Garundi

Garundi worship gods with song, food, and dance. They tend to see little use in somber ritual, although they do frequently adopt the slow chanting that seems so popular among the Chelaxians and Taldans. Even when praying to Pharasma in her role as goddess of the dead, Garundi sing and dance (frequently slower and more exactingly than more celebratory dancing, though). The birth of a child, also an aspect of life controlled by Pharasma, brings out the brightest, most gaily colored outfits and loudest, fastest songs and dances. In ceremonies celebrating the worship of Nethys, god of magic, Garundi dance with bright streamers (to represent magic, even when spellcasters are present) and black and white robes (made in such a way as to lift at the waist when the wearer spins about). Garundi in the northern deserts of Garund tend to worship Sarenrae, while those in the south of that continent frequently bend knees to Gozreh.

On the other hand, in between (and sometimes during) epochs of powerful civilizations and sprawling empires, the Garundi people seem to take to wandering. Garundi influences are felt across the entirety of the continent with which they share their ethnic name, and many scholars believe the Mwangi descend from very ancient Garundi wanderers. Individual clans of Garundi, if not entire communities within communities, exist in cities across southern Avistan and are reported even to occasionally turn up on the wide steppes of Casmaron.

While scholars agree that they originally came from the southern reaches of Garund, few can agree on exactly when this migration occurred or what prompted it. Despite some superficial similarities, there is no reliable evidence that the Garundi had any direct ties whatever to the Azlanti culture of the Inner Sea, although a great deal of evidence shows they were contemporaries.

Society

Garundi communities can be found throughout Garund’s civilized nations – and even through many of the uncivilized ones. They generally make for kind and caring neighbors, happy to pitch in to build a stronger community for everyone to enjoy. The interactions between individuals and families within their own community is not well understood by outsiders.

Garundi culture tends to divide itself into relatively small clans, about 15-20 families that travel together. These clans form the basic unit of Garundi society, unlike the nuclear-family-based cultures of the Taldans and Chelaxians. In their hearts, it seems Garundi are expansionists, as a newly founded clan tends to travel until it discovers an area suitable for development not already claimed by another Garundi clan. That others might claim the territory seems to matter little to the Garundi. Once the clan finds a suitable location, it immediately begins building a permanent settlement if one does not exist and establishing a strictly hierarchical community. This hierarchy is only applied to Garundi families. Any families or clans from other cultures have no part within this organization – neither above nor below the Garundi society, but outside of it completely. So while one Garundi family might rank higher or lower than another, all non-Garundi families are considered equal.

Any other Garundi clans that pass through the territory are welcomed as honored guests, but are not allowed to settle permanently. After a full month has passed, the visiting clan is obligated to leave or to pay a hefty tribute to the dominant families of the existing community. If this tribute is paid every month for a full year, the clan is allowed to join the permanent community, but must take up the lowest rung on the social ladder.

Even the earliest records of Garundi arrivals in the northern countries indicate this behavioral pattern – a clan would arrive and immediately settle in the port city. The next arriving clan would stay a month or two at most, then move on to the next town inland and establish a community there. This trend continued until, in present times, thriving Garundi communities exist throughout the civilized nations.

Often it is possible to estimate how long the Graundi community has been part of a town by how thoroughly its members have established themselves in the greater community through marriage. Children of mixed Garundi marriages rarely have the deep black skin tone of their southern forefathers. In coastal nations, such as Osirion, Rahadoum, and Thuvia, Garundi skin tone ranges from light brown to the deep red of Osirion’s ruling caste.

While the wave of immigration from the southern continent ended centuries ago, there yet remain new clans wandering the land searching for a town, fertile valley, or river delta to claim as their own. These clans come from existing Garundi communities and are generally composed of individuals whose ancestry placed them on the lower social strata. With little or no hope of bettering their or their progeny’s positions in the established community, they opted to band together, leave the community, and search for greener pastures elsewhere. in many cases, individual Garundi strike out on their own, hoping to achieve such acclaim and personal success that upon their return they are invited to marry into upper-class families.

Garundi communities can be found in nearly every corner of the map. Since these communities generally work hard to blend in and become integral parts of their surroundings, it is sometimes easy to miss them. Particularly large Garundi populations are found across northern and eastern Garund, of course, but many are also found in southern parts of that countinent, as well as in southwestern Cheliax, Qadira, Taldor, southern Andoran, and increasingly in Isger and Galt.

Religion