Earthen Folk

Trespassing in underground areas is forbidden in Isturoth, unless one has undertaken the proper hallowing ceremonies to santify the space. However, the Ironstone Mountains are vast and the population is rapidly expanding. There are those who live on the fringes of society outside of the social taboos and strict guidelines that Isturians must live by.
Groups of individuals are known to occasionally make use of the natural caverns and tunnels scattered throughout the mountains. To live underground is to be a social pariah, completely cut off from others. For the stigma that is attached to this practice, those who prefer to call themselves "earthen folk" have also been referred to (in a derogatory way) as "tomb-defilers" or "dark-dwellers".
It is then also not surprising that these people have banded together as much as possible, many of their communities becoming part of the Healing Creed, which Isturians consider to be a cult.

Culture

Culture and cultural heritage

Naturally, culture has been severely trimmed back from the excess and flourish that most Isturians are used to. Earthen folk have a more spartan existence, caring more for function over aesthetic. Homes are often made from mud or stone and built for stability and safety, as cave-ins are all too common in such a geologically turbulent place.
However, earthen folk have not lost the Isturian love of songs and music. They tell stories and sing songs, and have even developed their own method of polyphonic overtone singing that makes the best use of cavernous acoustics without threatening the stability of the rock.

Shared customary codes and values

Earthen folk are often made up of those who have been cast out or ostracised in Isturian society. This can include but is not limited to the homeless, the diseased, the criminal, the abused or the abandoned. By their very nature, earthen folk are welcoming and accepting of those who wish to join their communities. Few souls would be turned away by the cavern-bound people, and though at times there is a struggle for survival, they will always share what they do have.

Foods & Cuisine

Living in a vastly different biome, the earthen folk have learned to adapt to their unique environment. They have learned what creatures of the dark can be eaten, which ones farmed, and which to defend from. A dominant element of their survival relies on the farming of various types of fungi, both to occupy a significant part of their diet and for medicinal purposes.
Trade with above-ground settlements and communities is not uncommon, trading fungi or certain parts of cave creatures for meat or other kinds of food that is harder to come by. However this cannot be relied on, due to the harsh attitude towards earthen folk held by Isturian society.

Major organizations

One organisation that links many communities of earthen folk together is the Healing Creed. This is a group that has professed to worship the same pantheon as Isturian Polytheism but takes a more relaxed and less fearful approach.
Mainstream worship varies from the occasional offering at the local shrine and a prayer every once in a while, to sober veneration and rigorous, daily ritual. In contrast, the Healing Creed's ritual is seen as more informal and loose, while the congregation maintains a more consistent level of devotion. Many see it, however as an affront to the structure and order upheld by the mainstream religious observation of the majority of Isturoth.
Earthen folk have found this organisation to be a helpful way to identify and connect with others who also live in underground systems, sharing information and knowledge that helps adapt to underground living, such as the farming of fungi.

Parent ethnicities

• Isturian

Related Locations

• Isturoth