaded the Abrāshi autonomy and largely conquered it, but a succession of attempts by varying Kinasl meant they spent more time fighting one another than pacifying the region. This made it easy for minotaur mercenaries, paid by the dark elves and gnomes of Slafkhavn, who were motivated by the commercial disruption of such conquest, to sweep in and conquer the region. They pushed north and causing the Kinasl warlords to collapse back into their smaller statelets, leaving the Kinasl in disarray for the past decade as the warlords fight over their scraps. The Kinasl aren't just warlords, however, and they are actually valued more as shamans in the nations ruled by Blay'urans. There, they provide religious guidance as they are believed to be blessed by the gods.

Besides the Kinasl, there are only a few different subgroups of the Blay'uran, as they are a tight knit group. The Lekrnshar, Anthrappar, Rrenkyar, and Avashtun are all slightly different, speaking their own subsets (though they are mutually intelligable) of the Blay'uran langauge. The Lekrnshar live in the western highlandsthat are considered a part of Berīt Narūm. Their population within Arndzvord is limited to the foothills of the mountains or even within dwarven controlled lands, and they have largely been converted to the Alwatian religion. Few Kinasl live amongst them, and those that do have little influence or authority. In contrast, the Anthrappar are much more religiously divided, and live mostly within the denser forests and mountains of the north. Their population stretches from the borders of Bēlqūašdu all the way to the eastern reaches of Mayr'yun, though most of it is concentrated in or around the river valleys. Unlike the previous two groups, the Rrenkyar live mainly in the south, within the more sparse woods of the region, which mesh into the tropical regions of Nivazimam. The flatlands, which may be either temperate or savanna depending on latitude, are densely settled with both Rrenkyar and their Talpehlari counterparts, leading to a vast number of Kinasl and the people being staunch believers in their native Averesara faith. Their population also wraps around the western side of the river [tbd], where they make up the majority of Blay'uran remaining under Ursumar rule. Lastly, the most distinct of the Kinasl are the Avashtun, pastoral nomads who live in the norther mountains, where the air is much more arid and agriculture is non-feasable. This region suffers from frequent centaur incursions and is lightly populated outside of dwarven holds, meaning the Avashtun have a low population. As a consequence of their low population and distance from the savanna, the Avashtun count very few Kinasl amongst their members, and maintain the Averesara faith as it was before orcish integration as shamans (not heretical, just different).