Tushpites

The Tushpites are the indigenous populations of the Southern lands of the The Kingdom of Steplia bordering the Southern Mountains and the Kingdom of Brire . The Tushpites are related to the Sephenians and Wesdalandians to the North and West respectively. In fact they were the first ones who migrated to the South from of the Great Lakes (where these peoples originated from) during the Bronze Age, almost at the same time the The proto-Davidovian peoples began their migrations to the East and South.
They were famous for being the bravest human warriors of the South and because of that they were highly appreciate in the armies of the Sephenian Empire. They were and still are very skilled farmers, traders and metal workers. Despite their bravery and struggle for freedom, the Tushpites have suffered occupation after occupation by foreign powers. For 500 years they lived under the rule of their Sephenian cousins, later to be replaced by the Oronai during the 6th century AP. During the reign of the Oronai king Magas the Great the Tushpites were relatively peaceful, some considering Oronai rule better than the previous regime. But with the death of the great Oronai king and the split of his Empire in three different kingdom and the subsequent wars for supremacy between them, the Tushpites saw an opportunity for achieving freedom and independence. This was known as the Great Tushpite revolt that was quickly suffocated by Boros The Conqueror and many of the rebels were enslaved by the Oronai.

Tushpites by Heroforge

The final "nail to the coffin" for the Tushpites were the invasions of the Radali peoples from the West in the early 7th century AP, who assimilated or displaced much of the Sephenian population (as well as many Oronai settlers from their colonies) from the western territories of Tushpia. The remaining Tushpite population either fled to the Oronai colonies and mountains to the East or to the Kingdom of Brire to the South. As a result of this most of the Tushpite underwent a rapid process of Oronization that saw them adopting the Oronai culture and language. Because of that the native speakers of Tushpite have diminished considerably and thus their centuries old language is in danger of dying.

A warlike society

Apart from agriculture and trading goods such as amber, copper and timber with neighbouring peoples, the Tushpite society before the multiple invasions of their ancient homeland was very focused on war. The tushpites were not an unified people and so multiple petty kings arose in the area known as Tushpia. This petty kings continue to rule even when their lands were absorved into the Sephenian Empire. They were the responsibles of collecting taxes for the Sephenian Emperor and also had the task of provided men as auxiliaries for the Sephenian army.

Tushpite warrior by Heroforge

It was the duty of every Tushpite man aged between 15 and 50 to serve in the army under the command of their chieftain. The Tushpites are masters of rough terrain and they tent to fight in a much looser formation (in comparisson with the Sephenians, Elves and Oronai). Young men act as skirmishers and then the older, more mature soldiers would advance and charge the enemy with their battle axes, trying to scare the enemy soldiers and making them flee. If that didn't work the veteran soldiers will hold on the line while the younger soldiers surround the enemies from both flanks).

A Nightmare for the Elves

For centuries, Tushpite bands of warriors crossed the Southern Mountains via various mountain passes and sacked the elven villages and cities near the frontier. They were such a nuisance to the elves that the Green Elf king organized an expedition to Tushpite lands in order to put an end to their raids but this expedition turned out to be a complete dissaster and after that the Kingdom of the Green Elves payed an annual tribute to all Tushpite chieftains. After the Southern elf territories became independent from the Kingdom of the Green Elves the Kingdoms at the border with the Sephenian Empire and thus, with the Tushpite themselves continued to pay tribute to them until the Oronai subdued them.