Dorenti
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The Dorenti people are a human ethnic group that originated in southern Athelonesia, though the majority now thrive in the central part of the continent.
Description
The Dorenti are a fair-skinned people with skintones that range from the original sallow complexion of the Neumeni to the medium complexion introduced with their interactions with the Ankaidou. Their hair tends towards a chestnut hue with sky blue colored eyes thought this can vary the entire natural human spectrum. The Dorenti have medium builds and are slightly above average in height.
History
Following the split of the Neumeni after their defeat by Ioneisea, a small segment escaped south along the eastern coastline. Their migrations stopped along the southernmost tip of the continent in the region known as the Ascaedi Wilds.
Already living in the region were a people known as the Ankaidou, with whom they intermingled, eventually forming the Dorenti culture. The Ankaidou were a civilization of arcane spellcasters focused on astrology and divination. It encompassed the modern subregion of the Khazgorian Steppe. An unknown calamity brought this civilization to an end roughly two and a half millennia ago. Its people regressed technologically, shunning their forebearers' advancements, and developed into the two related cultures.
The Dorenti largely inhabited the western part of the wilds, the Ascaeli Steppe, and lived as simple clannish herders and part-time raiders. The Ankai, who thrived for generations in the inhospitable Khazgorian Wastes, were forged into savage warriors. For centuries, the Ankai maintained their self-sufficiency through intertribal warfare. However, the Ankai tribes unified and began pushing west, ultimately driving the Dorenti into the Sorval Valley nineteen hundred years ago.
The early Dorenti first settled in modern Waymoot in Eastern Phyrangia, with some continuing west and north. Conflict with the Ankai continued, but was temporarily halted for some time before a sizable host attempted to subjugate them. The Ankai suffered a terrible defeat at the hands of Vedestes, a revered and legendary chieftain in -532 PR.
During this time, a sizable portion of the Dorenti became sedentary, establishing numerous villages along the Sorval River during the ensuing period of peace. Some of these settlements became influential, exerting military or economic control over their neighbors.
The Ankaidou later reignited their hostilities against the Dorenti, continuing to assail them in the Sorval Valley. In their favor, the Dorenti's new home was nestled among hills and high mountain ranges, surrounded by dense forests. The Ankaidou harbored superstitions of forests. Thus, an all-out pogrom against the Dorenti seemed unlikely. Still, the Ankaidou believed their earlier victories would allow them to continue. The Dorenti chieftain Vedestes would defeat the Ankaidou in -532 PR at the Battle of Sorval Valley, discouraging further Ankaidou encroachment.
The Dorenti eventually dissolved into three sub-tribes: the Neumeni, the Phyrangi, and the Vedesti. The Vedesti and the Neumeni retained the semi-nomadic ways and religion of the Dorenti. The significant difference between them was that the Vedesti were a more warlike tribe, while the original Neumeni were pacifists, unlike the modern variety. The Phyrangi began as the former, but would eventually adopt a sedentary culture at the urging of the Pelvarran Empire, with whom they shared intercourse, even adopting the faith of the "Known Gods." The Phyrangi would go on to found the Kingdom of Phyrangia, which would become the modern Kingdom of Waymoot.
Religion
The ancient Dorenti practiced an animist religion called the Old Faith. The faith centered around the creator god Elegrim and a pantheon of ambiguous minor deities and nature spirits. In practice, the Dorenti did not directly worship Elegrim but worshipped his intermediates for assistance. In Elegrim's role as the Dawnforger or The Creator, the Dorenti gave him token reverence and respect.
Near the fall of the Ioneisean Empire, Elegrim appeared to forsake the empyreans and creation, citing the former's arrogance and unabashed decadence. The disappearance of Elegrim gave rise to the Known Gods, who appeared to the empire's downtrodden slaves and oppressed peoples. They gained a significant following there and in the early Palmithran Empire. They heralded the fall of the Ioneisean Empire and the emancipation of their newfound believers.