General Overview
Daru are an elven people from the Grilven lands of southwest Epose Peninsula. They are a people who value military service, discipline, and loyalty to the Duruan Kingdom and its leader . The Daru are a people with a long history of strife and maltreatment, which has breed an intense distrust of outsiders.
Appearance
Like other elven people they have elongated ears that end in a point with a narrow build.. But, what primarily separates them from their western cousins is their eyes and noses.
Their eyes lack any white, as one looks and only sees pupil. This likely results in them having excellent vision at night, as well as being able to make out distant objects much better than humans, orcs, dwarves, and other elven.
Many view their frail looking build, and compared them as weaker to a human or orc. A daru possess the same strength and athletic ability as any human man. One should note if there is any shortfall in strength, without hesitation, a Daru will make up for said shortcoming with vicious, underhanded, and unrelenting blows.
Their skin is a copper a bronze complexion, with on occasion freckles. Their natural hair color tends to be brown, blond, or white. In their strict society, dyed black hair is considered to be status symbol earned by experienced soldiers, members of the aristocratie, “unworthy” Daru who dye their hair black are severely punished. This punishment may consist, but is not limited to forced labor, public humiliation or disgrace, exiled, and in some cases death.
Their faces tend to be narrow with sharp cheekbones, ending with a sharp chin. As for their noses, they are flat, almost to the point where they are almost indistinguishable to the rest of their face, were it not for the two nostrils above their lips.
Society
The Three Bastions
Daru Society is centered around three main ideas. Or as the Daru refer to them, “The Three Bastions of Allegiance”, The bastions are “Allegiance to the Daru Kingdom”, “Allegiance to the monarchy”, and “Allegiance to one’s ancestors”.
The Allegiance to the Kingdom, means to protect, serve, and if necessary to kill and die for any Daru. This applies to Daru outside to the kingdom as Daru use kingdom synonymously with Daru as a people. According to Daru records, their history following the expulsion from their homelands was one of constant struggle that was often the result of human and orcish oppressors. This resulted in a close and tight knit community that has since evolved into what some might call a xenophobic state
The allegiance to the monarchy is the fact that the Daru view their monarce as a protector and leader. The first Daru monarch, King Hezemum the Great, rose to prominence by organizing and leading the scattered Daru tribes into a single unified force against the Kolcion kingdom. Since then, the monarch or the as the Daru word “Velnun” has always be regarded as a protector and leader of the Daru race and regarded with almost religious revenvece.
The Allegiance to one’s ancestry is displayed in Daru Society with ancestor worship. As suffering in Daru history is often major factor in their culture, every Daru is expected to pay pennince to the suffering their ancestors endured so that the current generation of Daru. As it is often stated to every young, “Your ancestors bled, and starved so you may live.” This has bred into a competitive mindset amongst children. Children would compete with each other in many ways to gain the admiration of their ancestors. The first child who would finish their dinner first, cut their nails, clean the house, etc. would be treated with higher esteem than their peers as they earned the love of their ancestors. Of course those who “failed” would often suffering ridicule, and harassment from their peers. Many detractors and expats originate from this sect of Daru society, and without shock, view Daru society as tempest of misery, and aggression.
History
Pre-Great ruin
Like many other cultures, much of their ancestral knowledge was lost in the Great ruin, and Domeler’s Holy campaign. But unlike other cultures, the Daru faced a violent expulsion from their homeland and long exodus. However, a few rare texts, and oral traditions have illustrated a rough image as to what pre-ruin Daru life was like.
Almost all evidence portrays the Daru life in the long ago era as a peaceful existence, filled with poetry and nature worshiping. The Daru people lived practicing poetry and music, living in Soncro trees, and worshiping their god Cyloe, who represented nature, and fertility. In their worship of her, they refrained from using fire seeing how dangerous it was to plant life.
