The Iachaorachaorusduadh

These people are a mother-earth worshiping people, related to the pastoralists of the Place. The mare is a cult animal, thought to represent the goddess. Men and women have very equal status in this tribe, both sexes training as warriors. Organisation is fairly loose, with offices being appointed when necessary and on a temporary basis only. Appointment is by acclaim.

Property is held by the individual, and inheritance is by nomination. When a person dies without nominating heirs, their property is destroyed on their death. The tribe organises itself in small parties which practice both poligamy and polyandry as it suits them; individuals also drift from group to group. Anyone who has either parent an Iachaorach is considered to be a member of the tribe; people can also join the tribe by adoption.

The Iachaorachaorusduadh are not a particularly warlike people, although they defend themselves vigorously when attacked. They breed exceptionally good horses, which they trade. There is considerable trade over the Dawn Pass between the Iachaorachaorusduadh and the pastoral people of the Place (and, secretly, considerable communication between their priestesses and the House of the Cunt).

Their horses are physically larger, more powerful, and of greater stamina than those of other peoples on the plain, but need better grass. Consequently they tend to occupy marshy areas around the rivers in summer, moving up onto the open steppe only in winter.

The tribe never sell either mares or stallions, but do sell geldings, trading them either for cereals, arrowheads, or gold ornaments either for themselves or their horses.

They are a hardy people, having originated in the North; during the summer they wear no clothing, and typically use no tents or other shelters. In winter they wear cloaks and, sometimes, tunics. They live largely on milk, cheese, and wild vegetables. They also hunt deer and small antelope.

History of the Iachaorachaorusduadh

Increasing aridity of the steppe prompted a gradual migration south, leading to contact with the Rhiconicfearchaorusduadh, and other, similar, dragon-worshiping patrilineal warrior cultures, at that period unmounted. These cultures soon learned to harry the Iachaorach for horses, which they learned to value, and for slaves, whom they sold to the Cities of the Coast.

This combination of pressures led to profound cultural changes within the Iachaorach. They learned to adapt their already formidable archery to warfare. Exposure to apparently more successful cultures in which the male warrior was venerated led to discontent among the young men, leading in some instances to open conflict between the sexes.

From this period four major groups have survived. One major group crossed the mountains of the Rim into the Great Place, and, by a combination of military power and skillful diplomacy, managed to carve a niche for their own religion within the overall theocratic settlement there, representing the female aspect of the hermaphroditic Incarnate God. They still form a recognisable group, known as the Yachorach, are still matrilineal, and still horse-breeders, although no longer, at least officially, horse worshipers. However, they are heavily interbred with the native people of the Place, and now speak the language of the Place. Many live in permanent dwellings, although some are still nomadic; all are comfortable and secure.

The largest group survived on the open steppe by becoming more warlike; they are now known as the Iachaorachaorusduadh (a Rhiconic word meaning 'the tribe of the people of Iachorach'). They speak a variant of the older Iachaorach language, but with voiced vowels and consonants, and many Rhiconic loan words.

Although few of the other descendants of the Iachaorach would admit it, the lawless, bloodthirsty and atheistic Coiremhiconicfhearchaorusduadh are another consequence of the breakup of the Iachaorach. They are a mixed people, among whom warrior prowess is the only value. Women have no status other than as slaves.

The Wild Herd

To understand them without prejudice, it is important to understand that within their culture, no moral distinction is made between people and horses. They breed horses selectively; so they breed people selectively. They require only a few stallions to fertilise many mares; so they require few men to fertilise many women. They would point out in explaining this that adult males of either species are dangerous and hard to manage, so that it is better not to have too many of them. Excess males are killed at birth, or sold as geldings at puberty. They eat the flesh of neither men nor horses (although it is widely alleged that they are cannibals).

Their ancestors had little material culture; they have taken this to an extreme and have almost none. They wear no clothes, have no habitations, use no saddles. Their cultural expression is in song, dance and story telling, but they have no musical instruments or writing tools. A tribeswoman's possessions will normally amount to no more than a blanket or two; a knife; a leather bag; a bridle; some rope; some salves and medicines; and, always, a recurved compound bow and a good supply of arrows. In addition, the matriarch of a family will carry a branding iron with which she will brand not only the foals but the children of the group.

After six hundred years of selective breeding for a particular conformation, they are now universally slight, very pale of skin, very red of hair. The sides of the head are shaved, and the hair on the central strip allowed to grow very long, to resemble a horse's mane. Their horses are renowned among all the peoples of the steppe as both the swiftest and the most enduring. They are tall but not heavily built, and cannot carry a heavy rider.

The Wild Herd are not warriors, and have retreated deep into the marshes in the valley of the I'xa'xa I'xi river, where their knowledge of the terrain makes them reasonably -- but not absolutely -- secure from raiding. Nevertheless they are declining under pressure from other groups, especially slavers, as they carry an exotic premium in some slave markets.

They live in family groups of about twenty adult women and their immediate offspring. Such groups will usually keep one man, although typically the men will be rotated from group to group over the years. A man known to father 'good' (i.e. conforming to type) daughters may grow to have considerable status, but will never be treated as an equal. A man who's offspring are not considered good will be sold or driven out of the tribe. Even a valued man will only be kept so long as he remains virile.

Women often form close sexual relationships with each other, and no incest taboo governs this practice; but the idea of a close heterosexual relationship is completely unfamiliar to them.

Language and Pronounciation

The difference between these languages groups is so extreme that people not brought up among the wild herd cannot normally even pronounce wild herd names. The wild herd speak a clicked languages, sounding like (but quite different from) Xhosa; other languages in use are voiced.

The principle sounds which cause difficulty are the following:

Additionally, the wild herd swallow most of their vowels. Their speech is not merely incomprehensible to other groups (even other Iachaorach): it does not sound like speech at all. This contributes to the sense other peoples have of the wild herd as not really being human at all: primitive, exotic, uncanny.

give me feedback on this page // show previous feedback on this page