The Tatamak, also known as Icefarers, are an indigenous people that live on the Western coast of Istid, next to the Great Sea of Ice.
They have a fairly simple social structure, living in families, a bit like the Krin, but less numerous.
These people usually live in tipis made of pelts and bones of big game animals, like the mammoth.
The leader of the family, by norm the father, is known as Inui. He is the coordinator of the hunt, be it on land or sea, and of the tribe's defense.
In this society gender is meaningless. All work for the common goal of the survival and flourish of the tribe.
The Tatamak are very versatile people. They have a strong instinct for survival and, even though they are more considered an ethnic group rather than a nation, they defend themselves in a cohesive and professional way.
These Icefarers have a rudimentary economy. Due to the inhospitable land where they live, it is difficult to create a sustaining agriculture.
Since they can't toil the land, they turned to the seas. These masters of survival became master fishermen. Whales and walrus are hunted with care. It's meat stored in ice and salt and used to fed the rigorous winters. The animals fat is used as fuel for the fires, to warm the bones both inside and outside the tipis.
They aren't just sea hunters though. Inland they have become expert big game hunters. Their prey is mostly megafauna, which lives abundantly in Istid.
The Tatamak don't just hunt prey for food. They also train them. Using all kinds of megafauna to help them on daily tasks.
Due to their expertise, these people have an carefully planned international trade where furs, animal oil, and bonecrafts give them a boost on their economy.
Living in a rather self-preserving tribal society, they are mostly illeterate. Their tradition and beliefs passed down from generation to generation orally, through the families elders.
Education for a tatamak is very practical. They are taught how to hunt, how to fight, how to use the animals and it's materials. Essentially, how to survive.
The Icefarers of Istid don't have a practical religion. Instead, they have strongly built folklore, based on ancestry, spirits, and mother earth, which defines their morals. These morals are passed by the shamans, known as angakkuq, who usually are the elders of the tribe.
Besides the father, Inui, and the shaman, Angakkuq, the oracle, known as Loq'ash, also plays an important role in their society. He sees future events through bone scrying. Many are the families that act according to these oracles visions.
These people are one of the most pacific and united ethnic groups in all human lands. Even though they don't take part of the political scene of the continent and their social structure limits their potential, they don't quarrel between each family. In fact, they help each other regularly.
Life is simple for a tatamak. They need to survive the Winter. And winter is eternal in Istid, so petty quarrels have no space for them.
Tatamak warfare is a clever one. They boldly face enemies bigger and stronger then them, but their cooperation prevails. Their weapons might be rudimentary, mostly made of animal bones, but on their hands are powerful tools.
Due to their unity, it's common to see a whole family trying to hunt big game animals, using cooperation, numbers and the landscape to their advantage.
The indigenous folk have a healthy relationship with the Maoquinas, due to the similar creeds, and both usually help each other. The Krin also respect and valor these folks. Having a commercial agreement with them, prizing their whale oil.
The dog is a tatamaks best friend. They use them to move their sleds through Istid, to help them in their hunt and to control the shepparded animals.
Tatamaks are usually small, heighting from 1.40 to 1.60 metres tall. They are robust and stocky, with a pale bronze skin, dark hair and dark, slanted eyes. They use thick furs as clothing are easily recognized by their bone weapons.
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Living as a nomadic society, moving from place to place on the windy peninsula of western Istid, the Tatamak don't have a central hub of their own.
