Talash Tai ('TAW-lawsh TI)
The ancient folk of the Talashi Sea, the Talash Tai were fisherfolk who spent as much of their lives upon the great lake as they did upon its shores. They are said to have worshipped a great sea dragon that lived in the waters.
The Orckid Conquest is generally said to have begun with the conquest of the Talash Tai. The Viisianari were vastly more powerful, but the Talash Tai supposedly fled upon their rafts out into the Talashi Sea. Some legends say the Orckid armies surrounded the Sea and waited for the Talash Tai to starve. After several years, the great lake was fished dry; over half the Talash Tai had starved to death before the remaining people meekly rafted to the shores and submitted. Other legends say the sea dragon they worshipped devoured them, causing the survivors to flee back to the shores. The most popular tales say the Viisianari used their magics to destroy the Talash Tai from the shores until they surrendered.
The Talash Tai would eventually be resettled north around what is now the Talashi Bay. The Talashi Sea became a vital staging ground for much of the Orckid Conquest, but it was the style of the Viisianari to let the conquered retain their habits and especially their names. The Talashi Sea, thus, has had no Talash Tai around it for centuries.
Over the many, many years, the Talash Tai interbred with the Viisianari and other refugees who would settle around the Talashi Sea. The descendents of these intermarriages, the Talashans, proudly claim the Talash Tai as their ancestors. But for all practical purposes, the Talash Tai are long gone.
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