Tanugiin Jün

Tanugiin Jün, literally "Those who ride the steppe" are the dominant centaur culture in the world, and the only one present on Ærellion thanks to their cultural hegemony over the steppe. The centaurs of Telgren are descended from these fearsome warriors, as are any small communities that may be found elsewhere. Tanugiin Jün are a brave, tenacious, proud, and unforgiving culture, as fluid as their steppe home and as dangerous as the most fearsome of beasts. However, their warlike beliefs and constant raiding hides a rich and complex cultural tradition that is truly unique to them. The Tanugiin Jün also have the distinction of having the largest land area of any culture in the realm, and can be found in the Arzuudyu, Tögsgöldyu, Balöndör, Khoitaldyu, Tötsöl Ikhal, Bakatyeong, and Arndzvord regions, though in the latter two they are not dominant.

The Tanugiin Jün are united by their common beliefs, social structure, and nomadism, though they display differences depending on which region of the steppe they hail from. One of the main tenants of such culture comes from the faith of Khuragism, which has set the framework for developing culture around martial skills, patriarchy, and spiritualism. Such a martial tradition has also been nurtured by thousands of years on the open steppe, which can be harsh if one is weak or physically unfit. Thus, the development of a militarist religion has reinforced such necessities for survival on the plains, though it has cost the Tanugiin Jün in terms of other metrics. However, it should not be assumed that the Tanugiin Jün are technologically or tactically behind other nations. Their martial tradition focuses not just on raw power and strength, but also on the application of such force, as well as promoting tactical and strategic skill, which is what has allowed the expansion of the Tanugiin Jün to encompass nearly the entire steppe (sans the Hobgoblin-controlled northeast). While nomadic, the Tanugiin Jün are still accomplished craftsmen, which is what many occupy themselves with when not at war or grazing their livestock. Such industry is almost exclusively confined to personal or familial use, although in some of the small cities that have sprung up over time, such as Harmaash, industries such as metalworking have developed extensively and even in tandem with magical arts in order to enhance the fighting capabilities of the people.

Although the Tanugiin Jün's focus on the battlefield can be partially attributed to be the harsh environment of their lands, a major part of it is also born from their paternalist and polyamorous society. Although it is unclear which developed first, the militarism and paternalism have proven hard to disentangle and have reinforced one another. Although not legally enshrined or culturally mandated in most Tanugiin Jün countries, polyamory has been used both as a tool to control women, a means of encouraging war fervor, and a way to enrich the elite. Without polyamory, the Tanugiin Jün would be unable to continue their campaigns against one another and the wider world, and without paternalism it would be difficult for this to be enforced. Such traditions also serve to reinforce the structure of society and the distribution of inheritance. On a high level, the Tanugiin Jün traditions function as thus: any nation is composed of a federation of tribes, some greater and some lesser. This hierarchy varies over time as each clan's fortune waxes and wanes, but generally the greatest of clans remain prolific and in control, with many of them having gone on to form larger confederations over time. Each clan is also organized into their own inner hierarchy, which forms a more familiar hierarchy to most other cultures. Unlike cultures such as that of the Storm Giants, a person's standing within their own clan is more important than which clan they belong to, naturally keeping in mind the power and influence of each clan if conflict arises. The inner standings of any one clan is based on senior status, tracing back along the male line, and in order of birth. Thus, in theory, the head of each clan should be from an unbroken male-only line dating back to the founder of the clan. In practice, this quickly gets messy, especially with a lack of written records for most events of this sort. Thus, the clan structure can be defined as somewhat fluid, where different branches may take power for a time, while lesser members of any branch may have a difficult time asserting their authority.

