Nostian noble families

Paxia

Paxia is one of the most well known of the Nostian noble families, both for its great successes as well as for its epics failures and controversial politics. Of all the families, Paxia has the most impure blood, largely because it makes a policy of having particularly wealthy or accomplished commoners marry into the family. They are often known for making risky investments and trying new and innovative ideas, for example many of the first Nostian sea vessels were sponsored by Paxian money. As a result of they practices they are one of, if not the, wealthiest Nostian families. They are, however, less respected by some of the more conservative families.

Paxian nobles aren't as martially inclined as nobles of other families. Many prefer to become merchants, explorer, or scholars instead of soldiers or generals. Because of this, Paxia depends more heavily on citizen mercenaries than other noble families. They also tend to get less involved in direct conquests of new territory for the Empire and as a result have a little less actual land than do other families - though they more than make up for being land poor by their ability to make other investments including loans to other families and to the Imperial Government.

Some philosophers within the Paxia family have gotten in trouble for expressing republican leaning or ideas about emancipation or egalitarianism. Though the family staunchly rejects such controversial political ideologies, they are known for their liberal views about the proper place of commoners.

Paxians very more in appearance than do other noble Nostian because they have more mixed blood. They tend to be slightly shorter than other nobles and have slightly darker skin. They tend to spend a lot of time and money on their clothing and often set fashion trends among the Nostian nobility. Some Paxian women have stopped shaving their heads and eyebrows, sometimes even growing their hair long and flowing. Stereotypically, members of the Paxia family are charismatic as well as reckless.

Laeth

The family of Laeth tend to be the most scholarly of the Nostian families. They spend much of their family wealth on libraries and science. They have some of the most brilliant philosophers, engineers, and Androcus all all the families. About half of the time, the Androcus Megalos is selected from the Laeth family, which gives them a lot of political sway because of the powers that the Androcus Megalos has.

Despite being scholars, the Laeth family does not neglect warfare or combat. Virtually every Laeth male serves his family in combat, some for life. The Laeth family looks at war as a science and many of their great minds are dedicated to studying the art of arms and warfare. Because of this, Laeth often has some of the most successful generals. They often create new and more effective siege machines, poisons, ship designs, and even higher quality steel. Their engineers are also able to construct some of the most spectacular buildings in all the Empire. For the good of the Empire as well as exorbitant fees, the Laeth family does sell its knowledge and innovations to other families, though it tries to keep them one step behind. The Laeth family were major contributers to the design and construction of the Nostian navy and have participated in the construction of most of Nostia's roads, walls, aqueducts, sewers, and other advancements that have made the Empire so successful. Many other families are distrustful of the Laeth family, suspecting them of keeping secret knowledge that could be used to help the Empire but that the Laeth family is too greedy to share.

The Laeth family tend to have slightly lighter skin and eyes than many other Nostian, in fact among the Laeth family bright green eyes are fairly common. They tend to dress in a somewhat conservative or boring clothing by noble standards, but nothing really noteworthy. Other families tend to think of Laethans as smart but scatter brained, having theoretical knowledge but no common sense.

Valiana

The Valiana are considered the most strange, bizarre, and fanatical of all Nostian families, They are looked at this way because of their rejection of the institution of slavery. While just as racist and nationalistic as other Nostians, the Valiana believe that for the Nostian Empire to be truly great, it must survive purely on the labor of Nostians and not survive because of the work of inferior races. This opinion outrages many other Nostian families who see slavery as the backbone of the Empire and view the Valiana philosophy as dangerously bordering on abolitionist. The Valiana family insist that they have no desire free any slaves or to encourage attempts at escape or revolt, rather that they simply want slaves to be phased out and not allowed to reproduce - effectively an Athavi genocide. Some Valiana nobles own a few slaves secretly, sex slaves or other personal servants.

Because the Valiana have no slaves in their territory, the hard labor must be done be Nostian citizens. This increases the price of goods and services within Valiana territory substantially as well as as irritates some commoners in the region who often do jobs that are only fit for slaves in the domains of other families. On the plus side, the Valiana have more land available for common families to have their own family farms and many commons from all over the Empire come to Valiana lands to start a new life for themselves that may not be possible elsewhere in the Empire where most of the land is worked by slaves. As a result, the Valiana have large numbers of peasants to draw upon in times of war - so Valiana armies are the largest of any of the families in Nostia even though they are largely made up of relatively poor peasants who are often under trained. Many such commoners are willing to risk their lives, though, at the chance for a farm of their own.

Valianans tend to have lighter hair color than other Nostians, light to medium brown instead of dark brown or black. Their clothing is typical for Nostian nobles, perhaps a little cheaper. They are generally thought to be friendly and outgoing if somewhat overly talkative or loud.

Marozia

The Marozia family has a tradition of being from the plains and being expert horsemen. To a large degree, they have kept this tradition alive and make a good bit of their wealth from herding, breeding, and selling horses. They have also always been known as one of the families that is willing to go new places and brave the wilderness or barbarian lands. The Marozia family thus is often at the forefront of wars or missions or explore new territory or colonize new areas. The Marozia family also sends out explorers and diplomats to discover new nations and cultures, either for trade and diplomacy or for future conquest. The Marozia family has also been instrumental in laying the foundations of Nostia's transportation and communication system - from building roads through the vast wildernesses within the empire to delivers mail or messages in a relatively short amount across vast spaces, the Merozia family has helped to make it happen.

Marozia owns vast expanses of land, more so than any other family. Most of this land though is on the open plains or in areas where it is hard to farm or build cities. This suits the Marozia family just fine, because their herdsman can use such land for horse pasteur or for other semi-nomdic herding. The Marozia family is known for its use of cavalry in war and its charioteers are thought to be the best in all of Nostia. Now as chariots are becoming obsolete, the Marozia family relies more heavily on horse archers than on chariots. They are also becoming interested in sailing, as it is one method of exploration that they have ignored in the past.

Marozia tend to be more darkly complected than most Nostians, having bronze skin, black hair, and hazel colored eyes. They tend to dress in simple fashions, though sometimes they wear exotic clothing styles from the farthest reaches of the Empire. Marozians are thought to be cheery and optimistic, always up for a challenge and seeing life as an adventure.

Charath

Charath is the most conservative family in Nostia. They believe in following the old ways and the words of Tarnost the Great. They still believe in prophecy and in the purity of noble blood. The Charath family is the only family to still practice close relative inbreeding, so many of the Charath family marry siblings or first cousins. Charath are the most pure blooded of the Nostian families, and do not believe in marrying outside of their family with either noble or commoner. They also hold Nostian commoners in low regard, seeing them almost as an inferior species barely above slaves.

