Voulgarópoulos Tribe
The Voulgarópoulos Tribe was an amalgamation of smaller tribal units composed entirely of members of the Younger Races that made the journey to Zihæt after the The Great War. These tribes were considered barbaric by many of the other tribes, but were widely respected for their fighting proweress, particularly mounted combat on horses. The tribe was later exiled and now forms the core of the Holy Empire of Humanité.
Structure
At its core, the Voulgarópoulos have a strong tribal foundation. The individual is responsible to the tribal group. In the early days after coming to Zihæt, indvidual tribal groups would form mercenary relationships with competing Drákon Tribes. This led to competition and fractious relations within the larger tribe. However as the other tribes coalesced into city-states, so to did the Voulgaropoulos begin to form a much stronger overall tribal identity and culture. This heirarchy of tribes became the dominant structure following exile to the Northern Continent.
History
The Voulgaropoulos tribe was exiled from the Dragonshome Islands in 3711, after first refusing to join the newly formed city-state of Fengáriopolis, and several later raids sacking the city for bounty and female Slaves.
After exile, the tribe incorporated smaller tribal societies from the The Northern Peoples and over time, coalesced into the Holy Empire of Humanité.
Other remnants of the tribe are thought to be found in the Marais Wetlands of the Eastern Continent.
Disbandment
The tribe never officially disbanded, but it was superceded by other nation-state organizations such as Holy Empire of Humanité.
Territories
The Voulgarópoulos tribe originally settled on the northern island of Vóreio nisí.
Post exile, the tribe has migrated to the Northern Continent and parts of the Eastern Continent.
Military
The smaller tribal units that made up the Voulgarópoulos tribe have always been depicted as powerful warriors, who despite having no true nation of their own allied with regional powers in larger conquests as mercenaries. The tribal units unified into the Voulgaropoulos in the face of discrimination and distrust from the other tribes. However, despite this new common identity the tribe resisted the urge to settle into shared city-states, preferring instead to remain semi-nomadic.
Technological Level
While the other tribes largely looked at the Voulgarópoulos as barbarian warriors, they were widely respected for two skills: making jewelry and exquisite ornamentation and producing wine. Much of the early skills in metalwork of the Sidéris Family is related to their early exposure to the Voulgarópoulos tribe.
The wine making skills of the Voulgarópoulos tribe were firmly established during their time Vóreio nisí and refined when the tribes moved to the more vine-friendly regions of the Northern Continent.
Religion
The Voulgarópoulos tribe had no official state religion, rather sharing many of the early concepts of the Gods with the Younger Races that formed the core of the Drákos Tribes and Families.
When the Persopoulos Tribe was exiled, a small splinter sect joined the Voulgarópoulos tribe and introduced the concepts of the their religion. While this was not widely or uniformly adopted, it did begin to change the way that the tribe worshiped.
Use of tokens and relics, generally made of, or plated with, gold or other precious metals, increased in frequency. The idea of a supreme god began to develop, as did the concept of personal guilt outside of the shared pride of the tribe. These concepts did not fully evolve until well after the exile of the Voulgarópoulos tribe.
Foreign Relations
The tribe has had a fractious relationship with the Drákos tribes dating back to before the coming of the Younger Races. Several elements of the broader tribal groups Allied with the The Morningstar during the The Great War, but other elements of the tribe acquitted themselves in the final battles and accompanied the younger races to Zihæt. However, lingering distrust surrounded the tribe on arrival in Zihæt.
During the early years on Zihæt, the tribe was in continuous conflict with the majority of the Drákos tribes and their northern neighbors, the The Northern Peoples.
Agriculture & Industry
The Voulgarópoulos tribe has no native, permenant forms of agriculture. They are however proficient herdsmen with a variety of forms of livestock.
Trade & Transport
Of the younger races, the Voulgarópoulos and Persopoulos were the only tribes to bring horses and cattle with them to Zihæt. They have guarded them jealously and during their time on the Dragonshome Islands would seek to recapture any which left the control of the tribe and destroy those who obtained them. This frequently brought them into contact with the humanoids native to Zihæt that were regarded the creatures with curiousity and fondness.
The tribe also domesticated the Griffons of the northern island, eventually driving the wild population to extinction.
Education
Education amongst the Voulgarópoulos tribe has always been restricted to male members of society, dating back to the time before the coming of the Younger Races. Alone amongst the tribes, they have resisted any attempts at egalitarianism. Some Fýlakas believe it is this difference in gender roles that led the Voulgarópoulos to withdraw from the other tribes and reject the native races of humanoid.
DISBANDED/DISSOLVED
Founding Date
2700
Type
Geopolitical, Tribe
Alternative Names
Red Haired, Blue Eyed Barbarians
Successor Organization
Demonym
Voulgars or Rumelidis
Major Exports
The primary trade goods with other tribes were wine and metal jewelry.
Major Imports
As a semi-nomadic, the group often traded for agricultural products and local seafood. Raw materials for metal making were also sought after, but generally gathered as part of raids.
Location
Related Ethnicities
Comments
Author's Notes
Small tribes descended from the Indo-Europeans in the area of the Balkans and northern Greece. The Thracians (before the classical period) form the model of this group. I'm using the idea that the Morningstar's allies were the Trojans and their allies and using the Iliad as a metaphor or poetic retelling of the actual event. The coming of the Sea Peoples would be associated with the multi-verse / cosmic nature of the battle and the lingering effects of the war are the "Bronze age collapse" on earth. As discussed with the Persopoulos tribe, I'm taking artistic license and assuming Zoroaster / Zarathustra was a contemporary of the bronze age collapse. Dates of his birth vary widely. Scholars speculate that the earliest reasonable dates would be similar in age to the Rig Veda (the oldest texts of any other Indo-Iranian language, ca. 1700–1500 BCE the latest would be during the rule of Cyrus the Great, founder of the Persian Achaemenid Empire (600–530 BCE). I'm choosing approximately 1210BCE and allowing for the potential that he migrated with the refugees and played a significant advisory role in the new tribe. This would lead to a more direct hand in forming the world view. The framework for the great war would is well aligned with his world view. This forms the basis for the tribal religion, very loosely based on Zoroastrianism. The references to Zoroastrianism are placeholders. The intent is to lift the flavors and key framing elements from Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu but not its specific individuals, or tenents. Much of the tenants are adapted for suitability to Zihæt as their new home and nothing implies that modern Zoroastrianism reflects in any form what is outlined here. This allows the combination of the Thracian bitterness over the loss of the "Trojan War", to be melded with the Zoroastrian roots in the major monotheistic religions (well before formal development) to serve as the foundation for The Morningstar's re-constructed monotheistic religion of Dieu and the Empire. Also, the characterizations of the Thracians as barbarians by the greek tribes would be used by The Morningstar and inverted. "You're not the barbarian, they're the barbarians!" Source material:- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thracians
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ancient_tribes_in_Thrace_and_Dacia
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoroastrianism
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/zoroastrian/beliefs/god.shtml
- https://www.learnreligions.com/biography-of-zarathustra-4780475