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[Culture] The Scydri Confederacy


Ibn Khaldun
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SCYDRI-I-DARYA

𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅗𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅯𝅘𝅥𝅮

 

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WHO ARE THE SCYDRI?

 

The Scydri [also Scydrians] is a confederacy composed of multiple tribal societies finding common cause to ensure the integrity of their own respective traditions and languages and conceiving a mythic origin and ancestry which is used as a basis for the formation of this confederacy. Of the different societies comprising the Scydri, most members are either Farfolk or Highlanders ethnically while a smaller fraction of the membership are made up of those of different races such as Elves who swear to uphold one of the many traditions found within the fold of the Scydri.

 

The confederacy of the Scydri are composed of the following tribal societies: The Azukazi, the Skarperfanger, the Hongali, & the Cingedoz. These societies range between those preferring the open steppe and the pastoral life to those relatively more sedentary and settled within forests and upon highland regions. Each society on the periphery contributes produced goods and ennobled men and women with common and unique values to the general welfare of the Scydri. The tribalism inherent across the various societies differentiates the Scydri from the more formalized, legalized, and feudal features found in the larger kingdoms such as Aaun, Balian, & Hanseti.

 

 

 

THE SCYDRIANS: A BROAD EXAMINATION

 

An examination of the tribal confederacy necessitates a study of each part making up the whole. The Scydri is a loose confederation of tribal societies and each society making up the confederation have common values and a mythic ancestry binding together unique traits and traditions. The first of the societies and arguably the largest in population is the Azukazi:

 

The various tribal societies composing the Scydri trace a mythic ancestry, agreed upon by chieftains and clan elders, that give commonality to each in order to work together. The Scydri conceive themselves as having been a clan emerging in the chaos of Asulon where the peoples of Aegis found themselves delivered from the scourging of Iblees. The earliest century of Asulon in which migrations strewn people across the alien continent resulted in the Scydri consolidating in the frozen climes fending for themselves against the elements and a savage folk known as the Cimmerians.

 

A commonly accepted myth is that of the Scydri encountering the Noble Deer. The Noble Deer, or rather Reindeer, found little reprieve from the predators of the land. The Noble Deer found their encounter with the Scydri to be the only instance that did not immediately result in instinctual violence. The Scydri took the deer under their protection against the natural predators of the forested tundras and made it a heroic deed to ward off bears, wolves, and other beasts who desired to fall upon the wards. In return for a year of relief by which no Noble Deer died, the Noble Deer offered one of their own to be sacrificed by the Scydri for bone, antler, and sinew which they made into bows and offered others still to be ridden. This ennobled arming of the Scydri enabled them to fight and subjugate their own foe in the Cimmerians.

 

The Azukazi are a Farfolk people who live pastoral and nomadic lifestyles in the mainland continent of Almaris. These people have their own language which can be traced as an off-shoot of other Farfolkish tongues such as Qali, Hyspian and dead tongues like that of the Subudai of Asulon. The Azukazi rely greatly on livestock and their benefits both naturally occurring and manipulated such as transportation, food, tanned leathers, and other resources. The Azukazi are joined by the Hongali society in finding a shared martial tradition based on horseback riding and archery with the two groups having invented both a specialized saddle to aid in horseback archery and the Hongali thumb (a device to shield the thumb from repeated contact with fired bowstrings).

 

The Skarperfanger are a Highlander people who live semi-sedentary lifestyles preferring the construction and occasional migration of small villages. The Skarperfanger trace a shared lineage with that of the Radaghastians of Old Vistulia and adopt the same faith tradition of the Radaghastian composed of a pantheon of deities connected with various natural elements. This society contributes a sound understanding of metallurgy and compensates for this deficiency in industry found in the Azukazi and Hongali societies. These tall, stoutly built Highlanders often produce timber and mining industries throughout the forests and highlands neighboring the flatter steppes and plains that the Azukazi have an affinity for.

 

The Cingedoz are also of Highlander stock whose recent history has seen this small society migrate first to Dunrath in the Rathonian Mountains of Norland, to the Daelish Isles across the Narrow Sea in the south, to the village of Brigwindosdur in the far North before finally joining the Scydri confederacy. The Cingedoz have an incredibly rich linguistic tradition based around the language of Sprækjom and a savvy for being merchants. The Cingedoz, in addition to the Skarperfangers, have a martial tradition as javelin-wielding skirmishers and acting as light cavalry who can hold their

own in melee.

 

 

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SCYDRI PROCLIVITIES

 

The Scydri confederacy and the societies making up this collective have many particular traits, habits, and traditions that set each society apart. On the whole, the Scydri eschews the construction and fortification of villages and defenses in advanced stone masonry which is often found in the halls, walls, and cathedrals of the larger Kingdoms of Man such as Balian and Hanseti. Instead, depending on the society, one may find open-ended and disarrayed formations of nomadic tent & yurt towns though the Highlander societies are known to build with timber and some stone construction (the Cingedoz are known for their earthenwork architectures making up their duns and some buildings).