Because of disdain towards commoners, few commoners chose to live within Charath land or swear fealty to them, this means that they rely more heavily on slave labor and on the work of their own nobility than many other families. This also means that they hardly ever hire citizen mercenaries to fight for them in war - meaning that a huge percentage of Charath nobles are professional soldiers. The Charath believe in big families, so the women of the family are often married at a young age and encouraged to have as many children as possible. The very large Charath families help to counter their lower life span from genetic disease and from attrition in war. Charath females usually have lower status within their family than most noble families because their primary role is seen as having babies and taking care of them. Charath owns some of the most fertile and valuable land in all of Nostia, inherited by them from their glorious ancestors. Charath men who survive their youth as a soldier or women past child bearing age often enter the political arena to protect the family's interests there. Despite their strange ways, the Charath family are masters of both military and political battle.

Charathians have a strange look about them. Sometimes they have oddly shaped heads, an extra finger or toe, or other peculiar traits from too much inbreeding. The clothing they wear is based on extremely old styles, sometimes going back to the Old Nostian Empire. They are also thought to behave in unusual ways as well, from quirky personalities to downright insanity.

Sarturi

The Sarturi family see the superiority of Nostians being their physical superiority over weaker races and their ability to crush them militarily. As such, they see martial prowess as the most important trait a noble can have and military conquest as the greatest achievement. Because of this, every Sarturi male becomes a soldier and many women do as well. For the Sarturi, other professions are for the weak and cowardly. The Sarturi do not appreciate stealth or deception on the battlefield, they believe that the greatest warriors are those who charge into the enemy and fight to the death. Because of this, they favor units of heavy cavalry or heavy infantry before archers or light cavalry.

The Saturi family has very little land holdings. The family sells a large percentage of the land it acquires in conquest to other families - something almost unheard of for the other families to do. They don't think of themselves as farmers or businessmen, they don't want to oversee plowing fields or worry about the cost of grain or plows, they believe that it is their duty to conquer and destroy the inferior peoples of the earth. So they sell most of their land and use the money to hire or train more soldiers, equip their armies, and to supply them with supplies while on campaign. The spoils of said campaigns - wealth, land, and slaves - are in turn used to fund more military ventures. Because of this, the Sarturi have perhaps the strongest army of any of the noble families, but many think that their families power and influence is a house of cards because they have no substantial assets to fall back if war fails to provide adequate profits. The Sarturi sometimes ignore the intrigues of court to their own detriment.

Sarturians tend to be large in statue and build, even more so than other Nostian nobles. They tend to be fit and strong, for virtually all family members exercise and practice combat. Stereotypically, members of the Sarturi family are arrogant and rude, proud of their reputation as the world's greatest warriors and ready to prove their mettle in a fight.

Arella

Arella is a family with some of the strangest political views. The Arella family strongly protested the unification of the New Nostian Empire, fearing that it would strip the family patriarchs of their power and influence. They also believed that only Tarnost the Great's return can truly reunite the Empire. They eventually chose to join with the new Empire, but only with great protestation. They still have a tradition of opposing Imperial power and trying to separate themselves from Imperial politics and influence. Because of this attitude, they usually seek land and investments as far from Tarnost city as possible - often in the wild areas at the edge of the border or on islands off the northern coast. They also follow their own military traditions entirely separate from the Polidelphos techniques that are popular among the other families - they don't want their kinsmen or commoners exposed to the influence of other families or that of the Emperor.

They also tend to stay out of Imperial politics unless it is to protest what they see as an increase in the Emperor's power or to support a decrease in the Emperor's power. Many families respect the position of the Arella family, even if they think that it is a bit extreme. Because they tend to isolate themselves from the rest of the Empire both economically and politically, they tend to be poorer than the other families. Despite this, they are respected for their position as many nobles believe they have kept their autonomy because of Arellan principles. Arella is the most mysterious family in Nostia, since they tend to keep to themselves few families know exactly what sorts of things the Arellans are up to.

Arellans tend to be shorter than other Nostian nobles. The men also virtually all go bald early, losing all of their hair by the time they hit thirty. They tend to have their own fashions that are distinct from what is popular at court. In terms of personality, they tend to be a bit quiet and aloof with outsiders, though within their family the tend to be more warm and friendly.

Vasta

The Vasta family own some of the most valuable mines in Nostia. They supply most of the mineral needs of Nostia from copper, tin, silver, gold, iron, coal, and precious stones. They also own many of the Nostian quarries where stone is taken from the create the vast public works, roads, and palaces which define many Nostian cities. Most of their holding are in the mountainous west or arid southern parts of Nostia, land poor for farming but rich in minerals. Because of the hard and dangerous work that mining minerals and quarrying stone requires, the Vasta need a never ending flow of slaves.

Most Nostian prefer Athavi slaves, those who are small and docile and known to be safe and well behaved. Such slaves are more expensive, though, than newly captured or purchased slaves. First generation slaves are likely to be larger and stronger, but also more aggressive and disobedient, willing to fight back or try to escape. As a result, these dangerous slaves are far cheaper. Such cheap labor is exactly what the Vasta want, because working in the mines and quarries is so harsh that most slaves only last a few years. The Vasta buy huge numbers of newly captured or purchased slaves and work them in unrelentingly cruel conditions - work them to death in fact in just a few years. To prevent the slaves from revolting, plotting escape, or even slacking on the job, the Vasta routinely use horrific punishments inflicted both on the innocent and the guilty as a warning for others not to dare escape. For such slaves there is no hope of escape or mercy only of a quick death.

Because of their need of slaves, the Vasta are the family with the closest connection to both the D'Potri and the Yetsheh, who capture or buy many first generation slaves to sell to the Vasta. The Vasta also try to participate in military campaigns for the opportunity to capture fresh slaves or even new mining land.

The Vasta tend to be short and squat compared to other Nostians and a little bit lighter skinned. They tend to wear expensive clothing of traditional styles often with jewelry. The Vasta have a reputation of being quiet and introspective, intelligent but shy.

Zaranza

The Zaranza family are more superstitious and mystical than are any other family. While most families have abandoned the use of prophesy, the Zaranza are obsessed with it. A huge number of the Zaranza family are prophets and it is a family tradition that only prophets can become the family patriarch. Even family members who are not prophets still believe in using hallucinogenic mushrooms to gain special insights into the future or about themselves. Every battle the Zaranza fight or investment they make is done under the direction of prophets, and amazingly enough, the Zaranza family seem to have amazing luck when it comes to making the right choices.

The Zaranza family also believes in the sacred divinity of Tarnost the Great and that he will one day return to Nostia. Many scholars with the family pour over texts written by Tarnost the Great to see if they can properly interpret his word and see if they can find hints of prophesies of the future. The Zaranza family is also politically active, often seeking to make the laws of the Empire stay in keeping with the words of Tarnost.

The Zaranza family has a variety of diverse investments. Despite their seeming good luck and financial success, many other families are unwilling to become involved in Zaranza projects because of the Zaranza family's reputation for being unstable and even crazy.

