Green Islanders

A native race of humans live in the Green Islands, called the Quetzallish in their native tongue. These "Green Islanders" inhabited the island chain for thousands of years before colonists from the Imperial Heartland arrived on their shores. They are a peaceful and spiritual people with deep connections to their tropical forested homes. These days the Green Islands are a province of the Empire, littered with Imperial ports and garrisons - though the native people still make up the majority of the population.

Culture

The Quetzallish have a deep, imminent connection with their natural world. The Green Islands are a verdant, lush paradise thrumming with birdlife and colour. The islands are the home of the great Rainbow Bird whom the Quetzallish venerate as a deity. Sightings are rare, and according to Quetzallish tradition the Rainbow Bird has a self-replenishing life cycle like a phoenix. The different coloured feathers of the Rainbow Bird are worn by Quetzallish as totems in head dresses, on weapons and tools, in jewellery and as in ornaments in the home. Each different colour has a specific property and tells you what role the wearer has in the community.
The Quetzallish have a phenomenal grasp of herbology and medicine, and have practiced native druidic magic in their islands for thousands of years. The Green Islands are also famous for their stoneworks, with ancient citadels and stepped temples still dotted through the jungle's depths. The Quetzallish practice a spiritual philosophy of compassion and kinship within their communities, and with the land.

Relationships

The Pearl Empire largely leaves the Quetzallish to their traditional beliefs and customs, and in return they are tolerated relatively well. This relationship becomes strained when outsiders threaten the Quetzallish way of life - such as isuca egg poachers. In the larger Imperial colonies along the Islands' white sandy shores the Quetzallish are townsfolk in the modern sense, though deeper in the hinterlands many old traditional Quetzallish settlements exist largely untouched. The people of the Green Islands can be found anywhere in the Empire, as traders, soldiers and dignitaries. They are sort-after as healers, poisoners and alchemists by many wealthy foreign folk.