The exodus
At some point during the late first era did orcish tribes from the northern steppes begin to migrate into what is now the Thrayf riverlands did the Daru begin to face conflict.
From the Daru sentiment, the Oricon came in and began slaughtering the people. At first the Daru offered tribute in hopes of peaceful coexistence, which was accepted at first, but then met with betrayal as the Orcion took advantage of the false sense of security and laid waste to the Daru homes.
The Daru retreated to their ancient Soncro trees. This ended up becoming a horrible mistake, as the Oricon set fire to the trees, and set up archers around the exits. The Daru within the trees were forced to choose Orcin arrows, or become consumed in the inferno.
Not only did this massacre kill a horrendous amount of Daru, it also killed their belief in Cyloe. Seeing her holy trees burn proved that she was powerless to defend herself and her people from the Orcion. With their god being proven false, their homeland ablaze, and suffering from an innumerable loss, both in number and mind, the survivors began the long migration to the south.
As it turned out, the Orcin, (now called despoilers by the Daru), was only the beginning of their ordeal. As they traveled south, the human kingdoms at beast treated them with apathy, at worst, exploitation at the hands of their temporary hosts. Stories recorded constant abuse and harassment from locals as they passed through their lands. Some Daru were taken as slave, either through cruel trickery, or through outright aggression at the tip of a sword. As time passed on, some began to accept slavery over the uncertainty of continuing south.
Eventually the reached the land where they now currently live. But their struggles would not be over for a long time. While their area they settled was both uninhabited, and had rich soil, it was small, covered in thick forests, swamps, jungles ,and surrounded by three hostile human nations. For the first century in their land their life was a constant brawl against their neighbors, and vicious wildlife. But they soon began to adapt when one Daru managed to create a fire. Despite their shaken faith Cyloe, using fire was a taboo, but, according to the legend, this Daru and his family was surrounded by vicious jungle cats, and either through ingenuity, quickly started a fire, fashioned a torch, and fended his family from the jungle cats. This Daru would have a son, and that son will become known as king Hezemum.
The first King
With his newfound power Hezemum began to rally the Daru, and to a select few, taught them the secret to create fire. These select few would later become the ancestors for the modern Daru aristocracy. Together they used fire to burn down the trees, which prior to their exodus would have been unthinkable. With their land clear of fauna, they soon began to learn how to farm and organize themselves. However, by turning once inhospitable jungle into farmland, they soon garnered the envy of their neighboring human clans. Once again they were invaded, and forced to work the land they created as slaves. It was during this period young Hezemum grew from a child, and to a man, and with knowledge from his father, and from the invading humans learned how to craft weapons from iron. Slowly he built a stockpile of weapons, through thievery, and crafting.
At first their rebellion was successful, as they drove their owners away from their plantations, but as their owners fled, their army charged in. As soon as their fortunes began to change for the better, it was crushed again. Hezemum fled to the jungle as his followers died to ensure his escape. Crestfallen at his defeat, on top of all that his people already had endured he was willing to give up and let the jungle take him. Until he spied a nearby river, where lived a family of beavers. With curiosity he observed them build their dam, and despite being overflowed with water on multiple occasions destroying all they built, the beavers still worked to complete their dam, until, over many days and nights, they completed their project, which easily withstood anything they river swept towards them.
Hezemum learned that strength does not come from being unable to be pushed down, but rather it steams from being able to stand up again. With this lesson, the fire within Hezemum’s chest ignited once more, and with this knowledge, he returned to his people, and lead a second rebellion. This time, as they drove their masters from their homes, they fortified their positions with mud walls, ramparts, and sharpened sticks were shoved into the ground. For a whole month they fought off their masters, and their armies. Soon the attacks broke their siege and retreated, deciding to cut their losses. Still Hezemum was not done, as he realized as long as the human clan existed, they would always pose a threat, and soon began to train his followers into proper soldiers. For ten years they mastered metallurgy, drills, formations, and blacksmithing, and when their were ready Hezemum lead them into the the homeland of their former masters, and slaughtered every single one of them. Destroying. Legends tell of them falling upon the humans with a indescribable fury, as a century or suffering was unleashed. Not a single man, woman or child was spared in the slaughter, and along with the death of the people, their culture was burned in the inferno, as the Daru learned to view war, only as means of annihilation.
