Kurwanese (kur·​wan·​ese)

The Kurwanese peoples of Kefkanpur are the famed architects, build-masters, and de-facto rulers of the City of Spires. A descendant ethnicity of the Fyst peoples of the First Empire, the Kurwanese fled the fall of the First Empire until they reached the shores of the Bay of Colors and the Imperial outpost of Kefkanpur. From there they built a new life and one of the foundational city-states of the Grand Confederation. Famed for the design and construction of great spires and towers, The Kurwanese are prized architects and builders and they can often be found outside of their home city of Kefkanpur. Although they are known for their tall structures, they possess a mind and eye for basic foundational design of structures that is valued by anyone who seeks to build something that will survive the test of time.

Culture

Major language groups and dialects

Imperial Common (Kurtwani Dialect) - The Kurwanese speak a dialect of imperial common that was imported with them from their homeland. Over the centuries the dialect and accent has softened considerably.

Culture and cultural heritage

Kurwanese culture is descendant from the once dominate Fyst culture of the First Empire, although it was refined by the metropolitan lifestyle of most Kurwanese prior to the fall of the First Empire. As such many of their cultural practice and holidays are derived from the First Empire.

Common Etiquette rules

The concept of etiquette is rarely associated with the Kurwanese. They can exchange basic pleasantries, but anything more then a wave or a nod is asking much of the Kurwanese. They are always active. Always moving. Always thinking, designing, and building. They don't have time for bland niceties and you get farther with a Kurwanese by presenting them the answer to a question or the solution to a problem then by introductions of titles and honors. The one etiquette that they do adhere to is the removal of footwear and head coverings upon stepping into one of their spires. One must feel the spire with as many senses as possible.

Common Dress code

The Kurwanese have little in the way of established dress code or fashion, beyond the fashions of current and ever changing fashions of the Grand Confederations. During the fall of the First Empire, and the cataclysmic destruction that followed, those fleeing the dying nation were forced to flee with little and only the bare essentials. Most refugees brought only the clothing on their back and the early decades of their survival necessitated a focus on the utility instead of fashion. Expression is more often given in creation and design, then in dress and accoutrements.

Art & Architecture

Originally from the expansive, tall, and packed cities of the First Empire, many Kurwanese lived in the heights of towers and spires that was oft associated with the First Empire. Although those cities have now been reduced to sand and dust, devoured by the Suns' Divide Desert, the architecture and design of these cities survived with the flight of the Kurwanese. The original outpost of Kefkanpur was in truth two separate settlements, High Kefkanpur, a village built near the edge of a series of waterfall cliffs that dropped down towards the shores of the Bay of Colors, and Low Kefkanpur, the fishing village located on the shores of the Bay of Colors. The Kurwanese bridged the gap, or "spired the gap," as their architectural knowledge of building high and tall allowed them to fill the cliffs between High and Low Kefkanpur with sky reaching spires. Over the decades and centuries Kefkanpur continued to expand in all directions, the fishing village soon becoming the expansive port of the city, the cliff village expanded outward onto the flat highlands to the west, and the spires continued expanding north and south until Kefkanpur was one of the shining jewels of the Bay of Colors.

Historical figures

Tenshen the Elder and Tenshen the Young - During the flight from the First Empire it was Tenshen the Elder and then Tenshen the Young who ensured the survival of the Kurwanese and many other peoples.
Tenshin the Elder displayed a unique prescience in the days following disappearance of the First Emperor. While most citizens were waylaid in shock and confusion following the disappearance of their god and leader, Tenshin the Elder knew the First Empire had already begun to fall and that chaos would soon reign across the land. With his guiding hand, a multitude of refugee caravans were organized and supplied and sent out to the fringe frontiers of the Empire towards the eastern and western shores of Vandarel. Tenshen the Elder died shortly after the last caravan departed from the central lands of the First Empire, the organization of this monumental feat pushing him to far.
Tenshen the Young picked up the mantel of survival from his father, leading the largest group of caravans eastward as the central lands of the First Empire collapsed into chaos and civil war. A mage of some capability, he utilized the established and wild leylines of the eastern frontier to chart a course of safety for the many people he was leading. This was a feat all in itself, as many historical accounts that survived the fall of the First Empire noted that magic was disrupted for years following the disappearance of the First Emperor. Attempting even a simple cantrip could result could result in disaster for even the most experienced of magic-user. Most famously he negotiated with an irate Drac-Nu who threatened to annihilate the caravans with his mighty breath, earning free passage for the peoples he was guiding and pressing forward to the final leg of the journey for the Kurwanese.
The end result of this exodus, organized by Tenshen the Elder and led by Tenshen the Young, was the survival of many peoples, including the Kurwanese, from the fall of the First Empire. As such, both individuals, and the descendant Kurwanese, enjoy mention in the historical accounts of other peoples such as the Ascendant Empire's Reftlan tribe, the city-state of Yippen, and other peoples of the Grand Confederation.

Parent ethnicities

• Fyst

Related Locations

• Kefkanpur
• Suns Divide Desert
• The Grand Confederation