Myteyar
The Myteyar are an ethnic group of Zmei who live in the Myteyar Archipelago of the Northern Region. While most of the Zmei were killed or driven away by the Clarati during the fall of the Nakaal empire, the Myteyar were largely ignored by the Clarati, who seemed to consider them insignificant. As a consequence, they are the largest Zmei population in the Great Ring (not counting the intermittent presence of the Zmei on Buyan).
Physical Appearance
The Myteyar are Zmei, and thus possess a distinctly draconic visage. They have scaly skin and long snouts, with sharp teeth. Their scales tend to have yellow, orange, or gold tones, sometimes with patterns of darker colors. They have large eyes and slitted pupils. They are larger than other Zmei, with heights a little over six feet and stocky, solid builds.
Common Dress & Style
The islands of the Myteyar are some of the coldest in the Great Ring, and they dress accordingly. Most clothing is made of fur and leather, and is thickly padded for warmth. A typical outfit will include boots of reindeer leather, a long coat of the same, and a hat or hood. Thick gloves and pants are also part of the traditional outfit.
Social Structure
They live in nomadic groups, herding their reindeer across the islands of the Myteyar Archipelago. A typical group is not large, only a few dozen individuals that share a communal nest. Unlike other Zmei, the Myteyar carry their eggs with them on a special sleigh that is kept warm at all times. Each family group is hierarchical, with the eldest selecting the leader of the family, who could be themself or another person. When the families meet, they usually have an impromptu celebration, with each group vying to outdo the hospitality of the other.
Religion & Folklore
The Myteyar believe the land has many small gods, who must be honored in order for the people to prosper. Each family has a Yanyani or shaman whose duty is to learn the names and ways of all the gods the family may meet. The Yanyani will direct the family in how to stay in the gods' good graces, and knows what gifts they may grant and how to ask for them. Respect for the land and its creatures is paramount in the teachings of the Myteyar, as angering any of the land's gods can spell doom for a family.
The most important gods are those of the reindeer and the fish. These spirits can grant or withhold bounty from a family, and to fail to honor one of them can result in starvation. There are some among the Myteyar who are born with the ability to commune directly with the reindeer, and can speak for them. This gift typically manifests in early childhood, when the young Myteyar begins to bond with the herd, and the gifted are frequently marked to become Yanyani.
Culture
Major language groups and dialects
The Myteyar speak one of the dialects of Mytesya.
Foods & Cuisine
The most common foods eaten by the Myteyar are reindeer and fish. They also hunt and will eat any other animals on the island, and both polar bear and wolf are considered to be delicacies, and will be preferentially shared with guests to show a family's wealth and prowess.
They have also acquired a reputation for eating their own dead, but this is poorly understood by outsiders. The Myteyar do practice funereal cannibalism, but it is a solemn ritual of deep respect for the dead. Nobody outside of the family of the deceased is welcome to partake of this ritual meal, and they do not consume the bodies of sentient beings unrelated to them.
Deafness among the Myteyar
Congenital deafness is a common trait among the Myteyar, with as many as half the members in some communities having no ability to hear. They do not consider this to be a disability, merely a trait that some people have and others do not. Their language, Mytesya, is a hybrid of spoken and signed words, and it is often difficult for outsiders to identify who can hear and who cannot.
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