Zaranzans tend to be a bit taller than average for Nostian nobles and go gray prematurely, often having entirely white hair by the age of thirty or forty. They dress in the standard clothing of Nostian nobility, though sometime they prefer darker more somber colors. They have a reputation as being flighty and scatterbrained or as being undependable or likely to change their minds or their emotional state on a moments notice. Of course, they are known for being crazy prophets as well.

Thesa

The Thesa, family more than any other, fulfills the stereotype of debauched and decadent Nostian who occupy their days with orgies, drinking, and drug use. In the early days of their family, they invested heavily in the growing of poppies to supply their craving for opiates. As the Nostian Empire began to sell the drug to other nations via the Yetsheh, the Thesa family became extremely wealthy in both foreign trade goods and in slaves. This great wealth only served to reinforce their hedonistic desires. With their money they have built some of the most opulent palaces in all of the Empire, their pleasure galleys are legendary for their size and splendor, and they are known to throw the greatest celebrations in all the world.

The Thesa family is also active in politics. They make many connections with their lavish parties and tempt many nobles with their beautiful slaves, sweet wine or mead, or high quality opium. Because the family makes so many friends, they have political clout unlike few other families and can often put pressure on others via their wealth or influence to get their way. Its said that if the Thesa family did not spend so much of their time and money on seeking pleasure that they would be the most powerful of all the families. The military strength of the Thesa family is relatively small, since many of the family nobles would rather attend wild orgies than practice war arts or go to battle. Because of this, they rely more heavily on citizen mercenaries than any other family or use their political clout to receive backing from the Imperial army in times of need. They also have some of the closest connection to the Yetsheh of any family, since they rely on them to maintain their wealth.

Thesans resemble most other Nostians, perhaps a little less in shape since they don't spend much time fighting or training for combat. They dress in bright and gaudy colors, often to show their great with the use of exotic fabrics or precious metals, at least when they aren't going nude or otherwise underdressed. They have a reputation for being fun loving and carefree, to the point of uselessness or self destruction in some cases.

Harra

The Harra family is the largest Nostian family. They firmly believe that the duty of a woman is to have children and to increase the size of her family. So women in the Harra family are barred from warfare, politics, careers, and sometimes even the pleasure distractions of noble life. The Harra have huge families and as a result can send their men to battle more frequently without worrying about suffering too many casualties. Because of this the Harra are usually at the forefront of every war and are the ones most often beating the drum for conquest. They don't favor trade relations with other nations or peaceful alliances, they prefer direct conquest.
Harra noblemen also have a policy of taking commoner wives from within their territory, letting each noble Harra male have a harem of both noble and common wives. The idea was that this would allow the Harra family to grow even larger, though in practice the family is growing so large that it is eliminating the citizenry within its territories. The majority of free Nostian within Harra domains are Harra nobles, with a relatively small number of middle class commoners. This has spread family wealth thin and forced many Harra nobles into relative poverty. It also causes a lot of controversy among the other families who see the Harra as diluting their noble blood and making themselves inferior as well as dangerously blurring the line between noble and commoner.

Harrans have the most common look about them, being noticeably short than the average noble as a little darker skinned as well. They are often impoverished by noble standards and are forced to wear cheap or old clothing. Harran men are known to be aggressive and determined, traits that serve them well in an overpopulated and relatively poor family, while the women are uncharacteristically quiet and passive for Nostian noble ladies.

Karaxi

The Karaxi family are the oldest family in Nostia. They trace their existence back to Tarnost the Great's brother and highest general Karaxus and his daughter Karaxi who married Tarnost the great and bore him a large family - the Karaxi.The Karaxi are very proud of their heritage and believe that they are honor bound to excel and to be best among the families, not only in personal endeavors but in defense of the Empire. The Karaxi have a personal code of honor that directs them not to flee from the enemy or to compromise their morals, and strangely enough, to offer truces and to obey their word of honor as well. The Karaxi family are among the most loyal to the emperor and are the nobles who most support the Imperial army and the interests of the centralized Nostian state - believing that it is their duty to give loyalty to the emperor as Tarnost's successor.

Because of their great pride in their lineage, the Karaxi are the most tattooed of any Nostian nobles. The Karaxian nobles have long stories and genealogies tattooed upon their flesh, covering almost every visible surface with the great heroism of some ancestor or the intricate calligraphy of countless names. This makes the Karaxians the most recognizable of all Nostian families as well, since their tattoos are so numerous. Though they often claim to be the greatest family in every regard, in truth their pride often gets in the way and causes them to overestimate their worth, accomplishments, or abilities. Among wealth, influence, and military capability they are only about average among the families though many other families do appreciate their sense of honor and bravery on the battlefield. Despite the respect they earn from their honorable behavior, they are disliked among many family for what some see as brown nosing with the emperor.

Karaxians are easy to tell from other Nostians, as they are covered with far more tattoos, sometimes even their faces are covered. They also tend to wear more revealing clothing so that their tattoos may be seen more easily. They are known for having a sense of honor and fairness, being honest in political dealing and cool under pressure - they are also insufferably arrogant and prideful making them one of the more disliked families despite their morals.

Anxa

The Anxa family is most well known for its tradition of being lead by a Matriarch instead of a Patriarch. Though they are by no means ruled by women, women of note do tend to come from this family more often than others and women do tend to hold more positions of power in Anxa than in most families. Anxa are known for their interest in Imperial politics and are often behind pushes for changes in the system and are quick to criticize the policies of other families or Imperial law itself.

Anxa has average land holdings, though their expertise in the political arena allows them to have a lot of sway among the other families because of favors they can provide or strings they can pull. The Anxa family are one of the only noble families who still fully believe in the powers of prophesy and set their agenda in part on what their family prophets tell them. It is said that the Anxa family knows more secrets than any other, in part because of their prophets and also because of their intense interest in affairs and court. The Anxa family has a relatively small military force, it is known for its Fox soldiers as the founder of the Fox Polidephos was a member of Anxa. Most members of the Anxa family prefer the political arena to war, so most only serve a short term in their army before retiring to a life of politics and intrigues. Anxa are one of the small Nostian families, perhaps because the active women in their family have less time for pregnancy and children. Because of this, a some Anxan noblemen will take common women as second wives to increase the size of their families.

Anxan tend be a bit more thickly built than most Nostians, fat as well as muscular. The way they dress doesn't stand out from other Nostian nobility. They are known to be manipulators and liars, almost up to something or trying to get an advantage and so are often considered untrustworthy.

Elachi

The Elachi are a family of modest means. Once a house of relatively high status and influence, a number of bad investments, foolish patriarchs, and military blunders have cost them the majority of their ancestral lands and wealth. The Elachi now try to maintain what little wealth and influence there family has left by playing the political game and trying to stay in the good graces of power powerful families or of the emperor. They also occasionally marry outside the family to bring in wealthy commoners or successful merchants into the fold, though encourage those who enter into such marriages to keep a low profile so that they do not anger the more conservative families. Many support increasing the power of the emperor, as they have less to lose from such a policy.

