Ethnographic Outline

This Ethnographic Outline gives a brief overview of all major ethnicities and societies of Elondor designed as a point of entry to those not familiar with its landscape of nations. The article is organized by primary ethnolinguistic groups, giving general information before proceeding to a listing of subgroups.

Ortûlékians

The Ortûlékians have their origin in the cold and rainy plains of Belkondíl, but they do not easily remain in one place and can now be found in nearly every corner of Elondor; and that, upon their tendency towards conquests and massacres, mostly in powerful positions. Initially living in a clan-based and largely genderless society, their different ethnicities’ cultures and languages have diverted wide over the millennia, adopting many of the traditions of their host countries as well as conceiving of their own innovations. They are typically tall, light-skinned, and light-haired.

Traditionally, the Ortûlékians are split into three subgroups, the Genians (Aribelians and Celsondach), the Olgs, and the Auls (one of the groups ancestral to the Iiles).

Olgs

The Olgs might be the most famous of all Elondorian peoples. Their name originally meant ‘the crafty ones’, but this reading has long passed into the obsolete. The first to practice metallurgy, they were initially simple craftspeople under the rule of their Genian and Soskish neighbours before reaching for power and gaining it by violent means. They bring not only Belkondíl under their control but also nearly every other corner of Elondor, eventually drawing together all of their dominions in the Lécaronian Empire.

Their traditional culture was built on three pillars, the horse (a borrowing from the Sosks), cattle, and warfare, and their society organized in clans, each living in an assigned county. A High King or Queen could rule over all Olgs, but many claims are made to this title and few are successful. Gender plays almost no role in their society, and men and women are considered equals. Their religion has a strong disposition for eschatology, seeing an asymmetric and imperfect world. They know seven deities, which they believe were the servants of Titans who only survived the great cataclysm that ended the previous incarnation of the world because they had been banished for treason. They are known to have the palest skin and the reddest hair of all nations in Elondor.

Many of these things change as the Olgs disperse into the world; what remains common to almost all of them is a warlike unsteadiness and a tendency towards bloodshed. The Olgs of Belkondíl, who mostly live by their old traditions (many of which have, however, been altered significantly under the influence of Seligonian Fashion), can be divided into two groups, the Cëlacians, or Olgs proper, who live on the heaths and in the highlands of the continent and, along with the rest of the world, have adopted the Soskish language (the language of the Empire), and the Brethanians, who remain on the remote western coasts and the Mairn archipelago. Fierce mariners and fishermen, they speak their own language, Brethanian Olgish.

The Wertians live to the north of Belkondíl, in the Ilathw Valley and the Geranian Heath. They are known as particularly fearless riders, and their language, Wertian, for its pleasing sound. The second Olgish group of Geran, the Hajan Olgs, live in the Hajalad, the rich strip of coast between Dárinsford and Antarea, and on the Norides island chain. They are renowned for their commercial prowess and their obscure dialect (which they have mostly given up in favour of Soskish). The Olgs of the colonies are a group only in geographical terms. A region of great diversity between Olgs, Kalparians, and Aribelians, culture and society vary greatly from one place to another, merely sharing the fact that the rest of Elondor unanimously considers them uncultured.

The Olgs of the mountains are not unlike those of Belkondíl, but many have traded cattle for pickaxe, and their steel is renowned far beyond their borders. So are their superstitions, and their choral music. Seligon, much like colonies, is a place of great diversity, and no true ‘Seligonian Olgish’ group exists. Most identify merely as Olgs, or as Creoles if they descend from both Olgish and Seligonian ancestors, as is the case for most. They are closest to the Sosks of all Olgish groups, adopting their language long before mandated by the Empire. Known for their high arts and culture (a borrowing from the Seligonians), they wield great social respect in the later days of the Empire.