 

The religious traditions of the societies comprising the Scydrians vary from a more basic, rational-based primitive monotheism of the Cingedoz to a more ornate and complex pantheon of polytheism in the Radaghastian stareviara of the Skarperfanger. The steppe-peoples of the Azukazi and Hongali put great importance on the sky in their conception of faith. Despite these variations, the matter of faith is one not strictly enforced unlike that of religious institutions in Almaris such as the Church of the Canon.

 

There are certain practices and traditions that have been developed over centuries and with deep intentionality that help make a mark on the lived world. Each of the tribal societies have practices with similar purposes, but with varying execution and composition. One such practice found in the Cingedoz tradition is the raising of runestones to serve as a signpost describing events of importance or the imparting of some volume of knowledge or thought. Another tradition, found in the Azukazi tradition, is the bedecking of their horses in ornate, stylized headgear and saddle ornaments as a means of showing respect to the very beast that carried them since the early age where Scydri warred with Cimmerian. More details regarding each society’s traditions will be elaborated on in a lower post.

 

 

 

[OOC] INFLUENCES TO THE SCYDRIANS

 

The Scydri and its societies derive some inspiration from real-world historical entities. The Azukazi are loosely based on the historical civilizations of the Scythians, Sarmatians, and other eastern European steppe groups including the Roxolani, Alanis, etc. The Hongali have been inspired by the more Eurasian steppe civilizations including the Huns, Mongols, & other Turkic tribes. The Skarperfanger, similar to the Radaghastian cultures, are inspired by Antiquity & early Medieval era Polish and eastern European societies. The Cingedoz, as explained in its own culture post, loosely based on proto-Celtic & proto-Germanic cultures such as the Belgae, Gaul, Suebi, and the language has been derived from a mixture of Brythonic, Proto-Germanic, and Gaulish.

 

I'd like to thank players such as @SteppeNomad, @RyuTheCoolest, @__Zuko, @High_On_Math, and others for giving me the opportunity to help them flesh out this tribal group. As someone who both loves to write and has an appreciation for history (esp. of Antiquity), its been neat working on this. If you are interested in joining the Scydri, join their Discord [https://discord.gg/jzvHjFTC] and mention wanting to be added to the channel #horsetribe. If you are interested in the Cingedoz, now led by @Hopeful, you can join this Discord [https://discord.gg/W5xzVHVH].

 

Replies in this thread will explore the Azukazi, Hongali, Skarperfanger, & Cingedoz tribes making up the Scydri Confederacy.

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Zubayr noded as he listened to the news. "It is good to see them return once more, may Allah protect them."

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The Chieftain of the Skanarri tribes living in the ice spikes north of Haense comes upon the missive. After reading through its contents, the Chieftain couldn't help but grin. Perhaps it was time for the Skanarri to return to the fold of Tribal affairs, for better or for worse. "Brothers, it seems we are no longer the only tribe remaining on this continent."

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AZUKAZI, HONGALI

𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅗𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅯𝅘𝅥𝅮

 

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WHO ARE THE AZUKAZI & HONGALI TRIBE?

 

The Azukazi & Hongali, the former the larger of the two groups, have many shared traits and traditions primary of which is their nomadic lifestyle. The two tribes live on and upon the backs of horses and other livestock such as cows, oxes, sheep, and deer relying on the horse primarily for transportation both domestic and military and on the latter groups of livestock for food, trade, and protection both in armor and shelter. The variety of goods and instruments conjured from the parts of livestock would make for a long list, objects such as archery bows, Hongali thumbs (instrument to protect the thumb against repetitive pull and release of bowstrings), bow-quiver-cases, the two-string fiddle, rope, yurt-covers, clothing, armor, banners, & more.

 

The Azukazi, unlike the Hongali, have some headway in the study of metallurgy particularly that of gold and bronze. A fable in the Azukazi tradition details a young man discovering gold surfaced at the bottom of a riverbed and Azukazi metalworking usually involves light mining operations to gather gold ore and copper and tin in order to make bronze. These people usually bedeck their horses and deers with wiry, high-reaching ornaments and utilize bronze primarily with their spears, lances, and axes. Trade with the more sedentary groups such as the Cingedoz and Skarperfanger aid in producing bronze while the Azukazi are usually self-reliant in finding gold.

 

What sets the Azukazi and Hongali apart civilizationally and visually is the formation of migrating and roaming settlements. The two groups, relying on a martial cavalry tradition, put great emphasis on mobility and their temporary villages facilitate mobility. If one happens upon an Azukazi/Hongali camp, one will not find static and sturdy walls and a grid-like, narrow procession of streets; they will find a very irregular, open-ended scattering of yurts with little wooden construction besides the very lattice frameworks holding up the yurts and the occasional construction of a palisade and/or watchtowers. The ability for trade to flow in and out and cavalry and horsearchers to operate is the primary concern for the layout of an Azukazi/Hongali village.

 

Traditions are at the heart of each tribe in the Scydri and the Azukazi & Hongali have certain traditions that make them apparently different from the Cingedoz and Skarperfanger. The Azukazi and Hongali embrace the use of hallucinogens and plant-based psychoactives which they attribute healing and mental stimulation to. The use of psychoactives tie into an idea of astral projection which they claim to use to read symbols out of scorched-earth mounds that they create near their villages. It is common that these scorched-earth mounds will have an accompanying watchtower built for others to look down and see the patterns of the mound in full. Another tradition is the building of complex burial mounds for the mummified dead (kurgans) and the creation of artistic ornaments of gold and bronze to saddle on the heads of horses and deer.

 

In terms of more abstract cosmology, the Azukazi and Hongali both share a worldview that emphasizes verticality and reflects the reality of the steppes with little in the way of horizontal variety, but one always had a view of the sky whether clear or stormy. This vertical worldview conceives of many wonders and woes in the skies and the heavens with the two tribes envisioning themselves in this dynamic differently. This vertical worldview is also reinforced intellectually by the realities of the natural course of predator-prey connections with the Scydri often pointing to how the lowest creation from the sky, fodder and plants, are fed on by creatures standing taller and those creatures hunted by skyward predators.

 

The Azukazi conceive themselves as having a more invasive and intrusive role of the domain under the sky and even venturing to antagonize certain elements of the sky. This conception lends reason for an Azukazi practice of raiding gryphon mounds and the figurative understanding that the Azukazi are trapped in a rivalry between themselves as horselords and the beasts of the sky. The Hongali take a more cooperative and symbiotic conception of themselves in this vertical worldview, preferring to tame birds and flying creatures for war.

 

More lore on the Azukazi can be found here: 

Spoiler

 

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CINGEDOZ, SKARPERFANGER

𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅗𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅯𝅘𝅥𝅮

 

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WHO ARE THE CINGEDOZ & SKARPERFANGER TRIBES?

 

The Cingedoz & Skarperfanger tribes are the more sedentary, semi-nomadic complements to the Azukazi & Hongali. Whereas the latter two prefer the open plain & steppe and the mobility afforded by a purely nomadic lifestyle, the former two tribes are more inclined to raise sedentary villages & towns with rarer instances of migrations. The Cingedoz and Skarperfanger prefer the elevation and natural defense granted by the hill and wood and reliably build industries to extend the resources and potential tools developed from their terrain. It is not uncommon to find the Cingedoz and Skarperfanger villages to serve as markets for the goods produced and booty raided by the nomadic raids of the other tribes in the Scydri.

 

More lore about the Cingedoz and Skarperfanger tribes are provided below:

Spoiler

 

 

If you are interested in joining the Cingedoz Discord, find the link here: https://discord.gg/dWh5gQ73

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CURRENT & ABSENT SCYDRIANS

 

The following are current members of the nomadic Azukazi or Hongali (or the adjacent Bronze Band): @RyuTheCoolest @DeepDarkSamurai @Vilebranches @LordofLosers @Oriyon @Mouse @__Zuko @Scamelot @AstriaS @riorr @Frank_Dog

 

The following are current members of the semi-nomadic Cingedoz or Skarperfanger: Brennus hal'Cingedoz (@Langobardi), Ceolwulf hal'Trewehled (@TN_TURKEY),  Bodbmakos hal'Cingedoz (@Privet),  Chieftess/Rix Lurana hal'Cingedoz (@Hopeful), Morgause hal'Hrundzar (@far1ca),  Morag (@MolagBallin), Britius hal'Cingedoz ( @Endovelicus)

 

The following are dead or missing members of the Cingedoz: Arminius hal'Cingedoz (@Cloakedsphere), @Isolde, Uortigornos hal'Cingedoz (@Norgeth),  Senex hal'Cingedoz (@HistoryChap),  Ambiorix hal'Cingedoz ( @Jihnyny), Dumnoric hal'Cingedoz ( @FallingGuy), Guinevere hal'Cingedoz ( @Rattussmackus), Cathubodua hal'Tulach ( @lemonke), Rinya hal'Tulach ( @KrisppyKreme), Aeline hal'Tulach ( @LillyPapaya), Gaisorix hal'Cingedoz ( @Langobardi)

 


 

Spoiler

If you are not listed or listed improperly, ping me on Discord at gaiusmarius8#0788 please!

 

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