These nomadic humanoids roam the plains in wide circuits, which can sometimes range many hundreds of miles, following the wandering herds of beasts of which they make their living.
Personality: The Suranzi are very independent. They will not tolerate any sort of external authority unless they believe it to be in their own advantage and they will not allow anyone to impose their own will upon them. They are solitary most of the time, wandering by themselves or in small family units, only coming together when some task absolutely requires help. The counterpart to the Suranzi’s independent tendencies are their stubbornness. They will not retreat from a problem, or stop, but will usually try to power through it, which is usually the only reason they will tolerate another’s direction.
Physical Description: Suranzi look like normal Sorvanni (humans) except for long thin legs that bend like a hare’s and end in hooves as well as slender tails. They have a peculiar hopping gait that covers much ground quickly.
Alignment: Suranzi tend to be Chaotic and Neutral. They have a heavy resistance towards outside authority of all sorts and usually act according to an internal compass rather than the laws of the land. However they run the full gamut from good to evil.
Effects of War: The Suranzi used to roam the wide open plains in the lands south of the mountains of the Kimasxi. When the war came the Kaelra regarded the undeveloped, interior lands of the Suranzi as a secondary target and contempted themselves with releasing a few higher-level fiends to keep them busy. However once the lands to the south had been conquered the enemy closed in on Suranzi, who hold independence as their highest ideal. This culminated on the Fourth Calling of the Host, wherein all the Suranzi clans combined, pledging to fight the Kaelra unto their deaths, and marched on the Kaelra-held city of Felenn. The Host managed to hold the city for exactly one year, withstanding a siege detailed in that epic song which our calender is based upon. When the city finally fell the shattered clans scattered to the winds. The Suranzi spent the remainder of the war fighting in others’ resistance movements, with the plurality managing to hide in hills of Wessmark and help the people of that city. Following the war the Suranzi escaped with whomever they could. A large contingent landed at New Wessmark with the Kimasxi, however they found that their troubles were not over. In the Old World the Suranzi were highly in tune with the cycle of the nomadic bison and had adapted their lifestyle to closely mirror that of their prey. However in the New World though there were large plains just to the east of New Wessmark they were far different areas than the Suranzi had adapted themselves to. There was no convenient bison for the Suranzi to live off of. Furthermore these plains were much wetter and more abundant in life. But because of this the herds of prey-beasts and the number of predators was much larger and could not be handled by a single Suranzi. Thus the alternative was to either band together into larger groups for hunting or to take up farming and live settled lives. For a time the Suranzi attempted to retain their old patterns, with horrific consequences. As the numbers of Suranzi dwindled many took up one of the above alternative but many stubbornly clung to their age-old traditions. In the centuries since the Suranzi are a race in transition, the old traditions are dying out. Most Suranzi are assimilating into the traditions of those around them, but many are fighting a reactionary struggle to keep their customs while a few are attempting to create new customs.
Known Suranzi Lands: The main lands of the Suranzi are the plains to the East of New Wessmark. However Suranzi can be found in minority all over the New World. There is rumored to be an entire town of Suranzi in the far south who are under the protection of a Jaeli prince and provide an elite company of Suranzi to their lord as payment. Furthermore in northern Vay there is a large plain with a significant Suranzi population.
Religion: Suranzi worship Aranthil, the Arrow in the Night, the god of Freedom and Independence. Suranzi worship Aranthil, but do not rely on organized religion, nor do they ask favors of him without due remuneration, though payment need not be monetary. However in general Suranzi tend to be extremely devout.
Language: Suranzi speak Sesselan a language without a written part. As such the language is constantly changing in pronunciation and new words are constantly added. Thus, in recent years it has become a major problem when Suranzi from vastly different areas meet, as they are totally unable to understand each other’s native dialects. The Suranzi language does not have words for most scientific and arcane subjects, for this other languages must be used.
Names:
Male – Ara, Atalik, Imre, Istvan, Nishan, Varad, Vartan, Vilmos
Female – Anoush, Bela, Elmar, Panna, Prioska, Siran, Tizane, Zagir
Surname – The Suranzi, in their desire for independence and individuality, do not take names that in any way refer to their parentage. Instead they take names that reflect their occupation or deeds. For instance Smith, Shipwright, Hunter, Farshot, Deadeye, or Herder. Taking a boastful surname if one has not actually done such deeds is heavily frowned upon and is the result of much laughter.
Accent: An improvised Hungarian / Eastern European accent.
Adventurers: Both because of an inability to adapt to the change in environment and because of their constant need for independence and solitude the Suranzi produce many adventurers. Most of these are fighters and rogues who go out into the world to seek their fortunes. In these trying times most Clerics of Aranthil tend to stay in their homelands to protect and guide his people, however there are many exceptions to this rule. Suranzi arcane magic-users are usually rare and tend to be sorcerors. However because of their rarity those Suranzi who seek to use magic must travel outside of their own lands to increase their knowledge.
Notable Rituals: Wayrest Festival – In the olden days this month-long festival was celebrated on the banks of the great river Seva’la when all the bison herds for a thousand miles had gathered there in the culmination of their yearly migration. However in recent years many Suranzi have not attended the festival, which is now held in the tent-city of Sevren every Silverhammer. Though attendance has dwindled the event remains and wondrous festival, but now many of the fairgoers are of other races.
The Wandering – upon reaching their 16th winter Suranzi are were expected to spend the 6 dry months of every year alone or in small family units. It is during this time that many young and fool-hardy Suranzi meet their deaths alone in the wilds. However nowadays many clans feel that this is a waste, since environmental conditions no longer mandate such a harsh ritual. They prefer to collect in larger groups. However some reactionary Suranzi stubbornly cling to this tradition.
Suranzi Racial Traits