Turazim

 

The southwestern slopes of the Dalanyan Mountains are home to the Turazim, a semi-nomadic race of goatherders. Physically the Turazim seem to be related to the Numec and their language is clearly of the Numer family. Their customs suggest some influence or contact with Byria, though no scholar has yet been able to verify this. Andoriun, the Azeryani scholar of the late 5th century, lived among the Turazim for 6 years and was convinced that they were descended from Byrian immigrants. Other scholars are quick to point out their strong ties to the Numec and their obvious close relationship to the Agrazhim, the hill farmers on the northeastern slopes of the Dalanyan Mountains. Perhaps their unique customs are merely the result of their lack of contact with the coastal peoples. Most of the neighboring 'civilized' cultures consider the land held by the Turazim to be forbidding and useless as normal agriculture is basically untenable, hence their relative isolation.

Turazim society is composed of a group of tribes, all of whom share culture and live in the same general area. Each tribe is composed a many smaller units, discussed below. The economy is centered around sheep and goat herding and all Turazim are expert in the care and handling of these animals. Dogs too play an important role as they are used to protect the flocks from predators and often neighboring Turazim. As the Turazim live in rough, hilly country horses are not an important part of their culture and in general they disdain riding animals. Turazim believe that to ride an animal is to admit weakness and only the very young, elderly and infirm will normally ride.

Turazim practice very strict division of labor. Men serve two primary functions in their society, they are warriors and they are herders. Turazim society is in a constant state of minor warfare as groups constantly compete for resources and more importantly, glory. Women are the keepers of tradition and culture, and the caretakers of the hearth. They prepare and handle foodstuffs, clothing, and most material goods. The role of caretaker extends into the role of political leader as well. Turazim women are the true power in their society and they expect to be obeyed when they give a command. All women outrank all men and the women know precisely where they stand relative to each other. When the Turazim meet with outsiders it is the women who do the talking, the men stay in the background. An occasional powerful Turazim woman will have multiple husbands, though this practice is fairly uncommon.

Turazim men are fierce warriors and pride themselves on their fighting skills. Although Turazim women decide when to fight, it is the men who plan, conduct, and lead any actual combat. Turazim warriors constantly test themselves and their skills. Weapons practice is a daily activity and discussion of knife-fighting technique is the most common pastime while shepherding. Warriors routinely raid neighboring Turazim to steal sheep, goats, and other items of worth. Contrary to what one might expect the Turazim practice a strict code of combat when fighting other Turazim. Fighting is usually to first blood and using lethal strikes is frowned upon. Accidents do happen and warriors do die but this is avoided when possible. A successful raid will result in the theft of several sheep or goats and little or perhaps no combat. Turazim warriors would always rather surprise a foe than face him outright and so stealth is highly prized. The ultimate coup would be to steal something very valuable from an enemy without him ever seeing you.

Unfortunately for their neighbors, Turazim warriors feel no need to follow this code when fighting non-Turazim. Outsiders are considered a lower form of life and may be killed without hesitation. While they would never enslave another Turazim, slaves from the neighboring non-Turazim are common. Turazim raids are something highly feared by the neighboring farming societies as the warriors attack with complete stealth, kill without compunction and then disappear into the hills. Frequently they attack merely for practice in their fighting skills. Fortunately for their neighbors the Turazim rely on more settled societies for many of their material goods and hence can often be bribed not to attack, or even to prevent other Turazim from attacking.

One note about the division of labor: Turazim women are frequently accomplished warriors themselves. It is very uncommon for Turazim women to actually go into battle or on a raid, but as they are the keepers of the culture it is considered essential for all women to know how to fight; Turazim women teach their sons basic fighting skills. When the boys are old enough they may join the men in their work and warfare but it is expected they will already be accomplished fighters, through their mother's instruction. More than one non-Turazim raiding party has attacked a village while the men were away and expected easy pickings only to be rudely surprised.