With this victory, the Daru expanded their lands to include iron rich hills, half of the Krentos river, and established a ruthless reputation, who will not hesitate to destroy their enemies. Victorious Hezemum was soon crowned king, or as the Daru call the position, the Uliā,which roughly translates to a mix of leader and fire wielder. And so, with a bloody victory, the Daru kingdom began as a formal nation.
The age of consolidation
Queen Ellirum
With their position finally secured by her father Ellrium began to look inward to bolster the her kingdom. She started building the capital of her people, call Hezu’reun, meaning birthplace of Hezemum in common tongue. By starting with a bastion, that would later become a part of the imperial palace, and ending with a wall that surrounded Hez’reun, which would see much use in the future. Yet despite her wish to have her reign be a period of peace, the Daru were once again attack, this time by the human kingdom of Hulm to the north. As her father did, she took the donned her armor and leader a costly campaign to repel the invaders. Finally in a decisive battle, Ellirum encircled the Hulmian army and slaughtered all of them, leaving no survivors. Feeling emboldened by this victory, Ellirum lead her army into an offensive campaign into Hulm, which at first was successful until Ellirum contracted pneumonia and died. With its leader dead, the army retreated back home.
Queen Ellirum II “The land raiser”
Crowned only a week following her mother’s death at the ripe age of fourteen, her reign was remembered by finishing what her mother started. In her reign she completed the wall her mother started, and then some more. With her advisors she completed several construction projects that turned the Krentos river delta from thick, mangled marshland, to an endless breadbasket. With a food supply secured the population exploded. Not stopping there, she also turned to the ocean, and began construction of a new city on the Tarun coast, complet with dockyards. Unlike her mother, she had lived a long and fruitful life. While the most peaceful of the Daru Uliā, her reign is arguably the most vital, as her land reclamation projects ensured the Daru people would never have to worry about food.
King Arzirum “The pious”
Like his predecessors Arzirum focused on improved, rather than expanding his holdings. Unlike her predecessors however, he used his authority to entrench the Uliā in Daru society. Its was his reign where the Uliā was beginning to be treated as a replacement for Cyloe. Using Hezemum’s legend, he started the new Daru faith, as being one based on the principle of fire. Unlike Cyloe who was weak, and unable to defended herself against the despoilers, their new god Hezu’urim, burns his foes with a brilliant orange blaze, he is the new god for a new Daru people.
Along with with his new religion, Arzirum was also a patron of the arts. His reign saw a revitalization of Daru poetry and art, but unlike the old, this new art would exist if it serve utility to the people. Public resources would only be built if they display epic victories, poets would only receive payment if their collection included epics about Hezemum creating fire, statues that feature a Daru warrior in a battle pose would get priority over a meaningless display of “beauty.
Age of expansions
The age of expansion was a series of wars that. With their kingdom secured, culture established, and food supply pouring forward, the Daru began to look outward, towards their envious neighbors, either to unite the Daru living in those lands with the motherland, obtain new resource or farmland, or just to simply assert dominance. Over the course of centuries, the Daru expanded, slayed, and vassalize their neighbors.
The modern Daru army, with its famed discipline, line maneuvers, and infamous ruthlessness came out of this era. By the mid of the fourth era, the Daru Kingdom had become the undisputed dominant power on the Epose peninsula. And recent rumors are circulating that the current Uliā is looking to launch a new campaign to retake the Daru ancestral homeland
Submitted July 30, 2018 at 07:18PM by Ringus_Von_Slaterfis https://ift.tt/2v09d1L
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