Ger'voak
On the plains of Kemesh live the most obscure of the varhani tribes, the Ger'voak. These nomads live on the vast, rolling plains of Central and Western Kemesh, as far as the foothills of the Asprisya Moutains. No human as yet had any contact with these people, but stories of their ways are told in Guryar ports by Chir'kualu traders.
Settlements
From all accounts, the Ger'voak have no permanent settlements. Instead witnesses describe wide wagons made of willow wicker with large spoked wheels. Over these carts is arched a wicker framework covered by sitched korre hides. These vehicles are the homes of the plains varhani as they roam their grassy territories. When they make camp, they erect large tents within the encirclement of their wagons.
They travel ceaselessly, never spending more than two weeks in a single camp. They believe staying on one place for too long attracts evil spirits that cause strife as well as upsetting the land spirits of the area if they outstay their welcome.
Way of Life
The Ger'voak are nomadic hunters and pastoralists. They herd a large native species of domesticated ranec which they use as mounts as well as draft animals to pull their wagons and hunting chariots. Though they also eat the meat and eggs of their ranecs in need, this less appetizing food is mostly reserved for their companions, domesticated terrosk who help them in their hunts and to herd their main food source, their lanti flocks. Aside from food, the lanti provide the plains people hides, sinew, horn, bone and their long silky feathers for weaving distinctive kilts and cloaks.
Though they are primarily herdspeople, the Ger'voak have a great passion for hunting. Their favored prey are wild lanti as well as the massive tatka, which are only hunted at certain holy times of the year. They also hunt birds such as grouse and waterfowl.
To hunt and fight, they use a wide variety of weapons. Their primary weapon is their distinctive composite bows made of strips of lanti bone, horn and sinew. For large prey, they employ javelins thrown from spear throwers. They also are experts with the bolo and throwing clubs. Their projectile weapons are tipped with bone or terrosk quills and like all varhani, they employ poisons, mostly derived from native plants as well as viper glands.
Ger'voak live in small bands of thirty to forty individuals led by mated co-chiefs, as the Krri'ura do. These co-chiefs are invariably the finest hunters of the band and also tend to have skill in speaking to the local telluric spirits, especially the herd spirits and are well regarded by such. These bands belong to larger tribal groups who claim territories believed to be up to a thousand square kilometers in size. All the bands of a given tribe roam over this territory freely. Permission must only be received when entering another tribe's lands.
Appearance
The Ger'voak are the tallest of the varhani peoples, averaging 1.5 meters and the tallest reaching 1.8 meters. Males and females are nearly equal in height, though females are slightly more robust. Their scales are dark brown dorsally, covered in patterns of small black spots. Their ventral side is tan in color. Ger'voak eyes are usually iridescent blue or green in hue.
Male Ger'voak have manes of pure white plumage that extend halfway down their backs. Adult females have mains of glossy black, as do all young before puberty. They decorate their manes with tied charms, beads and ribbons of bright colors. Some of these are for luck or protection. Others denote their tribal affiliations and personal status.
They wear kilts of lanti feathers, died and woven into patterns distictive to their own band if they are female or to their maternal band if male. In winter and inclement weather, they wear lanti feather cloaks and wide hats of tough woven grasses treated with a water repellent lacquer.
Spiritual Practices
The focus of Ger'voak spiritual life are their herds, specifically the telluric spirit that manifests from a healthy, long established herd. All Ger'voak are taught to communicate to these spirits to some degree, but there are usually one or two members with a true gift that receive specially training in communing with these spirits. These specialists are the Mich'inku, who are also experts in the perparation of hunting poisons and healing remedies.
The Ger'voak also respect the spirits of the land and the winds of their homeland. This respect is shown by certain rituals when setting up or breaking down camp and token offerings, as well as not remaining in one camp any longer than two weeks.
The spirits they fear most are those of their dead. To the Ger'voak, life is strictly for the living. When family members die, their remains are burned very quickly after death. Their ashes are collected, still hot, and taken far away by a designated person in disguise. These ashes are dispersed to the winds, accompanied by chants of banishment. If at all possible, this designee is unrelated to the departed.
Lingering in one place for too long runs the risk of attracting those pitiable elanic spirits who, for whatever reason, have lingered and not dispersed into oblivion as is proper. These spirits crave life and interfere with the living and are believed to be particularly dangerous to children.
Foreign Relations
The Chir'kualu are the outsiders with whom the Ger'voak have the closest relationships. They admire the sea varhani for their similar roaming life. But more than anything, they prize the bright cotton cloth, metal and beads of colored glass and especially the rum and whiskey some Chir'kualu bands trade with them.
Because of their great distance from the lands colonized by humans, their dispersed, nomadic nature and their natural distrust for unknown outsiders, the Ger'voak have had no communication or relationships with any humans. However, they have learned of the large, beady eyed and thin-skinned people from the sea varhani and through fourth-hand stories traded among the Krri'ura forest people near them. What they have heard has not filled them with kind regard, but they do recognize that the humans are very clever and are the source for the fine goods they receive from the Chir'kualu.
Tribes with territories bordering the forests to the south and east also have relationships with those Krri'ura tribes living in the forest peripheries. Though disputes have descended to wars in the past, this relationship is generally peaceful and intermarriage is not unknown.
Those Ger'voak living in the northern portion of Nukuroa face the greatest enemy they have ever experienced, in the form of the Kahala'i colonists. The hakanu of the Kahala Empire consider the varhani little better than beasts and drive them off their lands and slaughter them without compunction. These Nukuroan Ger'voak tribes have allied themselves with the local Chir'kualu of the Nukuroan coasts to combat this threat. Together, they have succeeded in slowing, but not stopping the hakanu invasion and have begun to consider seeking help from foreign powers, such as the Talani'i Alliance and Kalmasan Samraj.
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