Turazim culture makes an extremely strong distinction between insiders and outsiders. Each family unit sees itself as distinct from all others and may often be in a state of feud with other families. However if a different tribe were to attack, feuding families within one tribe will have no difficulty banding together to repulse the common enemy. Similarly, if two tribes are in a state of war they will still have no difficulty working together to fight an outside threat. Hand in hand with this, Turazim are normally intolerant of non-Turazim and are culturally very conservative. As they are unwilling to try new and different things, Turazim culture is very stable over the long term and has survived strong outside pressures virtually unchanged. Ziryabism, for instance, has made no inroads into Turazim society. While the basic ideas of Ziryabism are not at odds with Turazim religion, no Turazim have shown an interest in adopting the new religion.

The central unit of Turazim culture is the extended family group, called the 'deshtah' (singular and plural). Each deshtah will have at least 3 generations represented in its core family group which will number roughly 25 to 50 people. In addition to the blood relatives and their spouses, each deshtah will also have several slaves and dependents bringing the total size to 50+. Only blood members of the deshtah may marry and only their children are considered legitimate. Children born to slaves are themselves slaves and may rise no higher in status.

As Turazim society is matrilocal, deshtah are usually focussed around a particular woman, from whom all of the core group are descended or are at least closely related. The leadership of a deshtah technically belongs to the matriarch but in practice she acts as head of a council composed of all adult women. If the subject of discussion warrants it the senior male warrior may also be included in the decision making process.

At marriage, men leave the deshtah of their birth and join the deshtah of their wives. Kinship is never figured through the male side of the line but only through the female side. When the matriarch of a deshtah dies the deshtah frequently disbands, members join other related deshtah or found new deshtah. If a single deshtah should grow large enough to be unwieldy, or if there is unresolvable internal strife, one or more of the female members will leave and found new deshtah.

Clearly, no single deshtah can have a terribly long life span and so political connections are extremely fluid. It is possible to be sworn enemies with someone in a related deshtah one year and end up being members of the same deshtah the next. While this is basically incomprehensible to most outsiders it seems to work fine for the Turazim. Tribal leadership is no more stable than the deshtah. When a tribe gathers for some large action it isgenerally agreed which deshtah is the strongest. Its matriarch will assume leadership of the tribe, but with strong input from all deshtah matriarchs. This has a profound affect on how the Turazim relate to other cultures, particular the more 'civilized' cultures which operate with centralized governments.

Within each deshtah are three groups which interact with each other in very specific ways. Women are the core of a deshtah and all of the adult women will be blood relatives. Their lives revolve around caring for the deshtah which includes both menial tasks like preparing food and also learning the knowledge of the elders. Much time is spent training the young women in the knowledge and skills of the old women. Songs, chants, and dances are routinely used to store knowledge and to help guide skills training making education a very musical process. Most women will specialize in several areas where they have particular talents but everyone will know a little bit of everything merely by virtue of constantly hearing the songs and seeing and performing the dances. Turazim women are accomplished potters, weavers, cooks, hideworkers, herbalists, physicians, poets, singers, dancers and a host of other (low-tech) occupations. While much of the menial work is performed by slaves captured on raids, anything of importance will handled by a Turazim. In addition, it is all Turazim women's role to act as mediators between the deshtah and the spirit world. All Turazim women are trained at least some in the skills of the shaman and can act as intermediaries with the spirits of nature and the hearth.

Turazim children are effectively genderless in how they are raised. All spend their time with the women of the deshtah and participate in the daily transmission and preservation of knowledge. All are trained to fight, to herd, and in all of the other day-to-day tasks necessary for life. Children are considered subservient to all adults and generally do not interact with the men nearly as often as with the women. At puberty both genders go through lengthy initiation rituals which welcome them to the next stage in their lives. For the girls this is adulthood which is basically a continuation of their previous roles but with added power. For the boys this entails major changes as they are suddenly thrust from the world of women into the world of men. While they are no longer considered children, these adolescent boys are not yet men either. As lineage is figured entirely through the female side, this effectively means that at puberty boys begin to disassociate themselves from their family (the women of the deshtah and other male children) and begin to associate with close allies, the men who have married into the deshtah. After two to three years of working with the men, marriages are arranged with girls of neighboring deshtah and the boys truly leave their families to live with their wives. There they will again associate primarily with men, to whom they are of course not related. Until he is married a Turazim male is not considered truly adult.