Also of note is the method for which marriage is undertaken for each clan. Traditionally, marriage is between a higher-ranking woman and a lower-ranking man. By accepting the dominance of the man and lowering herself to the level of his clan, a woman is thus "controlled", essentially reducing her status and reinforcing patriarchal control. Such a tradition means that the flow is always downwards, with women being unable to advance their status by marriage, thus reducing their influence, at least nominally. Although usually marriages are inter-clan affairs, it is also accepted for them to be intra-clan, as a way of keeping power concentrated, especially in the most powerful clans who have fewer out-of-clan options. With the arrangement of marriage between two clans being common, typically the lower ranking clan is expected to send over more women who would become secondary wives or concubines, while the higher ranking clan would be expected to send over less women and those women would be expected to become more respected wives. Any quirks in the system that prevent regular marriage are usually overcome in two ways. The first is by capturing foreign women and forcing them to marry, a common practice by royalty in order to circumvent the hierarchy and legally marry. Such kidnapping is not necessarily non-consensual, as fairly often it is arranged by both parties ahead of time in order to ensure no mishaps but to maintain a façade of honor for the kidnapping party. Naturally, should such a thing get out it would be dishonorable and cowardly, so the party relinquishing a woman typically receives some sort of compensation as a way to ensure they keep silent. The second is to not marry at all and to only take concubines, which can make the succession quite worrisome. Since children born to a legal marriage are always above those of concubines, it is difficult for concubine's children to inherit in normal circumstances, thus discouraging killing their legitimate siblings. If a centaur only takes concubines, however, the pool of inheritance is much wider, with inheritance able to bounce between sons and therefore encourage discord in the household. As for the concubines themselves, as mentioned above, they are typically from lower-status clans and were part of an exchange for a legal marriage. In this way the least valuable clans of any state thus send most of their daughters off as concubines while receiving fewer women in return, which encourages their sons to be aggressive. As concubines are women, this marriage up the hierarchy does not come with any elevation of status, and their children are also somewhat lesser, as described above. The practice of taking concubines, however, is typically closely controlled the nation itself to prevent extortion and abuse of the system. As with marriage, there must be a legal contract between the man and women, and usually concubines are limited to the eldest children of a man, excluding royalty, who typically all take concubines. For example, should a man have 5 sons, only the eldest would usually be allowed to take on concubines. If that son was to die after this, the new eldest could inherit the concubines, and even potentially his older brother's wife if he has no wife and wishes to do so. Naturally, royal clans totally ignore such rules. In many cases, marriage is also limited to elder sons (especially in poor, low-ranking clans), or at least the first few (for more powerful but non-royal clans). In almost no cases are any sons past the second or third allowed to marry or take on concubines, at least naturally (again, excluding royalty). They can only do so via warfare, thus raising their status by seizing women, which is naturally destabilizing and also harmful to the woman. This encourages warfare and violence as clans undertake raids against their foes to prove their worth and secure their position.

Although the lot of women tends to be poor, as long as a woman accepts the societal structure she can still greatly influence the state from behind the scenes. While freedom may be lacking, many women have found other ways to prove their worth to society. Many clan leaders and heads of households keep their wife and concubines as a sort of informal advisory council, and women are encouraged to learn and understand abstract concepts in order to be of more use in this respect. There are also many accounts of women choosing to go to war rather than marry, which is totally legal and protected. Such an action is seen as refuting the man, and is a great stain on his honor. For the woman that wishes to scorn a hated suitor, little could be better than seeing him shamed. However, they are expected to fight, which leads to high casualties among these brave women as they are not trained in warfare and must begin from scratch. They do still have the natural centaur strength and power to fall back on, which helps to an extent. While forced to be tethered to a man or to fight, they do have freedom of movement and in some respects are considered more free than in other countries, especially in large harems. Since each woman has her own dwelling and the man chooses where to sleep each night, they may go years without being forced to copulate, especially if they make it as annoying as possible for the man by visibly showing their disappointment and avoiding him when possible. It should also be noted that things such as sexual slavery, sexual abuse, marital abuse, adultery (outside of legal concubines), and other crimes against a spouse are taken extremely seriously and seen as great breaches of honor, with the punishment often being death for the man. It may be seen that despite longstanding cultural practices that promote patriarchy and diminish women, the lack of real laws enforcing this and the intrinsic value of women as equals (even if it remains unrecognized) has allowed them to remain important rights that in many other places have been eroded over time.

The Tanugiin Jün, a a nomadic people group, rely primarily on grazing livestock in order to maintain their diet and as their source of income. Livestock is used both for their hides as well as for their meat, and animals are often killed before the winter months to provide sustenance and reduce the amount of grazing required in the cold. Sheep, cattle, and camels are their preferred animals of choice, while horses are also sometimes used in times of great need but otherwise left alone due to their similarities to centaurs. The centaurs also make use of domesticated (though not as much as cattle) aurochs, which can be found on the steppe and nowhere else. As a rare and powerful beast much different in temperament from regular cattle, owning aurochs is seen as a testament to one's strength and power. The wild aurochs, as well as animals such as deer and boar are also hunted for meat and furs. The typical diet of the Tanugiin Jün is limited in consumption of vegetables and grains, although there is some cultivation of both, especially in the regions surrounding rivers and near towns, where sedentarism may be more common. Those on the coast or by rivers and lakes also supplant their diets with fish, though centaurs rarely, if ever, use small boats and are thus limited in their methods of securing fish.

