Haruna is a large island with a temperate climate. The winters of Haruna are moderate and snowfall only occurs in the island's highlands and even there its generally rare. Haruna has warm and rainy summers with cool dry winters. The southern part of the island has many hills and short mountains, at most three thousand feet in height, while the north is flatter and turns into a number of smaller islands. The soil of Haruna is quite rich, and combined with the mild weather makes farming and agriculture quite easy.
The majority of people living on Haruna are the Senjo people, collectively called the Senjen. Many centuries ago, the Senjen were one of among many tribes who lived on the island. With time, they began to conquer and absorb the surrounding people until the unified Haruna under their rule. After the Senjen cemented their control of Haruna, their technology advanced along with the civilization. Their technology grew to astounding heights, they created rounds across the island that sped travel and great ships that explored the world. Their military technology advanced as well, they could field large armies of well trained soldiers equipped with iron weapons and armor when most other nations on the earth were using bronze or stone. With their advanced ships and powerful armies, the Senjen began to dominate other peoples with whom they made contact with as well, even conquering major sections of two great continents which their ships explored, along with numerous smaller islands.
Eventually, the Senjen controlled a mighty empire which included large swaths of both continents and numerous islands. The empire thrived on trade and on naval power, as they could project their force and move goods further and faster than any other civilization the world had ever seen. They sent their ships all over the known world, even establishing contact with dark age Nostians. The empire of the Senjen created, called Rana Senjo, became a center for trade and commerce as well as learning and cultural exchange as scholars and philosophers from all over the world came to Haruna.
As the empire has stagnated somewhat and they have lost much of their holdings around the world, the empire is still strong and quite influential especially as a naval power.
Rana Senjo
The Rana Senjo is not ruled by an emperor but rather by a council, called the Doryo, of representatives from the various domains of the empire. Each representative is elected by the citizens of the domain, called a jinji, from which he comes. Every adult male citizen above the age of twenty can vote. A representative, called a jinjirin, serves for five years until he must seek reelection. Each jinji is relatively small, so the council has several thousand members at any point in time, though the exact number varies as over time as new jinji are added. Because the council is so large, they need a complex set of rules to govern how they rule, including methods for votes being held and a number of comities whose job it is to deal with different issues.
For local government, there is another election, where community leader is selected by popular vote. This ruler, called the hira, serves only for a year and his primary duties are to enforce laws, organize local defense, and arrange referendums on local issues. Often the Doryo sends its representatives out to local jinji to give orders or set policies, these commands always take precedent over the will of the hira or the local citizens. Likewise, imperial military commanders are not obligated to obey any commands from a hira.
The citizens of Rana Senjo have a great many rights and freedoms for common folk, not the least of which being their ability to vote for representatives or on pressing local issues. They are also allowed to own personal property, own weapons and armor, or move freely within the empire. They can even freely criticize their hira, jinjirin, or the Doryo. They are even protected from unreasonable questioning or arrest by law enforcers and are entitled to jury trials. Because of the great personal rights afforded the the citizens of the empire, many immigrants have come to Haruna from around the world, especially from former Imperial holding as the empire withdrew. To be a citizen with full rights, one must be born within the borders of Rana Senjo, meaning that the children of immigrants become full citizens. In practice, non-citizen immigrants have most of the rights of citizens save for the ability to vote.
One of the main duties of a hira is to enforce laws, both as head of the local militia and as judge and arbitrator. To a large degree, the hira simply resolves disputes between various citizens, though they also arrange for trials for more serious crimes. Generally, there is no dedicated police force or town guard, but rather the hira calls on members of the jinji militia if order is threatened or violence is requires. Punishments are usually fairly light across the empire, with public humiliation being a common punishment along with reparations for the victim. Sometimes prison sentences are given for more severe crimes, usually this involves spending a number of years serving as an oarsman in a galley for no pay. Rape and murder do receive the death penalty however, usually carried out through decapitation.
The is no nobility in Rana Senjo in any official sense. There are, however, large differences in wealth with some families or individuals owning vast expanses of land and many trading ships while others have barely a penny to their name and must work for wealthy property owners as virtual serfs. Because some families own vast holdings of land, often including trading ships, businesses, or other means of gaining revenue while others must work for wealth land owners, there is a divide between rich and poor that sometimes creates a similar dynamic that other nations experience with their systems of nobility and serfdom.