Because they have relatively little land and relatively few commoners under their control, the nobles of the Elachi family must do most of their fighting for themselves. They also tend to be willing to take on more dangerous or lowly tasks that other nobles would refuse because of the risk or hardship. Much of the remaining family land is in relatively desolate parts of the Empire such as arid regions, great wildernesses, or areas plagued by barbarian raids. This has caused the Elachi nobles to become a bit more rugged and used to hardship and constant danger than the majority of Nostian nobility. It also means that nobles of the Elachi are often willing to do new and dangerous things that offer big rewards for high risks. Because of this, the Elachi have been some of the nobles who are most willing to take part in exploring the northern islands and fighting in the Nostian navy. They are also the nobles most willing to get their hands dirty personally with difficult tasks. Sometimes, Elachi noblemen serve as bodyguards or mercenaries for some of the wealthier but less martially inclined families.

The Elachi family, being ashamed of the actions of some of their ancestors, have fewer tattoos than any other Nostian family, perhaps only a few here or there. The men of the family also shave their heads and some of their beards, leaving only a goatee. The Elachi family are known to be quiet and serious, even humble if the word could ever be used to describe Nostians.

Laska

The Laska are a family of poets, historians, linguists, scribes, and arts. While the Laeth family has dedicated itself to the study of the physical world, the Laska family has dedicated itself to the study and glorification of humanity. The Laska family is known for its funding of the arts - of making possible beautiful paintings or sculptures of great Nostian heroes, of putting on plays that evoke deep emotions, of writing epic histories about the greatest moments of the Nostian Empire. Of course, the Laska make sure that the actions of their family and ancestors are portrayed in the most favorable light. Among the less educated commoners of Nostia, most believe that the Laska family is the one with the greatest warriors and most noble history, because the they saw it in a play or heard about it in a poem.

The Laska concern themselves with more than just entertainment. They also like to study culture and languages, sometimes even that of barbarians that the Empire has contact with or that the Nostians have conquered. The Laska family makes it a point to have their scholars learn all that they can about the religions, culture, language, and traditions of the people that the Empire conquers. The the libraries of the Laska family are books of long dead languages or descriptions of cultures that have long ceased to exist. The knowledge gained from the Laskans' study also helps to make contact with new barbarian tribes or to aid in diplomacy with groups with which Nostia already has contact. The Laska family also prides itself on knowing the state of mind of the commoners who live in its territories and to use it to their advantage. The Laskans don't care much for battle and would rather right about heroic exploits on the battlefield than live them, though the commoners who live on their land are often more than happy to defend their heroic and benevolent masters.

Members of the Laska family tend to be a little taller than the average Nostian noble, but thin as well with fine features. They tend to dress in relatively fine garments, but nothing to garish or controversial. Their personals vary considerably but they are often thought of as flighty or shallow, some Nostians would even call them cowards.

Kasara

The Kasara family is known primarily for its almost puritanical views on wealth, sex, and life in general. The Kasara family beliefs in dedicating oneself to furthering the family, the race, and the nation and that idle pursuits just distract from these goals. As a result, the Kasara family doesn't reside in the magnificent palaces that other nobles are known for but rather simple houses or fortresses designed for pragmatic reasons more than appearance or pleasure. Likewise, the nobles of Kasara frown on rampant promiscuity or wasting time on pleasurable or debauchery so they seldom if ever own sex slaves and they greater prize marital fidelity unlike almost every other Nostian family.

They seldom make risky investments, preferring to stick to farming and conquest. This means they tend to bring in less income than many other families, but they spend their money so conservatively its speculated that their treasuries are larger than those of even Paxia. Members of the family are often known for their bravery and honesty, sometimes too a fault. Because they are seen as honest and forthright, the opinion of the Kasara family tends to carry a lot of weight in political circles. The Kasara family are largely neutral on most political issues.

Kasarans tend to have lighter skin than typical Nostians but have darker hair, black or very dark brown. They tend to be leaner than other Nostians as well, seeing extra weight as a sign of sloth and gluttony. Kasarans usually where very plain garments, often of lower quality than what suits the nobility or of styles that have gone out of fashion. They are generally seen as dour and joyless by most Nostians, though with an admirable sense of honor.

Narcasi

Narcasi are a family that lived in exile from the rest of Nostian culture for many years. During the first great Empire, the Narcasi family was given lands in the far south western part of the Empire, a land of great mountains and dense forests, where snow is a common sight in the winter as well as rain in the summer. When the first Empire collapsed, the Narcasi and their domain became separated from the rest of the Imperial remnants for centuries until the formation of the new Empire brought the mainstream of Nostian culture back into contact with the Narcasi.

Over the centuries of separation the Narcasi developed many unusual costumes and characteristics, including letting their women grow their hair long to giving their slaves a disturbing amount of respect. They also have a speak an exotic dialect of the Nostian language that sometimes creates a barrier for communication between them and the rest of the Empire. Some of the noble families have great disdain for the Narcasi, believing their blood and culture to have degenerated away from what is truly Nostian, though while they are different, they clearly did recognize their Nostian noble heritage and honor that tradition when the Empire was reunified and that earned them a position at the table. Over the centuries as they have been exposed to the rest of Nostia and its culture, they have adapted somewhat to the rest of Nostia. They still keep some of their unusual costumes and beliefs though, much to the dismay of more conservative families. They also have some of their own military traditions as well, though they have also made use of the Polidephos system.

The Narcasi have usual features for Nostians, many of them have blonde or red hair - things almost never seen among most other Nostians. Some of their women also grow their hair long and flowing or braid it. Their tattoos tend to be unusual as well, using a different form of calligraphy that makes more use of geometric designs than purely letters. They have different clothing styles as well, sometimes wearing furs or animal bones as formal garb. Among other Nostians, the Narcasians are thought to have no manners or discretion, often being extremely blunt or forward.

The Yetsheh

History

For countless years and generations the semi-nomadic tribes of desert people in the Naxi desert warred with one another over land and over old slights. Tribe fought with tribe, sometimes several joined together against a common enemy, though alliances changed like the drifting sands of the Naxi. Occasionally the desert people would raid the towns of the agrarian people's on the northern boarders of the desert, such as the people of Atav. For the most part the desert people ignored the northerners, who were unable chase the raiders into the desert.

This changed with the rise of a great warlord and conquerer from the plains to the north of the desert. This great conquerer was Tarnost. Tarnost and his soldiers conquered all people north of the desert, he took their small towns and great cities alike. He then lead his armies into to deserts and slew the desert people as well. His swift horses chased down the caravans that passed through the desert. His armies took the oases and made them their own. He destroyed the great temples of the desert people and violated all of their holy places. The vile northerners even took the desert people's women to use as their playthings.

