Gölans
The gölans1 are various nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes inhabiting Akna Plain, the western half of the vast steppe that covers much of northern Emlas, with the river Halax separating it from the eastern Nómek Plain. While their languages and customs differ, gölans share a number of cultural elements due to longstanding contact with each other and living off the same land for millennia, such as emphasis on hunting and gathering rather than animal husbandry, equestrian tradition, elaborate initiation rituals and a focus on animal imagery in art.
Due to their nomadic lifestyle and vastness of the steppe, alliances between different tribes tend to be short-lived, though more powerful confederations are more common among the western tribes to conduct raids on settlements in Fjimrú Forest and, to lesser extent, Fúra Mountains. The latter can last for decades or even centuries; the largest gölan confederation active at this point, associated with the mythical Storm Beast2, is nearly two-hundred years old.
Mustaches and long hair are favoured by most gölans, though the exact hairstyles differ between tribes.
Due to their nomadic lifestyle and vastness of the steppe, alliances between different tribes tend to be short-lived, though more powerful confederations are more common among the western tribes to conduct raids on settlements in Fjimrú Forest and, to lesser extent, Fúra Mountains. The latter can last for decades or even centuries; the largest gölan confederation active at this point, associated with the mythical Storm Beast2, is nearly two-hundred years old.
Culture
Apparel
Like their rivals to the east, the Nalóxans, clothing is minimal among most gölans due to their remarkable resistance to cold weather, consisting of little more than boots, loincloth and simple cloaks or ponchos for most tribes, though western gölans sometimes wear sanxean clothing woven from woolly dog fur acquired during raids.Mustaches and long hair are favoured by most gölans, though the exact hairstyles differ between tribes.
Cuisine
Gölans subsist primarily on hunting and gathering, and while certain tribes keep maras and goats as a source of food and clothing, herding sheep is virtually unknown in the region, unlike on Nómek Plain. Deer, ptarmigans and wild geese are common prey on the southern and central Akna Plain, while mollusks, marine mammals and seaweed are the main sustenance for the northern tribes, much like lowland Úxútans north of the Fúra Mountains.1Original icelandic: Gölar, singular: Göli.
2A powerful spirit in gölan mythology, depicted as a stag with the head of a bird of prey.
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