Ursumar

One of Ærellion's premier civilizations, the Ursumar are humans who have long been known as the Empire Builders. For most of their history their various subcultures have been united into a single political entity, or at least be dominated by one powerful state. This unity can be traced back over 3000 years in one of the earliest emergences of a strong, unified human culture. The current entity in control of most Ursumar is the Divinity of Bēlqūašdu, though that state has taken major territorial losses and suffered an even greater loss of influence following the Third Rise of the Tögsgölgüi Ord. For only the second time in recorded history, and the first since the Uthmarid Empire of the Holy Successor briefly ruled the Ursumar lands during the 1300s, many of the Ursumar lords do not pay even lip-service to a Divine Emperor. Thanks to their historical unity, the Ursumar are a tightly-knit culture, with only minor differences between their different subgroups. The Ursumar are also a very faith-driven people and honor their gods often, which helps bring them closer. Although Ursumar could be considered white based on their skin color, they are definitely not pale, and have a more tanned complexion. They have darker hair and brown eyes, though some do have hair that is a bit lighter.

The most prominent group of Ursumar are the Ašarēdan. Living at the heart of Ursumar civiliation, along the major rivers which bring life to whatever would be a dry steppe, they have long been the dominant group of Ursumar. The only Divinities to not hail from Ašarēdan descent were breifly-dominant Sarfun (36 BC - 42 SC) as well as the Divinity of Krunador, which may have not even existed as a unified entity and collapsed 3000 years ago. Thanks to centuries of dominance the Ašarēdan have come to be seen as natural leaders of the Ursumar. Despite their place at the heart of the Ursumar, they are prominent militarists, as they have needed to keep the centaurs at bay for many centuries. Their settled zone in roughtly the center of Berīt Narūm is key to their success, as the region is between the northern drylands and the southern savanna, both of which have a lower agricultural potential and less riverine potential. Thanks to the irrigated land, the Ašarēdan also have a small amount of regional forests, which provide them with quality wood. With a temperate agricultural region bounded by defensible mountains on most sides, their population has long been very high. Besides their political dominance,the Ašarēdan are, unsurprisingly, known for their excellent agricultural output, which supplies much of the rest of the Ursumar with quality food, though cash crop potential is limited. The Ašarēdan are also noted for their paper and cloth production, which is exported to the rest of the Ursumar market. Lastly, they are also the spiritual authority of the Ursumar- the possession of the divine cities of legend and a number of other holy sites makes the Ašarēdan unassailable in this regard.

Just east of the Ašarēdan, the Tḫūmat populate the less fertile western Arndzvord, which has more of a savanna type terrain and is thus dependent on seasonal rains to fuel agriculture. Although at a similar latitude as the Ašarēdan settlements, the mountains of Arndzvord funnel the rains westwards into Ašarēdan lands. Despite rivers to their west and east, the Tḫūmat lands sit between these major rivers and they have never been able to rely on irrigation. Instead, smallscale agriculture was supplemented by big-game hunting for centuries (such as that practiced by the Krundadu of Krunador), but the growing human population has led to a decline in the corresponding animal population, leading to a switch to economics focused on protecting and dealing in caravans and their supply. Their population has been in constant struggle against the Talpehlari to their east for thousands of years, but this threat was removed during the Bēlqūašdu period which has led to greater prosperity for everyone involved. The end of hostilities has led to some intermarriage between the Ašarēdan and their former foes, leading to the birth of the Abrāshi, whose population has expanded greatly as more and more orcs came under control of Bēlqūašdu. Due to Bēlqūašdu's support in rooting out raids, expanding the tributary network east, and bringing new opportunities to the Tḫūmat, they are staunch Imperial Loyalists for the most part, supporting the Divinity in its darkest days.

The Abrāshi are, of course, urukai, and are the only major group of Ursumar which are not mostly human. They are most commonly found throughout the borders of the former orcish autonomous region, especially on its border with Bēlqūašdu proper. The autonomy, called Amzidob after the orcish inhabitants, became home to a number of urukai over time, thanks to the expansion of the eastern tributary network. Many orcs from poor situations made their way there hoping to make a new life and later married human merchants. Due to the Abrāshi actively seeking to integrate themselves with the Ursumar in order to gain more prestige and respect from the imperial center, the Abrāshi adopted far more cultural traditions from the Ursumar than from the Talpehlari, which is why they are usually considered "properly" Ursumar. They became active mediators between the Amzidob Autonomy and the central government, and rose to command a number of important military positions as well due to their trusted nature. Many of the Amzidob regiments which fought against the Tögsgölgüi Ord were actually under the command of Abrāshi officers. However, with the situation in Bēlqūašdu becoming precipetous and most Abrāshi predicting its collapse (like the human lords), they defected and declared Amzidob independent. Their attempt at indepndence was cut short by (ironically) attacks by Blay'uran urukai from the north, and Bēlqūašdu once took control over the Abrāshi-majority borderlands, while the rest of the population was overtaken by Minotaur mercenaries.

