Lucerian

Cultural Themes: The Sun, Gold, The Eagle, Sky, Independence
The Lucerians are an ethnic group that originally settled in the Nortern Mountain Steppe they refer to as the ancestral Sunlands. Some say early Lucerians took refuge in the roughly hospitable Sunlands due to Adonian encroachment and tyranny, while others suggest that the Lucerians chose the harsh terrain purposefully to prove their strength. Ancient Lucerians were known for their fearsome prowess in combat and expert use of the spear. The strongest among them could go days without food or water. 
They refused to be subjects of the Adonian Empire and instead preferred small tribes that only cooperated with those they chose. Early lucerians were united in their worship of Aiga who they considered to be the god of all warlords. Early Lucerian myth speak of Aiga conquering the Sun and wresting its power from a fearsome dragon. 
The lucerian people during the era of the Adonian Empire were a fractured series of tribes until a great warlord named Akuma unified the vast majority of the tribes and set out to conquer the Adonians. Akuma utilized the right of the conqueror, an ancient practice where one man or one group could challenge another and the winner would obtain all of his men and resources. Much of their behavior in those days they did to impress the Conquering god who lived at the height of a great mountain known as the Eeyrie. Lucerians did not ask their god for protection, merely for the strength to endure and survive. They took great pride in being able to endure their harsh and at times unforgiving home and believed that the struggle gave them great strength that would one day be needed. 
Lucerians believed in the power of visions and prophecy. They believed that one day their god would come to them to unite the tribes and conquer the world. They believed that one day the world may end, that they would be called to conquer the world and free the world from Adonian tyranny. At this time, Aiga would reward them with a promised land of plenty. 
Laws
Lucerians had few explicit laws with disputes being handled between tribal communication and perhaps ritual combat. They had no tolerance for sorcery, viewing it as an abomination and brutally killing anyone suspected of having used it. 
Relationship with Adonians
Ancient Lucerians considered the Adonian people as their greatest enemy, who wanted nothing more than to crush, subjugate, and enslave them. In turn, Adonians viewed the Lucerians are wild savages who wanted to do nothing but kill, conquer, and plunder and crush peaceful existence. Lucerians viewed Adonian practices as backward and old, excessively reliant on unnatural powers (magic) that man was not meant to meddle with.
While in the view of the Lucerians, the Adonians lavished themselves in wealth and power, they demanded citizens to conform to their religion and follow who the Lucerians referred to as “the crippled gods” – Old, decrepit forces of nature that should be mastered and reined in. 
The Rise of Akuma and the Fall of the Adonian Empire
As the Adonian Empire fell into tyranny and its ruthless new emperor came into power, a man named Akuma emerged from one of the tribes. He claimed to have spoken to Aiga who told him their time had come. He and his tribe believed they would soon need to gather their forces and destroy the Adonian Empire, liberating the known world from their rule. They believed the emperor Errak/Estarak had been poisoned by the Serpent. Errak had already been facing uprisings from the Kingdom of Tanach and others, killing them with sorcery and a serpent magic (which was poison). 
Lucerians found that they were immune from the serpent poisons and sorcery and were able to crush Adonian loyal to the emperor with terrifying speed and ferocity. As they emerged closer to the capital city of Adon, they were in awe of the death and destruction wrought their. The city and the majority of its surroundings were completely destroyed and untenable for human life. 
Despite being conqeurors, they had shown the Adonians mercy toward the end, allowing almost any of their conquered peoples to keep their religious practices, other than snake worship. However, they completed outlawed the use of magic and during this period of time, despite lip service to free religion, old adonian ways became viewed with suspicion and those openly practicing magic were often met with violence. 
Relationship with Ancient Guhrians
Lucerians subjugated displaced Guhrians shortly after the collapse of the Adonian Empire, expelling them from their lands and enslaving them. Lucerians found Guhrian culture deeply offensive and its people extremely weak. Lucerian culture carried many shared values include conquering, freedom, and independence, and competition. They viewed conqueroring as a part of their destiny. They viewed the passiveness, lack of martial prowess, and excessive levels of cooperation among the Guhrians as weak. They believed Guhrians would benefit from the slaughter they would put upon them. They viewed the excesses in natural resources available to the Guhrians as gluttonous, that they had squandered their vast resources when they could have made great use of them.
Ironically however, ancient Lucerian culture would give way over the centuries to excess along these lines. Lucerians began to give up the spear and combat for a more lavish lifestyle. They created a formidble alliance with the Tanach, who supplied them with the means to create weapons and armor and eventually ended up incorporating some elements of Adonian rule into their own. 
Modern Culture
Modern day Lucerians are viewed as people of wealth, pomp, noble birth, and artistocracy. They are painted as individuals who worship gold, which they say is “the sun come to the earth”. Lucerians in the modern era pay homage to their old ways in more symbolic ways, painting themselves as “House of the High Sun” or “House of the Golden Halberd”. Use of the spear and bow are used for art and dance, though there are a large number of less wealthy and some wealthy Lucerians who make it a point to learn the old ways of combat. Those few who ascribe faithfully to the old ways are viewed as odd. 
Class very important to Lucerians, particularly modern day. Valued classes include statesman, noble birth, merchants, traders.
Religion
Ethnic Lucerians largely followed the Lucerian Sunsworn
Free religion, fair to allies. Trade, art, architecture flourished under Lucerians. Lucerian architecture prefer building large towers, known as nests or eeryies.

Naming Traditions

Family names

Terath, Circa, Dryot, Kina, Holos, Eutrior, Leuco, Halia

Culture

Shared customary codes and values

Early Lucerian culture valued conquering, freedom, and independence. A large sect of Lucerians after the Fall of Adon believed that it was their destiny to leave the nest and the Eeyrie and fly out to conquer. Lucerians are responsible for ushering in the modern world. They allowed free expression of religion to those they subjugated. They were fair to those they valued as allies, such as the Tanach, who they eventually came to respect as independent. Trade, art, architecture all flourished under the Lucerians. They created trade routes and developed a large scale economy.
Class status is very important to Lucerians. Modern day and middle day artistocratic houses owe their wealth to famous conquerors and warriors who came out of the Eeyrie. The most valued classes to modern day lucerians are statesman, those of noble birth, merchants, and traders.
Before the Lucerian Empire, they were organized into tribes or "gentes", organized by descendants. Family and house bond is much more important to Lucerians than nearly anything else.
Modern Lucerian culture values this same independence. They value cleverness, strategy, political gamesmanship between powerful houses. They value wealth, status, and heritage.