The Swnndyrrr

[Oroigawa Koreyasu]

(Yes, that's 3 consecutive R's)

Around 3100ASC, the Swnndyrrr people left their homes in Toketi, following their leader, Ozymandias Rosekkaa, to the forests of Letter Attera. Having settled well inland, they resumed their life as before, a life as farmers, hunters, and craftsmen. They preferred seclusion, since their appearance generally made them outcasts, even among the liberal Tokians to the north. Their features are now familiar to most Shirithians, since a Swnndyrrr, Llewellynn Rottsaa (aka Kaiser Reynardine I), sat several years on the throne as Kaiser. They stand on average 1.9m tall, weighing around 60kg. They have ears and a tail like a fox, the fur on which can vary, but is generally genetic, with shades of red being a dominant trait, and grays and blacks being recessive. Skin is generally pale.

Three years after their settlement of Palwyro, in Lesser Attera, Ozymandias Rosekkaa died at the age of 69 due to natural causes (Swnndyrrr have an average lifetime of about 120 years). This left a gap in the leadership. The leader, known as the ytteirsal, usually names a successor from among those he deems suitable to watch over the clans. Rosekkaa died before he chose one, which left several of the clan leaders, the yttrri, battling for the support of the people. Of the four major clans, two fielded candidates, Errovel Hettroa, one of the more talented hunters of his generation, and Rellan Rosekkaa, son of the late Ozymandias and a cunning debater. Each got the support of their own clan, and then one of the other major clans.

Of the seven minor clans, five supported Rosekkaa and 1 supported Hettroa, the last remaining neutral, after 2 weeks of deliberation. Rosekkaa was granted his father's scepter, and took control of the Swnndyrrr clans, much to the dismay of Hettroa and the clans that supported him. Within three months, the Swnndyrrr people split into two factions, one under Rosekkaa, the other under Hettroa's son, Peron.

Rosekkaa stayed in the city of the Swnndyrrr, while Hettroa took his people to live among the Kildarians on the shores of Nova Dalmacija. Rosekkaa lead his people for 86 years before his death in 3202, leaving his daughter, Lessia, as ytteirsal. She ruled uneventfully for many years.

Meanwhile, the Naesser Swnndyrrr ("Free Swnndyrrr"), as they now called themselves, were sorting out the peculiarities of their situation. Many took Shirithian partners in an attempt to assimilate. The offspring of these unions either lost their tail, lost their ears, but very rarely both. On some occasions, children were born with kinked tails, or floppy ears. Despite their assimilation, they kept many of their old traditions, including taking yellow full-body tattoos at marriage and the fox-soul pendant. Peron Hettroa never took a partner, and died alone at 123 years of age. He passed the title of ytteirsal to Gärtoen Zennsaal, a young, quiet carpenter.

Very little happened among both Swnndyrrr tribes until about 3300ASC, when Naesser Swnndyrrr ytteirsal Zasoni Hession took his people back to live among the True Swnndyrrr. Despite their diluted blood, Naesser and True Swnndyrrr unions always yielded True Swnndyrrr children. Hession abdicated as ytteirsal in favor of then True Swnndyrrr ytteirsal Rennen Rottsaa.

(TO BE CONTINUED LATER)