old p:f // Ptyevia -- The Horse Clans

[Kaez]

A Detailed Look

Technically, there is no full extent to the lands of the Horse Clans. The primary area though, extending from Tsevlach's western coast to Rota's clash with Orcish lands, it covers an area about the size of Europe, which is comparable to the total landmass of Canada, the United States, or China.

[Kaez]

A clarification on the linguistics:
"Horse Clans" is interchangable with "Lynshtyk" as the name for the collective human culture of Ptyevia. "Ptyevia' is a slightly different term, which refers to the -land- of the area specifically, not the culture within the land.



THE HORSE CLANS

Flag, Symbol, Emblem:

There is no official emblem or symbol that defines the entirety of the Horse Clan (also known as Lynshtyk) culture. Common symbolism includes a cross within a circle (four being a predominant number in their culture [four directions, four hooves, four southern clans, four northern clans, etc.] and the circle representing the cyclic nature of all things), but it cannot be considered an official emblem like the symbols of many other cultures. It is simply not the nature of the Horse Clans to unite themselves under a single banner.

In contrast, each of the eight clans are distinctly identifiable based on their own individualized symbolism and flags.

-- Tsevlach (bay horse, blue circle on a white field)
-- Kvelnar (pinto horse, orange encircled cross on a black field
-- Bremnya (leopard horse, four green crosses on a white field)
-- Shvathkag (chestnut horse, red circle on a black field)
-- Dyeli (black horse, white cross on a black field)
-- Vetchich (grullo horse, grey encircled cross on a white field)
-- Yarovye (cremello horse, four yellow crosses on a black field)
-- Blednyn (gray horse, red cross on a white field)

-- Rota (dark bay-chestnut brindle, purple symbolism, detailed later under 'Shamanism' and 'Territories', respectively.

Territories:

-- Tsevlach is the southernmost of the clans, and along with Bremnya, is the long clan not situated entirely along a coast. It is made largely of various scattered villages, the farthest reaching the western shoreline, the nearest at the brim of the Dwarven mountains.

Being the nearest to the various civilizations of Ythrador, Tsevlach culture is perhaps the most altered by foreign presence of any of the clans, and surely is the one with the highest population of foreigners within it. Shamanism within Tsevlach is less strict and vital to everyday life, the region generally being the most secular of any of the clans.

Geographically, it is also the most wooded clan territory by a significant amount, and they serve for exporting a significant amount of the food and supplies for the other clans. The bay horse is characteristic of the area and the Tsevlach bay horse is the only Clan Horse to have a significant presence in Ythrador, where it is highly revered.

-- Kvelnar is the name given to the many villages along and just near the stretch of western shoreline that defines the border of Ptyevia. One of, if not the most fertile, area in all of the Lynshtyk territory, Kvelnar is a major exporter of footstuffs to the rest of the clans.

Kvelnar is also fairly distinctive and individualized -- unlike most clans, it utilizes its symbol (the orange encircled cross) much more than just on flags and standards. Kvelnar men, besides bearing the orange emblem (called the thrynvar), are characteristically mustachioed, with a long, drooping mustache and are often shaved bald.

-- Bremnya is, along with Tsevlach, one of only two clans no based primarily on the coast. Indeed, it is perhaps the largest, least dense, most widespread of the clans, its villages taking up a large amount of open territory.

While it does not particularly border foreign land in the way that Tsevlach does, it does meet at points with Dwarven territory and is relatively secular as well -- indeed, it shares many similarities with Tsevlachian culture, though much less drastically.

The far northeastern reaches of the area are the closest clan-villages to Rota, and thus tend to serve as a highly populated launch base for campaigns. Along with the coastal cities of the northern clans, they may be the most populated areas within the Horse Clans.


-- Shvathkag is a southernly clan that is entirely bordered by Bremnya territory. They are extremely similar in culture with Bremnya, but have a few significant breaks. These are largely based around the breeding of the chestnut horse (upon which, in many ways, they define their culture) and their naturally coastal way of life.

Though they are of the smallest population of the four southern clans, their location on an area of mountain-free coastline and proximity to Bremnya makes them an primary provider of supplies to the campaign front.


