Ngara

Ngaran Tlarate

The Ngarans are a people situated mainly around the Ngaran Basin in southwestern Suribia. Over various points in time, they have also lived through most of Suribia, ranging from the Ikadi Peninsula in the southwest, to the Gardia Mountains to the west, to the Progoran islands in the southeast and even parts of Remdor. Modern day Ikadians and Progorans are mostly descended from Ngarans, so the word can be used to refer to them collectively as one race, though they can identify as very different people.

People

Ngarans in general have blue-black hair, sometimes ranging to black or dark brown, and their skin is often quite dark. Their eyes are light shades of magentas and purples. By appearance, they could be mistaken for dark-skinned Arasons from Remdor.

From early on, those we now know as Ngarans were always an aggressive, expansionistic people. The oldest relatives are known as Inoti, who eventually came to begin the first known tlarate. A tlarate is a type of monotheism wherein the people worship their monarch as their god. The tlar has thus always been a hugely important figure to these people.

Land

Ngara is a lush land of tropics and mountains. It stretches from the southwestern end of the Great Dustlands to the southwestern most point of Suribia, with the Morunwa Tlarate along its northwestern edge and Progoran to the east. Most Ngarans live in the Ngaran Basin on the west side of the Kalaqan Peninsula, a huge jungle filled with rivers which flow into the Ngarasa and out into Ngatrok Bay. Their capital, Inotisira, is positioned on a smaller river east of the Ngarasa, as the latter river tends to flood often. To the east of the Kalaqan Peninsula is the Inati Bay where other rivers flow into the Inati Sea. The northern corner of Ngara creeps into the Green Ranges where the Hiigwbas people live. At the southern end of the Kalaqan Peninsula, where the Kalaqan tribes of Ngara live, are the Maha tribes, and further south on the island of Ngula are the Ngulan tribes. West of the Ngaran Basin are the Ngatrok Mountains. West of these mountains dwell the Angilum and Hlisitl people. Further west and south, past the Angilum Highlands and south on the Ikadi Peninsula, are the Liigba people, who are arguably not a part of the Ngaran Tlarate, though the tlar would say otherwise.

Religion and Politics

As stated, tlars are god-kings to their people. Though they delegate many duties to subordinates, the tlar can overrule any decision and make changes happen by his command. Aside from the tlar and his family, most others are seen as expendable; life is cheap and death is not a problem. Though they have laws around murders and such, there are stories of law-enforcers turning a blind eye to most crimes that happen in tlarates.

Tlars also see cats as sacred animals. They often have them as pets and breed them for purity and beauty. It is said that the first tlars were descended from and raised by a giant mountain cat. Cats are known throughout Suribia as beasts of the tlars. It is for this reason that owning a cat in places like Vaman is against the law. It is said that somewhere in Ngara, every day, a child is sacrificed in the name of the tlar.

Culture

Ngarans live in stone and thatch houses and grow crops on large wetlands and along rivers. Those higher in society live in great grey stepped pyramids, some of which believed to be several thousand years old. Cat statues are very common. They drink a milk-like alcohol called masitl, made from "milk blood", and hold a huge number of festivals each year. These festivals usually involve singing and drinking, and making child sacrifices for "milk blood" while the priests make prophecies out of patterns in the escaping blood. Ngarans are generally very hostile toward anybody who looks different to them and are known to be cunning in how they face their enemies.

History

Eventually the Inoti Tlarate broke apart. To this day we aren’t sure why; it happened almost two thousand years ago. The tlarate broke into three: Ikadian Tlarate, Inoti Tlarate, and Progoran people. Ikadia adopted the same tlar system as their forefathers but apparently made enough changes to warrant becoming different people. They are known to be less aggressive than their Ngaran cousins and today are divided into allied sub-tlarates of sorts.

The Ikadians became the Matedii, then the Kpohanans, then the Morunwa. They mostly live in the Anwanyisis Mountains but can also be found in the Blackscale Peaks, Green Ranges in the case of the Higgwbas people, Gardia Mountains in terms of the Agbakpwas people, and northern Angilum Highlands in terms of the Anykwas people.

The Progorans inherited their expansionistic nature from their Inoti ancestors and have invaded Remdor several times. Despite their seemingly powerful front, they actually consist of many smaller groups of people, with even smaller tribes within these groups. Some groups include the Tsachuni and Xhade of Lesser Progora, the Sepriki of Greater Progora, the Sarshi of Sarshran, the Azichli of Azichlran, and the Axhykeli of Axhykelran.

The Inoti Tlarate is only a fraction of its former glory, but it still poses a great threat to any neighbours the tlar names as enemies. From their ancient capital of Inotisira, the tlar commands nearby people to fight in his armies in return for his protection. The largest tribal groups include the Liigba, the Kalaqan, the Maha, the Hlisitl, and the Angilum people. The Inoti Tlarate has gone through several different families of tlars since the fall of the largest tlarate.

After the Inoti tlars came the Litona tlars, then the Isan tlars, the Liigbena tlars, and the Ngaran tlars we know today.