Eshtem
The Eshtem are a people from Eshkar, the largest coastal city-state among a cluster of such city-states in the southwest of the continent of Utanar. The Eshtem landed in Kalmasa in large ships fleeing the destruction of their homeland. Eshtem males average 5.5 to 6.5 feet in height, with females a few inches shorter. They are fair to olive skinned and their hair color ranges from dark blonde to black. Their eyes range from dark brown to crystal blue. The Eshtem are a cosmopolitan mixture of many ethnicities whose ancestors came from all corners of Utanar and Xusmalat.
Their name, Eshtem, means People of the Marshes in Old Eshti, an echo of their ancient origin as dwellers in the estuary of the Markunj River from which the city state of Eshkar arose.
Their culture reflects their cosmopolitan background and Eshtem are generally an extroverted, opinionated, passionate people who are commonly judgmental of other ways of life. They are also very religious people who are not shy about exerting their beliefs and establishing the dominance of their devas.
Written accounts in the Codex of Gheran of the original settlers say that a fleet of 47 ships arrived on the shores of Kalmasa out of the 100 that departed Eshkar during the Great Exodus. 9,435 Eshtem arrived on the shores of the Gulf of Haxcalco in eastern Kalmasa. The Codex of Gheran also tells of the disaster that made them flee their homeland. Massive earthquakes broke the land and eventually led to Eshkar being swallowed up by the seas. The survivors had made an escape at the last moments, led by the revered Philosopher-King Gheran bas Arbiram.
Eshkar itself was a coastal city-state on the southwestern coast of Utanar, oldest and largest of a string of such city-states that dominated southern Utanar. Eshkar was ruled by merchant princes who also owned most of the land in the nation and boasted great wealth. It was the predominant center of learning and culture in all of Utanar. Gheran was a former priest of the deva Evran who became the most powerful merchant prince in in all the southwestern city-states.
He was known for entertaining and supporting scholars, particularly astrologers and natural philosophers. Most of northern Utanar at the time was under the sway of the powerful sorcerer-king Jalandhara. From his spies, Gheran learned that Jalandhara was bringing kingdoms to heel by powerful, rending earthquakes and cyclones and was rapidly pushing south.
Knowing that there was no way his people could withstand Jalandhara’s might, Gheran, along with a close council of other other merchants and mystics of Vidvanya jen Dharmu, secretly built and equipped 93 enchanted ships capable of withstanding the great Atyanta Ocean and the dangers in its depths. Lord Gheran had for years researched the theory that lands existed to the west, determined from tidal patterns and astronomical studies.
Others outside the conspiracy were allowed to believe they were fortifying the Eshkaran navy to fight the northern overlord. Passengers on these vessels were also secretly chosen by the council. In the end, only the itenerant Ranjari nomads were wise enough to see through the ruse. When the cataclysm began, hundreds of the Ranjari, dressed as Eshtem instead of their traditional garb, managed to slip aboard the vessels with forged passes, undiscovered until half-way through the voyage when Ranjari mystics revealed their presence by assisting in defending the vessels against the attacks of the kalamaudhas.
Gheran, though furious at their deception, was grateful for their aid and refused to cast them off or imprison them as many, prejudiced against the Ranjari, demanded. To this day, the Ranjari hold Gheran in great regard for his mercy and named him an honorary Ranjari ancestor.
Comments