“The Serpent-men are known to be as wily as they are powerful. Perhaps this task is better suited to the Lords of Odisha.”
-Report to Samudragupta, regarding a failure to pacify the eastern coast
The peoples of the ecumene are many; their forms, innumerable. Many philosophers, priests, and thinkers have wondered as to the origins of man, and many answers have emerged from such fruitless questioning. Herodotus posited that it was humanity that emerged first, and with the power of magic now lost shaped the beasts around them to familiar forms, that they would serve as guides and slaves in climate once unsuitable for settlement. Sallustius Crispus claimed that all the peoples of the world once shared a single origin, and the realities of different climes wrought themselves upon the first colonies of civilization. Ammonius Saccas suggested that in fact there are many origins of flora and fauna alike, and that all paths of descendance converge upon a single perfect form, which would thus be the form of the gods. For whatever reason, it is clear that humanity is not the sole master of the earth.
The Yejibi people are often seen in two forms, with one being far more common than the other. In both cases, they are a hairy tribe, with a long face like a snout and elevated feet as if standing upon their toes. The striped Yejibi is a wandering people, perhaps as humans once were when they expanded the breadth of the world, coming to settle much of the Persian Empire, Arabia, India, and where Africa meets the Internal Sea. The striped tribe is known to coexist well with humanfolk, speaking the many tongues of their many homelands. The spotted tribe, conversely, is insular, and known only in the lands of Aethiopia. Rare are the cities of men able to pacify their clans, and they have only been known to speak the Ge’ez tongue of Axum. There has, in various legends persisting among both the peoples, of a third cousin of the Yejibi, of solid coloration and powerful inborn magics, but such a figure has never been recorded except in folklore.
The Anura people are said to have emerged from an island off the coast of Africa, though such a landmass has never been found. Anurai are often of a sticky, smooth skin, often saturated in water so as to be slippery. However, the barbarian variant known in Transdanubia and Gallia are often seen with rough, mottled skin, which may cause sickness on the touch to those not of their blood. No matter the type, Anurai are known to have large and bulging eyes, and are incredibly rarely civilized or accustomed to urban life.
The Karbash is a scaled tribe, known most often for their strength and large stature. A common myth among their clans are that they possess the heritage of dragons, and that the gods reside on a hidden island far to the east of India. Today, the Karbash are commonly seen about the latitude of Syria and southwards, but any further north and the sight of them becomes very rare. No matter how well integrated with their neighboring tribes, the Karbash people have a tendency to avoid the consumption of plant matter, but do not shy away from meats often deemed unsuitable by the other tribes, including spiders, worms, and (in the case of Karbash following the Jewish religion) oysters and pigs.
The Nagaji is among the most variable in form of all the tribes, with some not even possessing legs and rather ambulating on one large leg that slides upon the earth and ends in a point. The Nagaji are most associated with the land of India, where they are more often well-integrated with other peoples and most often seen in ruler positions, but there are many variants existing in all three known continents, and the Germanic Nagaji clans are much-feared by the Romans on the other side of the Rhenus. It is commonly considered that the Nagaji are of one ancestry with the Naga beasts (also commonly of India), but why one branch developed limbs and became civilized while the other remained largely barbaric is currently beyond the natural philosophy’s limits of understanding.
The Mejaw, conversely, are the most variable in terms of culture and adaptation to the spread of human society, and are thus known by the most names. Mejaw are befurred and snouted, yet distinct from the Yejibi in visible ways. The Mejaw of Egypt have long held a special status in the age of their empire, and have thus most persisted with those millenniae-old ancient traditions even now that the majority of them have converted to Christianity. The Greek Mejaw (or “Leonidae”) are known as fierce warriors, and it is a common stereotype from the Roman perspective to see gladiators as maned with golden fur.
The Rodens is one of the few tribes found most commonly in the lands of Europe. Rodentes are rarely above half the height of a human in stature, with large ears above their heads and, in the case of most Roman Rodentes, large and durable teeth. Indeed, many of their clans were among the oldest allies of Rome as they bloomed from a city-state to a nascent empire. Since then, Rodentis colonies and communities have appeared in every port along the Internal Sea, though some barbaric groups persist in the mountains of the Caucasus, in Germania and Slavia, and well beyond. Imperial Rodens families have even been elevated to the Senate (especially during Caesar’s rule), although none have yet managed to wear the diadem.
The Corvid is as well a mostly European tribe, though their clans are most usually less peaceable than most. Corvidae are feathered, as well possessing a blackened beak in place of a nose or snout, and clawed of feet. Their clans are often wanderers and raiders, and lands where they once lived have at times displaced them through wars and conflicts. It is commonly considered among the people of former Carthage and Numidia (where the Corvidae were often most well integrated) that this people had a natural inclination towards sorcery and the magical arts, and Corvidae were able to attain high status in those societies before the Roman conquests.
The Vanara are thought to either have descended from or are the ancestors to humanity, at least according to myths common among their clans. Indeed, they do in many ways resemble humanity, excepting their more nimble feet and notable tails. Vanara clans are incredibly common in India and Aethiopia, but very rarely elsewhere in the ecumene, excepting a notable few Amazigh clans just south of the Atlas Strait.
Finally, the Florid people are by far both the most widespread, surviving in lands where even humans do not dare to settle, and the least populous. Floridae are often green-toned in their skin, but the coloration of them are so diverse that it’s possible no two are even remotely alike. Little can be said of these reclusive people, as they only ever seem to appear in vagabond bands, and the rare few clans that come into contact with Florid societies are non-literary, and thus nothing much can be said more than that said individual Floridae seem to share an inherent kinship with those of their own blood, no matter the distance between their origins.
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