A large part of the political dynamic of Rana Senjo are the numerous ethnic groups which occupy the island of Haruna. In the past, the Senjen ruled the empire with an iron fist, conquering other peoples and subjugating them. As time passed, numerous other peoples and cultures were assimilated into the empire and are now considered to be full citizens. Despite this fact, there are still numerous ethnic tensions within the empire based in part on historical conflicts, group loyalty, and disparate cultural traditions. Many individuals or groups have assimilated in large part, though others have not and political loyalties are often based on ethnicity. The racial divide is also strengthened by class as well, as virtually all wealthy land owners are Senjen and the niri are almost universally poorer than the Senjen.
Ethnicities of the empire who are not Senjen are referred to as niri, a term meaning outsider that historically carries a negative connotation. Roughly half of the population of Haruna is made up of niri. Many niri groups are interspersed through out largely Senjo communities on the island but there are many parts of the island where the population is composed almost entirely of niri, often a single group of niri, which is leading to some degree of balkanization within the empire. While no official political movement for independence has taken place, several regions across Haruna view themselves and act almost as autonomous nations with their own localized government which is separate from, but in theory subordinate to, the Doryo. These regions often don't use the jinji system nor do they have militias, making them less useful to the empire in times of war and generally more lawless - in fact many niri regions are known for rampant crime, including organized crime syndicates called yitso.
Some of the yitso are simply gangs of bandits, marauders, or highwaymen who strike at unprotected travelers of lightly defended villagers. Others are more sophisticated crime syndicates that smuggle goods, provide illicit services, or extract protection money. Still other yitsos have political agendas ranging from trying to gain independence from the empire to acting as law enforcers in particularly lawless regions to acting on religious grounds. Some are based almost entirely on piracy. For the most part, these yitsos exist only within the niri communities and virtually always have their strongholds in heavily niri regions of Haruna. As the niri have gained in number and the yitsos have gained in power and influence, it is not uncommon to feel their influence even in areas where the niri are a very small minority - especially if one is in the market for less than reputable goods or services.
Among most Senjen, there is an intense hatred for the yitsos that sometimes even extends to a dislike for the niri in general. There are some political movements with the empire that seek to expel the niri from the Rana Senjo completely, though since such a drastic action (if even possible) would throw the empire into chaos and civil war most people in power seek to prevent such a drastic course of action. To a large degree, the Doryo is inactive when it comes to putting a stop to the yitsos - some members of the Doryo are bribed by wealthier yitso gangs while others are afraid to spark civil war by sending Senjen soldiers into niri villages to destroy yitso stronghold, and some members of the Doryo even have sympathies to the causes that some yitsos espouse. The greatest acts against the yitsos come from independent action by local Senjen militias or by the semi-autonomous Ryken .
Senjen Culture
The Senjen people are the largest ethnic group within Rana Senjo. They are light skinned people with straight black hair and dark brown eyes. They have a generally oriental appearance, with fatty deposits under their eyelid and somewhat flat angular faces. Their skin tone varies somewhat, to a fairly pale to deep bronze coloration. Often the Senjen will have slightly varied features from mixing with other groups within the empire. Senjen men tend to be around 5'5" in height while women are about 5'1" tall, both have fine features and tend to be slightly built. The Senjen tend to have sparse body hair as well.
The traditional clothing of the Senjen men is a loose fitting belted cloth tunic that extends down to the knee, with fairly tight cloth pants. Senjen women, on the other hand, typically wear robes with an open front that overlaps when belted closed. Both genders wear sandals, usually with socks. The Senjen tradition is to crush plant material to create a green dye, so most Senjen clothing is green or partially green, though dyes of many colors exist in Haruna so green is by no means the only color worn by the Senjen. Many Senjen wear undyed clothing, as it is seen as a sign of humility.
