Noliur

When the exiled Hag Queen Unno-Iara led what was left of her followers north, no one expected them to survive. The Nightlands were an uninhabitable frontier where Erinär's touch could be felt even during the sunlit nights of midsummer.
It was in that wasteland where the Noliur carved their mark and built a home for themselves, aided by the teachings of their mother of hags and witches. But all the magic in all the realms could not grow enough resources for the hungry people, and so the gazes of the Noliur turned south once more.
Every year the Nightlanders formed raiding parties, led by their best hunters and fighters, and headed toward the herding lands of their forest-dwelling cousins and the coastal shelters of Astejore, whose founding ancestor was the one to exile Unno-Iara.
Looting and raiding brought the Noliur many resources, including people. The Noliur made their captives into thralls and servants for the mižnar and the mižkat; a fate considered by many to be worse than simple death.
Like the rest of the northern peoples, clan and tribe meant a lot for the Noliur, who needed the support of a trustworthy group more than most. Though fights among individuals happened, they rarely caused grievous wounds and almost never ended in a fatality. This fact extended to rivalries and animosities between tribes, and formed into a tradition of showy duels for glory, fame and sometimes just enjoyment. Bets were a normal way to add some excitement and stakes for the fighting with lethal force off the table. The only time death was not only a possibility, but a certainty in these fights, was when a captured fighter from the south was on the other side.
The mižnar, Noliur witches and wisewomen, were second only to Unno-Iara in the nightlanders' hierarchy. Even the mižkat, their male counterparts, were rarely afforded the same respect despite equality of strength in their magic. While the mižkat would follow the raiding parties south to aid them, the mižnar stayed in the north where they upheld their relationship with the land and its folk.

Exodus of the Second Age

Powerful cosmic tremors shook the Nightlands at the end of the First Age. The King of Aellasar had discovered eternal life, and with it he brought upon the world the heavy price of immortality.
The Noliur did not immediately notice the drop in temperature, or the shifting weather too subtle and slow to notice during a single person's lifetime. Soon enough, however, they felt the breath of Erinär kiss their necks even in the midst of the hottest days. Land had barely melted in the late summer when the next winter was already upon the people. Even the stubborn and sturdy Noliur could not survive then.
Clans split as they hastily made their way south away from the gathering frost, but the subjects of their raids and looting had not forgotten the past and were even less willing to simply let the Nightlanders wander onto their lands and use up what little food was left.
The Noliur traveled where they could, and fought when there was no avoiding it. The fierce hunters of Udzar had become the prey, and it was not a feeling any of the clans enjoyed. Perhaps it was a blessing, then, that the outside of their camps offered enough fight to keep the infighting nearly nonexistent.
It was only by the end of the Second Age when the warmth of Sun once again began to push away the claws of Erinär, and force the primal spirit of ice back north beyond Anduiľi and the mountains.

Pronunciation: /ˈnoʎjur/
Alternative names: udïjur, onnojore
Region: Udzar