Jennites
by Marco Dalmonte English translation by Gary DaviesTarastia - Law, order, truth, justice and just vengeance
Idu (Ixion) - Light, sun, strength, knowledge, war, balance, oppose evil
Ninsun - Fertility, prosperity, agriculture, magic, knowledge, wisdom
Notes:
1. The Jennites are exceptional horsemen that live in a nomadic manner, moving with their enormous herds of aurochs (ancient bison) from pasture to pasture and carrying on horseback or on the wagons all their assets. The Jennites hidden in the outer world in the central area of Skothar, shortly after the Great Rain of Fire. An Oltec colony had settled on the Skotharian coast in the present day Minaean region shortly before of the cataclysm and during the first generation the colonists were divided into farmer settlers of the coast, and shepherds of the interior. When the Blackmoorian catastrophe caused the axis of Mystara to rotate, the Oltecs were able to survive, but the farmers of the coast lost all the contacts with the herdsmen, which sought escape from the earthquakes and seaquakes by retreating ever more inland, following their herds in search of new pastures. In the course of the following generations the two ethnic groups also diversified because of the mixing of the Oltec herdsmen with native Skotharian tribes (probably Peshwah exiles escaping the nuclear disaster), which taught to the herdsmen the use of horses and of the techniques of mounted combat. From the fusion between these two groups (Neathar and Oltec) derived the Jennites, who also started to raid the coastal communities, which took to isolating themselves even more in order to not succumb. The Jennite civilisation, divided into clans headed by strong and charismatic leaders, becoming very quickly rich and powerful, and uncontested dominator of the Steppes of Jen, until in 1600 BC a civil war of religious nature brought disorder to Jen and caused the collapse of the Jennite system. Some clans in fact have abandoned the traditional religion in order to devote themselves to the Rathanosite mysticism, which preaches among other things the absolute male supremacy as a natural right and submission to Rathanos and to the faithful of any other Immortal and of his followers. Tarastia, Immortal patroness of the Jennite majority, could not accept this threat, and so the followers of the two philosophies transformed the religious clash into open war. But what that could have been for Tarastia an easy victory was revealed instead as the beginning of the end, since the followers of Rathanos were extremely seasoned and extremely more widespread having expected the Tarastians. After a century of internal fighting Jen was disrupted, and Tarastia understood that she must preserve her faithful or they would inevitably disappear. It was thus that at the end of the XVI century BC she transferred several clans that still followed the ancient pantheon into the Hollow World, positioning them in the southern part of Iciria, between the Nithians and the Tanagoro. In the next six hundred years, the Jennites of the outer world were in turn destroyed, until when, at the arrival of the Alphatians, no memory of the ancient Jennite strength remained, since the survivors were regressed to the Stone Age. In the Hollow World instead the Jennites continued to prosper in peace, following the precepts of Tarastia and worship the ancient pantheon without remembering any of the subversive philosophy of Rathanos, considered a heresy belonging to their distant past. The Jennites of the Hollow World continue to be a proud, warlike and nomadic Iron Age people, without a central authority but divided into clans, in which men and women have the same rights under the law and the same possibility of gaining important positions based on their own ability. The Jennites are lovers of horses and of the art of war, and regularly attacked their Tanagoro and Nithian neighbours, in search of booty and prisoners to be brought back to the homeland and executed in the name of Tarastia, as proof of strength and individual valour (the Jennites indeed don’t have slaves). The Jennites are particularly appreciated for the ability of their horse wranglers, of their goldsmiths and of their smiths, which frequently produced goods for which they were paid very high prices by the neighbouring Nithians and distant Milenians, beyond the Sea of Yr.
2. Tarastia is the patroness of all the Jennites, the one who has given order to the universe and has set the place of everyone in the world. For this the Jennites have understood that their duty is of riding and conquering the weaker, and the tribal laws are the legacy that Tarastia has given them in order to continue to prosper as second nature. Given the importance of Tarastia, with the Jennites have in strong legislative codes and extremely complex judicial procedures, and the clan chiefs that also hold the role of supreme magistrates never gave hurried judgements during the prosecutions. Idu (Ixion) is the Sun, and eternally shines by the will of Tarastia, giving strength and vitality to the humans. In his name they invoke war and thanks to his holy fire the Jennites are able to forge weapons and the jewellery for which they are also noted among the bordering peoples. Ninsun finally is the land, patroness of fertility and knowledge; associated with the female side like Idu is the emblem of masculinity (Tarastia is independent from both). Magic and healing are areas deputed to Ninsun and to her priestesses, which has the same importance as the clerics of the other two Immortals.