Aurlûnoren Human

Aurlûnoren Humans also known as simply Aurlûnoren Men are the human inhabitants of the Aurlûnor Velande. They originally were the most dominant people group in Southern Syltör 74,000 years ago prior to Elven arrival. Some are descendants of old Kings that once ruled the region, as well as local tribal chieftens. Modern paleoanthropologists place these people under a supergroup known as the Ghûren (Ancient Men), with the modern descendents being known as Dawou Aurlûnoren.

Prehistory
Evidence of early settlement by Aurlûnoren humans is evident in 75,400BCA, by evidence of old tablets found in modern day Dun. The early peoples were said to have been a nomadic folk, who migrated around predominantly in the Heartlands, and the Fornois Range. The exact origins of the Aurlûnoren Men are unclear, but archeological findings have shown that they could have potentially originated from a similar location as the Proto-Bardonic peoples, but further south. Some theories also suggest that Aurlûnoren Men are offshoots of humans from the south, which would make them one of the only few humans to have any roots that come from the areas south of Haven.

Multiple caves depicting migrations have been found scattered throughout the Heartlands, such as the most famous cave painting known as the Lao Gushi cave, which depicts them coming from a rather harsh environment before settling in the region. However, no further paintings that go past this can be found in the areas surrounding it. Other cave paintings, most notably the Ghûdong cave in modern day Nir Province, depicts them braving the Endless Sea, and fighting sea monsters.

City States
The first proper settlement by Aurlûnoren humans was likely located around what is known today as the Yu'shen mound. The settlement, known by paleoanthropologists as "Yu'shen A" was built in 15,000BCA. Though not much is known about this particular site, remains of clay housing were found on the site. There have also been multiple other areas of the region such as the multiple hovels belonging to the Yi'yen peoples and thatched huts that were built by the largely sea-fairing Fai peoples.

In the year 11,100BCA, the advent of agriculture by the Aurlûnoren humans, most notably Dawou peoples, would see the development of the first city-states. The most notable dominant power of the Heartlands was the Yu'shen. Other Aurlûnoren Humans would follow suit in developing their own city-states. The Yi'yen people would mostly center around the present day Hloamar, and would spread themselves out throughout the surrounding Ha Anga Bayou. The Nû peoples would split away from the Yi'yen possibly around 11,750BCA, where they would settle around the southern swamps, and it wouldn't be until around the year 11,070BCA where they would develop their own settlement in the region, and spread southwards, including into the areas along the Nandan River. The Fai people would found their settlement at around 11,400BCA, and would mostly fish around the coasts. Fai agricultural advancement didn't come until 9,700BCA, where they would face conflicts with a few Nû people groups through raiding of coastal settlements.

By the time of the Elven Arrival in 11,000BCA, Aurlûnoren humans of the Dawou culture had seen a great increase in the number of city-states, due to their more advantageous position and their more ambitious power growth. The Yu'shen city-state effectively had control over fifteen other city-states, which together formed what is modernly known as the "Yu'shen Kingdom". Although it was not a unified state, the power of the Yu'shen rulers had proven to be a formidable force that warded off raiders and invaders, with one account, discovered in a mound near modern-day Sachómar, describing them as "resilient, and civilized for a bunch of barbarians that live on hills in great stone walls.".

The Decline and Conquest of the City-States
Aurlûnoren humans would continue to prosper when the Ardol culture of the Celestial Elves expanded north. Between 11,000BCA and 8,300BCA, the varying Aurlûnoren human city-states, most noteably the Dawou, would experience a decline in their power. The Yu'shen Kingdom that marked a golden age from 9,600BCA to 8,900BCA would start take in concepts from their new elven neighbors, who had begun to expand their control further north, beyond modern-day Tacua Province. The more centralized authority would start to see a dramatic increase in Yu'shenic territorial gains, increasing its power and influence. A series of weaker and more corrupt kings that had come at the end of 8,900BCA caused a notable decline in their government. The Kingdom's city-states would start to feel this, as famine started to hit the country, and would see the Kingdom plunge into war against the Celestial Elves settling in what is now known as Sachómar, and would see a loss in territory multiple times, though it would always end in a stalemate, with neither side gaining an upperhand. The hard crashing of the Yu'shen King in 8,300BCA, which was recorded to have been a young boy, would mark the final nail in the coffin for the once glorious Yu'shen city-state. Over 11 city-states would join the growing Sachómarite Kingdom that was encroaching on Yu'shen. The Battle of Yu'shen mound would mark the end of Aurlûnoren human domination of the Heartlands, relegating them below the victorious and newly established Kingdom of Almador.

