Dalantai

The Dalantai are the people of the nomad tribes of the Blasted Steppe, an inhospitable frontier region situated between the Heartlands and The North.
Contents

Social structure, civilization and culture

The Dalantai are nomads, foragers and hunters, moving their entire livelihoods on horseback from place to place in chase of prey animals and seasonal harvests. A significant part of their livelihoods comes from raiding other tribes as well as neighboring lands – specifically in the form of slaves and stolen goods. Although their tribes are not organized into a unified nation, the sheer numbers of their warriors and their unfiltered aggression towards foreigners has seen their vast territory untouched by foreign powers through recorded history.
The many tribes of the Dalantai are patriarchal societies ruled by an autocratic despot known as a Khan. There are many mechanisms by which a Khan can be changed, and most of them violent. The many diverse tribes in the Blasted Steppe can also have complicated traditions for changing leadership, unique to a single specific community.
The tyrannical rule of a Khan is kept in check only by his bloodsworn advisors and by the spiritual leadership of the tribe. Shamans, seers, wisewomen and other such sagacious conduits of divinity are held in extremely high regard and protected against violence by unwritten laws of sacred tradition. In a swiftly changing society where rulership can change with the single swing of an axe, it is the old and wrinkled shaman of a tribe that is burdened with remembering and carrying on tradition.
Shamans and other such individuals in a tribe can be gifted in divine magic, often practicing their unique mixture of druidism, herbalism, folk-magic and bardic magic. Arcane magic is outlawed in every tribe of the Dalantai. The only Dalantai that practice arcane magic are the Mangudai, a conclave of sorcerers that rules the neutral city of Kara-Khitai.
For more information, see: Dalantai tribes

Synonyms
nomads, slavers
Body tint, color and markings
Fair and brown hues of skin, dark hair, earthy colors of eyes.
Special characteristics
None.
Significant populations
Dalantai tribes in the Blasted Steppe
Language
Dali (native tongue)
Secondary: Orcish, Common, Vorlinge, Norse, Goblin, Giant, Dwarven, Undercommon and Elvish
Religion
Dalaism

Related ethnicities
Caéled (neighbours)
Nordlings (neighbours)
Ankurians (neighbours)
Dark elves (neighbours)