Hazcuo
The Hazcuo people are a minority group found throughout Atux, primarily in the northern and eastern regions of the continent. While native to Atux, the Hazcuo do not directly control any kingdoms on the continent due to the Utor Migration and the conquest of the Hazcuo kingdoms of Atux by the Kich invaders. The Kich, aiming to consolidate their power, imposed strict and restrictive legislation that forbid Hazcuo people from holding power and barred them from any sort of political or religious office. While the Kich did not limit the personal rights of the Hazcuo, many felt that their inability to hold political power or influence the politics of the Utor kingdoms, primarily the Kich Mepyukk, degraded them to the level of second class citizens. Thus, many left the Kich Mepyukk and its allied states, leaving the Hazcuo homeland in the southern regions of Atux for the Komtol dominated lands in the north of Atux. Many of these restrictions are now lifted and there are few de jure barriers stopping Hazcuo people from rising to power in the southern regions of Atux; however, longstanding de facto discrimination continues to limit the social mobility of the Hazcuo who remain in these regions. For example, many provinces in the Kich Mepyukk bar believers of the Caxishi pantheon from owning more than twenty acres of land, and believers of the Caxishi pantheon are forced to brand or mark themselves in some manner to denote their religious affiliation in most imperial provinces.
The Hazcuo people are a people native to the deserts of Atux who bear dusky skin, brown to black hair, and blue or often yellow eyes. Hazcuo people primarily worship the Caxishi pantheon, a pantheon unique to their cultural group. According to Hazcuo faith, the Caxishi gods created the Hazcuo to populate the deserts of Atux which were created by the gods as a holy land or ritualistic site of worship. Thus, the Hazcuo believe themselves to be living extensions of their gods and believe they are entitled to reside in the lands created by the Caxishi pantheon. This led to many Hazcuo people choosing to remain in their cultural hearth in the south of Atux despite the persecution they faced. The Caxishi faith, in general, has not flourished since the Utor migration, with many sacred sites, shrines, and temples being destroyed or converted into Amarishi places of worship. The Hazcuo, being closely tied to their faith, refuse to give up their identity and have largely continued to worship the Caxishi Pantheon. Hazcuo society is largely based in justice, morality, and innocence. They are a largely pacifistic people with a tendency to only fight when absolutely necessary. They are known to generally be extremely hospitable and kind to all and are widely taught to uphold good morals and value all life. Execution and any violent penalty for crime is illegal in Hazcuo society and wars are only permitted in a defensive nature. A unique element of their traditional justice system is the element of compromise: the victim and the aggressor negotiate a fair and just sentence under the supervision of a council of religious judges and a singular high-ranking priest.
The Hazcuo are native to the deserts of Atux, primarily living in nomadic herding communities and rarely living in permanent settlements. The few permanent Hazcuo populations were mostly clustered in coastal regions or by more arable and less desert-like areas such as the far west of Atux or the southeast of the continent. Thus, Hazcuo cuisine is largely based in dairy or meat which is either gathered from the herd or hunted. The Hazcuo speak Dodeshi, like most people in the western hemisphere of Halth'aire, having adopted the language overtime due to its largely ubiquitous use in Atux. Local Hazcuo dialects of the language are harder to understand for most people as they tend to have more ancient and strange pronunciations. The clothes worn by Hazcuo peoples largely rely on the climate in which they reside: those who remain in the desert wear loose cotton garments and ornamental scarves while those who fled north tend to wear warmer, tighter-fitting clothes. Either way, Hazcuo are known for their body modifications and jewelry. Many Hazcuo embed stones and gems into their forearms and cover their faces and bodies in tapestry-like tattoos. A Hazcuo person's body is almost like a canvas to them, like a work of art that evolves throughout their lives. Hazcuo jewelry largely involves veils or scarves made from metal cubes and extravagant ornamental bracelets. Hazcuo architecture primarily deals with limestone and colored stone buildings, though few remain standing in the modern day.
While the primary aspects of Hazcuo culture revolve around their devotion to the gods as well as upholding morality and pacifism, there are a few Hazcuo subcultures that have developed over the past few hundred years. Followers of Buzulla, known as the Uminora, are zealots who travel preaching their hedonistic beliefs and the supposed prophetic end of the world. They are known for their tendency to self-flagellate and commit pain unto themselves, apparently deriving pleasure from their bloodletting and skincarving. They are often recognized by their tendency to wear charms of bones and leathered skin and often bear marks of self-flagellation. Another prominent group, the Hazcauro, are those who have refused the pacifistic ways of their people and instead seek revenge through violence. They are a largely revolutionary organization of youthful dissidents who act against the Kich Mepyukk in a manner most similar to guerilla warfare. The Hazcauro seek to drive the Utor from the cultural hearth of the Hazcuo people and reclaim the holy lands granted to them by the Caxishi gods. Many of them are devout worshippers of Molios, seeing themselves as extensions of him due to his reputation as the enforcer of justice.
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