Tanagoro
by Marco Dalmonte English translation by Gary DaviesKorotiku - Liberty, nonconformism, guile, cleverness, wisdom, subterfuge, cheating, clear thinking
Pyro (Ixion) - Sun, fire, order, knowledge, strength, preserving the balance, banish the darkness
Ashanti (Valerias) - Love, passion, desire, beauty, arts charity, fertility
Djaea - Survival, natural balance, respect of life, druidism
Nicktu (Nyx) - Darkness and obscurity, night, necromancy, secrets
Notes:
1. The Tanagoro are an ethnic group of Negroid traits (black skin, usually frizzy black hair), the most direct descendents of the so-called Tangor Man, or the first example of homo sapiens that lived on Mystara millennia ago. They appeared in the central part of Skothar over ten thousand years ago, the Tanagoro had spread particularly in the southern part of the continent (modern day Tangor) and prospered here, becoming a prolific civilisation. During the Blackmoorian Age, the Tanagoro had no contact with the more evolved Blackmoorians, separated from these by the great mountain chains of central Skothar, and because of this remained free to colonise the southern coast and the island. However following the Great Rain of Fire, the Skotharian continent was so devastated by eruptions, seaquakes and earthquakes that the Tanagoro died in their millions. Preoccupied for their survival, their patron Korotiku and his ally Ka transported numerous Tanagoro communities in the Hollow World, in a plain full of forests until then uninhabited in the south of Iciria, on the coast of the Sea of Yr. In the surface world the Tanagoro were able to survive, but their civilisation was changed and it became a powerful nation of explorers and skilled sailors, therefore the choice of Korotiku and Ka are clear hits. The Tanagoro of the Hollow World are a people from a relatively backward technology (Bronze Age), especially in respect to their neighbours (Jennites to the south-east, Nithians to the east and Milenians to the west are all Iron Age cultures and with major magical knowledge), nevertheless have gained respect by the bordering warlike peoples thanks to a mix of courage and strength that derives from the large number of warriors present in each community, capable of withdrawing in the face of the advances of the invaders only in order to strike en mass while they are in march or are distracted by the pillage or from battle with other enemies. The Tanagoro aren’t a warlike people by nature, but are proud and extremely skilled warriors and given of great resistance and tenacity, feared by the other civilisations for their indomitable character. They like to lead a simple life in contact with nature, have a subsistence economy based on agriculture and farming, and are ruled at a local level by noble village heads, who answer to the Great King of the Tanagoro. The position of Great King is hereditary, while the nobles were promoted to this rank based on the worthy actions completed by the family or by the individual in the service of the Great King, and can be stripped of their title and power by the sovereign if they are proven corrupt or weak.
2. All the Tanagoro are followers of the great patron Korotiku, leader of the pantheon. He makes up part of a holy triad together with Pyro and Ashanti (two names selected arbitrarily as Tanagoro names of Ixion and Valerias), who represent the most holy aspects of the Tanagoro spiritual life and mythos: freedom, strength and fertility. In the Tanagoro society, the males dominate the females like the two male Immortals dominate the authority of Ashanti, even if to the woman is recognised the uncontested power of procreation, which is held sacred and vital to the survival of humanity. For this the men occupy the positions of command in the Tanagoro society, while the women remain at home to carry out more humble and less engaging tasks, according to the custom that would like the man to be the thinking mind that should manage the family and the nation in order to promote the prosperity and security of the woman and of the future generations.
3. Among the Tanagoro furthermore the cult of Djaea considered Mother Nature must be popular, given the importance that they hold in the communion with nature and the holiness of the environment in which they live.
4. The Tanagoro cult identifies Nicktu (Nyx) the twin sister of Pyro, who represents the exact opposite of the sun, that is the darkness, cold and death. She deserves respect according to the Tanagoro, since she presides over death and guards the damned spirits. Therefore her priests are feared by the Tanagoro and were kept at a distance, considered bringers of misfortune and forced to live at the margins of the villages, near to the burial areas where they occupy themselves by paying homage to the Immortal in order to satisfy her thirst for spirits. Nicktu is the negative figure of the pantheon who balances those positive, and to her priests was conceded protection and aid by part of the Tanagoro only while they don’t do anything dangerous. However the cases aren’t rare in which these necromancers have been able to keep in check an entire village with strength and coercion, thanks to their own powers and especially to the control of the undead reanimated by the negative energy of their Immortal.