An interesting side-effect of this perception, that men only reach adulthood with marriage, is that there is really no concept of an unmarried man. As lineage and family are determined through women, an unmarried man has no place in society. He no longer belongs to the deshtah of his birth but also has no connection to any other deshtah. Should his wife die a Turazim man will immediately remarry, preferably to a close female relative of his deceased wife.

The Turazim lifestyle is as fluid and mobile as the deshtah themselves. Given the harshness of their lands no deshtah can afford to remain in one location for long. Each deshtah travels between several known good campsites, moving along when resources become scarce. Frequently allied deshtah will travel together for brief periods and may share camp at a particularly good site. Feuding deshtah will carefully avoid each other and choose isolated campsites.

Turazim religion is centered around a belief in the presence of spirits in all things and places. All creatures, places of note, and things are believed to have spirits which can interact with humans. Shamans mediate contact between humans and the spirit world but all Turazim have at least rudimentary shamanistic training and so religion is often perceived as very personal. The Turazim see few of these spirits as friendly, though most are not malicious. In general spirits are demanding and must be propitiated to ward off their wrath. If the proper ceremonies and procedures are followed no harm will come.

The Turazim recognize one deity, Kayberath, literally 'she who judges'. Kayberath found herself alone in the cosmos and was bored. To entertain herself she created the stars, the moon, and the earth. For a time this kept her busy but the spirits of the earth are poor conversationalists and so she set about creating living things. This proved to be difficult and at first she was unable to create anything more interesting than a plant.

Eventually she created animals and hoped that they would provide her with company. Again she became bored and finally created humans. Even with these most were not worthy and she despaired. Eventually she decided that any spirit which wished could live many lives, seeking to better itself until it was worthy of joining Kayberath in the heavens. At death each spirit must pass before Kayberath and be judged. Most are sent back to live another life but occasionally one is deemed worthy to join her company.

Turazim believe that most people have forgotten the true purpose of their lives, bettering themselves for Kayberath. They realize that their lands are harsh but believe that this challenge helps them improve themselves and is necessary in their quest for worthiness. The comforts of civilization and softer climes are despised because they provide no challenge and hence no self-betterment. A Turazim life is spent in relentless pursuit of self-improvement and no Turazim fears death. Death is merely another chance toward the final goal. Dying while striving for the final goal is always a worthy accomplishment.

Physically the Turazim are a somewhat small people. They tend to be shorter than most other peoples, though they are often powerfully built. Their features are basically caucasian with dark complexions and dark eyes. Hair color ranges from very dark brown through pitch black. The men sport full beards which are kept fairly close-cropped and oiled. All Turazim oil their hair and skin as a protection from their harsh environment.

Turazim weapons and dress are as simple as the rest of their lives. Men and women dress alike, mostly in simple flowing robes, usually the color of the earth. Most wear turbans to ward off the sun. Their clothing is always practical and rarely adorned or dyed. Small pieces of jewelry are prized and are a common target of raids, both against other Turazim and non-Turazim. No Turazim are practicing precious metal- or gem-smiths so all jewelry comes from outside societies. Many deshtah do have a practicing weaponsmith however, a very valuable craft in such a warlike society. Three weapons are favored by the warriors, the jamba, talba, and the sling. The jamba, which is closely related to the Numec jambiya, is a large knife, 10-14 inches in length with a crescent shaped blade. The blade is thick and wide at the base but tapers to a point. It is worn in the front of the body, stuck into the sash used to gather their robes. The talba is a longer thin straight-edged weapon 20-25 inches in length. It tends to be lighter in construction than the jamba and is worn in a sheath which hangs from the sash. The sling is not considered a proper weapon of war and is used primarily for guarding the flocks from predators. Turazim consider it dishonorable to attack another Turazim with a sling. Of course, non-Turazim are not accorded the same privileges and no hesitation is shown in using the sling against outsiders.

Turazim sheep and goats are small and very hardy. Both are kept for their milk, wool, and their meat and are the basis for the livelihood of each deshtah. To lose one's flocks is to die. When Turazim raid each other only prize stock are stolen as stealing an entire flock, in addition to being impractical, would be effectively killing the deshtah. Even deshtah engaging in feud would never resort to such tactics. Turazim dogs are large, 100-150lbs and roughly the same color as the sheep. They are raised with the sheep and taught to bond closely with their flocks. Most Turazim dogs will fight to the death, against man or beast, rather than allow harm to come to their flocks. They are commonly equipped with spiked collars to help them when fighting wolves.

