Cheldrim
The people calling themselves the Cheldrim are those who have settled in fixed communities in the fertile plains and valleys abutting the two main rivers of Chaha Ris and their tributaries. Depending on the location they will raise a combination of cattle, sheep and grain crops trading - when
there is a surplus- with other settlements of the Cheldrim and with the merchants from Telek Tarim and Nan Tarim.
The Cheldrim live in small but fiercely protective communities, usually with a complex network of alliances and feuds with their neighbours. Each settlement is led by a chieftain who is a man or woman of one of the pre-eminent families of that settlement. They maintain their own warriors from among their number who refine their skills with the raiding between settlements that happens as a matter of course.
Social Classes
The Cheldrim do not have any formal division in their society. Each person is a Cheldrim and that is the end of it, with rank and status being decided by their aptitude. In reality however things are not so simple and if a person achieves wealth and pre-eminence by their own efforts it is only natural that they pass on some of that advantage to their children. So for instance the chieftain position in a settlement is usually held by the same family, or perhaps shifting between members of a small number of families. Once land is held and wealth obtained, those advantages do not go away. However in theory at least the Cheldrim are proud of their level playing field - they are all Cheldrim, and no man or woman has to bend the knee to any other just by virtue of their birth.Religion
The Cheldrim worship the Gods of Chaha Ris as do the Gatim but their worship and relationship to the gods is different to that of their Blood Coast neighbours. The Cheldrim see the power and presence of the gods in the world around them, and while they do have priests and priestesses who will interpret omens and lead ceremonies the Cheldrim do not regard the gods as distant beings approachable only by a select few. They tend to have a less absolute interpretation of the will of the gods too - seeing them as powerful if dangerous neighbours rather than as cosmic forces.
Related Organizations
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