For many years the desert people lived in terror and their blood turned the white sands of the Naxi red. Countless numbers of the desert people were killed, many too were enslaves. Entire tribes of desert people perished forever. Tarnost's reign of terror lasted for almost sixty years, and the desert people barely survived it. With Tarnost's death his mighty empire crumbled and fell to infighting as his hundreds of royal grandchildren fought among each other for ruler ship of the empire. This allowed the desert people to recover and regain their strength as a people. It also gave them a chance to seek revenge for all of the wrongs inflicted against them.

With the Nostians fighting against each other, many of the foreign enemies used the opportunity to strike out against the Nostian Empire. Nostia was attacked from every side as its nobles and soldiers fought each other as well. The desert people were among the most fierce in their attacks against Nostia. They sacked towns and cities, killed civilians, and used torture and cruelty when ever they could. They also struck from the safety of the deserts and then retreated when major forces tried to attack them in return. Soon the once great Nostian Empire was in ruins, having been reduced to a few small territories on the banks of the Atav river. The attacks from foreign nations diminished over the years as the importance of Nostia shrank and the Nostian Empire faded from memory. The desert people still remembered the cruelty the suffered at the hands of the Nostians and continued to raid Nostian villages on the southern borders of the Nostian kingdoms. This continued for generations.

One particular tribe of desert people, one of the smaller and poorer tribes, made tentative contact with the much feared "barbarians" to the north. This tribe was the Yetsheh tribe. The Yetsheh were nomadic like their many of their fellow desert people. The Yetsheh held no land of their own at all, no oases to stop at and water their herds or strong soldiers protect them from the attacks of other desert people. This particular year, the Yetsheh were experiencing particularly bad luck as many of their animals had died and their food supplies ran low. They journeyed to Tarnost City in the southernmost part of Nostia, hoping to be able to trade or barter with the Nostians, knowing that they would receive no help from their kinsmen.

When the Nostians found themselves visited by desert people, they considered simply destroying or enslaving them all. It was Paxia Gharus, Patriarch of the Paxia family, that persuaded the Nostians to do otherwise. He suggested that perhaps the Yetsheh could benefit the Nostians in some way, that by helping and perhaps even allying themselves with the Yetsheh that they could profit or perhaps even strike back against the other desert peoples who so often raid Nostian cities. The Nostians allowed the Yetsheh to drink their water and rest in their city. They also traded with the Yetsheh. The Yetsheh, it turned out, had many interesting and exotic items that they had come across in their travels through the deserts and the lands beyond. In exchange for their exotic goods, the Yetsheh were fed and even received some money left over. The Yetsheh were allowed to leave in peace and planned to come back with additional goods with which to trade with the Nostians.

From that point on, the Yetsheh became regular traders with Nostia. This arrangement helped both Nostia and the Yetsheh. The Yetsheh began to grow in strength and wealth compared to the other tribes of desert people. Their wealth began to truly grow when the Nostians decided to begin trading opium with them. The Yetsheh would travel the deserts and the lands beyond selling opium to the people's they encountered. In exchange for opium, they got a product even more precious to the Nostians - slaves. They Yetsheh began incredibly wealthy through this arrangement. Because of addiction to opium and the steep prices that the Yetsheh could often charge, the people with whom the Yetsheh traded with experienced a sharp decline.

When the Nostians began to have an inkling about the damage caused by the sell of opium to those foreign peoples, particularly the desert people, they were delighted. They made laws giving the Yetsheh special privileges in Nostian territory, including the ability to enter Nostian cities as free men and to travel through Nostian territory unmolested as long as a tax was payed for goods being transported. This allowed the Yetsheh to have greater mobility and access to new lands and for the Nostians to get a greater share in the profits that the Yetsheh were generating.

After a while of this, the other desert peoples began to grow envious of the wealth of the Yetsheh. They also began to realize that the source of the Yetsheh's wealth was a close trading agreement with the Nostians - the most despised enemy of the desert people. Because of this many of the desert people began to attack the Yetsheh when ever they could. Many of the other tribes would not trade with them, sometimes multiple tribes would even join together to ambush the Yetsheh as they traveled through the desert. The Yetsheh suffered a great lose of numbers as well as money as the desert people seemed to unite against them.

At the same time, Nostia was experiencing troubles of its own. Some of the Nostian peasants had declared independence, while at the same times the Nostian nobility fell into civil war and foreign armies from the far north began marching on the northern boarders of Nostia. In retaliation for their interaction with the Yetsheh, the other desert people began stepping up their attacks against Nostian settlements and travelers. Things looked bleakest for both the Yetsheh and Nostia when Nostia fell into a full fledged civil war. The desert people united in a full out assault against Nostia in the hopes of finishing them forever. Unfortunately for the desert people, the Nostian civil war came to a rather quick and unexpected end - and a new unified Nostian Empire was reborn.

The new Nostian Empire was able to fend off its attackers fairly easily. It then began to expand rapidly, retaking areas that Tarnost had conquered many centuries before. Within a few decades the desert people had been pushed deep into the Naxi and the people of the far north had been crushed. The Yetsheh helped the Nostian army to find travel routes and hiding places of the desert people, and their raids against the Nostians were put to an end.

Over the next several decades the Yetsheh reestablished their trade routs through the desert and beyond. The other desert people were too afraid of reprisals to launch any major attacks against he Yetsheh or Nostians, but still struck out against them when they were able and never lost an opportunity to show their hatred for the Yetsheh. Despite this, the desert people are still occasionally forced to trade with the Yetsheh for rare foreign goods or for much desired opium.

As the new Nostian Empire expanded and grew in strength, so did the influence of the Yetsheh. The Yetsheh began traveling far and wide to the far corners of the known world, meeting new people and establishing trade with them. The Nostians with time became quite unpopular for their militarism, but the Yetsheh could trade with people who despised the Nostians. The Yetsheh would grow vastly wealthy from introducing opium to foreign people, who would have no where else to go for the rare substance. The Yetsheh would then gradually increase the price, getting richer and richer as opium use grew in popularity and addiction became common place. Some nations became so weakened by the use of opium that they became prime targets for conquest for the Nostian Empire.

Odds and Ends

Yetsheh tend to have dark caucasian skin, baring some resemblance to Dravidic Indians. Their hair is usually black or very dark brown and tends to be straight or slightly wavy. Yetsheh women tend to wear their hair long and let it flow naturally, sometimes in a pony tail. Men on the other hand usually cut their hair to shoulder length or slightly shorter, though they also tend to have natural hair styles. Men also usually shave their faces, though older men will sometimes grow a mustache. Some men prefer to adopt the Nostian style of growing a short beard along with short head hair. From frequent interaction with the Nostians, it has become a common practice for Yetsheh women to shave off their body hair. The Yetsheh have brown eyes that ranges in color from a medium brown to almost black. Their eyes have a slightly exotic look about them, perhaps like an American Indian or Meztico person. Their lips tend to be full and their mouths on the large side. Many of the Yetsheh have Nostian blood and bare a closer resemblance to them. Yetsheh tend to vary a lot in build and stand slightly short than Nostians at an average of about 5'7" for a man and 5'3" for a woman.