Senjen men usually shave their faces and grow their hair to shoulder's length, then keep their hair tied into a short ponytail. Some Senjen men grow a mustache and goatee, particularly older men. Women usually grow their hair slightly longer and keep it in a tight bun, usually only letting it down when alone. In the past it was seen as scandalous for a women to let her hair down in public, though now the practice is more tolerated if thought to be slightly uncouth.
There is a great amount of gender equality among the Senjen. Most people marry for love and the male and female must fully consent to the relationship. Virtually all jobs are open to both men and women, though most often a Senjen couple will work their farm together sharing the duties almost equally. Divorces are allowed by Rana Senjo law, and are not uncommon among the Senjen. Many Senjen men and women prefer not to get married and instead live out their lives as bachelors or bachelorettes. Casual sex is somewhat frowned upon by the more conservative elements among the Senjen, but it is still quite common particularly among those who chose not to marry. Many years ago, Senjen scholars discovered an herb that functions as a reasonably effective abortificant, making unwanted births rare among the Senjen. Unfortunately, this has also lead to a decline in birth rate among the Senjen that has caused numbers to decline over the decades. Homosexuality is not uncommon nor particular frowned upon among the Senjen, it is practiced by both men and women sometimes exclusively but more often by single Senjen in addition to heterosexual activity. Marital infidelity is highly frowned upon among the Senjen, regardless of the gender of the partner. Technically, there exists no laws for homosexual marriage, but many Senjo live in what are effectively gay marriages with contracts and even religious ceremonies to bind the couple.
The Senjen are extreme believers in politeness. They will generally go out of their way to say please, thank you, excuse me, or similar statements of respect and deference. They will likewise take great caution not to bump into someone or touch them by accident, and if they do so they will generally apologize profusely. There are numerous rules of etiquette that the Senjo obey to maintain respect and politeness, including not bringing up any faux pas committed by someone else. In past times, when someone showed blatant disrespect, they would often be challenged to a duel - which consisted of a fight to the death with knives - though today dueling is a rarity though not entirely unknown.
Religion
The Senjen believe in a large number of gods, many hundreds in fact. Most priests and priestesses of the Senjen don't focus on a single deity, but rather try to appease all of the gods as needed. If the Senjen are preparing for battle, then a sacrifice is made to a god of war, while a Senjo man might pray to the goddess of love to win the heart of his beloved. There are numerous temples all over Haruna dedicated to the various deities, each with staffed by priests and priestesses, called sura, dedicated to those specific deities. There is an official state cult of Rana Senjo based on the worship of the Senjen deities, though many foreign deities have been accepted into the pantheon as well. In small towns, there is usually a temple for general worship of the gods. Animals are the most common sacrifices offered to the gods, though other things of value are are sometimes burned as a sacrifice.
The Doryo appoints a high priest or priestess, called the Musura, who acts as religious leader of the nation. The role of the Musura is not only to lead the nation in worship, but to define religious dogma and to regulate the ordaining of priests. The Musura is always a priest or priestess of the entire pantheon, and therefore not dedicated to a single god or goddess. Beneath the Musura are high priests of each deity, or at least those of the deities who are popular enough to have their own dedicated priesthoods. These high priests are chosen by methods decided by the individual priesthoods, though the Musura as the legal right to veto any selection - which requires a new choice on the part of the priesthood. Many priesthoods, called renaki, select their leaders democratically while others have the current high priest select an heir who is approved by the Musura at the time of the selection while some have entirely different or sometimes even random methods.
One of the most powerful and popular renaki is the priesthood of Saguro. Saguro is the king god, usually held to be the king of all the gods. He is depicted as an older man with a long beard and white hair, dressed in robes of gold. According to legend, it was Saguro and his wife Agami, who created the earth and humanity along with siring the other deities. Some members of other renaki will sometimes dispute the claim that Saguro is the greatest deity or that he created the universe, though among most people this is commonly accepted.
