Rona

The Rona are the tall conquerors of the Adanë, a pale race of barbarians with pointed ears, born out of their unions with their conquered peoples. The Rona are fair-haired, though many now have darker hair due to their mixed blood. Their eyes however, remain bright and have a fierce quality to them.

The Rona clan is the dominant force in the north. Culturally, the Rona are warlike and prone to violence. They are a significantly small and elite section of the population and their rule is dependent on maintaining martial dominance over their Adanë neighbors. Though they are known to hunt, they are more well knowns raiders and rulers, depending on their subjects for food. As raiders, the upper caste maintains a large slave caste of captives and the children of captives.

Rona culture is sophisticated, based in great hill forts where the Rona are master smiths of iron, bronze, and silver. Unlike the iconoclastic south, the Rona cultivate images and tapestries. For the Rona clan is fiercely pagan, worshipping their warrior god Rone, the mortal god who led his people on exile to the north and conquered the Adanë there. Much like their cousins, the Varagë, the Rona practice the worship of their ancestors through ritual sacrifice. When the Rona first conquered the Adanë, many of the sacred groves were conquered and reconsecrated as tombs for Rone and his firstborn children. There, they stab the heart of animals and, depending on the prince, An. Then they paint their faces with their blood in battle and pour the excess over the ground. The males victims are then taken to the Prince’s farming fields and then buried to “impregnate” the land.

The Princes of the Rona are scions of the god Rone and their caste system is strict and hierarchical and are known to be harsh in their enforcement. That said, sexuality is even more open among the Rona than the Adanic clans, with the Rona able to have relations with members of any caste. Homosexuality is allowed, just as the cousin nations of Rona have done for millennia. Gender roles within the caste are also fairly egalitarian, as the Rona are too small of a people to afford gender discrimination in war and in rule.

The Rona dress very much like their Adanic subjects but only in the most regal variety. They wear slightly short long vests, designed to go over armor. Their most common color is Ronic Green. But they buckle these at the waist with leather belts and wear baggy trousers. Their women wear long gown and long, unbound hair and the men keep clean-shaven at all points in life.