Aysar

The Aysar are a human race native to the southeast of Abexilas. They are split into four main groups; the Ojszari, the Ischanics, the Lachawakans and the Lenógach. They have always been native the continent, yet scholars have conflicting views on whether they originated from the northern or the southern tundra before migrating, as all folk and oral stories from the various cultures fit both narratives.

They are mostly concentrated within the Empire of Ischanor, with each people group usually being its own realm within it. Despite the fact they are all from the same cultural and linguistic root, they each have quite varied languages, though there are still some similarities between all of them. The only other major difference between the groups are their faiths- the two most prominent faiths being the Ischanic Church and the Children of Diena, with the Ischanic Church originating from the Ischanic branch and the Children of Diena originating from the Ojszari branch.

Subgroups
There are, in total, four branches of the Aysari tree, as stated before these are the Ojszari, the Ischanics, the Lachawakans and the Lenógach. The Ojszari are spread out from the North-West to the North-East of Ischanor, the Ischanics dominate the centre and the south, the Lenógach are present in the South-East minorly, as well as the Lachawakans being present in the South-East minorly.

Ojszari
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Ischanics
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Lachawakans
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Lenógach
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Early History
The early history of the Aysari is shrouded in mystery, there are only theories based on it created by scholars from old oral stories spread in different regions, together they piece a rough history of the people groups. There are various recorded interactions with other people groups and different historical events documented in addition. Regardless of either period, the Aysari were hunter-gatherers that lived in a harsh, snowy environment. This is evident through comparative linguistics, as all daughter languages of the Aysari share words deriving from the proto-Aysar terms *fege "conifer, needle", *elfohnaete "permafrost", *elf "snow", and *erel "snow where the top layer has been melted and refrozen"

The Migration Period
There are two theories on where the Aysari emerged from, one suggesting they emerged from the deep southern tundra, where the Baszku, the ancestors of the Zilatran people, also emerged from. Another interpretation believes that they emerged from the northern tundra, located where Hälge now exists in.

The Southern Theory
In the earliest annals of Aysari history, there existed the Proto-Aysar as well the the Proto-Baszku, both residing within the deep south of the continent experiencing some cultural exchange. North of this region, in the greener plains, there existed a race of Pigmen, who spoke proto-Herlundian, in the central region where Ischanor now exists. Long before the Aysari migrated into the fertile plains, the Pigmen were pastoralists living modest lives. However eventually in the homeland of the Aysari and the Baszku, the land experienced a sudden period of much more warmth, causing an increase in population of the game that the two groups hunted,, as food becomes much more plentiful. Eventually, the warm period reverses completely, the land turning much colder than it was before in turn, straining many of the resources the Aysari now had. From these pressures the Aysari were forced to migrate north¹, to the land of the Pigmen, were the fields were fertile.

Upon encountering the Pigmen, the Aysar turn bellicose as they try to battle the Pigmen for their grip on the land. It was a brutal conflict, most of the Pigmen population dies out. However, a small pocket of the Aysari adopt the language of the Pigmen, very similar to the land of the modern Herlundian people, the people in that small pocket integrate into the culture of the Pigmen. Few Pigmen remain, only present in Herlundy in minor populations. At this point, the Aysari as well the Baszku adopt animal husbandry and agriculture which has now spread to each end of the continent.

The development of agriculture is a catalyst for the first cultural split of the Aysari was between a group who were staunch traditionalists who refused to adopt agriculture and remain as Stone Age foragers to this day, these people are called the Lachawakans in the modern period. Farming livestock and produce became a common fact of the land, as it was now necessary in order to deal with the rising population and food crisis, which majorly promoted the development

Eventually, the Aysari spread around the continent, subjugating and assimilating multiple local, other human populations and tribes. These local populations each influenced the Aysari in some way, forming a homogeneous cultural substrate. Many of the Aysari who migrated adopted the cultures of the subjugated peoples yet kept their native language which was still by definition Aysari. Nonetheless, the languages began to diverge into the other branches.

¹ It is quite possible that some Baszku participated in the northwards invasion, alongside the Aysari, as many Baszku populations are present throughout the continent as well.