Quick Facts
Government - Tribal
Religion - Kudure
Ethnicity - Draketh
Pinterest board - Heban
Heban is a group of tribes who live in the Tekeburian Desert, west of Elys.
The Hebanic government is a confederation of tribes called the Six Stars confederacy. Each tribe is called by the name of a different legendary hero in Hebanic myth. The tribes are as follows: The Aduesu (Talking one), Ehamda (Cloud hair), Kesitian (Does not weep), Mundia (Of the land), Kasari (Always Singing), and Heluli (Gift of Stars). The tribes are self-governed and are often at conflict with one another, but at any time one tribe can call for a meeting and an automatic peace treaty is formed. Messages are passed via runners or drakeriders.
The Hebanic people are often called the Draketh people because of their sand drakes, which they introduced to the rest of Tekeburi. They place great pride in their drakes, and killing a drake in battle is seen as equal to killing a person. They make saddles of leather and animal hairs that are often elaborately decorated with stitching and paint.
Hebanic peoples are highly superstitious, regarding omens with utmost respect. They are known for banishing people because of a bad omen on the night of their birth, though they don't banish people until they reach adulthood.
There is a strong emphasis on courting for both genders in different ways. Men are expected to court by giving gifts and handmade objects, while women are expected to court by dancing and singing. A serious relationship is indicated by attatching a token representing the significant other onto the knotted belt.
Coming of age happens at the first new moon after a child turns 16. The shaman of the village blesses all of the children who have turned sixteen, and they move into one house in the village where over the course of a week, all of them recieve herbs that allow them to see their animal guide. They then are marked with a tattoo of the animal they saw in their vision, typically on their arm or upper back. The larger the tattoo, the more respectable the person, since to complete a tattoo one needs patience, self-control, and pain resistance.
The clothing people wear is mainly ornamental and serves to keep cool and guarded. Loose shawls of fine leather are worn over the chest, and knotted rope skirts embellished with bone and wooden beads are worn by all, decorated with motifs representing the individual who wears it. Most people choose to forgo the top covering in casual company, only wearing it on hunts or when meeting with strangers.
People of the tribes live in grass and leather tents, made by either stretching leather across a frame or by lashing reeds together to form a shade that is propped up on a frame.
The people of Heban have been likened to lions, due to their culture that prizes both strength and rest. Hebanic people are active late into the night, but sleep in the middle of the day due to the heat of the desert. Thus, they are known for their incredible night-vision capabilties, but are regarded by some as lazy if they are only observed during the day. Hebanic culture also prides equality and hierarchy by merit and not by birth. At the age of sixteen, at the same time as their coming of age ritual, children are separated from their parents' social standing and must find their own rank in the tribe.
Because food and resources are scarce, people are expected to defend their rights to resources. Those who can't fight or don't want to fight share a portion of their resources with a champion, often a close friend or family member, who will defend resources for them. Small skirmishes happen almost daily between tribe members, but Hebanic people rarely hold grudges within their group. The fights serve to establish a pecking order.
All of the population of Heban is Sukhet, and nearly all Draketh Sukhet. The main religion practiced is an animist folk religion known as Kudure, focusing on harmful and benelovent beings.