Korun¶
"It is considered a significant disgrace to survive a battle in which your leader dies." — the Terrun Compendium
The Korun are a tribal human people who "often occupy harsh lands which are considered too hostile by other humans" and are counted barbarians and backward by their neighbours. Their homeland was the rocky peninsula of Kajattan in the north-east, where they built stone forts and settlements until the Kamnara conquered and scattered them several thousand years before the Age of Magic. Six humans in a hundred were Korun in the Compendium's day.
Also called Kajatt in the 2015 regional notes, which say "the Kajatt control much of the northeast"; the same notes list a Kajati with a question mark beside it and nothing more. The Compendium speaks of "the tribes of Kaj".
Appearance¶
Average in height but bulkier and broader than most humans, with hair from dark brown to black, rough features and dark tan skin.
History¶
After the Kamnara conquest the Korun split into three groups: one migrated to the western coast, another to the south-west, and the third to the highlands just west of Kajattan. Kajattan itself, "noted for being rocky and mountainous", kept its own history and culture but had "recently fallen under claim of the Empire" when the regional notes were written. Ruins of Korun architecture, with Huun and Tsule work, stand on the islands of the Riker's Edge Chain in the Rift, drawn from north-eastern Astia.
Society¶
"The family unit with Korun society is critical, and they don't build towns." Each family in a tribe lives in its own dwelling on its own land, sometimes gathered loosely enough to resemble a sparse village. The patriarch of a family and the tribal chief are the only positions of authority, and the chief is elected for "their ability as a war leader". The tribes are aggressive and raid as well as hunt and farm to survive; when no outside pressure bears on them "the tribes often raid and fight with each other", though they work loosely together against a common enemy. They have the idea of a King, "simply a chief which has forced other tribes into submission to fight for him", and such kingdoms "rarely, if ever, survive the death of the conqueror".
Honour is paramount: "the prestige of their leaders is theirs". Women "are often believed to be more in tune with the gods and elements", so their advice is taken seriously, and they go to battle beside the men as shield maidens, healers or warriors.
Dwellings¶
The Korun build with whatever is at hand, usually dry-stacked rock, wood and hay, and keep their horses, pigs, cows and sheep inside the same house.
Language¶
The Korun speak a dialect of Common and are "overwhelmingly illiterate".
Gap
The Compendium leaves the Korun nations unnamed beyond "North-east, North-west, South", and the Fifth Age census of the Broken Sea does not count them. Whether any Korun survived the Age of the Dark Sun is not recorded.