Sliabhaidan
From Eshraval Saved
The Sliabhaidan were a people, and arguably still are a people, that are believed to have been the original Shakrihl inhabitants of Arëdighùan, and Central Dieyantar. Largely wiped out by the Norric's and their other Shakrihl tribe allies because of their strange beliefs and supposed 'magics', it is unknown how many Sliabhaidan currently surrive to this day.
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Etmytology
Sliabhaidan is believed to be a very old, Shakrihl term for 'Mountain People'. Considering that the Sliabhaidan were found in the mountainous reaches of Pre-Yrjana Arëdighùan, this is considered a likely answer.
History
The few historical recods that remain adn have been found of the Sliabhaidan are written in strage cyphers and symbols that make translation extremely difficult. From what archeaologists have uncovered in caverns deep underground in the heartland of Arëdighùan, there is much more to the Sliabhaidan than meets the eye.
According to texts and writings found within these caves, the Sliabhaidan seemed to believe they were once part of an Empire spanning Taria, Naoria and the Northern Reaches of Zunia. Again, because of the difficutly in translating anything left from the Sliabhaidan, strides in finding more about them are difficult. So there is very little known about the 'Empire' or what it was, where it was centered, and mostly importantly, what happened to it.
Thanks to more recently discovered texts by minners drilling for oil in the Skojt al Gudene, scholars on the subject have no learnt several crucial things about this 'Empire', most importatnly its name. "Ammpereaht núa Mórkeathor", or as far as linguisists have been able to tell, "Empire of the Great Four".
It is believed that the name "Empire of the Great Four" refers to the four main Sascoll gods and godesses.
The only other thing known about the 'Ammpereaht núa Mórkeathor', thanks to the prophecies in the Núe Iantokht Ammpereahtei, is that it was the first of four prophesized empires to control Taria.
There is little known about the Sliabhaidan after their 'Empire' fell apart, only some sketchy detials that after the empires fall, that the Sliabhaidan took refuge in the mountains of Arëdighùan, thus earning the name 'Mountain People'.
After the collapse of their Empire, and subsiquent self-imposed exile to the inlands of Arëdighùan, the Sliabaidan population quickly began to dwindle. From the many archeological sites in the Steppe's, evidence of settlements slowly dying out has been exposed. Some comitted ritualistic mass suciside, others stopped growing crops and let their villages fall apart, and still others simply opted not to reproduce. As such it is believed that the population of Arëdighùan by 800 CE was something close to 300,000-500,000
With the eventual arrival Norric Explorers into the mountainous inland of Arëdighùan, the Sliabhaidan were suddenly alerted to the presence of civilizations that had surrived the supposed end of the world. Their entire culture was thrown into chaos, belief's that their culture had relied on for well over 200 years, and had faciliated in the near suciside of their race, were now disproven.
Large portions of the Sliabhaidan were quickly assimilated or killed by the Norrics and their various Shakrihl collaborators. As more large scale colonisation began in the 870's, and later on, many of the few remaining Sliabhaidan went into hiding, simply disapeering into the mountains that had protected them for over two hundred years.
Today the Sliabhiadan are little more than a cultural fascination. With so few remaining, it is difficult to now even get the whole story, as time progresses and more archeological finds are discoveries come in, slowly Arëdighùan discovers a little more of her past.
Culture
Prophecies
The Sliabhaidans claimed to be master prophets, and this along with other things seems to be one of the main reasons that they were driven out by the Norrics and other Shakrihl people of the area.
Looking at some of their lesser prophecies, the Sliabhaidan actually seemed to have predicted things that actually happend, things like good harvests, droughts and small wars. Whether or not these are just coincidences or the extremely general wordings of the phrophecies has made them applicable to these things remains to be seen. Though a goodly portion of the prophecies found were seemingly accurate, most of them were too small in scale to make a prominant historical impact, save one.
From small historical clues found in the small amount of Sliabhaidan artifacts found, there are references to a book, or collection of texts, called the Nue Iantokht Ammpereahtei or 'The Four Empires'. These texts are believed to be a collection of prophecies relating to the rise and fall of the four empires. From what archeaologists can tell, Ammpereaht núa Mórkeathor was one of the four, that was wiped out at the end of some sort of 'Second Age' predicted by the Sliabhaidan.
Magics
Customs
Cultural Ratings
All ratings are based on a 10-point scale
| Fighting Spirit: | 2 | Duty: | 9 | Mercy: | 7 | Ingenuity: | 5 | Resolution: | 7 | ||||
| Etiquette: | 8 | Compassion: | 9 | Creativity: | 5 | Passion: | 9 | Friendliness: | 5 | ||||
| Loyalty: | 3 | Scholarship: | 10 | Temper: | 1 | Vanity: | 2 | Imperialism: | 7 | ||||
| Tolerance: | 10 | Honor: | 2 | Pride: | 2 | Piety: | 9 | Patience: | 10 |
