Jazyart

The Jazyart are not a single people or culture, but many cultures of men and even centaur that roam the warm stepped between the Vulgar Empire’s forested borders to the north and the hills and fortresses of Evergnon to the south. Periodically uniting under a Grand Yart, the tribes will otherwise go their own way, launching petty raids against one another as well as attacking neighbouring villages. Their lifestyles can substantially vary depending on local climate, customs, history and diplomacy, and so unifying the tribes is no easy task. The Grand Yart, therefore, must be a figure of great wit and valour in battle, proving himself not only worthy of leading his own tribe, but the many tribes of the plains.
While often dismissed as savages by the 'civilised peoples' of the world-especially those whom are often raided by them, the Jazyart show a surprising degree of sophistication as to their cultural norms, artistry and weaponry, such as their fine composite bows, more powerful than any of their Phurzic counterparts.

Naming Traditions

Feminine names

Mayon, Heron, Uson, Dumon.

Masculine names

Cyxi, Ruga, Tylla, Ciga.

Unisex names

Hrama, Remi.

Culture

Major language groups and dialects

Jaza is the most common dialect in the plains, but not by a great margin. The related dialects of Juzi, Yunger and Mazda are regionally present in the north and further east respectively. In the southwest, near the Evergno and Mekonian borders, the Zarakii tribe have a very distinct language, possibly a remnant of an earlier one present before the Jazyart culture arrived and assimilated them.

Culture and cultural heritage

Having migrated over from the eastern continent of Porpuda in response to persecution by the expanding centaurian kingdoms (including the predecessors of Vongchou), the Jazyart took up a role as steppe nomads, driving out the now settled Philharts nomads from their old lands, turning them into the Phurzic peoples. The Jazyart became pacified vassals under the Olmese emperors, though their rule was always loose. It ended altogether when the empire collapsed in the Fires, and while some tribes moved elsewhere and settled down, many Jazyart tribes maintain a nomadic existence.

Shared customary codes and values

The Jazyart value Valors and talent when it comes to their warriors and leadership. Whether it be stealing one another’s livestock or building rafts disguised as trading vessels to raid the eastern coastlines, ingenuity and agility are deemed special gifts among the Jazyart tribes for leadership, ahead of more basic physical traits like strength and stamina, which is seen as suitable for warriors or spies. Fearlessness, however is expected of them regardless of commander or soldier, and is instilled from a young age.

Common Dress code

Jazyart warriors, male or female, often wear masks of bronze or iron to conceal their faces, show their rank or frighten their enemies. These masks are highly ornate, and tend to represent intense emotions like anger, sadness or sadistic joy, or the faces of beasts and mythical beings.

Art & Architecture

The highly elaborate masks worn by their warriors are distinct and feared across the Isles and even beyond.
The huts and tents of the Jazyart are brightly coloured for the tribal leaders, shown to demonstrate wealth and value, with the more corners and complexity in the tent also showing status among the tribal elders.

Birth & Baptismal Rites

At birth, children of most Jazyart tribes are anointed with the oil made from nuts to signify their spiritual birth alongside their physical. Tribal elites and elders, known as Yarts are done with rarer nuts, such as the seeds of the Vangar tree. One prophecied to be a Grand Yart is anointed in the sap of the Goldleaf tree, a single unique tree on the shores of Lake Harta, believed to have been present longer than Olm.

Funerary and Memorial customs

When being burned on funeral pyres to transcend into the afterlife, the Jazyart may burn strong herbs with psychoactive effects to affect and alleviate those mourning and celebrate the lives of the deceased.

Common Myths and Legends

According to Jazyart mythologies, they were a persecuted people under the tyrannical Fifo kingdom, a semi-mythical rival of the early Xu nation and the Scut, who were led in an expedition by Jazyar the Just across the sea to find new lands to settle. Under the first Grand Yart, Yarti, who rode upon a great golden griffin even larger than the Imperial Griffin of today, the Jazyart rode horses across the sea using a great spell and slew the Fifo's demon king Nraag.