Ea'Vagt

Lady Elizabeth raised her brows at the young sorcerer.

"The female has been raving like a lunatic since the morning. I am worried she will break the cage." the student, a young Tiefling girl with freckles speckled across her cheeks laughed nervously, flicking through sheets of parchment, shooting glances to the orcish female throwing herself about her containment. Lady Elizabeth tucked a rebellious lock of hair behind her horns.

"Have you given her a round of Poppy Milk?"

“I have yes. She has been given her daily allocated dose.”

“Give her another.”

“I’m sorry?”

The sorceress looked up from her paperwork, stuttering nervously. Her words seemingly died down on the way out, however. Good, Lady Elizabeth thought, and watched the young girl produce another vial. She walked hesitantly towards the cage, where the green skinned thing wailed and screamed.
Please. I mean no harm! Please, it is my gods given right. Please don’t take my little ones. Please… I’m no warrior, I’m a farmer!

“Do you know what she’s saying?” The young sorceress hesitated.

“Yes.” Nodded Lady Elizabeth. “She is telling you how she will bathe in your blood if she ever again sees the light of day.”

Culture

Shared customary codes and values

Amongst the Ea'Vagt, might is right. If one has the power to do, or take something, they can do so. They are only considered wrong if someone can stop them. This attitude has been reinforced thanks to the recent war; orcish women being taken from their homes by force and sterilised or killed has impacted the people perhaps forever. Husbands protect their wives and children at all cost, outsiders are met with distrust if not open hostility and every cry of a newborn child is considered a blessing.

Common Dress code

The Toruvajan orcish tribes can be found scattered all throughout the desert. Due to this, light leathers and loose cloth are the favoured during the day, with men often forgoing chest wear altogether, favouring loose pants. The Ea'Vagth often dye their cloths with desert flowers, cacti juice and various insect bits. Tribes close to oases and jungle regions have even found a way to bleach leather and cloths using banana skins. The typical Ea'Vagt attire also consists of some type of fur, worn around the waist during the day, and around the shoulders and chest during the evening for warmth.
Metal is seldom an accessory in Ea'Vagt society. On top of being had to access, it is heavy and collects tremendous amounts of heat during the day. A member of the Ea'Vagt warriors seen wearing a breastplate or worse yet, full plate, is a sure sign to run. Because its war.

Common Customs, traditions and rituals

Orcs tattoo themselves for several reasons. All of their tattoos say something about them, and are deeply personal. Hunters will have tattoos to signify their greatest hunts, their devotion to the art of the hunt, their studies of silence. Warriors tattoo themselves with symbols to represent their enemies, the greatest challenges they have faced, symbols to signify their beloved.These tattoos are known as Yanar-Dei. With this in mind many of the Ea'Vagt are actually quite artistically talented, and their tattoos are praised as some of the best body work in Garatha.

It is customary to rid oneself of all weaponry before meeting with a tribe's chieftain. It is considered an act of trust and good will. Hiding a weapon during a meeting with a chieftain is an act of war.

Birth & Baptismal Rites

A child born into an Ea'Vagt family is given a name on their fifth birthday. This is largely because infants struggle in the desert environment and countless parents have lost their child before their fifth year. As such, a child's fifth birthday is considered an extremely happy occasion; often a relief for the parents and a welcoming of a new member of the tribe. On this date the whole tribe gets together and brings gifts to the family of the child. These can be anything from food, to hides and furs or even trinkets and weaponry. The quality of the gifts often reflects the respect and friendship with said family.

by Bayard Wu

This often means that whilst the little ones run around and enjoy baked bananas, the parents are on high alert; looking out for who brought with them the best gifts, who the family of the little one thanked first and how much they spent on the feast. It can often be a setting full of intrigue and stress. All for a child's birthday party.

Coming of Age Rites

When a member of a Ea'vagt tribe reaches maturity, their shaman will tattoo the beginning of their Yanar-Dei. It is normally a simple ring with runes and imagery to depict their birth date, their clan and their role within it. The tattoos cover the arms because it is believed that they are the most important part of an individual. The arms, capable of action, say more than any word could ever convey. Over the course of their life, these tattoos will be extended from one arm, to the second, marking significant events from the individuals life and their contributions to their tribe. A person whose Yanar-Dei covers both of their arms fully, is to be treated with great respect.

Historical figures

Etiqad Ceyunli, the light of the Desert:The first Ea'Vagt diplomat recognised by the Farastuch council. She has started a pathway to her kind being seen as actually sapient people, and has been named as the Guardian of the holy city of Uga-Tora.

Ideals

Beauty Ideals

Ea'Vagt women keep their hair short for practicality. Warriors, farmers and hunters alike either shave their heads or keep their hair in short dreads. Long hair is reserved for the most respected women of society; the shaman and priestesses for example. In Ea'Vagt society, a woman's hair is seen as sacred and normally to remain untouched by the men who are not her husband. As a result of this, long hair on a woman is considered an extremely attractive feature, and for some Ea'Vagt men becomes a source of taboo.

The Ea'Vagt men pride themselves on being able to protect what is theirs. Strength is valued very highly amongst their folk, and as such, any traits that prove this are desirable. A low fat to muscle ratio, body hair and other traits associated with high adrenaline are all things Ea'Vagt women look for. A successful man may not necessarily be the best warrior, but in the eyes of the women, he needs to protect what is his. With might, reputation or cunning, it matters not.

Gender Ideals

The Ea'Vagt society is much less divided by gender than may at first appear. Thanks to the limited exposure between the outside world and the tribes, the image of a Ea'Vagt woman is that of a slave. This is very largely incorrect. A woman can be anything she could possibly want (provided she has the skill and dedication), save for two things. Ea'Vagt women are not permitted to be hunters, and they may not fish. Both of those lines of work are off limits for biological reasons; the blood they bleed each month can attract beasts through scent, which is often undesirable when hunting very large beasts or sea creatures. Regardless of profession, a good woman in the eyes of the desert orcs is a strong woman. She is a loving mother and a loyal wife, and everything she does, is with all her heart.

The men are supposed to be of similar ilk. Strong, protective. They are allowed to be ruled by their emotions, it even serves well when looking for a wife; a man loosing his temper on occasion is a sign of passion, a trait very attractive in Ea'Vagt society. The men bring in what is necessary from the outside, and they keep out what should never come in. The men have only one role unavailable to them; that is the role of a shaman. This station is reserved for the women of the tribe with magical aptitude; not many remember why it is this way. It has simply been for as long as anyone can remember. The shaman takes care of the tribes religious well being, educating the children as well as making sure the slave wives are in good health.

Courtship Ideals

Love to orcs of the desert, like war, is a way of life. When one begins to have a romantic interest in another, it is expressed promptly. There is no time to waste. Romance is something reserved for after the wedding, perhaps a couple of months into the wive's first pregnancy. For many Ea'Vagt in the recent years, romance and courtship has been a completely optional situation, especially with slave wives being so much more available.

by Julian Wicik

The case of slave wives has been an extremely complicated one not just for people looking in from the outside, but for the young men and women part of Ea'Vagt society. On one hand, they are woman stolen from their homes, from carriages and travelling merchant or mercenary troupes. Sold like property at slave auctions and left at the mercy of their husbands and care of a shaman woman who may or may not care for their well-being. On the other hand, the Ea'Vagt have been decreasing in number drastically over the years. Thanks to the Toruvajan civil war and the half orcish child trade, the Ea'Vagt population has been dwindling; there are many more men than there are women today. Slave wives are a common enough occurrence that the Holy city considers them a sub section of the Ea'Vagt society, like the hunters and warriors; this gives them certain rights and protection under their law. A slave wife must be well fed, clothed, and her emotional needs must be met by her husband. Of course, this is all much more complicated in practice.

One thing that the desert orcs use to make a woman's transition into the Ea'Vagt society is a potion commonly referd to as liquid love. A substance called Gal-ha in the alchemical profession, which is a mixture of scorpion venom, karkadann blood and Sun cacti water. This concoction provides a strong shared hallucinatory experience, which has been known to result in a strengthening of a bond between two individuals.

Major organizations

Saltsong clan: The current protectors of the holy city of Uga-Tora and the largest Ea'Vagt tribe in Toruvaje. Famed for their contribution to the Toruvajan war.

by Godfrey Escota

Related Locations

• Toruvaje

Male Names

Ghan'dairik, Thara'n, Dorig'nar, Istip, Mala'or

Female Names

Isitapi, Mandarae, Fatarah, Iskai

They live and die by the desert. They know it like one knows any beast. It is the world inside the tall stone walls which causes them to struggle. And often, it is largely our making. Walk the streets, and ask the folk of the Ea'Vagt. I can bet you all the gold in my pouch that you would hear two opinions; brutish savages, or objects of shameful desires. Truly, if we ever wish to have peace, we must abandon such simplistic ideas of an entire people.

— Ramantis the Onyx