Esclarmondeans

"So you've been making eyes at Alea. Of course she'd capture your heart, boy. Tough as stone with eyes and hair just as gray: they don't make them like that in the valley anymore. Raising your own brood and a bunch of livestock is hard enough when you only got your man to help you, but up here we can't afford to just stay home. She's a crack shot with a bow and arrow; I taught her that. We all did our part raising her- but you can't have forgotten something like that down in the valley, could you?
"I thought not. We might make a proper man out of you yet, son."

Ask someone from Bero or Omer, the biggest settlements in the valley, about the Esclarmondeans. Chances are good their reply will contain at least two of the following: gloomy, death-obsessed, prideful, stubborn, hypocrites. A resident of Brune or Rubea might speak highly of their piety and practical wisdom, but in the same breath hint at a tendency to greed. Minor officials of the Gheisigian Empire, tasked with overseeing the governance of even the most backwater parts of their colonies, tell stories of savages deceitful at heart. Older officials recount lurid rumours of cannibalism and secret necromantic rites.
The truth is never quite so simple.

Basic Information

Biological Traits

A resident of the Gray Village is easily distinguished from the valley peoples, and even the other settlements in the mountains. Firstly, they tend to age faster in appearance but not in physical or mental maturity. A child may have the first signs of gray hair, but she remains a child in body and mind, and does not experience any other hallmarks of old age like a bad back or failing vision. They also tend to be about a head shorter than the other mountain people, who are already considered short by the valley residents. More importantly, they have a longest lifespan of all the people in the Hernaut Mountains. It is common for an Esclarmondean to reach their 80th year, and the eldest among their Council claim to be 110 years old or more. They remain hale and vigorous into their twilight years as well- unless sickness or accident cuts their lives short. Life is harsh in the mountains.

Civilization and Culture

Culture and Cultural Heritage

Esclarmondeans are cautious and slow to trust by upbringing and necessity, which tends to translate into a suspicion of outsiders. This is balanced by an equally fierce loyalty to their own. An Esclarmondean will side with his worst enemy in the village over an outsider who insults their ways and customs, purely out of tribal solidarity. They value honor among themselves, but not in dealings with outsiders, and will unabashedly pursue their gain even at the expense of a stranger's loss. Frequent trading partners occupy a middle ground where they will be bargained with more kindly, but still find it a challenge to get Esclarmondeans to compromise.
Esclarmonde treasures the few children it has, and the entire village takes pride and joy in raising up the children of the Gray Village to follow in their ways. This coexists alongside a societal value of respecting one's elders. All meetings of their ruling Council open and close with prayer chants to their forefathers requesting (and expressing gratefulness for) guidance and insight.

Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals

Most of the Gray Village enjoy music, which also serves as their way of communing with their ancestors. Harvests and rest days are celebrated in song, and villagers frequently sing as they go about their chores, creating/altering a melody and improvising lyrics on the spot. Engaging in song duels with a rival is common among youngsters. It is common knowledge in Esclarmonde that the ancestors appreciate good music, and raise their voices in song to a particularly moving song or talented singer, their voices echoing hauntingly from the peaks above.

History

The Esclarmondeans descend from the ancestor-worshiping tribes common in the region of Kereba up until 300 years ago. When zealots of Solnos the sun god arrived with the Gheisigian Empire and attempted to spread worship of him throughout the region, their veneration of the dead and the practice of mummifying the deceased were deemed abominations and they bade the tribes convert or die. The most loyal cultists were first driven into the valleys, then further up. In time the Empire and the Children of Solnos came to agreements with most of the valley peoples, especially those of Bero and Omer, but the mountain villages held out. Eventually Brune and Rubea reached grudging accord with the sun-children, practicing token veneration and partial mummification. Only Esclarmonde was left as the last bastion of the old ways.

Scientific Name

Homo sapiens sapiens

Lifespan

80 years

Average Height

1.4 m - 1.6 m

Average Weight

40 - 55 kg