Trajistavi

The Trajistavi culture is the main culture of The Kingdom of Trajistav and of the Duradenko Dynasty of Osundir. In Rathnir, the first Trajistavi natives to arrive were led by Zbazan Duradenko.

The Trajistavi are peoples native to the realm known as Grotth, far away from Rathnir. They inhabit an island to the north-west of Grotth, which stands as the entire territory of the Kingdom of Trajistav.

The Trajistavi are characterized by their loyalty, morality, ethics and desire for peace. They are sturdy defenders and throughout the history of Grotth it is known that they only waged defensive wars, from which they always emerged victorious against any agressors. Most Trajistavi are followers of Dercesism, a pantheistic faith.

Origins of the Trajistavi
The origins of the Trajistavi is widely disputed, however most scholars claim that parts of the culture is inherited from an ancient race of Mountain Giants known as Dunē Rasîi (The Race of Dun), from which the dwarves of Dun'Mur (North of Grotth) claim direct descendance. The Trajistavi people have inherited the language of the Dunē Rasîi, hence the great similarities between the spoken languages of the dwarves of Dun'Mur and Trajistav.

At first, the island of Trajistav was connected to the main continent of Grotth, which meant that the Trajistavi had a contact with the other north-western tribes of humans that have inhabited Grotth during the prehistoric times. The dwarves have emerged along with their ancient deities, the Dunē Rasîi giants, asthey migrated towards the north-west into what is now known as Dun'Mur (Mountains of the Dun). The tribes of dwarves, along with the Dunē Rasîi, have subjugated many tribes in the vicinity, including the Trajistavi, then known as the Trajyik people, a confederation of tribes.

The Dunē Rasîi cult and the dwarves had a wide influence on the spoken language of the Trajyik. Most of the Grotthic layer of the language has vanished, subjugated by the long usage of the Dunē language among the Trajyik, which were comfortable with their new overlords and had no attempts to overthrow them, being aware of their strength and influence. The dwarves have considered the Dunē Rasîi as living deities, and to some extent, Trajyik people did so as well.

After the Plague of The Dunē had eradicated most of the giants, the Trajyik tribes were already separated by the sea from the mainland of Grotth, due to geographical changes over the time, hence the formation of the Isle of Trajistav, separate from Grotth's Mainland. The extinction of the Dunē Rasîi giants mark the beginning of what is known as The Grotthic Antiquity. The Trajyik tribes were united under one ruler, known as Durud.

A millenia of Dunē Rasîi rule over the many north-western human and dwarven tribes, combined with the maintained contact with other grotthic tribes that were not under the giants' rule created a unique culture, a blend of two worlds that shared the same continent but had different religious beliefs and languages.

Once the Trajyik tribes were united, the Trajistavi culture began to take the shape it currently has. Traders from outside the island eventually became less attracted to it due to the difficulties of learning the Dunē Rasîi language, which was a dead language in Grotth since the death of the giant race. Along with the conflicts that have throughout the ages ravaged the north-western mainland, these factors contributed to the creation of an isolated culture on this island in the north-west of Grotth. The people would call themselves Trajistavi, and their homeland would be known as Trajistav.

Migration to Rathnir
Zbazan Duradenko, one of the many sons of King Duras of Trajistav, decided to leave Trajistav and seek out new realms to explore and eventually settle. Although his family was against it, he has fled without full consent. He was still oficially a member of The Duradenko Dynasty from Grotth. The reason for which bold Zbazan decided to leave was his desire to create and rule a realm of his own, due to the fact that he was among the last in line of sucession to the throne of Trajistav.

Having set sail and living as a merchant for a couple of years, Zbazan had gained enough resources to establish in the realm of Rathnir. His ship first landed on the shores of the Simulami Empire, in the harbor of New Saulot.

As for how did Zbazan's expedition end up in Rathnir, recently scholars have discovered an explanation that was not considered before, but which makes now more sense, as it explains the possible causes of the Cataclysm of Grotth. Therefore, the Trajistavi expeditions have been affected by a rift in time, being dragged into it in an avoided area by all Grotthic travelers, as it was considered to have dangerous waters. The Trajistavi had their problems, however, they managed to go through it most of the times. This time rift may be the actual connection between Grotth and Rathnir, although this is still widely disputed, however there is proof to support this theory only recently discovered.

