Túpralans

Túpralic: Votúpral /vɔːt^hup^hɾaːl/

The túpralans¹ are a Vevúni tribe inhabiting the land of Túpral in the southwestern Túlmikkían Great Lakes region, specifically between the lakes Újamp to the west and southern Ölú to the east. They believe themselves to be the oldest community in the region, and despite frequent clashes with neighbouring vevúni around the lakes and from the Gnákan Savanna to the south and northwest for centuries, the túpralans have never been subdued by another tribe.

Culture

Cuisine

Aside from the usual staples of yams, meat and milk from domesticated eland antelopes, fish, turtles and wild seasonal game such as buffaloes and passenger pigeons, túpralan cuisine differs from that of all other vevúni by the extensive consumption of hyacinth beans. While the leafs and flowers and roots are eaten by a few tribes around the lakes, they generally avoid the beans as they are poisonous, but the túpralans learned long ago to repeatedly boil the beans to make them edible, and often sweeten them with berries.

Religion

Túpralans are traditionally henotheists, meaning that while they acknowledge the existence of various gods and spirits, they only worship a single deity, who is associated with the sky. They believe that long ago, a great sycamore tree began to swell and strange noises could be heard from within, until the sky god, curious to see was inside it, smote the tree with lightning so that it cracked open, revealing the ancestors of the túprals who then settled in their current territory.
It is said that a curious rock formation in southern Túpral is what remains of the sycamore, and is now the site of the most important túpralan ceremonies, including initiation rituals for children, warriors and elders.

Warfare

In battle, the túpralans favour wooden clubs and throwing knives, the latter which are sometimes made from local copper as well as iron. Their warriors form different secret societies, whose members often live apart from the rest of their settlement so they can train and perform rituals in peace.

¹Original icelandic: Túpralar, singular: Túprali.

Parent ethnicities