Eastborn Caleian

Vikings of the Steppes

Not much is known about the Eastborn, otherwise known as the Great Steppe Nomads, mostly because very few travelers, if any, travel that far East and return. All the information written here is taken from travelers's records and as such may be inaccurate, contradictory or just plain wrong.
The Eastborn are known to be master horse riders and are said to have deep connections with their horses and wildlife around their homelands. They live as tribes of around 100 people in clusters simple cloth huts and usually migrate every few months. Usually, whenever one tribe migrates, all the others in the vicinity also migrate, exactly three days after the first tribe migrated, and the effect spreads until all of the Eastborn tribes migrate. The tribes all migrate in a same, mysterious pattern of changing directions. Nobody knows why they migrate so strangely, and the few travelers who have encountered these tribes haven't bothered to ask because of language barriers. These tribes are very war-like and in their culture and traditions, war plays a very important role. Eastborn tribes appear to battle each other commonly and treat other neighboring tribes with hostility. According to travelers' accounts, it is said that not showing hostility to your neighbors shows cowardice and foretells that tragedy shall strike down both tribes. Oddly enough, some people say travelers are usually welcomed--although that could just be because only the people who make it back actually get to share their stories. Others who live closer to the Eastborn's steppes say that the tribes welcome nobody and that many go missing if they wander too close to their territory.

Culture

Major language groups and dialects

Most Eastborn do not speak the Commontongue, strangely enough. This is probably because the large natural barrier between these tribes and the rest of civilization has prevented most of them from adopting and learning the Commontongue. Instead, they speak in a mysterious language with heavy emphasis on vocals and short words. No traveler has ever learned this language. Usually, the ones who do know the Commontongue are elders or outcasts, both of whom speak very little, if at all.

Average technological level

Basic Hunter-Gatherer technology like fur clothing, cloth

Common Dress code

Very light and sparse clothing made of fur and leather, covering some of the lower body and breast.

Art & Architecture

Simple, fur huts arranged in seemingly random patterns within a circular radius of a great, central campfire that serves as the settlement's heart.

Coming of Age Rites

Since very few, if any men apart from boys and elders have been seen together with their tribe, there is a theory that at the coming of age, men take to the wilderness to wander for years, or perhaps decades alone as outcasts. The reasons behind this possible ritual are unknown.

Funerary and Memorial customs

The dead appear to be buried with their horses, inside small caves on mountaintops. A ceremony is probably held in honor of the dead, even though no traveler has been able to see such a ceremony.

Ideals

Beauty Ideals

Unknown--probably something connected with long hair and dexterity.

Gender Ideals

Mostly unknown. Women appear to have foraging roles, and occasionally hunt and battle.

Courtship Ideals

Unknown

Relationship Ideals

Unknown

Encompassed species

• Humans