Along the coast of the greatest of the lakes reside the Bidanites, who also make up the majority of independence claimists. As traders, plantation lords, and even slavers, they are rich in both material wealth and soft power, far more than other Ursumar. In happier times, their tempered avarice has made the state obsecene amounts of money, and they have always been quick to oppose any Divine Emperors who seek to oppress the people and whose heavy-handedness threatens the economic situation of the state. Nonetheless, many believe they have actually jumped the gun by initializing rebellion, and that their merchant lords have done this for selfish gain. After all, it's important to consider that their wealth is just as unequal as the rest of the Ursumar. This is especially noticable in the nation of Binašru-ku, where the Bidanite Ursumar majority has long oppressed the Aimaur minority and used them as cheap labor with little regard for their conditions. This problem, while exacerbated in Binašru-ku, is present in nearly all the Bidanite plantations, which could spell issues if the slaves start getting ideas of liberty or even simply siding with Bēlqūašdu.

In the southeastern savannas of the Berīt Narūm region, as well as a few sparse settlements through Ziyn'yašk and southwest Yvalāntu into the former tributaries of Jangalavaal, the Kašātu become the dominant Ursumar population. A very strong and tenacious people group, they can trace their roots back to tribes of Ursumar which settled the region in prehistory, coming into contact with the Iajephic - Alyubians peoples also settling the region at a similar time. The resulting mix of peoples would develop into unique cultures, giving rise to a proto-Kašātu population. The region was for many years ruled over primarily by Iajephic tribal confederations, though a few Ursumar states also held sway at times. These tribes made up the borderlands of the settled Ursumar population for thousands of years, with their presence first being noted as paying tribute during the founding of the city of Ez, over 5000 years ago. This system lasted thousands of years and only changed when the Iššini of Ez and Annišāḫūtu (both nominally part of the Divinity of Latter Bāblus) began expanding their territory south to gain power and influence. After the fall of Bāblus, the Divinity of Ashēryku conquered these parts of the region due to Ez and Annišāḫūtu's participation in the rebellions of the Sharp Axe Period. Soldiers sent to pacify the region intermarried with the already existant Ursumar peoples there and helped them settle down and establish control over the Iajephic for good. This combination of soldier and settler came to be known as Kašātu, a term which carried over as the Kašātu founded settlements further and further south, following the borders of Ashēryku and later Bēlqūašdu- though their presence remains slim in the extreme south of the region.

In contrast to the tribal and soldier background of the Kašātu, the most northern of Ursumar are largely composed of herders and nomads, somewhat like the Tḫūmat. Known as the Sēršābar, they inhabit the northern parts of Berīt Narūm, where the land is drier and therefore much less fertile. While some crops can be grown here along rivers, by and large it is too close to the deserts of the north to be good soil. Instead, it is mainly a shrubby land which is used for grazing of sheep or cattle. The Sēršābar are insterspersed with several Iajephic clans within the region as well, and many of them have some Iajephic blood. However, they are firmly Ursumar in culture and belief, and have stood firm in their support of the Ursumar in the past, including with Bēlqūašdu in the present day. Their lands, on the border of the centaur menace, have always been dangerous, and the northern part of their lands have recently fallen to the Tögsgölgüi Ord. With the centaurs ethnically cleansing the region and resettling it with orcs, the northern tribes have been forced to flee, causing issues of land management, and many have been forced to settle far from their ancestral homeland, in the savannas of the Tḫūmat. This has motivated many young men, raised on tales of defeat, to train militarily in the hope that they might reclaim their fathers' lands.

By far the most disparite of the Ursumar are the Ganumaneš. During the time of the Divinity of Ashēryku, they fled to and conquered much of the far-off lands of Junyeong and Bakatyeong, creating a divergent culture. While many of them have syncreticized with or assimilated into the local poulation and become known as the Suijuiyun, there are still some who follow the old ways. In addition, many of their nobility have pure or near-pure Ursumar blood, which preserves their historical culture. The Ganumaneš are considered conservative in terms of dress, speech, and in some cases religion, since the modern changes to these cultural factors have not crossed the steppe. They hold a friendly relationsip with Bēlqūašdu, as the Bēlqūašdic came to their aid in the War of the Three Titans, which led to a brief-but-powerful Bēlqūašdu-Syeoban duopoly over the steppe. The Ganumaneš also had strong trade routes with Bēlqūašdu through the eastern tributaries, but this route was severed during the post-Bēlqūašdic-hegemony invasions of the savanna by centaurs.