There are other deities as well who have quite a few dedicated worshipers. Kenta is the goddess of the sea of of oceans, a popular deity among sailors, pirates, and fishermen. Agami is the queen of the gods, a mother goddess who is thought to have created the earth with her husband Saguro. Some believe that Agami created everything herself, including Saguro, thus making her the eldest and most important deity. Masaru is the god of war, all soldiers and fighting men say prayers and give offerings to him - his priests virtually always train to fight and join the militias. Shiro is the god of joy, contentment, merry making, and alcohol. Sayuri is the goddess of love, romance, and sexuality. Suzi is the goddess of wisdom and knowledge. Hino is the god of the earth, including farming and agriculture. Akano is the god of the night and the day, including the sun, moon, and stars along with weather. Rikura is the goddess of life and death, including the afterlife. These ten deities are considered the greatest, the most important and powerful, of all the gods and some theologians would say that all other deities are descended from them.
According to the Senjen, particularly the renaki of Rikura, when a person dies, he or she goes to the realm of the dead, called Toshura. Toshura is much like the living world - people eat, they sleep, they work, they even feel pain and pleasure. Your profession in Toshura, along with your quality of life and general happiness, is based on your morality in the living world. If you were kind, just, polite, and honest in life then in death you will have great wealth, luxury, and ease of living. If your were cruel or deceitful in life, or were a criminal or pirate, then in death you are forced to be a beggar or even a slave. This punishment or reward lasts for all of eternity, so each act of virtue or of malice done while alive will have an eternal consequence. Some theorize that particularly villainous criminals will be tortured forever in Toshura while saintly people who gave their lives for others may become kings or queens after death or even be raised to the level of minor deities.
The Senjen observe numerous holy days, one each five day week dedicated to a different deity or special cause. Each major deity has at least one day set aside for him or her, while other holy days are dedicated to planting, harvesting, equinoxes and solstices, and state holidays. The most important holy day for the Senjen is called Shozume, or the beginning. This day corresponds to March 26 and is thought to be the anniversary of the creation of the world, it is also the Senjen new year. Each holy day is the first day of one of the five day weeks. Most people do not work on the holy days, and then attend a religious ritual in the evening, this gives most Senjen a four day work with one day for rest.
The Military
The heart of the Rana Senjo military are men and women called sakoyo. A sakoyo is a professional soldier with large amounts of experience either fighting as part of the militias, the navy, or the dragons. The sakoyos are the equivalent of officers, it is their job or organize other soldiers, command them on the battlefield, and to decide on strategy for the army to use. Generally, for every hundred soldiers in a Rana Senjo army there will be one sakoyo. The Doryo, after accessing the threat presented by an enemy, will decide on a certain number of sakoyo which will be required to command the army and then the selected sakoyo will vote among themselves over who will be the general of the army, or the sakoyodo. The general will then be responsible for recruiting the army from available soldiers, assigning other sakoyo for different roles, and deciding the army's strategy. Sakoyos themselves usually train with a variety of weapons so that they will be well versed in combat techniques, though they typically enter the battlefield on horseback steel split armor protecting their bodies and part of the arms and legs along with a chain mail hauberk and open faced steel helm and no barding for their horse. They arm themselves with slashing swords as well as composite short bows which can be shot from horseback.
Most of the army is drawn from the citizen's militia of jinji. The militia is organized by individual hiras, though there are standardized methods for training troops that exist through out the empire - the militia forces are broken down into archers and spearmen. The spearmen of a single jinji are trained to work together as a cohesive organized unit, they fight with large round shields and ten foot long spears. Archers on the other hand practice at being able to shoot quickly and accurately, while acting as skirmishers. They use bows of moderate strength, which can be learned without extreme difficulty and often carry a dagger as a backup weapon. Militia members usually only wear soft leather tunic for armor. A large percentage of male citizens train to be part of the militia of their local jinji, most as archers since the training is less rigorous. For wealthy citizens who wish to join the militia, they usually become horse archers and wear moderately heavy armor such as a chain mail hauberk and open faced helm. Usually the great bulk of most Rana Senjo land armies will be composed of militia troops, usually those from areas closest to where the army will be needed.
When the members of a militia are called to war, they are paid quite a respectable wage - several times the money they would make during the same time period as a peasant laborer. Likewise, wealthier militiamen who can afford to outfit themselves as horse archers are paid exorbitantly. The horse archers usually fight with the army's sakoyo general and harass the enemy flanks while the militia fights them from the front.
