Nuo-Iwa

It was two days on the mountain trails deep into the Avancir range when they caught sight of the Nuo-Iwa's valley. Rathnait quickened her pace on the descent. "Come on, we're already overdue. Wouldn't do to keep Kathe waiting."
"Easy to say when I'm the one carrying the weight." Tarvo grunted as he placed his feet and shifted his pack carefully. "It would be a lot easier to trade with these folks if they wanted lighter things than cast-iron cookware."
"That's the nature of trade. We make what's easy for us, the Nuo-Iwa make what's easy for them, and we barter." There was a tiny village nestled at the bottom of the valley, next to a stream-fed lake. "Don't worry, Kathe will cook up a feast for us once we sit down for dinner."
"Now that I think about it, 'Kathe' for 'Katherine', right? Her name seems very Etoilean for someone born to a tribe this far out in the west." Tarvo squinted at the village. The houses were clay construction, but the roofing was regular red tile from a Etoilean manufactory. "Something you didn't tell me?"
Rathnait kept walking without looking back. "Kathe is an Etoilean, hails from Gyre, so don't treat her or her clan like they're half-florin magazine villains. By the laws of the Principality they're as Etoilean as we are, as well as being Nuo-Iwa."
"I may be more responsive to the sermon once this pack is down." They were near enough to the village, and a child wearing a brightly striped shawl spotted them and waved. Tarvo walked to the nearest building and set his pack against a wall with a clank, and sat heavliy on the ground. "Alright. Come again?"
"Just don't be an arse, Tarvo." Rathnait turned and smiled immediately; a young woman was approaching, wearing a sky-blue shawl and chiffon scarf. On her head was a sidecap of unusual design, with a crown of cropped feathers. She halted a few feet away and immediately gave a deep curtsy.
"Deemis allar, travellers. Welcome to the humble village of the Nuo-Iwa." Her Etoilean was straight from the working districts of Gyre. "I am Kathe of the Morning, otherwise Katherine Pareille. Master Trader Rathnait of the Numio, it is a pleasure to see your return to our village." She turned to Tarvo expectantly.
Tarvo coughed and stood up hastily, withdrawing his insignia from his vest, the yellow sun of Etoile behind a hammered grey shield. He held the chain out loosely and bowed, allowing the insignia to swing in the breeze. "Tarvo Locris, Etoile Capital City Guardsman, at your service."
Rathnait waved him off. "No need for the formal introduction here, Tarvo. Kathe, I got him to lug the cookware up here with promises of the finest in Nuo-Iwa traditional cooking, so let's give the poor boy a treat before I inspect the fabrics, shall we?"
Kathe gave a wide smile. "Of course. My clan has been preparing for your arrival, and dinner will begin shortly. If you would follow?"

Culture

Major language groups and dialects

The original indigenous language of the Nuo-Iwa was related to the writings found in old archaeological expeditions in Western Saibh, but little is known of those archaic languages or grammars. The reconstruction of the language by the Revivalists is proceeding incrementally, with only the barest outlines of the original grammar known, and the rest filled in by linguistics researchers from The Academy of Etoile. Naturally, there is no absolute certainty that the revived language matches that spoken by the original Nuo-Iwa, but the same holds for modern Etoilean, which diverges significantly from the old 'Etoilean' spoken in pre-Unification Nasse.

Culture and cultural heritage

The modern Nuo-Iwa are a small collection of families living in the Avancirs in the sparsely populated deep west of the Western Saibh Continent. Prior to The War of Unification and the creation of the Principality of Etoile, there were many more Nuo-Iwa clans living in the mountains, trading with each other and with neighboring petty kingdoms, who considered the mountains too inaccessible to be worth the hassle.
The First Princeps, however, was determined to unify all of the peoples of Saibh into his new Etoilean nation, and personally journeyed to many of these clans, making the persuasive case that under Etoilean leadership, there would no longer be winter starvation, and that the Nuo-Iwa would no longer have to fear raids or banditry under the auspices of the Principality's might. While the older of the Nuo-Iwa rejected this message, enough of the younger Nuo-Iwa were persuaded to move to the cities of the Principality and assimilate into the new Etoilean nation, and nearly all of the old Nuo-Iwa clanhalls disappeared over time, with most of the Nuo-Iwa now merely being Etoileans of a fair complexion.
In the modern era, a Nuo-Iwa Revival movement has taken root, borne out of research conducted at The Academy of Etoile by an Etoilean interested in her Nuo-Iwa ancestry. Nearly four hundred Etoileans of Nuo-Iwa descent have pooled their half-forgotten knowledge of their great-grandparents with the field notes taken by Lei Carrington (the founder of the Cartographers Guild, in the company of the First Princeps) in order to reconstruct the old Nuo-Iwa way of life in the mountains. The modern Nuo-Iwa live off the land and weave clothing and fabrics that are in high demand in the Etoile Capital City, and traders who bring the right supplies overland through the narrow mountain passes will stand to earn a tidy sum.

Shared customary codes and values

The central tenet in Nuo-Iwa culture is that of the clan unit. While a clan is not strictly speaking a single family (historically six to eight large extended families to limit the effects of inbreeding), each member of a clan is expected to work towards the benefit of the clan as a whole, a collectivist spirit not unlike Etoilean Progress, though applied to a much smaller unit than the Etoilean nation. 
As understood by the Revivalists, two laws are sacrosanct within the Nuo-Iwa: To not harm another member of the clan, and to never take action that would be against the clan's interest.

Common Dress code

The best preserved aspect of the original Nuo-Iwa culture is their dress, with several examples of fine craftsmanship stored in the Principality Archives. These have been studied in meticulous detail by couturiers, who have aided the Nuo-Iwa in relearning the hand sewing techniques required to weave the fine chiffon and satin fabrics, and the compositions of the lustrous dyes. 
While autoweavers in modern manufactories are capable of weaving fabric of similar (though less fine) style, clothing hand-made by the Nuo-Iwa command enormous premiums in the marketplaces of high couturiers.

Art & Architecture

The extant art of the Nuo-Iwa is manifested in their clothing - finely made shawls, robes, and neckwear made with fragile fabrics, emblazoned with bright yellows and blues, in striped or crossed patterning. A new Nuo-Iwa walking robe is unique due to its handwoven nature, and the new Nuo-Iwa weavers express themselves through their outfits.