Andalsti

Give me a bottle of rum, me boy, give me a bottle or more.   There's plenty of gold to be found, me lad, in places that ne'er been found.   We're sailing to all the maps edges, me boy, and there's plenty of work to be done.
-excerpt of a Sea Andalsti sailing song

The Andalsti are a small ethnic group originating in the western half of the world, though their original homeland has seemingly been lost to time.   Culturally, the Andalsti are sea-borne nomads, who travel from port to port and carry cargo between them to keep their way of life alive. While the people do not have a large population, they have spread across much of the globe; existing in little pockets of floating communities.    Other than when a community of Andalsti comes into port to purchase goods and supplies, they largely keep to themselves, not regularly traveling with any other ships than what is in their clans convoy. Due to their isolation and historical tensions that have done the Andalsti harm, most communities of these people are effective fighters, fully capapble of defending their floating homes.
Considering their way of life, the vehicles upon which the Andalsti make their homes are incredibly important to them, and are maintained religiously. Stories of ships striken by weather and combat being saved by a passing convoy of Andalsti are famous across the globe, and it's said that the best thing a captain can do to ensure a long and happy lifetime with their ship is to plan a route that frequents the places that the Andalsti frequent.    Also due to their needed lifespan and the cost involved in commissioning a new ship, the ships of the Andalsti are rarely cutting edge, though the Andalsti make their best efforts to retrofit and modify their vessels as needed. That being said, the most successful convoys are able to follow behind the new inventions in the field of naval transport, and the warships of the Great War regularly make their way into the hands of the Andalsti.
Given the sheer spread of Andalsti individuals, their culture has evolved into three (often argued about) distinct cultural subgroups, though they still bear the same name.   The Sea Andalsti, the progenitor of the other groups, who live on the open ocean and sail port to port in constant round trips of the known world.    The River Andalsti, who live in much more limited areas, though they are often far more ingrained in the communities that they visit.   The Lake Andalsti, who arguably are no longer truly nomadic society as they live on floating settlements in the middle of large lakes. They often float from side to side, bouncing between all the towns and villages that are built on the shore.
While it is not a universal experience across the Andalsti, there are particular groups that do not take part in as much trade for various reasons, which logically follows that they do not have as much income to support themselves as they travel. This is not a problem for them, however, as it's not uncommon for Andalsti to put their martial expertise to hunt the monsters of the sea.

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