The Yetsheh have a tradition of wearing concealing clothing, mostly things that will protect their skin from the blazing sun in the day or the freezing cold in the night. They usually wear very dark shades of gray, green, or blue. Standard dress for a man consists of a long robe with slits up the middle between the legs to allow for better leg movement along with a cloak and hood and perhaps a face scarf. Women instead wear a two pice garment the consists of a long flowing skirt, usually of fine material and a long sleeved shirt on the top, along with the same cloak and face scarf. Usually in hotter weather more sheer clothing is worn, and often summer garments will contain numerous cuts in the fabric so that it can breath more easily. In the winter thicker materials are worn, often in layers. Of course, since the Yetsheh to so many places their clothing style can vary tremendously from place to place depending on the climate as well as the cultural values of the people they are interacting with. When in Nostia, the Yetsheh are required to wear a yellow sash to show that they are Yetsheh - no other race in Nostia has such an option.

The Yetsheh love to show off their wealth. Its not uncommon for Yetsheh men and women alike to have gold or silver necklaces, rings, bracelets, and other assorted pieces of jewelry. They also like to have precious metals and jewels sewn into their clothing. To the Yetsheh, wealth is the ultimate measure of a person's worth and showing your wealth shows your value as a person. For the most part Yetsheh clothing tends to be rather concealing of flesh as well as the shape of the wearer. The one exception are breasts - Yetsheh women usually do all that they can to emphasize and draw attention to their breasts, usually just stopping short of exposing the nipple. Bigger is better to the Yetsheh, so garments that squeeze and push up are very common. This fashion trend combined with the love of jewels has lead the Yetsheh have have interesting clothing choices - such as large gems sitting between the breasts or used as pasties to cover the nipples. Of course, when traveling in foreign lands sometimes more conservative garments are worn. While in Nostia, Yetsheh tend to wear less and/or slightly more revealing clothing as is the Nostian way, though they usually try to keep the gold and jewels to a minimum.

In Nostia, Nostian men are allowed to marry Yetsheh women. This is something extremely rare among the Nostians, most cases of a Nostian and non-Nostian marrying or having children is punishable by death. Because of the long standing alliance and close association between Nostians and the Yetsheh, this tradition has started. It can also be extremely beneficial for both the Nostian and Yetsheh who get married. Within Nostia, the Yetsheh people have limited rights and suffer from racism - despite being the most accepted non-Nostians in Nostia. By marrying a Nostian man, a Yetsheh woman gains a connection to a Nostian family - a family which has power and influence in Nostia as only true Nostians have. This allow the Yetsheh family to have privileges within the boarders of Nostia that other Yetsheh do not have, such as additional legal protections. For a Nostian, this arrangement usually means greater wealth and great prestige amount the Yetsheh. Typically it is poor Nostian common men who marry a wealthier Yetsheh girls - the man is then a member of a wealthy family and a big shot among the Yetsheh people while the girl and her family gain a true Nostian and the status that brings. The children of such a coupling are legally considered to be Yetsheh by the Nostian government.

The Yetsheh are divided in to clans that can trace their lineage back to the nomadic desert peoples from years ago. Each of these clans has sworn an oath of allegiance to one of the 17 noble families of Nostia. All members of the clan receive a tattoo showing which of the Nostian noble families they are sworn to. This arrangement allows the Yetsheh to have rights within the Nostian Empire - all other non-Nostian within Nostia's boarders are considered to be property. The noble family takes responsibility for the Yetsheh clan and provides legal protection of that clan and its members' rights, wealth, and property when in Nostia. Of course, the noble family also gets a huge cut of the wealth that the Yetsheh clan brings through Nostia. A Yetsheh must bear the mark of one of the Nostian noble families to be able to walk freely through Nostia - without it the Yetsheh is property for the taking.

The Yetsheh traders make most of their wealth by selling opium to various "barbarian" cultures - those who do not know the dangers of the substance. The Yetsheh buy opium from Nostian opium farmers and then transport it across Nostian roads and water ways to the edge of the Nostian empire and then travel off to take the opium to foreign lands. When making early contact the Yetsheh will sell the opium for almost nothing, or sometimes even give it away for free. Then as it grows in popularity they steadily increase the prices as the buyers become more and more willing to pay high prices. The Yetsheh prefer precious metals or slaves in exchange, but any valuable substance or rare good will be acceptable. Of course, any group of people can offer slaves and most poorer cultures do once they develop a taste for opium. Some people even sell their own children to the Yetsheh if the become desperate enough.

Some wiser nations, and those that have seen the effects of trading with the Yetsheh, will ban trade with the Yetsheh, prohibit them from entering towns or ports, sometimes even kill them on site. Of course, the Yetsheh will avoid such communities as they always avoid direct conflict when ever possible. Though the Yetsheh greatly resent being banned and will often bribe Nostian officials into putting military pressure on people who bar entrance to the Yetsheh. They also frequently ally themselves with pirates and smugglers.

The Yetsheh marry for money more than anything else. Marriages are arranged between a woman's parents and the husband to be. He pays a certain amount of money to the parents based upon the wealth of her family, her beauty and personal merits, and what every influence or benefits he may be able to offer the family as an in-law. If the groom's offer is satisfactory he is allowed to marry the daughter. She is then adopted into the husband's family and takes his family name. Sex before marriage is strictly taboo to the Yetsheh, as is marital infidelity on the part of the husband or the wife. A husband is considered the head of the household and is the one who has ultimate authority of the family's wealth, but women do have personal rights to come and go as they please and do not have to be obedient to their husbands - though public lack of respect for a husband or father is thought to be unseemly and scandalous. Daughters do not receive an inheritance from parents, the wealth of a family is split between the sons when a parent dies. A daughter who goes unmarried carries with her the stigma of being an old maid, and is usually given food and shelter by her brothers or their families.

The marriage between a Nostian and a Yetsheh woman is handled a bit differently. Instead of the husband paying the bride's family, the reverse is done, the Yetsheh family will pay the family of the Nostian groom. Then the Nostian will be officially adopted by the Yetsheh daughter's family and will be treated as one of their own sons. He will receive an inheritance like is wife's brothers and will be considered to be part of the family. Sometimes there can be some tension, since the brothers will feel unhappy about having to share their inheritance with a Nostian. Its can also cause trouble if the Nostian sees himself as superior to his new Yetsheh family or if he cheats on his wife, which is not uncommon in Nostian households but highly frown upon among the Yetsheh. For the most part, Nostians who decide to marry Yetsheh women know that it will involve a major change in lifestyle and realize that they will have to become a part of Yetsheh culture.