There is also a professional military, men who serve as full time soldiers who serve as the core of a Rana Senjo military force. There are two kinds of professional soldiers in the empire, the Guroken and the Ryken. The Guroken are the navy, they wear armor made from lacquered leather plates to protect their bodies, upper arms, and legs as well as lacquered leather helmets. Most are armed with short swords, medium sized round shields, and bows for use at a range. The guroken are very well trained soldiers and excel at close combat, they often fight on land as well as at sea as they are used for raiding coastal regions and as a fast attack force. When possible, the sakoyos will include as many Guroken soldiers as they can, since they are generally better trained and much more experienced than local militias. In either case, the rowing is done by professional rowers who are often healthier than the slaves who power many such galleys. Despite being there of their own free will, the rowers are often drawn from the most impoverished and disadvantaged people of the empire, often drawn from ethnic minority populations who in the past were forced to row. Guroken ships are also frequently equipped with a variety of war machines such as catapults or ballistas which can hurl flaming projectiles at enemy ships. Sakoyo operate a bit differently when it comes to the Guroken, usually there is one sakoyo who acts as full time captain of a Guroken ship with more senior Sakoyo being appointed to larger ships. Because the Guroken are professional soldiers and may serve aboard the same ship for many years, the Guroken have much closer ties with the sakoyo who command them than do the local militias and thus the Guroken are able to fight with much better tactical and strategic ability.
The Guroken use a variety of ships ranging from small fast biremes to huge and heavily armored hexaremes. The greatest ship ever constructed was a Guroken ship with twenty banks of oars which was 300 feet in length. Unfortunately for this huge ship, called the Diochu, it was sunk in a battle with the D'Potri who used much smaller biremes and triremes to outmaneuver the large and ponderously slow Diochu.
Unfortunately, perhaps the most numerous armed forces in Haruna are the yitso gangs. These gangs vary quite a bit from region to region. Tarush yitso tend to use modified scythe type weapons, where the blade has been bent so that it extends straight from the shaft of the pole, which is usually shortened somewhat so that the weapon resembles a falx. This weapon traces its origin back to the many revolts that the Tarush had using farming implements that it has become a matter of pride. Tarush yitso are often motivated by religious/racial hatred and zealotry as much as greed - they usually prepare for an attack by cutting religious symbols onto their flesh as they believe that the holy symbols protect them in combat. Qualaba yitso take a more subtle approach, preferring to carry easily hidden weapons so that they don't stand out - this includes work tools, knives, farm tools, hammers, walking sticks, etc. Winjo yitso are usually the most sophisticated in that they tend to use more advanced military tactics and weaponry to strike quickly and then fade away. Winjo yitso usually arm themselves with short bows and short swords, giving then tactical flexibility that melee armed gangs lack. Fortunately, the Winjo yitso tend to prefer to take money over lives and wont generally use more violence than is necessary, they also tend to be less numerous than other yitso. Only the Tarush yitso brandish their weapons openly, others either keep theirs concealed, at some hidden location, or use work tools.
Piracy is a constant threat in the waters around Haruna, so much so that only ships with soldiers can engage in sea trade. Many merchant ships serve as pirate ships as well, raiding or trading as in convenient. Despite there being virtually no Senjen bandits on the land, a good portion of pirates are Senjen, though the majority of pirates are Winjo with the D'Potri making up the second largest group. Senjen pirates equip themselves in the same fashion as the Guroken navy does, when they can afford to do so. The Winjo pirates usually prefer not to wear armor while at sea and instead carry both short bows and curved slashing short swords into battle, the most popular fighting style is to use a short sword in each hand though some Winjo pirates opt for the more conventional shield and sword style. Winjo pirates often use captured prisoners as galley slaves for their biremes. Because of the prevalence of piracy, most sailors aboard merchant ships keep makeshift fighting implements handy in case they need to defend themselves, some ships have a number of mercenary marines aboard to defend against pirates.
