Khots

Khots

Amurnar (Khot)
A Khot fisherman, as drawn by Nwngan Dydd
Total population
c. 45.000 to 50.000
Regions with significant populations
Krasna sea and neighbouring countries, incl. Darsavia, Eszval; Amrhyl
Languages
Khot, Darsavian, Eszvalish, Phyrean
Religion
Naimonism, Dimhe
Related ethnic groups
Other Khotic peoples, Hash-Nuvatic peoples

The Khots, natively Amurnar "Amur-people," are a semi-nomadic clunic ethnic group found around the southern coast of the Krasna Sea. They are part of the larger Hashan peoples populating most of northern and eastern Anidon.

Appearance

Khot clúnydd are recognisable from their usually bluish fur tones. These vary from glossy, blackish purples to bright light blues. Their fur tends toward curly and dense, similar to other Anidon clúnath ethnic groups. Khot horns are long and straight. About 60~65% of Khots have auricula, and their ears are straight, triangular and round-tipped. Their tails are straight and their skin trends dark.

Culture

Semi-nomadism

The various clans follow a lifestyle of periodical procession along their home sea, settling at the beginning of their lunar calendar's month and moving near its end. To decide where to settle, they have devised a system of boundary stones carved with images of their deities, as well as notable people. As such, their settling areas are named after the figures pictured in these stones.

Social structure

Khots have a system of tribes or clans (muraar in Khot), where groups of about 20 to 50 people, all related in some way, will travel together under the supervision of a chief (madal) and his direct family through the male line, including his sons and eventual grandsons.

Kinship

The Khots use a patrilineal kinship system similar to that of related Khot-Hashic cultures. A person will trace their ancestry through the male line. Khot kinship distinguishes between generation and lineal/collateral kins. Gender distinction is seldom necessary as the near totality of clúnath are male, but in the rare case that a natal female relative (i.e. a woman born to a clúnath father, which on average would be around 1 to 3 people within a 20 to 50 member clan) is present, they get the base kinship term plus the word for woman (xötan). Natal women are highly valued and regularly become wives of other clans' chiefs and his direct family. Non-natal women are, however, rarely recognised as "true" kin, with perhaps the exception of mother-child relationships.

Inter-clan relations

As clans meet during their procession along the Krasna, feasts and parties aren't uncommon, held to strengthen relations and find potential wives. In rare cases, multiple clans will merge. The largest of these "super-clans" was the Axürtür clan, at one point having somewhere around 250 members, before splintering after some unknown internal conflict.

Inter-species relations

Khots have historically been in close contact with feld cultures, and have managed to influence some quite heavily, such as the Ascons and Darsavians. These groups, especially the former, still regularly hold close relations with the Khots, whom they consider themselves to be related to in some way. Mixed Khot-Ascon clans usually live pastoralist sedentary lives along the margins of the Ascon and Khot territories, practicing Naimonism and upholding an adapted but recognisable form of Khot culture. Regularly, they will receive nomad Khots during their procession along the Krasna, and share food, alcohol and women with them.

Homosexuality

Homosexual relations are a common thing in Khot culture. It is ritualistically encouraged, as Naimonists believe that it keeps the flow of the emürrüng (primordial semen) alive within men. Who is eligible for these relationships, and who takes on the active and passive roles, is based on familial distance and generation. People within the same patrilineage (i.e. sharing the same male family line) up to their own generation will never engage in ritual homosexuality. This would make sex between cousins viable, as they do not share the same father. Within one's generation, positioning is versatile, although it is common for the older partner to also be the active one. Between generations, the older men will always take the active role.