The traditional organizations of Tanugiin Jün society do not make any reference to subcultures due to the migratory attitude of many tribes. Instead, the primary region a tribe frequents has been used as the manner for which they are organized internally. Alongside this, as centralization has slowly crept in, tribes have begun to be referred to by whichever royal family they swear fealty to. External observers, however, have classified the Tanugiin Jün into 5 different subcultures, based on slight differences to culture, society, and occasionally religion.

The simplest of groups to break off are the Tögsgölgüi Teltars. Although genetically around 50% Telrai, the Teltars are undeniably part of the Tanugiin Jün, only differing in their physical anatomy and a few key things. As royalty, the Teltars have developed a unique kinship system which undeniably places them above the other clans they rule over. Their marriage and reproduction is also closely controlled, limited by decrees preventing Teltar blood from seeping into the general populace. Thus, they maintain themselves as a separate caste with their own quirks. Although extremely powerful, Teltars are limited entirely to the Tögsgölgüi Ord, and typically only settled in and around Harmaash, the core of their empire, though they can be found throughout.

The rest of the Tögsgölgüi Ord is populated primarily by the Aghurik, who make up the centaur side of the Teltaric ancestry. The Aghurik are to many the prototypical centaurs, especially to most outsiders. They deal primarily in sheep and cattle herding, though camel herding is also practiced in the drier portions of their range. Aghurik are the most developed of the various Tanugiin Jün subgroups, accounting for many of the unique tactical accomplishments of the culture. However, they are also the most warlike, although not as much as their Teltar overlords, which has caused some strife between the rulers and subjects in the past. For many years, the Aghurik were known to be in active conflict with the Edemalik to their southwest, until both groups were subjugated by the Teltars. In the aftermath of the War of the Three Titans, which saw the Tögsgölgüi Ord temporarily defeated, violence reemerged between the Edemalik and Aghurik, which eventually led to most Orcs fleeting the steppe and the Aghurik expanding their territory west. Though the Aghurik are typically not found in the Tötsöl Ikhal desert, there are a few tribes which have migrated east and may be found in the service of the Khoiguud who dwell there. The Valerid Ord is also ruled by a clan of Aghurik, though most of its population is Noyodii.

The Noyodii are a subculture composed of numerous clans and multiple nations, who are smaller in number and weaker militarily than the Aghurik. The Noyodii are typically a little less centralized and developed, but consequentially more free and less strict. Although generally considered less warlike than their southern fellows, they are a constant threat to the coastal goblins, hobgoblins, and Telrai colonies. The Noyodii have a very distinct language from the rest of the Tanugiin Jün, with a number of unique words and phrases found nowhere else. This is probably due to being more out of the way and seeing less migration into their lands from other tribes, with the region being bordered by hills, mountains, and the sea on most sides, which limit interactions between the Noyodii and the other centaurs, who primarily move around the more open regions of the plains.

East of the Noyodii, the Züüghar dominate the northern steppe. Once home primarily to Hobgoblins, Trolls, and even Dwarves in the hilly regions, over time the Züüghar came to dominate, conquering the hilly region bordering the Noyodii, pushing the dwarves back into the mountains, and eliminating the Trolls from all but the deepest woods and highest peaks. The Hobgoblins continue to fight against the Züüghar, who are of course not a unified entity and fight amongst themselves as well. In recent years, some small territories have actually been lost to the Hobgoblins for the first time in many years, which has prompted a new confederation of tribes to rise and oppose their mortal foe. The Züüghar are notable for their use of elaborate headdresses to signify the social and marital status of their peoples in ceremonies, and are the only Tanugiin Jün to make use of silk in large quantities. Silk farms are guarded fiercely by the clans which control them, for their worth is great despite the poor conditions for silk moths in the steppe. Imported silk is especially prized, though difficult to obtain due to their geographical and diplomatic position.

Lastly, to the east of the Aghurik and south of the Züüghar, though separated by mountains from the latter, Khoiguud may be found. Known to populate the desert and shrublands between the Aghurik and the human population, they are the most sparsely populated group of centaurs, especially in the inner Tötsöl Ikhal, where permanent settlement is all-but impossible. The Khoiguud rely primarily on the camel due to the lack of water in most of their homeland. They have fought numerous wars with the Wanyun of Syeoban for control over the region, and in recent years have also pushed south and conquered into the savanna. The Khoiguud are the least stable of the various Tanugiin Jün, and could very well fall apart in the east and be subsumed by the Aghurik in the west, but they could also potentially deal great blows to the east and retain their position for years to come.