Ronian - Human

Physical Description

The Ronians are characterised by straight black hair, lighter shaded eyes (green and hazel), slightly slanted eye shape, square-shaped front teeth, a straight nose with a wide nostril and a non-projecting chin. The Ronians are a hearty breed of people, the men are muscular and stocky, while the women are voluptuous and curvy. Also, the Ronians have darker skin and typically have reddish cheeks from constant exposure to the sun, wind and cold.

Society

The traditional Ronian family is patriarchal. Wives were brought for each of the sons, while daughters were married off to other clans. Wife-taking clans stand in a relation of inferiority to wife-giving clans. Thus wife-giving clans are considered "elder" or "bigger" in relation to wife-taking clans, who are considered "younger" or "smaller". This distinction, symbolized in terms of "elder" and "younger" or "bigger" and "smaller", is carried into the clan and family as well, and all members of a lineage are terminologically distinguished by generation and age, with senior superior to junior.
In the traditional Ronian family, each son receives a part of the family herd as he marries, with the elder son receiving more than the younger son. The youngest son remains in the parental tent caring for his parents, and after their death he inherits the parental tent in addition to his own part of the herd. Likewise, each son inherits a part of the family's camping lands and pastures, with the elder son receiving more than the younger son. The eldest son inherits the farthest camping lands and pastures, and each son in turn inherits camping lands and pastures closer to the family tent until the youngest son inherits the camping lands and pastures immediately surrounding the family tent. Family units often remain near each other and in close cooperation, although extended families inevitably break up after a few generations.
After the family, the next largest social units are the subclan and clan. These units are derived from groups claiming patrilineal descent from a common ancestor, ranked in order of seniority (the "conical clan"). This ranking is symbolically expressed at formal feasts, in which tribal chieftains are seated and received particular portions of the slaughtered animal according to their status. The paternal descent lines are collaterally ranked according to the birth of their founders, and are thus considered senior and junior to each other. Of the various family lines, the senior in order of descent from the founding ancestor, the line of eldest sons, is the most noble. In the steppe, no one has his exact equal; everyone finds his place in a system of collaterally ranked lines of descent from a common ancestor. It is according to this idiom of superiority and inferiority of lineages derived from birth order that legal claims to superior rank are couched.

Relations

The Ronians are quite an insular people, and do not often leave the Lands of Ronius unless exiled or on a redemption quest. The other residents of the Rhodanian continent remember the history of the Ronian Empire well, and are as such reluctant to interfere overmuch with the territorial lands of the Ronian clans.

Alignment and Religion

These folk tend to be of the Neutral alignment spectrum, but they are certainly not exclusively so. In the same vein, they typically worship The Mother. The Ronians are quite aware of the lore of The Hordes of Hell; they often curse members of rival clans and other enemies to deaths in the various Hells.

Adventurers

Pure Ronians are rarely encountered outside of the Lands of Ronius unless exiled from their clan or on a quest of retribution. However, children of mixed Ronian descent are common on the borders of the Lands of Ronius.

Ronian Ethnic Traits

They receive a +2 racial bonus to Riding skill checks, and are proficient with composite shortbows.

Naming Traditions

Feminine names

Enkhtuya, Yisu, Gerelma, Dagasi, Orbei, Bolormaa, Yisugei Qatun, Enkhjargal, Samga, Khünbish

Masculine names

Mergen, Akhutai, Horkhudagh, Dayan, Onggur, Arabuccha, Baasan, Urchger, Nogai, Khenbish

Family names

Ronian names usually consist of two adjectives or nouns, which in Ronian grammar form a single word. This combination is supposed to represent qualities of the child.
Due to Ronian traditions and beliefs, children will sometimes receive negative names. This was usually done to mislead evil spirits who may have taken a previous child's life. If a son died, the next son could be given a female name to confuse those evil spirits, or a new child could be given names such as 'Khünbish', which means 'not a human being', or 'Enebish', which means 'not this one'.
The Ronians use a patronymic surname system, which means the father's name is used as the surname.

Encompassed species

• Human

Related Organizations

• Lands of Ronius