Sefdaanian ethnography Ch. 1, Place 1

Introduction

• In Sefdaania there are six Peoples. In order of creation, these Peoples are the Ethrans (Children of Air), the Pyrans (Children of Fire), the Hydorans (Children of Water), the Humans (Children of Earth), the Xylans (Children of Wood), and the Lithans (Children of Stone). These are known as the Loquent Peoples to distinguish them from other sapient beings. In describing their customs, anatomy, etc., the many things they have in common will be treated together, followed by individual notes.

Geography

• Sefdaania (sefdááņas) is that part of Europe bounded on the north by the receding or advancing glacier; on the east by the Ural Mountains (v̌éétəspínos, earth spine) and the Ural River; on the south by the Danube River, the Black Sea (ṁesmáṙes, western sea), the Caucasus Mountains (ènteṙmaṙménȝos, intersea mountains), and the Caspian Sea (ààusmáṙes, eastern sea); and on the west by the forests of Central Europe. Thus much of the homeland is covered by the Great Steppe and, to a lesser extent, the Pannonian Basin.
• Sefdaania means “seven rivers” and refers to the seven major rivers that flow through the land and empty into the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. These rivers are the Danube (ṁesdááes, western river), the Dnieper (bèðṙədááes, center river), the Southern Bug (mìnydááes, little river), the Dniester (mòniȝdááes, mountain river), the Don (mìnymaṙdááes, small sea river), the Volga (mezdááes, great river), and the Ural (ààusdááes, eastern river). The land is divided into seven regions which correspond to the watersheds (ðaílos) of these seven rivers. The chart below lists the regions (táȝmas) in order of size, from largest to smallest, although the relative sizes may vary depending on the activity of the glaciers.

Rank	Name	Km2	Mi2
1	mèzðaíļas	138,000,000	533,000
2	ṁèsðaíļas	817,000	315,000
3	bèðṙəðaíļas	504,000	195,000
4	luuðmàṙðaíļas	422,000	163,000
5	aaùsðaíļas	237,000	91,500
6	monìȝðaíļas	72,000	28,000
7	luuðaíļas	63,740	24,610

• Each of the regions is inhabited by more than one of the Peoples, although they live only in the ecosystem to which they have been assigned. When personal identification is needed, the name of the region is stated before the personal name, e.g., mezdááṁus, from Mezdaania.

Climate

• Covered as it is by the Great Steppe (mèzĸebáṙos), most of Sefdaania experiences a humid continental climate, which is marked by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. Again there will be variations depending upon the extent of the glaciers (ȝeqdááos).
• Precipitation is relatively well-distributed year-round in many areas with this climate. Snowfall, regardless of average seasonal totals, is more common than rain during the height of winter and the snow cover is often deep. Most summer rainfall occurs during thunderstorms and the occasional tropical system.

Natural disasters

• Snow is common in the winter and the Peoples have adjusted to the reduced activity caused by the snow. But the occasional really severe blizzard (qoosíģos) can cause more severe privation.
• In a year of low precipitation there is the possibility of steppe wildfires (ĸèbaṙp̌ónes).
• When the spring temperature is unusually high, the quick thawing of snow and glacier may cause flooding in some of the watercourses.

Travel

• Because of the great distances involved and the scattered populations, travel is not frequent. There are some Lithans who have become traders, bartering their metal products and jewelry for items they need. Any necessary travel is done on the Peoples’ steeds (described in the section on domesticated animals). The Peoples have the wheel and the Pyrans and Humans have wheeled vehicles. Peoples that live close to each other will travel to barter what they have produced or caught. See Ch. 14 Technology for a description of a caravansary.

Population count

• Because of the great distances involved, there is no count of the population.

