Noa-Aina-Koroa
Also known as the Firstsong Islanders, the Beloved or simply the Koroans, the Noa-Aina-Koroa are a Meranthic (human-elven) civilization who occupy the remote Firstsong Islands, on the Gamma & Delta Quarants of Waking Materia. They're a truly ancient culture, with records extending all the way back to the Upper First Age of Man, when the Nireauan Navy of Vierix Echidna first discovered the archipelago. This makes the Koroans one of the earliest cultures to separate from the First Empires, likely the second after the Iyō and hundreds of years before the Age of Fractionation where most such nations originated.
The Koroans eventually won the war of attrition with the now-extinct necrocracy, but at great cost: as their towering cities crumbled beneath the tsunamis of the Deluge, the ruling Nireauan Lichlords cursed their rivals with an eternal scorn beyond death, and since then Firstsongs have been forced to endure regular hauntings by vengeful Nireauan spirits.Description
See also: Noa-Aina-Koroa Image Gallery (External)Culture
The Noa-Aina-Koroa are a solemn and vigilant people whose lands are haunted with the ghosts of their former enemies, who targeted them with a hateful curse in their death throes. As a result the they are superbly advanced monster hunters and geistslayers, but have little time for art and theatre. Koroan travelers tend find other cultures languid and inattentive; they in turn are often seen as cold and impatient.
To be sure, they do have pastimes: sports are a favourite, and inter-tribe tournaments are the stuff of legend. Though more informal than the universities of the Broken Empire, the Firstsong Islanders are shrewd philosophers and cosmologists.
Though there is a great deal of haunted and monster-infested ocean surrounding them, the Koroans are superb sailors and have made contact with the Valamonians, Autumn Enari and Gondarans as early as the Lower Second Age.Religion
The Koroan religion is primarily dualistic. It bears some resemblance to more common Material religions centres around Aios and Umbraas, though the Koroans treat the two Overbeings as more distant, impersonal things. Instead, they worship the primary protectors of Waking people in the Sun Lands (Waking Materia) and the Dream Time (The Duskscape). These deities are V'Shaat and Overshepherd Rom, whom they call Mana Auha ("Mother Dawnschorus") and Onu-Ahware ("Father Duskdirge"). Though deities on opposite sides of the Veil, the Koroans believe the two are deeply allied, creators an ancient pact to watch—on both sides—the barrier between worlds.
It is likely this worship is rooted directly in V'Shaat al-Avra's warring with the Colonial Gods, including those of the New Rozsan Empire. In fact it's possible this worship is the reason for the Koroans' initial split from the Rozsans, as the so-called Hyperion Cults around non-Colonial gods were heavily shunned and sometimes violently persecuted in New Rozsan society.The Eshuma
Though the Noa-Aina-Koroa are bitter historical enemies of Nireau, the two cultures bear some striking similarities, most prominently a strong emphasis on death (and undeath). Anthropologists disagree on why: some believe this is a sign of shared ancestry, others believe the Firstsong Islanders were forced to borrow methods from Lichlords to balance the scales during the centuries-long Koro-Nireauan Wars, as well as survive their lingering hauntings.
At any rate, the most feared amongst the Firstsong Peoples are the Eshuma: estrié warriors more feared for their combat prowess than for their undead natures. Unlike other estrié, they are defenders of their people, not predators, and answer to the Elder Seers of Onu-Ahware. They also bear a striking resemblance, in form and function, to Repentants of the Skull Knight, though connections there, if any, are obscure. The Eshuma live cloistered lives in holy temples on the outskirts of Koroan society, only rising from the sacred catacombs to defend their people from their fellow monsters, Umbral or otherwise.
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