The Turazim are one of the few cultural groups which managed to resist the expansion of the Azeryani Empire although this may in part be a result of their land being so undesirable. When the Azeryani first conquered Dalanya, Turazim lands were left untouched as they were seen as arid and useless. However, Azeryani disruption of traditional relationships between the Turazim and the Agrazhim and the Turazim penchant for raiding their neighbors quickly made them an irritation. The nature of Turazim society prevented them from being a serious military threat but their continual raiding was detrimental to the local economy and undermined Azeryani authority over the local peoples. It was decided that the Turazim should be 'pacified' and incorporated into the empire in order to control them but after years of exhaustive warfare with little or no success this policy was abandoned. The Turazim simply refused to give battle in the traditional sense and were naturally suited for guerilla warfare. The few deshtah which were caught might pledge peace or even allegiance, but given the fluid nature of Turazim society such agreements never lasted long. Even agreements made with tribal leaders could not last long as the tribal structure is in such constant flux. Eventually the Azeryani attempted to control Turazim access to empire lands through strategically placed forts along normal travel routes in the mountain passes. This helped some but did not entirely solve the problem. As long as Azeryani presence was strong in the surrounding lands the Turazim were a continual problem.

When Dalanya seceded from the Azeryani Empire relations between the Turazim and their neighbors, the Agrazhim, returned to 'normal'. Turazim raiding is again a relatively small threat, mostly controlled by bribery and and playing one deshtah off against another.


Turazim as player characters

Given the nature of their society, most Turazim never leave their homelands. A few do venture into the outside world though, usually the disaffected or those who are without deshtah. Turazim widowers who object strongly to their next marriage have no option but to leave Turazim society altogether. Most end up serving as mercenaries, often as scouts, or as guards. Typically they continue to live by the precepts of Turazim society, despising luxury and civilization and its comforts and showing general intolerance for most other people. Anywhere in the Azeryani Empire though Turazim warriors are highly respected and valued as mercenaries, scouts, and guards. The few Turazim serving in the empire have earned the entire people a reputation for courage, skill, and dependability. As Turazim do not value trickery or deceit they are considered superb bodyguards. No Turazim would violate his oath of service because this would clearly not be in his favor when he stands before Kayberath for judgement.

Turazim women who leave the homelands are even rarer. Given that society is built around women it is hard for a woman to end up in a position where she is disaffected enough to leave. It does happen however and there have been a few cases of particular note in Azeryani history. Generally Turazim women end up serving as bodyguards to highly placed noblewomen or occasionally as mercenaries. They have skills for many other occupations but working for wages is unappealing. That they expect all men to obey them also makes it difficult for them to fit into most other societies. However, the same qualities which have earned the men a reputation as warriors and bodyguards are also found in the women and while it is somewhat of a change from their traditional role most can justify body-guarding as an extension of the function of caretaker. That they have difficult respecting their frequently 'soft' employers does not help, however.

 

Turazim Background Skills:

Turazim are 3d5 Size; all other characteristics are 3d6.

Men: Jamba (3), Talba (2), Sling (1), Survival[Desert] (3), Goatcraft (2), Sneak (1), Hide (1), Search (1), Listen (1), Animal Lore (.5), Tracking(.5)

Women: Jamba (1), Talba (.5), Sling (.5), Survival[Desert] (2), Goatcraft (1), Sneak (.5), Hide (.5), Search (.5), Listen (.5), Animal Lore (2), Tracking(.5), 1 craft (2), 2 crafts (1), 2 crafts (.5), Singing (1), Dancing (1), Turazim lore (3

A very small number of the women become shamans. This is exactly the same as other animistic Shamans with one additional spell. It is:

Know Judgement, instant, reusable, non-stackable, 2pts. When overcome by this spell the target is instantly made aware of the consequences of his/her current actions as far as how they will be judged by Kayberath. This sudden awareness will cause the target to act as if stunned for 1 round (ie, lose two actions), after which he/she returns to acting at his/her own discretion.