Iähmi

The Iähmi are the foreunners of the Talvinen peoples, and are the most developed and centralized of those cultures. Mostly found to the east of the Kalas Murgalu Mountains, they are adept at surviving and thriving in the cold temperatures and often harsh weather of the region. A proud and independent people, the Iähmi are nonetheless rarely engaged in warfare with outsiders, having long since isolated themselves from most outsiders.

The dominant Iähmi culture is that of the Äyteisöt. The Äyteisöt are a loosely organized grouping of sedentary peoples, centered around local communities and self-reliance. However, they display a deep cultural attachment to their larger semi-tribal organizations, though cultural exchange is common, thus keeping them as a united people group. One of the most sacred sites for the Äyteisöt is turle lake. This lake is inhabited by a magical turtle with two heads, with its skin color best described as periwinkle. The turtle's shell has icy blue crystals growing from its shell, which is otherwise white. Occasionally, these crystals will break off of the shell, and are greatly prized. When refined, these shell fragments are one of the most favored ingrediants in wizard's staffs, comparable to Oricalchum.

To the south of the Äyteisöt, the Lõuapne are a majority, pressed between the Äyteisöt and the Siriasčulai. Lõuapne have close ties to many of the Siriasčulai, and conduct extensive trade with them. However, on a political level they are extremely decentralized due to their large number of subtribes which dominate the local level of their various kingdoms. The Lõuapne, unlike the Äyteisöt, have never really been considered a major threat or trade partner by anybody other than the Siriasčulai, and there is little trade between them and other peoples. Mostly agrarian and largely rural, the various Lõuapne kingdoms are essentially federations of various smaller kingdoms which have united under one banner. Generally, the hill forts which display the authority of these kings have grown into what few real cities the Lõuapne possess, though these are often little more than towns themselves. The Lõuapne are also fairly close to nature despite their agrarian roots, and are at home in the dense forests that proliferate outside the clearings created for towns.

To the south of these two groups, the Jõsedi are a small group of Iähmi who inhabit the mouth of river [tbd] and the coastline of the surrounding areas. A more developed coastal people group than their northern cousins, the Jõsedi are integrated into several different nations in the region, though they lack their own state. They are also merchants, with close contacts to the Gnomes and are considered valuable partners when gnomes work to foster relations with other Iähmi.

Besides these three peoples, there are also several small groups of Iähmi living as far south as Taytama. Their villages, remnants of the Talvinen migrations are populated by those known as the Teläniset. The Teläniset essentially represent small groups of Iähmi who never integrated into the mixed Talvinen-Metsamish nations of Taytama, as their villages for whatever reason never hosted a mixed population. They can largely be found in northern Taytama, with no communities found to the south of the Taytaman Hills. Another area devoid of such settlements is the Mazelsteppe, as that small region has become a total melting pot.