Rusalkan

Return to... Mankind
At the northern-most reaches of Aleron lives the Rusalkans, otherwise known as the Stormbearers. Their kind spans from North East Frystfell through to west Dahak Sulta, and even up into the Northern Wastes. The Rusalkans honor wisdom and tradition; The Rusalkans worship the Solus Trinitas and Talos, and are scholaristic in their worship. They seek truths and magic powers from the nature and storms around them, learning the secrets of the world from the gods and stars above. The Rusalkans pass these well kept secrets down through generations, ensuring the survival and wisdom of generations to come. The Rusalkans have a Tribal Kitriarchy, segregated into clans that are lead by a council of judges. Laws are passed through generations, remaining unwritten as part of their fierce ways of tradition. They are a nomadic folk that settle on glaciers and islands off the Aleron coast, as well as their famous oceean-vilages built atop merged boats and wooden platforms. Their travelling nature makes them quite the adept sea-farers, often times spending years at sea on fleets of boats. The Rusalkans are known for tracking storm patterns, and believe in delving into these storms to seek knowledge of the universe.
Tradition has been key to the survival of the Rusalkans, as the more they have learnt, the better their odds increase when surviving in the frozen wilds. Rusalkans are renown mystics, using the past discoveries of their ancestors to ensure their ongoing survival in the frozen wastes. Throughout history, the Rusalkans tracked weather, geographical and celestial patterns to base their decisions on where to move next, always ensuring that their likelyhood of survival is at its peak. Rusalkan settlements are usually on the coasts of Aleron, close to the sea for monitoring its patterns. They also often times settle on glaciers, where they survive off fish they catch in the ocean and crops they carry on their ships. However, the famous and fabled kind of Rusalkan civilisation is their ocean villages. When Rusalkans track areas of calm, open ocean, they combine their fleet of ships and construct a floating island where they reside for periods as short as weeks and as a long as years.
In terms of Worship, the Rusalkans seek guidance from the stars and hence, the Solus Trinitas. When attempting to uncover the secrets of the world, and unlocking powers in tempst and magic, the Rusalkans sail into the eye of the storm. This pilgramage to the centre of a storm is likely the most important moment of a Rusalkan's life, and is known by their folk as Vetrokutanje (Storm seeking). There, they commune with Talos, who tests their might with the power of his blizzards and hurricanes. Should the seafarer be deemed worthy, he imparts upon them powers of divinity. The adventurer will then return to his tribe with newfound powers to share. It is believed that these practices were imparted onto the Rusalkans by the Frost and storm giants resident to their lands, who look upon the Rusalkans favourably, yet rarely interacts with them. In death, Rusalkans believe that their spirits either drift with the winds of nature, becoming one with it's guiding and empowering force, or descend deep into the depths of the ocean where they live a drowned eternity; in life, you either become one with nature, all fall under it's indomidatble power.
Rusalkan laws are unwritten, but instead passed down through generations and enforced by a panel of judges called Taloskar (Storm Seers). Judges are typically the wisest and most powerful mystics of the tribe, but not necessarily the oldest. The position of the judge is granted to those who face the storms, and are respected by their clans in their position. Most clans have a judge per 20 clanmates, however that number would be skewed to more on the smaller clan size, and vice versa. In general, most clans had a panel of 10 to 15 judges. It is the job of these judges to maintain the law and stability of clans, dictate movement patterns and commune with the gods. Rusalkans are nomadic, tavelling and moving with the changing cycles of nature, the celestials and storms, although some clans do settle on the coasts of Aleron for extended periods of time. Their movement pattern is built in part to avoid other nations and sophonts; While Rusalkans aren't particularly territorial, they are isolationist in an attempt at protecting their wisdom and secrets. Rusalkans emphasise the importance of education, for as secretive as they are, they do find sharing their knowledge with eachother vitally important.
When interacting with foreign Rusalkan tribes, judges deem whether to look upon the newcomers with caution, violence or open arms. Often times, an unspoken interaction takes place where both sets of judges consult the gods and deem where their fates lie. Should they determine that the foreigners come with good intent, the clans intermingle and share with eachother secrets their willing to share in a sort of trade. Caution advises that both clans avoid interaction and go their seperate ways. Should battle be at hand, it is rare that both clans will leave alive, however conflict in this way is very rare. Rusalkans maintain their isolationist ways even with their own kind, albeit slightly less extremely. Rusalkans often live with beastfolk, particularly minotaurs, due to their shared pantheon. Their is little aminosity between the human Rusalkans and beastfolk their live with, and no more caution when meeting outsider beastfolk then there would be if they were human.