Ethnographic History of Mystara - Oltecs
by Giulio Caroletti, Geoff Gander and Giampaolo AgostaOltecs can probably be considered similar to the Amerindians, and to Amerindian descended races. The Oltecs were adventurous and migrated all over Mystara by sea and earth. However they were never very prolific, and many of their small colonies were absorbed by more prolific Neathar civilisations.
The main Oltec civilisation was that of the Imperial Oltecs, settled on Brun in the regions of the Savage Coast. The civilisation was destroyed by the Azcans (2'800 BC), a warlike offshoot of the Oltecs that had separated themselves from the Empire around 3'500 BC. The surviving Azcans later became the Atruaghin clans, although a group migrated to the regions west of the Atruaghin Plateau, fused with local Oltec descended tribes and founded the Sindhi civilization.
Another pure Oltec civilisation was that of the Oceanians, forced out of their ancestral lands by the Night Dragons around 1200 BC. After harsh wars between the Oceanians and Androkians, the two races mixed and eventually became the current Cestian population (AC 450).
Jennites descended from an Oltec migrating party that left for Skothar, and evolved a whole different civilisation(1'900 BC) that ended three centuries later after a brutal civil war(1'600 BC).
The remaining Jennites entered a dark age from which they would never rise again - at least those that we know about. It is possible that eastern Jennites have reverted the trend and returned to a civilised state, unlike the western Jennites, barbarous tribes or slaves in Esterhold to the Alphatians. An example of this are the Teslans, a group of southern Jennites whose civilisation flourished after 2'000 BC on the southern coast of Skothar. Teslans mixed with a group of Jennite followers of Tarastia fleeing the civil war and became the Tarystian people.
Some of the original Tarystians still live in the cities of Minaea, although the main population of the region, the Minaeans, is the result of a mix of Tarystians with Milenian colonists that arrived in the region around 100 BC, fleeing the collapse of the Milenian Empire.
Oltecs of far western Brun are also the ancestors of all the races found in the Yezchamenid Empire. The Oltecs of the west evolved into the Hattians and Pitchans, although a part mixed with a Tanagoro migration, generating the Churans, Mebirs and Yivj. The Pitchans themselves in part mixed with the Huleans giving origin to the Dars and Midannites, and in part evolved into the Dremens.
Last but not least, considerable traces of Oltec blood can be found in the following populations:
Nithians: Nithians are the result of Neathar and Oltec intermingling. About 25% of the Nithian blood is Oltec. The same applies for Thothians;
Alasyians: The Alasyians are descendants of the Aseni population that was conquered by Nithians. They have about 10% of Nithian blood;
Varellyans: Varellyans are the mix of conquered Oltecs and conqueror Maharians. They have about 15% of Oltec blood.