The D'Potri

To the north of the Nostian Empire is the ocean and beyond that a large unexplored continent. Between the two great continents are a series of many small Islands. The planet's equator is just north of the coast of the northern continent, making the islands warm and tropical, covered with jungle and rain forests. The islands are home to many different races and nationalities of people; some hunting and finishing with simple stone tools, others utilizing agriculture and metal working techniques. The D'Potri are but one of many groups of people who sail the tropical waters around these islands, though they are one of the more notorious. The D'Potri are a people who hale from the Island of Pota, one of the regions larger and most easterly islands. Like the other islands nearby, Pota has lush tropical jungles, though much of the island has been cleared for agriculture and for development.

Much of the economy of the D'Potri people is based on piracy, raiding, and the labor of slaves. D'Potri use large galley style ships, much like ancient Greek biremes and triremes. The D'Potri sailors travel the known and unknown waters of the world, sometimes raiding and sometimes trading with peoples that they encounter. They generally attack those who seem weak and vulnerable, those who will not be able or willing to put up a fight. With more powerful towns, villages, or ships, the D'Potri will trade - sometimes trading their ill gotten gain from piracy or raiding. There are many small villages in the region who get regular visits from the D'Potri, who will usually demand tribute in the form of slaves or other valuable goods. Those who refuse to pay tribute will often see their populations decimated and the villages burned to the ground.

The D'Potri are ruled by warlords, those D'Potri man who has the greatest number of warriors and ships under his command is the "king" of the D'Potri. Wealth is often inherited, but the loyalty of soldiers often does not pass from father to son, and thus heredity is usually less important to becoming a king than is ruthlessness or charisma. Sometimes, however, a line of D'Potri kings can manage to keep the crown within the family through judicious use of wealth and power which was inherited. Despite this somewhat chaotic system of government, civil wars only happen occasionally because weaker D'Potri forces are usually quick to back down peacefully when their inferiority is evident.

The major position of power within the D'Potri nation is called a Gajzu, which effectively means the captain of a ship. Some Gajzus own the ship which they command, while others simply command ships belonging to a wealthier warlord called a Traejza. Traejzas are the movers and shakers of D'Potri society, what other cultures might call pirate kings. The D'Potri king, called the Diatram, not only the Traejza with the largest number of ships, but also the one which controls the city of Matti - the capital of the D'Potri nation and major port of the island of Pota. The regular citizen of the D'Potri is called a Faru and slave is Jziarpi.

In D'Potri culture, the men have absolute control in the household. According to D'Potri law, a man owns his wife and his children in the same manner that he owns his slaves, and may do anything that he wishes to his wife or children (including killing them) without facing and legal repercussions or even major social stigma. At the age of 13, boy children become legal adults and the father no longer has legal authority over the child - though often this is the age where additional burdens are placed upon males where they are expected to work for their food and shelter. Female children never gain autonomy - men purchase a girl from her father or current owner and then she is effectively a wife. Wealthy D'Potri men have many slave women (there is no legal or cultural distinction between wife and female slave) who they have sex and children with, while poorer men may not be able to afford even one.

Fathers often do not allow their sons to become free men, instead, they have their sons branded as slaves - making them slaves for the rest of their lives. This brand, a triangle upon the forehead, marks all male slaves. For females this brand is not necessary, though many free men brand their male and female slaves with a mark of ownership - much like cows are branded. If a father allows his son to become a free man, a Faru, then on that son's 13th birthday, the father gives the son his inheritance (what ever the father deems appropriate) and sends him out into the world. When a man dies, his free sons must equally split up their father's estate. This method of inheritance laws make it difficult for a single family to maintain its wealth and power unless most of the sons are turned into slaves.

Male slaves of the D'Potri hardly ever have children and seldom have sex for that matter. Female slaves, on the other hand, usually bare the children of their masters. There is no real distinction between a child born to a foreign captured slave girl or to the daughter of a wealthy D'Potri, though often there will be some degree of favoritism between children - especially since many will not become free men. Because of this, the D'Potri people have a great amount of diversity within their gene pool, since slaves from all over the known world bare the children of their masters and those children all have the potential to become free if they are male. Nostians find the D'Potri's lack of racial or hereditary awareness disturbing to say the least.

Its not uncommon for rich and powerful D'Potri to have hundreds of "wives" and for the D'Potri king to have thousands. The typical free man will not have more than two or three. Of course, since women are nothing more than chattel to the D'Potri, there is no such crime as rape. If a free man sleeps with another free man's woman (with or without her consent) then she is thought to be defiled and loses much of her worth. The man must then pay her owner the full market price of the woman. If she slept with the man of her own free will, then it is customary for her to be killed and if he forced himself on her then her life is usually spared - but in either case, its the choice of her husband/master. If a male slave has sex with any woman, he forfeits his life unless both his master and the master of the woman agree to spare him. Sometimes eunuch slaves are used for the purposes of protecting the harem, while other wealthy D'Potri men use free men soldiers as harem guards. Free men who betray their bosses with their bosses' wives tend to meet with grisly fates.

For free men who cannot afford to buy a wife, prostitution or rape is the only ways to satisfy their sexual urges. Rape is a common part of any D'Potri raid upon a village and is seen as perfectly acceptable as long as nobody damages any potentially valuable slaves. Prostitution is a thriving business among the D'Potri as well, since many D'Potri men spend much of their lives at sea where they cannot bring a wife along, so other D'Potri who own lots of slave girls will open brothels in port towns for the sailors who are on leave. Homosexuality is somewhat accepted among the D'Potri; men who play a less dominant role in homosexual intercourse are looked down upon as being unmanly, though technically it is not illegal or prohibited. What is more common, however, is for slave owning free men to have sex with their male slaves. Aboard many ships they will keep a slave or two, a women or younger boys, to sexually service the D'Potri sailors during long sea voyages. Lesbianism is completely unknown to the D'Potri.

Because the D'Potri are a mixture of so many different racial groups, its hard to make too many general descriptions about their appearance. In some ways the D'Potri bare a resemblance to the people of Brazil - combining features of Nostians, Gabebi, Etristi, Athavi, ancient D'Potri, and dozens of other less numerous ethnic groups from around the known world. Their hair is virtually always dark as are their eyes, though some exceptions exist. Their skin also tends to be dark, but varies from individual to individual. D'Potri hair varies in texture if not color, ranging from tight kinky curls to completely straight to everything in between. Their eyes usually have a slightly asian appearance while their noses tend to be broad and their lips are thick. Their facial hair tends to be sparse, usually only growing in a goatee pattern. Though no generalization about their appearance always holds. They vary in build and body type based more on economic status and lifestyle than genes. The men are on average about 5'6" tall and the women about 5'2" tall.