-- Dyeli has the distinction of being the smallest of the tribes, and by quite a lot -- about half the size of the next smallest. In various ways, this has served to both hinder and benefit them.

Perhaps above all else, Dyeli is associated with the unrivaled reputation of their riders -- riders wearing all black, upon horses of the same color. The black Dyeli horses are the rarest in all of the clans and, while Clan Horses are revered worldwide outside of the clans, it is the Dyeli horse that is revered even within the clans as being the fastest and most agile of all.

Dyeli, other than the horses and the great inspiration and legend that they bring with them, is surprisingly high in their exports and the number of riders they send on campaigns. Relative to their population, it's the highest of any clan, as literally every man of reasonable age in their culture is a rider.

This has led to the term 'dyeli' taking an interesting new definition within the clans. Whenever there is a litter of offspring, be they human, sheep, or otherwise, it is often discernible which are naturally the stronger and which are naturally the weakest -- the runts. Oftentimes, the runt of a group has an extra motivation, an extra willingness to overcome the natural deficits. This offspring is called 'dyeli'.


-- Vetchich, Yarovye, and Blednyn are three distinct areas only by their willingness to be divided as such. The culture they share and the borders of their territory much more realistically form a single clan under the consensus to separate themselves by standard and horse.

They are the most religious of the clans, subscribing most strictly to Shamanism and generally representing the stereotypical and definitive characteristics and beliefs of the Horse Clans more than any other, and are the people upon who most Yhthradorians generate their views and opinions. Because of this, most of their details and descriptions will be more accurately and specifically described in other sections within this thread than here.

Combined, they are by far the most populated region of Lynshtyk and make up about 40% of the total Ptyevian population.


-- Rota is not one of the horse clans, though it is very much Lynshtky territory. The etymology of the word itself, 'Rota', is linked to three separate words: roth (field, steppe), tas (dead), and otasta (grave). Virtually, the word is the Fields of the Grave, or the Dead Steppe. It would be easy to mistake this for a term of danger, derogatory, or otherwise negative. Nothing could be further from the truth. Rather, it's a nearly-complimentary term, separating and transcending Rota from the world of the living into a higher, almost spiritual plane.

From the range of Kvelnar, on horseback, assuming reasonable breaks at any village one came across across Rota, it would take roughly one hundred days to cross into Orcish lands. The steppe is massive, and in the vast majority of its territory, there are simply no visible landmarks. It is a sprawling emptiness, marked only by the clouds in the sky, is often a strain on the sanity to those who visit it -- particularly foreigners who venture through. Hallucinations, both audibly and visually, can be attributed either to spiritual experience or the mental delusions of the steppe.

It is dotted throughout by four villages, roughly evenly spaced. They serve as rest stops, hospitals, and command centers within Rota. They are extremely distant from any other civilization, most people born and raised there never actually encountering any other permanent settlement besides their own, the only people they meet in their lives the people of the village and the riders who travel through. They are devotedly religious and a fairly xenophobic people.

Other than the four villages within Rota, there are a few other interruptions to the seemingly edgeless openness of the steppe. Packs of wild horse, often brindle coated, dot the west. Toward the east, camels are a much more common site. In all areas, the steppe wolf packs and lion prides are rare sites.

It should be noted that there is another possible interruption to the stillness on the steppe: ancient, monolithic sites, crafted from meteorite, serve as holy places for the shamans and are used to celebrate the holiest of rituals -- interestingly, these sites are never encountered physically by those who wander Rota. Rather, riders who come near the sites of the monoliths often come under the delusion of hallucinations, grow ill, or receive visions. The sites themselves, though, are never physically seen outside of the shamanistic rituals -- something not only unexplained, but largely without inquiry.

Rota's vastness has seemed to alter the senses and consciousness of those who ride upon it. Riders are able to smell a village many miles away after a long exposure to the same uninterrupted scent. Bird calls become distinct and clarified. Cloud shapes are more vivid, and a deep sense of humility is often installed, a grander sense of perspective and an increased willingness to dismiss small things as of no importance. The landscape itself has shaped the culture of all the people of the Horse Clans.