Mercenaries are quite common in Haruna. Often these are simply Senjen peasants who realized they could make a better living by being a paid fighter than by plowing the fields. In other cases, they are foreigners who have been hired to fight by the the Doryo or some wealthy citizen, in other cases mercenaries are just yitso strongmen hired to kill or to protect. What ever the case, wealthy merchants or business frequently hire mercenaries to protect them when they travel long distances because of fear of attacks by yitso bandits. Many mercenaries were once part of a jinji militia and are trained and equipped with either the bow or with shield and spear. More exotic mercenaries are common too, such as the D'Potri Hatti. The Hatti wear scale hauberks and iron helms and wield polearms or battle axes and round shields. The D'Potri are ferocious fighters and are known for their cruelty and brutality - enough that the mention of the Hatti are enough to strike fear into the hearts of potential attackers.
The Dragons
In addition to the local militias and navy, the Rana Senjo also has the Ryken, the dragons. The Ryken have always had a certain amount of autonomy from the Doryo. Several Ryken sanctuaries, called Rykuna, exist across the island where the Ryken are trained and equipped. These Rykuna receive a set percentage of the budget of the Doryo by an ancient decree, and while the wealthy available to the Doryo has declined over the years, the flow has never dried up and therefore the Ryken have still been able to maintain their traditions if not their numbers. Each Rykuna is a community with large number of workers who help to support the Ryken, including blacksmiths to make their armor and weapon, farmers and herdsmen to feed the community, and the wives and children of both the Ryken and their helpers. The Ryken themselves only make up a small percentage of the adult males of the Rykuna, though all of the men in a Rykuna train as part of a local militia and serve as support for the Ryken in battle in the rare cases when a Rykuna is attacked. Each Rykuna is ruled by the eldest living Ryken, called the Tukosa. The Tukosa rules the Ryken autonomously regardless of what jinji the Rykuna happens to be located in.
As time has passed, the dragon's armor has become more protective and well crafted. The Ryken of today are clad from head to toe in heavy scale armor while they wear steel helms that have monstrous looking face plates, their horses are also covered with scale armor as well, truly giving the appearance that these warriors are indeed dragons. Often this scale armor is lacquered to prevent rusting as well as to give the "dragon" a distinctive color. The Ryken usually carry a round shield, lance, and slashing sword into battle, though some prefer to use short bows instead of the shield. The Ryken are extremely well trained and selected from the most promising young boys of the Rykuna. They receive excellent training in riding and close combat and are feared warriors on the island and elsewhere.
Despite the general decline of empire itself, the fighting tradition and skills of the Ryken have only gotten stronger over the years, though their numbers have been in steady decline over the decades as less money is set aside to train and equip them and more promising soldiers join local forces instead of going off to serve the Doryo. Most Ryken now must be selected from the boys of the Rykuna and not from Haruna as a whole. Because the Ryken are so few and elite, they are seldom used in large numbers. Most of the time they are sent out in small groups to deal with conflicts between squabbling factions or to fight criminal gangs. The Ryken have a reputation in Haruna of being great heroes who come to the aid of those in and need and who fight against monsters or evil doers. The Ryken do follow strict codes of conduct, including oaths to protect the innocent, be always loyal to the Doryo and the Rana Senjo, to show bravery in battle, etc. The Ryken are required by law as well as by duty to obey the call of the sakoyos in times of war. The field of battle is a different matter, and the Ryken will often attack on their own despite orders of the sakoyos often ruining well laid plans of the army's general.
The Rykuna are bastions of conservatism in the Rana Senjo. Niri are usually not welcome in a Rykuna and in the long history of the Ryken, only a hand full of Ryken have ever been niri. As a result, the niri almost universally despise the Ryken and view them as representations of the oppression once suffered by the niri at the hands of the Senjo. The Ryken are also one of the only groups will will brazenly go after the yitso and even those who associate with them - sometimes in quasi-racist attacks that target whole niri communities. Many within the Doryo, especially the niri there, want to eliminate the Ryken as a whole, since they see the Rykuna as a threat to the Doryo and as an impediment to full assimilation of the niri - no action has been taken in this direction as there is fear that it could spark a civil war.
The Niri
The Winjo
The Winjo were the first people that the Senjen encountered outside of Haruna, the people who lived on the numerous small islands near Haruna. These people were fairly quickly conquered by the Senjen and easily assimilated into the empire. Because of physical and cultural similarities between the Senjen and the Winjo, they frequently interbred and quickly became citizens while others groups had even yet to be encountered. Culturally they are virtually identical to the Senjen, speaking the same language, worshiping the same gods, easting the same food, and wearing the same clothes. They have a slightly different appearance, a bit darker than the Senjen and more heavily built with rounder faces, though it is often difficult to tell the difference between the two.
Politically speaking, the Winjo are the most closely allied to the Senjen and are the most affluent group of niri. Sometimes for political expediency, they will side with other niri groups, though most often they identify more closely with the Senjen
The Tarush
The Tarush were the second people encountered by the Senjen when they left their island to explore the world, they are also the third largest ethnic group on Haruna. The Tarush hail from one of the two great continents which the Senjen explored and partially conquered. The Tarush existed as many small and waring bronze using kingdoms before the Senjen conquered the lands and subjugated the people. The Tarush were brought to Haruna in large quantities as servants and laborers, but also came to the island in search of a better life away from the harsh conditions of their homeland which was largely desert.
The Tarush are a dark people, with orangish brown almost copper colored skin. They have have tightly curly black hair and black eyes. They tend to have high cheek bones, thick lips, and small flat noses. Tarush men have no facial hair and both genders have little body hair. They have slightly oriental looking eyes as well. The Tarush tend to be short and lithe, around 5'3" for males and 4'11" for females. Men and women both usually keep their hair shaved or cut shorter than an inch in length. The Tarush of both gender wear long white tunics, white being a traditional color of goodness and purity among their people. They generally go barefoot, though some may were sandals or moccasins in the winter.
Many Tarush men have holy symbols carved onto the flesh of their upper arms. Usually these symbols denote membership in a yitso. When the wish to hide their membership in such groups, the men wear tunics with sleeves that cover their upper arms and shoulders. They wear sleeveless tunics when the wish to show their affiliation or when they are going into battle.
Despite years of living among the Senjen, the Tarush have kept many of their ancient customs as well as religion. They believe in a single deity named Rusha, who chose the Tarush as his most favored people. Rusha is among the many gods added to the Senjen pantheon, though the Tarush completely reject the other deities of the Senjen. Because of the religious values, the Tarush have been particularly resistant to Senjen rule and reluctant to assimilate. Over the course of their history in Rana Senjo, they have revolted and resisted many times, in the past such uprisings were crushed. The Tarush kingdoms of the mainland have long since gained their independance, and many of the Tarush living on Haruna seek independent and autonomous nations for themselves. Since gaining the ability to vote, the Tarush have been more subtle and political in their attempts to break away from Rana Senjo, electing their own jinjirins to push for the idea in the Doryo. The Tarush are also heavily represented among the yitso, sometimes such Tarush yitso will attack Senjen churches to kill the priests and loot the riches. Most of the leaders of the Tarush are holy men, rusi, priests of Rusha. In regions with a Tarush majority, it will be almost certain that both the that local leaders will be priests of Rusha. The leaders of Tarush yitso tend to be priests as well.
The Tarush believe in strict gender roles. A girl's father choses her husband for her in conjunction with the groom and his family. A woman's job is to stay at home and raise the children, to prepare food for her husband, and to satisfy his pleasure. Of course, with the liberated Senjo women as an example, some Tarush women demand for respect and rights, though they are in the minority. By Rana Senjo law, it is illegal for Tarush men to beat their wives or otherwise compel them to do things against their will, though this law is seldom enforced as most Senjen don't care what goes on within a Tarush home and Tarush law enforcers would never interfer with a husband exercising his marital rights.
The Qualaba
The Qualaba are a people who are descended from numerous different tribes and peoples from the hot jungle regions of one of the continents. Some were driven out of their lands by a hostile invading force called the Gabebi, and were forced to enter the Rana Senjo for protection. They are the most numerous niri group in Haruna. Like the Tarush, they were brought to Haruna to serve as cheap labor. Unlike the Tarush, what ever traditions or beliefs they held in their own homeland has been lost many years ago and they have adopted a form of the Senjen culture.