Male D'Potri tend to wear their hair extremely long in braids or dreadlocks depending on the texture of their hair. In the case when beards are grown long enough, they are often braided as well. Its fairly common for beads or ribbons to be braided into their hair, and in the case of wealthy D'Potri, this could include jewelry as well. The more well treated females tend to wear their hair in a similar manner as free men, including beads. Slave men and less favored women usually have their hair sheared short for greater practicality as well as a sign of lower status and less beauty. Because of the high heat and humidity of the region they sail in, the D'Potri wear relatively scant clothing. Slaves of both sexes usually go completely nude, though more favored women may often wear silk sashes or other clothing items that are considered beautiful or showy. D'Potri free men usually wear a linen wrap or kilt type of item that covers their genitalia and legs down to the knee and no shirt. Wealthier men wear additional clothing made out of fine materials which are often brightly colored, more to show their wealth than for any other reason. While aboard ship, free men usually wear the same type of clothing that they do on land, though some of the more elite fighting men will wear hardened leather breastplates and helmets. The wealthier men aboard a ship may wear metal armor as well, though most are reluctant to do so because of fear of drowning. Every ship has a set of colors that the pirates aboard wear to show that they are the ship's crew, Traejzas also usually have certain colors that they wear and that men under them wear to show their loyalty. Almost all D'Potri clothing is brightly colored.

When in battle, the D'Potri use a variety of different weapons. The primary military force of the D'Potri are the pirates and raiders or are usually lightly armed and armored for quickness, mobility, and the ability to swim if they need to. They usually don't wear armor thicker than a soft leather vest or perhaps a boiled leather breastplate and cap. They usually use small hacking swords that resemble a falchion, having a fairly thick blade and sharp only on one side. Though occasionally they carry gladius style swords as well, slightly lighter blades which are double edged. They carry small round shields as well, made of wood covered with hide. A ships fighting force also has a number of archers. These archers use short bows and carry a sword as a backup weapon. When attacking an enemy ship, they usually wrap oil soaked linen rages to their arrows and attempt to light the enemy's sails on fire. D'Potri ships often have a number of war machines designed to hurl containers of flaming oil at their enemies. On board every ship are special fighting forces called the Hattis. A Hatti is the equivalent of a marine, they keep the rank and file sailors in line and also form the spearhead during a raid or sea attack. They wear heavier armor, a iron scale hauberk and iron helm the covers the top of the head, and carry a long spear or pole arm of some kind instead of a sword and shield.

The land forces of the D'Potri are a little bit different. Soldiers who fight exclusively on land - such as those who protect D'Potri ports or who are gathered together for a major land raid - can get away with heavier armor and weapons. These land armies are all equipped with boiled leather breastplates and caps. Furthermore, they tend to use large round shields that allow them to form an effective shield wall. Also, they will often carry heavier weapons in case they have to fight better armored land forces; this usually means an axe or mace. Like aboard a ship, archers in land armies wear very little if any armor or even clothing. The D'Potri use very few horses in combat, and usually the men on horses are riding because they want a quick escape in the event the battle goes badly for them. These few D'Potri cavalrymen usually carry javelins or short bows they use to harass enemy light infantry more than to actually significantly effect the tide of battle. Hattis are also used in land battles, especially to take out heavily armored foes.

Whether on land or sea, wealthy D'Potri such as Gajzus or Traejzas will usually wear scale armor hauberks and iron helms, much like those of the Hattis. Unlike Hattis, rich men usually also carry medium or large round shields to protect themselves with and swords. On land, they usually take the field on horse back, often to act as leader and to provide moral more than to actually fight. In times of dire need, sometimes slaves are given weapons and forced to fight for their masters. They are usually sent into battle naked either with short spears and wicker shields or two handed clubs. These slave armies are placed in front of normal D'Potri soldiers so that the slaves will be killed if attempt to free or do not press forward fast enough. Sometimes the slave soldiers turn out to turn the tide of battle for the D'Potri, though its not unknown for them to turn upon their masters. This being the case, many D'Potri leaders consider it too risky to allow slaves to fight upon the battlefield.

D'Potri Religion

The D'Potri believe that there are millions of minor gods controlling each and event and object in the world. Each stone has its own god, as does each animal, ship, city, tree and mountain. They believe that each of these gods is a fully sentient and aware being and can be spoken to and reasoned with by people. Even people are thought to have their own personal gods, or more like guardian angels, or help to guide a person through life and protect them from harm. These gods, of course, don't have the powers that are often attributed to deities in other religions aside from a few very powerful gods that tend to receive special attention from the D'Potri.

The D'Potri do not have priests or religious leaders per se, generally each and every D'Potri man or woman offers prayers to the gods that are most important to him or her at any given time and acts in a manner which is most pleasing to the gods. There are a few individuals who make a point of their devotion to the gods, at least certain ones, and sometimes the D'Potri will seek such a person if they want some special favor from the gods.

The D'Potri believe that in order to please the gods, and thus have good fortune, that they must find out what sort of actions will please the gods. There are many traditions, taboos, and superstitions that the majority of the D'Potri follow which are believed to be pleasing to the most powerful and important gods. In the likely event that a D'Potri wishes to please a god whose desires are unknown, the D'Potri must use a skill known as Marsal - divining the will of the gods. There are many different ways to do this, but it usually involves some sort of random chance method - such as rolling dice, casting bones, smearing blood on the ground, etc. The profession of Marsali is an expert in using such methods of divination and they are said to be able to determine the gods' will from relatively subtle or esoteric observations. Anyone, at least in theory, can learn of the will of the gods, so it is fairly common for D'Potri to pay special attention to seemingly random events in an attempt to spot signs or omens.

Most often a D'Potri will focus on pleasing only a few gods at a time. Its always a good idea to keep one's own personal god happy - failure to do so is the cause of sickness and disease. When a D'Potri's personal god is happy, that man or woman will have good health and a strong mind and body. The gods of a person's city, ship, horse, house, valuable items, etc. all need respect of course. Sometimes D'Potri will even say prayers to the gods of other people, this is usually to gain the love and/or friendship of the person which that god governs or to heal that person from illness, but sometimes it can be possible to convince a person's god to make that person sick or even to kill them. Of course, it goes without saying that the god of the sea - named Raynu - is supreme among the gods and deserves respect from all people of the world.

The D'Potri believe that when they die, their minds become one with their personal god - making the deceased D'Potri a form of god. It is thought that these ancestor gods watch over their descendants and try to protect them - that is, of course, if the ancestors are shown the proper respect. Because of this, many D'Potri keep a list of names of ancestors who they will venerate in the hopes that the ancestors will bring them good luck. Is is believed that these gods usually only have the power to help and not to harm, meaning that soldiers need not fear their gods of their slain enemies.