Domesticated animals

• There are several animals which have a close association with each of the Loquent Peoples. Two groups in especial are those known as the steeds (mimées) and the companions (sunées). Each of the Peoples has an animal that best suits it as a steed. And each people has discovered an animal that shares its domestic life.
• The Ethrans.
  • Because of their need to travel to and from their mountain citadels (ðúnos) in a timely fashion, the Ethrans need a winged steed. They have found this in the animal later known as a Pegasus, pterippus, or flying horse (кábes) (Megadorcas volans). In reality it is not an equid, but a member of the family Bovidae, subfamily Antilopinae, having a cloven hoof and chewing a cud, but lacking horns or antlers.
  • The ancestor (related to Pantholops hodgsonii) was a much smaller animal that lived in the mountains. A mutation for wings gave it an advantage in escaping from predators. A descendant settled on the steppes, became a grazer instead of a browzer, and increased in size.
  • The general body conformation does resemble that of a horse but, unlike the wild equids, it possesses a flowing mane. The tail also marks it as bovine rather than equine. The kab is hollow-boned for lightness. The wing humerus is attached to the upper side of an enlarged scapula, the foreleg humerus being attached to the lower side. The chest is rather massive containing as it does the muscles for both the wing and the foreleg. As with the larger birds, a running start is necessary to become airborne. The early ancestor merely jumped off the side of the mountain! The descendant still retains the musculature in the hindquarters for leaping. Surprisingly, the wings are covered with feathers and not hair.
  • Five color variants have been bred, one for each of the orders of Ethrans (the elementals do not use steeds): white for the archimages, gray for the mages, sorrel for the archons, chestnut for the adepts, and brown for the guardians. Of course, breeding registers are maintained. Specimens of undesirable coloration are not bred (the bucks are gelded), but they are cared for until they die which could be as long as 30 years. The males are known as bucks, the females as does.
  • A kab springing is the emblem of the Ethrans
  • As companions, the Ethrans have the gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus) (aṙgípes) which they use for hunting.
  • They also breed carrier pigeons (Columba livia) (mìþĸolómbes), for sending messages from citadel to citadel. Each of the Ethran citadels contains a dovecote (pèlonvéðlos) for the breeding of these pigeons. The color of the plumage tells from which citadel they originate.
  • Every citadel also has a flock of geese (ȝ̇ánses) for food.
• The Pyrans.
  • The Pyran steed is the reindeer (sáṙtes) (Rangifer tarandus). These domesticated deer are descendants of wild reindeer that lived farther south during the time of the expanding glaciers. The wild reindeer retreated north with the melting of the glaciers. These reindeer serve as both a steed, a pack animal, and a draft animal. The males (paqnéqes) are known as bulls, the females (góļes) as cows. The reindeer are a source of meat, milk, hides, bone and antlers.
  • A reindeer head caboshed is the emblem of the Pyrans.
  • Their companion is a breed of herding dog (ȝ̇aðčénes) similar to the Šarplaninac or Sharr Mountain dog. The body is slightly longer than the height at the withers and the front legs account for approximately 55% of the height. The head is large but proportional to the body, with dark eyes. They are solid in colour, usually fawn, but sometimes grey, white or almost black. The coat is dense, about four inches in length and can be either rough or smooth. They are not reluctant to chase off or even fight wolves, lynxes, and even bears. When in the house, they serve as excellent guards.
• The Hydorans.
  • The Hydorans ride ponies which they have bred from the horses of the steppes. These ponies have more water-repellent hair and splayed hooves for better traction in the marshy environment.
  • The protein staple of the Hydorans is, quite logically, fish. To help them catch fish they enjoy the companionship of the river otter (aṙdóṙes) (L. lutra).
• The Humans.
  • Humans ride the horse (éčes) (Equus przewalskii) as a steed.
  • The wolf (ṁélĸ̌es) (Canis lupus), later turned dog, (čénes), is their companion. Much of their protein comes from game, especially the saiga antelope (Saiga tartarica) (díqes) and they have bred a gazehound (òĸyčénes) with which they hunt game on the steppes. These dogs are trained to protect the horses and are fierce defenders of the cèimóes from wolves and enemies.
• The Xylans.
  • As swift as they are, Xylans have no need of a steed, but they have been seen riding a steppe mammoth (ǧíȝes) (Mammuthus trogontherii), or an aurochs (taúṙes) (Bos primigenius).
  • As forest dwellers, the Xylans have discovered the squirrel, specifically the Eurasian red squirrel (oṁéṙes) (Sciurus vulgaris) to be a fun companion. The diets are very similar!
• The Lithans.
  • The Lithans in their mountain strongholds have need of a steed that is at home on the crags. They decided upon one of the mountain sheep known as an argali (óṁes) (Ovis a. ammon). With their magnificent curled horns they make a fine war steed, putting the horns to use as both battering ram and shield.
  • They also domesticated the kulan (lémṙes) (Equus hemionus kulan) and from it bred a smaller donkey (ĸúnges), more suitable for their small stature. This donkey is used as a beast of burden in the mines and in the trade caravans and is ridden by the female Lithans.
  • The Lithans have domesticated the Corsac fox (púĸes) (Vulpes praecorsac), a social fox. The bond between a Lithan and his or her fox is fully as strong as that between a human and his or her dog. A Lithan will often go hunting with his fox for his favorite protein, mountain hare (b̧éṁnes) (Lepus timidus)!
  • The Lithans keep extensive breeding records on all three of these animals.