The remaining groups would also see a decline and eventual conquest by the Almadorians. Failure of crop yields caused widespread famine throughout the Yi'yen city-states, which would see revolts break out against the dominating Yi. The conflict of Yi and Yen, which the name sake came from, erupted due to Yi neglecting the Yen people with each passing King, relegating them below them into an unequal union between each other. This would have been taken advantage of, with the Yen winning over the Yi thanks to Almadorian backing with Maxion's conquests of the Ha Anga Bayou. The Nû would be invaded by the migrating Kumiho at around 8,000BCA, where they would see their southwestern peoples' livers be torn out and eaten by much of the brutal Liyen cave migrants. Subjugation of the Nû by the varying clans of the Kumiho would see them become valuable slave commodities, and would be traded with the Almadorians. Evidence of this would be found by bronze slave shackles in a digsite east of modern day Ruscoliemar. The Fai were affected the least, with many of them migrating to different areas, which leads to the modern theory that the people of Silvay are actually descendants of these said people, as there have been artifacts that belonged to the Fai that are located along a voyaging path throughout the Great Southern Ocean, leading to the isle city of Kumuur. Fai who remained in the region were eventually enslaved by the Kumiho, and traded with the Almadorians, or migrated to other areas in the southern regions of modern day Hampo.

Under Almador
Aurlûnoren humans in the Almadoric period were treated as second-class citizens below Celestial Elves. Many of them were either simple laborers, farmers and merchants, while modern estimates say 15-25% of the population were enslaved peoples serving under varying tasks such as hard labor for construction projects, farming for nobility, to be used as throwaway troops in wars, or serving higher lords of the Kingdom. While Maxion was said to have only enslaved those who opposed him rather than the ones who joined him, accounts of a freed Dawouic slave, who bought his freedom through fighting against the varying creatures that are in the modern Lûnwirmar arena, described the following, "Both those who were loyal and those who weren't were enslaved. There was no difference between the two, except treatment. If you were not a descendant of a loyal clan, you'd be treated as a wild animal. If you were, you'd be treated as a domestic animal."

Aurlûnoren humans were seen as a valuable commodity in trade, as they were traded with the First Dominion of Ashura despite hostile relations, to Kumiho clans, and were even recorded to have been purchased as eunuchs for the royal courts of the Dwarves of Erebor, though it is unclear if they had actually served the Dwarven Kings, as sources are often mixed with Brothaic sources, and it's likely that it was actually a tribe that was near the area that purchased them.

The Warring States
The ensuing chaos and breakup of the Almadorians would also see the rise of minor Aurlûnoren human princedoms, kingdoms and dukedoms. One of the most notable Aurlûnoren human warlord states was the Yong, which came from a successful slave revolt, supported by the traditionally abolitionist and human-sympathetic Locendur clan. The largely Yi'yen people group was well known for the cairn they built in 4500BCA, and a settlement they made in 4000BCA known as Jingji, which was recognized by the local rulers of the Locendur, which was a rarity for an Almadoric city-state to even have them be considered on equal ground to Celestial Elves. These new city-states would eventually be consumed by the larger powers, and the varying treatments of these humans makes it hard to tell how they were actually treated by these powers, though the ones in Linye and Melwende were largely considered to have been treated the same way as they were under Almador.

Modern Day
The fall of Melwende and Linye in the year 94BCA would be a major turning point for the varying cultures, with many Aurlûnoren humans siding with the growing power of Sareariel Lelya-Earcala due to her accepting humans into her forces, as well as those she deemed as "True Almadorians". Unlike Maxion the Conqueror, Sareariel would pledge to free all Aurlûnoren humans under her rule. In the year 0CA, many Aurlûnoren humans in the Heartlands and around the Ha Anga Bayou would become subjects of the newly formed Aurlûnor Velande. Unlike Maxion however, Sareariel kept her promise, and the abolition of slavery and ending of the practice of eunuchs would mark the beginning of what many Aurlûnoren humans would call the "Second Golden Age of Aurlûnoren humans". All the Aurlûnoren humans that fought under Sareariel and those who also opposed her were given equal status to Celestial Elves, and were allowed to be put into government positions.

Over the next quarter of a thousand years, the Aurlûnoren humans would birth many famous scientists, writers, and literature novelists, as well as theologians of the country's dominant religion, Twin Dragon. The most famous of these figures was a man by the name of Guo Yun, a former tax collector, administrator, and priest, who wrote books such as The Fourty-Four Ways of achieving Harmonious Balance, Beautification is Balance, and The Myths of Perfection, and the Beauty of Imperfection. Guo Yun would see the fifth month of the Twin Dragon Calendar named in his honor due to his notable contributions to the growth of the domination of faith in daily life and philosophy.

Today, the number of Aurlûnoren humans tripled their previous count while they were under Almador. Though they are still a minority, Aurlûnoren humans are respected figures within the government and throughout the Velande. Animosity between them and the Celestial Elves decreased over the course of a thousand years, and many would even start to interbreed.

Appearance
Aurlûnoren Men are no different from regular humans, with the exceptions of those who might have bred with either Kumihos or Celestial Elves. Their average heights can fluctuate, but an average Aurlûnoren Human male can grow up to be 5'9, while females grow to be around 5'5. Their hair and eye colors tend to fit their environments of either the warm jungles of Tacua Province or the cool mountains of Alvada.

Aurlûnoren humans were famous for their invention of a type of clothing known as the dawoufu, which is worn by a large majority of the population. Their invention would even reach the Kumiho of Hampo Province through slavery and contact, creating their own variant known as a nanbok. They also seem to care a lot about how they appear, and usually, males have a tradition of keeping their beards nice and fresh looking, grooming it and keeping it nice looking. More ragged and gruff appearing males are seen as warriors, soldiers, or that sort. Females on the other hand, tend to try and keep up with their beauty, by applying lots of make up on their faces and wearing the finest garments.

Culture
Aurlûnoren humans are quite diverse in their cultures. However, the four most prominent cultures that are largely widespread are the Dawou, Yi'yen, Nû and Fai cultures.

Dawou
The Dawou culture (Dawou meaning "Hill People") is among the most dominant of the Aurlûnoren humans, in which many foreigners would lop the entire Aurlûnoren human group into one, and is the most often word that many people would use when describing one due to their mostly pre-dominant presence in settlements or in writing. The Dawou are known for their architectural feats, their hill mound settlements, and their clothing styles. Much of the Dawouic culture is borrowed in Aurlûnoren culture, fused together with Almadoric culture, creating a unique blend between each other. Dawouic foods are often intertwined with Almadoric cuisine, which creates a unique blend. Clothing culture is rather important, as Dawou are extremely picky when it comes to wearing appropriate attires to certain events, formal, not formal, and other sorts. For example, it is considered rude to wear a military uniform when walking into a house, or a woman wears very little clothes when walking into a palace or holy site.

Yi'yen
The Yi'yen culture is in fact two different cultures that fused together into one. One from the people of the former settlement of Yi, and the other from the Yen tribe that was neighboring the settlement. Much like the Angan Celestial Elves, the Yi'yen are well known for their fishing and the inventors of advanced rice farming. They are additionally responsible for the domestication of the Guojiang cormorant, and the Short-nosed alligator, which the latter has a complicated relationship with, as some are domesticated for food and hide, while others are kept as pets for comfort or hunting. Yi'yen are well known for creating cairns, which are possible to have been apart of their native religion. Modern Yi'yen cairns are Twin Dragon shrines depicting Twin Dragon deities, though appearing more human than elven, and are found throughout the Ha Anga Bayou, and other parts of Nir Province. The most famous cairn is located in Northern Nir Province, which has been untouched for 4500 years, and has been viewed as a pilgrimage site for those on their way to the Nantian Monestary.

Nû
The Nû culture are relatives of the Yi'yen, but were more war-like. Known to have attempted to try and take back their homeland on multiple occasions, the Nû are expert blacksmiths, and lived in a region that was full of iron deposits as well as copper. The animosity against the Fai and later the Kumiho, would see the groups fight over deposits of resources. The Nû would attempt to take on the Kumiho clans, but would fail every time they tried, and eventually, they were enslaved by the Kumiho. Upon the abolition of slavery, the Nû would start becoming more professional metal works in the region, but the animosity between them and the Kumiho continued, with reported racial attacks made on each other by the former guard force, and citizens.

Fai
The Fai culture or the red haired people are the the only one of the four groups that have an unknown origin story. Although their cave paintings depict them arriving via sea, and fighting sea monsters in the Endless Sea, not much is known about their prior lives. They are known to be master sailors and navigators, and are often recruited in the Dragon Navy. Due to their preference to migrate over seas, many Fais are located along the coasts of the Lothranis Sea. Deep sea fishing was perfected by the Fai and was taught to the Dawou through trade. There is a story that surrounds a group of Fai who sailed beyond, and would eventually reach the isle of Kumuur, and eventually became known as the Silvayish people, though this is unknown if it is true. However, Silvayish peoples such as Breton Aerouant claims to have Fai roots within them, due to the similarities of culture they practice such as sea-based building, and cuisines.