The Ikarani

Tribe, generally considered barbaric by “civilized” people
Lives in arctic/tundra area
Fire worshippers -
   Din, fire goddess (also mother goddess?), seen as responsible for creating people; some elemental worship- creation myth involves combining elements: earth (creating bodies), water (blood), fire (spirit); Chinese elementalisim (earth, fire, wind, water, wood); ruled by sacred princess, seen as incarnation of Din. 

Semi-nomadic: move to various existing villages; villages based around flaming natural gas jets.  Such locations are seen as blessed with eternal flame.  There are a few based around geothermals (hot springs, hot earth)- only large bodies of water they’ll enter, because they’re hot, therefore sanctified by Din; one village near a flaming tarpit, seen as the location of a battle between Yinas and Din, Din won; possibly seen as a prison, that must be watched?  Fumes from the tar cause illness among those with weak constitutions- seen as curse?

Caste system- Clergy, warriors, hunters, gatherers; any seen as superior?

Matriarichal

Tend to have red eyes; blue eyes rare but do exist, seen as Din’s blessing

Dress in leather, fur.  Dye or paint whatever is possible in shades of orange, red, yellow, and blue.  Some dyes can get from berries of cold climate plants, roots, some minerals (from hotsprings?), others trade for- powdered seashells, just don’t tell them where they came from

Two types priests: battle-priests and firedancers; firedancers take vows to never shed blood (something about the destructive and helpful sides of fire?); dancing seen as sacred, usually try to emulate fire

Hereditary enemies of the Jandoshan, see as spawn of their god of evil (Yinas, He Who Strides in the Darkness)

Religion- Primary goddess Din (female, fire, protection, mother goddess); Yinas (variable gender, evil, darkness, water); Jalni (male, hunting, child of Geneb, consort of Din); Seni (male, war, child of Geneb, consort of Din); Tola (female, plant life, gathering, child of Geneb, companion to Din); Zesan (genderless, ice/snow, death, child of Yinas)

Elemental Triad- Aspects of Earth (Geneb), Water (Yinas), and Fire (Din) created the world; Earth withdrew; Din and Yinas had a fight about who would be superior; Din won (because could create life?), created lasting enmity; Din created the Ikarani, Yinas created the Jandoshan
Relations with gods- Din was lonely, so took Jalni as mate, but he was always hunting, so took his brother Seni.  He was always fighting, so got their sister Tola to be her companion; each major god patron of particular caste: clergy (Din), hunters (Jalni), warriors (Seni), and gatherers (Tola)

Funeral customs- bodies burned (sending spirit back to Din), most possessions burned as well (not heirlooms, property, or livestock); tends to actually prevent spread of disease; ashes typically put in small stone cairns dedicated to particular god of caste

Pretty tied to religion, big on blessings.  Superstitious, what kinds?  A lot of little daily rituals

Survive by hunting mostly- caribou or something similar when it’s good; raise rabbits like other people raise chickens; gathering what little edible roots, fruits, seeds, etc they can find; what do they do about bread/grain?

Tools- mostly bone, some wood (for high status and priests)
spears, knives, slings, yo-yos (no kidding); essentially stone age tech; domesticated animals- dogs/wolves, horses? probably not, unless like Clydesdales; kind of want to avoid sled-dogs

Possible dissidents/freaks- nilhist cult that venerates only destructive power of fire, somewhat apocalyptic; Geneb cult? wanting to restore balance?

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