Major or Capital City:
Other Cities:
Significant Towns:
Language and Demographics:
Geography and Climate:
Flora and Fauna:
Food and Resources:

[Kaez]

Government Type:
Crime and Law:
Professions:
Trade, Currency and Economy:
Market:
Organizations:
Calendar:

Ptesa (Residing) [Jan-Feb]
Gelnyar (Preparing) [Mar-Apr]
Myrk Thrym (Riding Away) [Apr-May]
Orcyan (First Campaign) [June-July]
Orcsan (Last Campaign) [Aug-Sept]
Dryns Thrym (Riding Home) [Sept-Oct]
Bvendya (Harvest) [Nov]
Nsendi (Slaughter) [Dec]

Celebrations and Events:
Education:
Social Class Structure:
Population:
Animal Husbandry:
Technology and Medicine:
Subcultures:

[Kaez]

Shamanism:


Military:

The military of the Horse Clans is a definitive feature, an aspect of its existence which has defined and shaped it since long before recorded history. It has been forgotten by the ages, how many times the riders have battled against the orcs. Hundreds of campaigns, each many decades long, have become a tradition -- a way of life, the natural order of things. The idea of a 'peace time', without war, being a permanent thing, is beyond the comprehension of the Lynshtyk.

Being the Horse Clans, they are defined by their cavalry -- indeed, it has been many centuries since the Lynshtyk footsoldiers faded into history.

There are three basic combat units:
-- Lancers (Vydhya), equipped with two throwing spears and a battling lance.
-- Archers (Yntsegha), equipped with a bow and arrow.
-- Cavalry (Pretha), equipped with swords.

Each battalion (Trug) has three specialist members:
-- Vexillary (Ethya), the standard-bearer.
-- Captain (Nyusa), the horn-blower and commander.
-- Shamyn, the spiritual leader.

Most trug are comprised of thirty-two of a single type of combat unit (thirty-two archers, or thirty-two lancers, or thirty-two cavalry), an ethya, a nyusa, and a shamyn.

Of the thirty-two combat units, they are divided into four possible ranks:

-- Dyeska, the lowest combat rank, for those who have never ridden a combat campaign before.
-- Thoghya, for those who have ridden sixteen or less campaigns.
-- Rachgna, for those who have ridden more than eight campaigns.
-- Rachgnyava, for those riding their thirty-second campaign, which is the final campaign a rider will make. This is a position of great honor.

As there are two campaigns per season, most who have ridden for thirty-two campaigns have ridden for roughly eighteen to twenty years, accounting years off for injury or illness or years of peace or great victory where the second campaign is not fought.

Given that campaigning starts at age sixteen (training, however, starts at fourteen), one typically retires from battle at roughly age thirty-five. The retired riders, known as 'fathers', are extremely revered amongst the culture, and often go on to become prominent breeders, military trainers, or governing men.

The horses, logically, play a prominent role in the military. In each of the southern clans, at age fourteen, a boy who will be a rider chooses a colt or filly of his preference. He will train for two years with that horse and, as the boy matures to age sixteen and the horse matures to age four, the mare or gelding will accompany the boy into campaigns.

In Vetchich, Yarovye, and Blednyn, the practice differs in one crucial way: both boys and girls at age fourteen can become riders. The practice is so old that there is some dispute as to whether the southern clans banned it or the northern clans adapted it, but the fact is well accepted that there are no southern female riders, and nearly half of all northern riders are female.

Dyeli, contrary to the three other northern clans, has no female riders either. It also differs from the other seven in being the only clan to ride stallions, and not only that, but only stallions. While the other clans leave only the most prime specimens as stallions for breeding, castration in Dyeli seems to be foregone entirely. Dyeli horses being as extremely well trained as they are do not present the same challenges most stallions do, and many argue that this could be a contributing factor to the legendary quality of Dyeli riding horses.

Weapons and Armor:

[Kaez]

Homes:
Cultural Philosophy:
Architecture:
Clothing:
Arts and Literature:
Entertainment and Culture:

[Kaez]

Significant People and Works:
Brief Timeline:
Relations w/ Other Cultures: