Kanaanim
by James MishlerI developed what I called the "Dread Sea Coast Lands," the Barren Plans between the Great Waste and the Sea of Dread, as a Levant/Crusader Kingdom region.
There I placed a version of the M-Canaanites, which had more than a bit of M-Judaism going in their culture and religion. Rather than deal with the whole monotheism issue, I punted and have the Kanaanim cleaving to a mystical faith inspired by the Kaballah:
Kanaanim – The Kanaanim are descended from the original inhabitants of the Dread Sea Coast, a homogenous blend of Oltecs, Neathar, and Tangori folk who settled the region before the Great Rain of Fire. They were the original inhabitants of the Great Waste and the modern Burning Waste and Barren Plains (which used to be a veritable paradise of milk and honey). The Kanaanim formed the basal population of the modern Heirosean and Midjai populations; the Heiroseans mixed further with Urduks, Sindhi, and Nithians, while the Midjai mixed further with Nithians and Alasiyani. Today the Kanaanim are essentially strangers in their own lands, as they have not ruled an independent kingdom in more than a thousand years. In some realms they are a tolerated majority, in others an oppressed minority. Today the Kanaanim keep to themselves, with groups being mildly to strongly isolationist, seeking to deal with the “Outsiders,” as they call all others, the least possible. Kanaanim have a unique mystic faith dedicated to the Nine Mysteries and One Truth (consisting of the five Hierarchs of the Spheres, the four Dragon Lords, and one Unnamable Truth), supported by a cosmos of Angels and Demons. Kanaanim speak Kanaanic, a unique language written with a unique alphabet not generally taught to Outsiders. Kanaanim have wavy or curly black hair, pale to dusky skin, almond-shaped brown eyes, and are of average height, with an average build.