Somon (SO mon)

the Ancestors of the South

Human natives of the Southern Reach of Ethae (Jerain), the somon are said to have living in the land when the Elf arrived in the Elder Tree. Relatively isolated from the rest of Ethae, in comparison to the deeply connection nations of the north, the somon developed ways of life and views of the world in their own way. Now, even after generations of contact, conquest and integration, the natives of the south hold tight to the old ways.

The somon dwelt in the untamable lands south of the Cutting Mountains throughout history. A land of thick jungles and strange environments, where the weather is unpredictable and the Anon (Magic) wild and unstable. Largely disconnected from the northerners, the people of the south developed magic vastly different than the other humans. The Normon and Ismon have ancient traces of elven blood, especially among the nobility, giving them connection with magic that the somon lack. Somon cultures never trained, study, nor had the bloodlines to develop any skills with the arcane arts like their northern kin. Magic is a part of Aldern itself however, and their ancestorial people learned to work it their own way, developing the druidic arts.

Somon are often fair skinned in the southern east, with darker shades more common as one travels north and west. Hair colors are almost always darker, blacks and browns being the most common. Raven black hair, while relatively common, is considered the most beautiful throughout many of the somon cultures. Hair style is as varied as the cultures themselves. Though men sporting beards is very common, and women often veil their head to cover much of their hair, especially once married. Eye color for somon seem to very by regions. Shades of blue and green are very common among the people, especially in the lands of the Kingdom of Marras, with browns in the north, beyond the 'civilized' lands. It is said that a somon can know the tribe of other man or woman just by the shades of their eyes.