Njerëzim



A generally dark and wiry people, the Njerëzim are known to be some of the most deadly warriors in Canthia. Deeply religious, the vast majority follow a brand of militant hedonism named after its messiah: the Temple of the Red Wolf. Though human, they are unrelated to the Har'wen tribal bloodlines that comprise the natives of Vaelorn, Straegard, The Crownless Lands, and pre-Scourge Idlebruuke.

History
Belkjan Ujk, the Red Wolf, used crude manashard engines to conquer the whole of the isles in 489. He immediately and brilliantly set himself up as the new messiah of a local religion, warping it to fit his bizarre militant hedonism.

Straegard's Western Expeditionary Force, led by General Kehlmeig, discovered the islands in 784. Disgusted with what they considered to be barbaric practices, Kehlmeig had the Ujk bloodline publicly executed and declared the Westwater a Protectorate of Straegard. The Dhëmbezi retaliated by boarding his ships in the night and slaughtering his force to the last man. Reverse-engineering the tech contained in Kehlmeig's Armada led to a number of Njerëzimi advances.

Religion and Society
The Temple of the Red Wolf is the major religion of the Westwater. Ujk's title connotes levels of viciousness, cunning, and gluttony almost unimaginable to the cultures of the central continents. Priests of the Red Wolf, known as the Dhëmbëzi ("Black Teeth"), serve as Njerëzimi frontline soldiers, using potent combinations of local narcotic plants and sex to whip themselves into hallucenogenic bloodlusts. While their raids commonly involve rape, the Njerëzim as a whole have a far different approach to the sanctity of the body than most cultures, and the act is not considered nearly so vile as it is on the continents to the East. In fact, the very act of being raped by Dhëmbëzi is considered a religious experience, and so it is perhaps incorrect to call it such. "Unexpected sex" might be a more fitting moniker.

Traditional magic is very rare in the Westwater Isles. Because the manashard vein present there is imprintable (See Manashard), and because of the tenants of the Red Wolf, blood magic has flourished. Abhorred in the rest of the world, it is celebrated in the Westwater -- to be bled and used in a spell cast by a powerful Dhëmbëzi is among the highest honor one can receive.

Njerëzimi society is divided into several castes, following the divisions of the Temple, which itself is based on the anatomy of the bloodwolf, the dominant predator in the Westwater (an animal remarkable for several reasons; see Westwater Isles for more information).

The Zemra Ujku ("Wolf Heart") is head of the Temple, state, and military, and is considered a reborn aspect of Ujk himself. His royal guard are the Brinjëzi ("Ribs"). Other Temple roles include the dual High Priests, or Mushkërim ("Lungs"), and a horde of minor functionaries known as Zorrëzi ("Guts" or "Intestines"). Military command is made up of officers called the Trurim ("Brains"), with minor officers named after outlying neural centers. The major intelligence agency is called Zverku (roughly, "that part of the brain concerned with sight," though, like most things, having a much more spiritual meaning among the Njerëzim).

The merchant classes are generally named after bodily fluids, as they are thought to move nutrients through the society and lubricate social interaction. The Gjakim ("Blood") are domestic traders, while the Farëzi ("Semen") are international, and also serve as a sort of diplomatic service.

Peasants are known, as a whole, as Leshim ("Fur"). Those that prove themselves through acts of valor or particular intelligence may be chosen by high-ranking members of the various castes to join those. This is a remarkably common occurrence. Likewise, those in the upper castes who fail at their jobs may be busted down to Leshim at any time.

Njerëzimi society is strange, and even commendable, in that they have no idle noble class. All those of high birth are compelled by law to join the Temple, the military, or the merchant castes. Those that do not comply are stripped of their property and generally used as fodder for Temple blood magic experiments.