Angroshi Cultures

What different Angroshi cultures and nations exist in Avaria? I’m curious about how groups of Angrosh might differ in things like material culture, language, and general philosophy.

Angrosh cultures tend to share a lot of essential similarities regardless of where in the world they're settled -- namely, they tend to be at least partially nomadic, with a lifestyle centered around hunting and often herding, and they are typically found at what most humans would consider the fringes of the civilized world. Their material culture is also very limited, and the few possessions angrosh own tend to be imbued with great personal and spiritual significance. Angrosh speak Gursh, a highly conservative language whose fundamental structure is the same wherever it is spoken, but the actual vocabularies can differ very widely; perhaps not surprisingly given the different environments they live in.

These are the main groups of Angrosh, which would be more or less like the heritage groups of humans:

Andurek -- The angrosh of the High Hinterlands. Although they are transhumant pastoralists, moving their herds of mountain sheep up and down the mountains according to the season, they still live a more settled life than others of their kind. They generally reside in small villages lower down the mountains in winter and then move up to the highlands in the warmer months, where they make only temporary shelters. Each group of Andurek has its own traditional alliance with one or another of the Ilexian city-states of the High Hinterlands, a relationship which is ceremonially renegotiated and confirmed every three years -- where negotiations fail, the consequences for both Ilexi and Andurek can be dire. But so long as these are successfully concluded, the two races get along well in their way, preferring to ally with one another and make war on rival human-angrosh alliances instead. Occasionally an Ensorian from one of the remoter locales of the Highmoor or Aurindell will meet with a small band of "giantkin," but this is a rather frightening experience that most would prefer not to have.

Cherchek -- The angrosh of the Tin Chalun Mountains. The Cherchek are said to serve the dwarves who live deep within the mountains, and to safeguard them against unwelcome incursions by humans. In practice the Cherchek are rarely seen by most of their human neighbors, although it has not always been so. The Cherchek used to frequently swoop down out of the mountains and raid nearby farms for livestock and foodstuffs, but besides this they were also known for having an unusual curiosity towards other forms of spirituality, with one branch of their people said to have been early converts to Elestaarianism. In the later days of the Irzali Empire and the earlier years of the Caliphate, Cherchek children were often captured and kept as slaves. While most of these were destined for a harsh and demeaning existence, a few managed to rise to great renown, most notably the Cherchek poet Mazni. Later on the Cherchek adopted a strict practice of killing their own children as soon as a slave raiding party was sighted and then would meet the raiders with suicidal violence; it is assumed that this largely explains both why the trade in Cherchek slaves ended and why the Cherchek themselves are seldom seen any longer.

Grasharek -- The angrosh of the Hazari Desert. These are the most familiar of the Angrosh peoples, for better or for worse. They make excellent guides and escorts for trans-Hazari travel, but are also known to stage fearsome raids on caravans and in some places to viciously attack anyone who happens to approach one of their camps even by accident. However they can have good relationships with humans, with persistence and a bit of luck on the part of the latter. The Grasharek tend to recognize the leaders of caravans as chiefs of a band, and where they view an alliance as having been formed with a particular caravan leader, they will treat that person with all the respect due a Grasharek chief. However, the Grasharek expect the same respectful and hospitable treatment in turn, and if a member of an allied band of Grasharek happens upon the caravan they expect to be given a meal and gifts and will be deeply offended if these are denied. Grasharek are continually on the move, roving across the desert following prey animals and water. They live in natural rock shelters where these are available, or in tents when out in the open desert. Although these tents are made of camelhair the Grasharek do not actually keep herds of camels, so it is a bit of mystery how they get the wool. They have an odd predilection for moving and rearranging stones in certain areas of the desert, making patterns or simply assembling them en masse. The humans whose see these creeations tend to be both baffled and unnerved, and call them simply angerstones in the same way they sometimes call angrosh Angermen. For their part, the Grasharek call Azadi the Ummbunek, meaning "the people who hum."

Indachek -- The angrosh of the far northern boreal and tundra. These are the most poorly known of all the angrosh peoples, living in lands so remote and harsh that few humans enter them for any length of time. The Frekki are the one exception, and it is said that they live in greater harmony with the Indachek than they do with the other humans at the edges of their territory. Indachek live as hunters and herders, their livestock chiefly consisting of the skeggit around which much of their culture also revolves. It is said they are more peaceable than other Angrosh, but also that they perform dark shamanic rituals involving the sacrifice of hapless humans, so no one is really quite sure what to think.

Khurshek -- The angrosh who dwell in "civilized" places among humans, typically as slaves or the free descendents of them. The name carries the connotation of being broken or spoiled, though there is sadness and unease as much as revulsion in the term. Having typically been captured at an early age and rigorously trained to fit into their assigned place in human society, most Khurshek have only the haziest knowledge of traditional angrosh customs or beliefs. Some feel this loss deeply and strive to retain every bit of tradition they can recall, whereas others feel nothing but violent contempt for the "weak" and "primitive" culture that proved unable to defend themselves against their human neighbors. Khurshek are also divided between those who attempt to adapt themselves seamlessly to human society and forge a future and an identity according to its rules, and those who see themselves as something apart and unique and who have proudly adopted the name of Khurshek as a new identity for themselves, unique from other other slaves and angrosh as well as from humans.

Awesome, thank you! I love learning about the Angrosh. A few follow up questions;

• Does Gursh have a written form, or is information typically passed down through oral traditions? If it does have a written form, how common is literacy?
• What types of clothing and jewelry are commonly worn in the different cultures? How common is tattooing?
• What is the Khurshek community in Omrazir like, and what do their human neighbors think of them?