They have very dark skin, a shade of dark brown. Their hair is very kinky and tightly curled, both their hair and eyes are black. They tend to have wide flat noses and thick lips. Men tend to be around 5'7" in height while the women are about 5'2" in height. They wear similar clothing as the Senjen do, though they tend to favor brighter colors and almost always wear dyed tunics or pants. They are also fond of jewelry and like to wear rings upon their fingers, usually two or three bands on each finger and thumb for both men and women. Gold is the preferred material for rings, though sometimes silver, copper, or bronze rings are substituted for poorer Qualaba. Qualaba men usually wear their hair either in shoulder length dreadlocks or shave their heads, while women usually grow large bushy afros. Men who shave their heads usually have their faces as well, while those who do not usually have short scruffy beards.
The Qualaba share much of the Senjen culture, but one aspect that they totally reject is the belief in politeness and respect. The Qualaba tend to be a bombastic and confrontational people, prone to rudeness, raucousness, and frankness. The Qualaba generally think nothing of insulting others, touching others in a friendly or aggressive way, or acting out in other ways that the Senjen consider disgraceful. Sometimes this leads to fights between Qualaba or fights between Qualaba and Senjen.
The Qualaba are among the poorest of the niri in Haruna. Qualaba tend to live in abject poverty with frequent famine, crime, and disease. It is also the case that a higher percentage of the Qualaba are members of yitso than any other group living in Haruna. The Qualaba yitso are also known for being particularly violent and sadistic, killing, raping, mutilating - often even children are targeted for such barbarity, usually to strike fear into the hearts any any who would resist the yitso.
The Qualaba embrace the gender equality that the Senjen have created in Haruna, though most Qualaba do not get married or seek long term romantic relationships. For the most part, a Qualaba's love life consists of relatively brief sexual encounters that often result in pregnancy. Most Qualaba do not who who their fathers are and have been raised by their mothers, one of the factors which creates the great poverty the Qualaba suffer from. Abortificant herbs are used to some degree by the Qualaba, but many are unaware of these herbs, unable to afford the price, or there are no Senjen herbalists in the community.
The D'Potri
The D'Potri were never conquered by the Senjen, but rather are a nation of people that seized many of the Senjen's old trading routes and islands. They sail the waters around Haruna as pirates, ready to attack vulnerable ships to take the crew as slaves and the cargo for sale. The D'Potri also occasionally trade with coastal cities of Haruna, sometimes with goods that they have only recently stolen. The D'Potri also sell opium to the people of Haruna, a product that has become increasingly popular in recent years among both the Senjen and the niri. Because the D'Potri are technically foreign citizens, many D'Potri soldiers, the Hatti, count as foreign dignitaries and occasionally they will hire themselves out as bodyguards. Sometimes D'Potri pirate ships are even paid to escort merchant ships through dangerous waters - ironic considering that the D'Potri are often the source of the danger.
For more information on the D'Potri, see their entry.
The Daziri
The Daziri are a group from on of the great continents, not conquered by the Senjen but rather people who moved into the empire willingly to seek wealth and acceptance. The Daziri are a dark skinned caucasian middle eastern looking people. They generally have black or dark brown hair, brown eyes, and swarthy or olive colored skin. Their hair is generally kinky, frizzy, curly, or extremely wavy. They tend to have larger down turned noses with a prominent arch, high cheek bones, and thin lips. The Daziri men are usually about 5'5" while women are 5'1" on average.
Unlike many of the other niri groups in Haruna, the Daziri are actually quite successful and actually wealthier on average than the Senjen are. They engage in a number of business endeavors, from acting as traveling merchants to lending money. Because they tend to be wealthy, they are in danger from yitso just as the the Senjen are. They often carry concealed slings and daggers to defend themselves from bandits, though many Daziri depend on hired Hatti mercenaries. There are a few Daziri yitso in existence, though they usually operate more like organized crime - engaging in smuggling, prostitution, and trafficking in stolen goods more than robbery or attacks.
The Daziri have adopted virtually all of the Senjen customs and traditions, including their religion and social morals. They wear the same clothing and style their hair the same way, usually treating their hair to make it straighter like that of the Senjen.
