In the eastern reaches of the Dominion, where shrubland gives way to endless fields of golden grass, live the Yewuan. They’re never particularly difficult to spot: They’re usually accompanied by great herds of horse, sheep, and goats, and have mounted sentries that guard these herds from the periphery.
The Yewuan are pastoralists. Much of their way of life is dedicated to the movement and management of their flocks. These flocks are the source of some of their most essential resources: Food, milk, wool, hides, and in the case of their horses, mobility. The animals graze from the grasses of the plains, and when that grass begins to deplete, the Yewuan move on.
This movement takes the Yewuan east in the summer, when the desert becomes even hotter and more unbearable, and west in the winter, when frost and snow begins to make the territories bordering Richtcrag difficult to move and graze in. To facilitate this movement, they bring with them large wool-covered communal tents that can easily be set up and torn down, but they also have permanent settlements at the extremes of their journey where up to a quarter of their people reside.
There are multiple Yewuan groups called adukar, which follow parallel paths in and out of the desert. Raids between and within adukar are common (as is raiding on other groups in the area), though relatively bloodless, with the primary objective being the seizure of herd animals. As imbalances in power emerge between nearby groups, some might pledge loyalty and tribute to each other in exchange for peace and even protection. Hierarchies among the Yewuan are complex webs that seemingly contradict themselves when viewed from afar.
The Yewuan are collectively bound by their religious law, referred to as the Tsukor, which is also the term that the Register has assigned as the name of their faith. The Tsukor is highly prescriptive about how the Yewuan must live, both as individuals and as communities. It covers in great detail matters of diet, dress, animal care, marriage, trade, justice, inheritance, and battle, and has different prescriptions for situations involving only Yewuan, and situations involving outsiders.
For an individual, violating the Tsukor means harsh punishment, usually of a physical nature. The most severe crimes are punished by death. For those crimes of a particularly sacrilegious nature, exile is common, for a period of up to seven years. This exile is from the whole of the Yewuan. After one returns from exile, they are considered spiritually cleansed and are welcomed back into their adukar.
For a larger group, violating the Tsukor means no longer being protected by it, and inviting the wrath of the Yewuan. Raids are not just for stealing from the flock, but also for retributive killing and the taking of slaves. In the most extreme cases, an adukar will be picked clean of its people and its herds. Slaves taken this way are protected by the Tsukor, which goes so far as to define their rights and the conditions under which they are to be treated. They are made to work as a form of spiritual rehabilitation, much like exile. After a period of time, they’re either returned to their adukar if it still exists, or adopted into the adukar that took them if it doesn’t.
These conditions keep the various adukar on relatively good terms with each other- the Tsukor ensure that everyone is ‘playing fair’, with raids being seen as a natural part of the general struggle for influence and prestige. Those that wish to abstain from this struggle entirely find homes for themselves on the permanent settlements at the east and west ends of their adukar’s grazing range.
When dealing with foreign hostile powers, the Yewuan act as a single confederation, united under a leader called the adukan. The adukan is responsible for coordinating the rest of the adukar against their common enemy, but their power begins and ends at collective defense.
In protracted conflicts, warriors will be organized into groups of up to twenty, will be given general orders, and are set free to carry out those orders however they see fit. Yewuan warriors take advantage of the speed of their horses, cutting down their enemies either with long, curved bronze blades, or with expertly fired shots from their longbows. They excel at harrying forces much larger than their own, waging wars of attrition with their superior mobility. Their prowess has led to bands of them being hired by various eastern Richtcrag powers, and they’ve been inducted into the Dominon’s Auxiliaries under the banner of the Yewuan Irechem, which is exclusively cavalry.
The herders and warriors of the adukar are the glue that hold their wide-spanning peoples together, and a major responsibility of theirs is transporting goods and materials during their seasonal travels, to balance the needs of their satellite communities. At the same time, these towns and villages work tirelessly using what resources they have. They farm hardy crops that persist in the dry climate. They work forges to produce tools, weapons, and armor for their people. When the herds return to them, entire communities come together to butcher and preserve the animals selected for slaughter.
These settlements are the main point of contact between the Yewuan and the May’Kar Dominion, as well as other traders, providing them with a permanent place to meet and discuss matters. The Yewuan grant hospitality here to those who approach them in good faith, even among those they would normally battle with upon the plains. They give a token tribute to the Dominion in the form of fine animal hides, a symbolic arrangement made for the sake of their algarad, but they receive far more in return, paid by the crown for peace and protection for traders moving through the region.
The Yewuan are skilled architects. Their tents and homes are built from very little, making the most out of lumber purchased from outsiders. Their temples, on the other hand, are great and extravagant, made from stone blocks that have been meticulously cut to perfect size and fitted together. Some temples have been found that are so ancient that the people that built them have been gone for centuries, but they still stand tall. In times of danger, the temples also serve as castle-like fortifications, allowing the villagers to wait for invaders to lose enthusiasm or for help to arrive.
When time allows for it, they weave elaborate colorful rugs and tapestries, which are laid within and hung upon their homes, respectively. These woven works are artistic expressions, but also often encode personal and communal history, elements of the Tsukor, and other personally and culturally significant objects and figures. Some are made specifically to be sold to the Dominion, where they fetch a high price, but most are made either for personal use or for symbolic gifts, given to loved ones, leaders, or sometimes, enemies.
The Tsukor acknowledges two gods: Khiidur and Salach. They represent the duality of the earth and the sky. Khiidur is a masculine figure of earth, soil, and stone. The Yewuan temples are built from his bones, and dedicated to him, and are a symbol of his strength and protection. Salach is a feminine figure of the winds, sky, and flame. She has no temples, because she is the thing that cannot be contained, but many offerings are committed to her in high and open spaces.
According to the Tsukor, all things that are, were made by Khiidur and Salach in isolation. Khiidur made the earths of the world, the waters that sit upon it, the metals that dwell within it, and more. And Salach made the skies, the winds that blow through it, the sun and the moon, the birds, and the stars, and yet more as well.
But when they came together, they saw that there were things that could only be made through the union of their arts, and this created three things: The first are the grasses, which grow from the earth but sway in the wind. The second is the horse, and earth-bound creature that nonetheless flies across the ground with the speed of a bird and the spirit of thunder. The third is the Yewuan themselves, the chosen people of the gods, who are uniquely suited to dwell within the space that so clearly marks their divine union.