Zbazan brought with him many philosophical and religious books or scrolls, along with cultural novities such as musical instruments, paintings and architectural designs, which boosted the cultural development of the Simulami Empire where, during the year 71 since Rathnir, Zbazan Duradenko was granted permission by Imperare Zeno Maestro to establish a settlement with his Trajistavi expedition in the Convellirae province, near Müviel. This establishment was called Osundir, which in the Old Trajistavi language means ”Settlement on (the) cliff".

Following the Cataclysm of Grotth, the realm from which the Trajistavi people originate, it is most likely that the Trajistavi people in Rathnir are the sole survivors of this culture.

Demographics
The Trajistavi people in Rathnir currently reside in The Simulami Empire, in the The Domains of Osundir, the cities of Müviel-Osundir, the grand capital of Nuvallen and the towns of Prismaan, Veestlai and Oterendel.

Back in Grotth, in the Kingdom of Trajistav, the population count was somewhere around 600,000 people. However, since the Cataclysm of Grotth, the Trajistavi population is now around approximately 100,000 people spread across the aforementioned settlements.

Religion
Most of the Trajistavi people follow the teachings of Derces and Dercesism. The infinity, the world as we see and perceive, its nature, they are all known as Derces to the Trajistavi people. A synonym for God in Trajistavi language would be the word Derces, although the Trajistavi cannot perceive the possibility of any sort of deity to exist, especially since the New Dercesism emerged in the Trajistavi society.

The Trajistavi Cultural Flag contains a five-pointed star that is a Derces symbol. Each ray of the star represents wisdom, intelligence, honesty, love and unity, all bound together by the middle of the star which represents truth, or Derces itself.

Language
The Trajistavi language has a primary layer of Dunē Rasîi, followed by smaller layers of Dun'Mur'i, Grotthic and Natronian. The first document written in the Trajistavi language in Rathnir is known as „The Osundir Treaty”, through which Lord Zbazan Duradenko the Ist declares loyalty to the Imperare of The Simulami Empire on behalf of the Trajistavi people of Rathnir. The document reads as follows: „Io, Zbažan Duradenko, cneazû ză Trajistavy do Ratnir, șpełiamû łoiałițya spre Zeno, imperare ză Simulamya Krastnaia.

Io, Zbažan Duradenko, șestœ țaræ, Vestoi Müvieł, țîtvoi ka gaj pură zablițky Osundir, noua cetaty Trajistavy do Rathnir.

Utră speranțy că șestœ trataty ză amițy durava intræ nostry narodny.”

It translates to: „I, Zbajan Duradenko, leader of Trajistavis from Rathnir, declares loyalty to Zeno, Imperare of The Simulami Country.

I, Zbajan Duradenko, this land, west of Müviel, will take as gift for establishing Osundir, the new Trajistavi town in Rathnir.

In hope that this treaty of friendship will last between our peoples.”

Culture
The Trajistavi have forged an irefutable desire for perfection in their cultural endeavours.

Arts
The paintings of the Trajistavi cultural golden age are mostly subject to realism, trying to respresent the subjects without artificiality and without having to distort them.

Literature
The Trajistavi literature is comprised of many books, most of which are related to professions, cultural reviews, politics, arts, philosophy, astrology, history, magic, alchemy and much more.

The Trajistavi however do not take much interest into creating fictional stories, poetry or drama. There are a number of books for such categories, but they are not a priority to the usual Trajistavi native.

The Trajistavi people have a strong interest into philosophy and history, hence the wide amount of books written in Trajistavi that treat such subjects.

Music
Trajistav has a long tradition of music, both popular, which is often combined with dramatic representation or poetry, and "high" music, which follows a series of theoretical notions continously developed by the musicians of Trajistav.

The high music of Trajistav is mostly written for smaller ensembles of atleast 2 people and 8 people at most. It is in music that poetry and drama finds its best use around the island of Trajistav. This type of music is mostly played in private, usually among friends or even by professionally trained musicians.

The popular music however is known by most of the Trajistavi and is usually played in public events and at parties. This category implies heavy use of poetry and drama.