Ozbar

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The Ozbar people are a stout and old race, remarkable for their natural resilience and sturdiness, making some believe that they were actually born from stone. They originate from the harsh land of Arangazad a land dominated by high, cold mountains and vast steppes. From here the ozbar would find their early days surviving among these harsh conditions. Despite this, they would go to shape the land to their will, and create the greatest empire the world had even seen, even to this day. Though the Othrumnok Empire would collapse and leave the race severely crippled, their impact on the history and cultures of the entirety of Thendarr still resonates today.

Attributes
Ozbar skin is said to be molded from the earth themselves. They range from very pale whites to dark grays and sometimes even black. Inbetween are shades of yellowish brown, to brown, to reddish brown.

Ozbar are infact quite bulky and large, much thicker than the average human. They stand from four to five feet and are not as short as often believed. Most stand at the heights of humans.

Peoples
Situated in the center of Thendarr, the Ozbarai have interacted with many of the races surrounding them. They have played an important role in the cultural development of Thendarr, channeling ideas from one side of the world and spreading them to the other. This has also worked the other way, and the Ozbarai have adopted much from the cultures surrounding them, the largest influence being from the Elven Empire. The Ozbarai are largely divided culturally by Eastern, Western, and Southern Ozbarai. However, within these groups are many diverse cultures that can barely be grouped together. After the collapse of the Ozbarok Empire and the loss of unity, the Ozbarai became even more culturally divided.

Eastern Ozbarai
The Ozbarai of the East are situated in the eastern and northern lands of Ghalzund, including the Vokan Steppes, Black Peaks, and parts of the Northcrown Mountains. Unlike their other brethren, they are not isolationists, and are avid traders with the many peoples that surround them, including goblin merchants, the kingdoms of Oseros, their Ozbar brethren, and even occassionally with orcs in times of peace. They have a rivalry, sometimes intense, with the goblins, over trading and technological prowess.

The Eastern ozbarai, like the southern, prefer the comfort of their deep homes and have adjusted to it over the centuries, prefering the underground over the surface. As a result, they have few above-ground settlements, save for rest stations established for traders traversing the dangerous Black Peaks or Northcrown Mountains.

The Eastern Ozbarai, specifically the ones situated along the northern coasts of Ghalzund, are also significant for their involvement in shipbuilding, a quality not seen in other Ozbarai commonly due to being surrounded by land. They have been known to trade across the northern coast of Thendarr, from Ralnu'an to Oseros, and sometimes even moving further down south. However, a journey this far is long and perilous, and Ozbarok ships are not designed for the warmer climates of the Tomb Sea or .

The Eastern Ozbarai are notable for their highly democratic governments, being noted as the Free Republics of the East. They seem to have far advanced beyond a monarchical system and possess elected leaders and protect the rights of citizens. This has allured a large wave of oppressed peoples, from exiled Orcs to Oseran peasants, to migrate into their underground cities. This is allowed to happen in due part with the more liberal views of the eastern Ozbarai, who are not as racist as their other brethren. Orcs are not an uncommon sight in their cities, in fact, especially in mercenary bands. These cities serve as the men of Oseros' greatest conduit to the western world, were any other ways of contact are highly perilous.

Western Ozbarai
The Western Ozbarai are situated in the westernmost mountains of Ghalzund, Arangazad, closely bordering Ralnu'an. Due to their proximity, they have the greatest contact with the Elven people. They occassionaly trade with them, but otherwise both parties prefer to be isolated from each other due to bad blood. Although they are the former political and cultural center of the Ozbar Empire, the west ozbarai do not retain much of their old heritage. This is due to the fact they were too, the heart of the Demonic Incursion's greatest extent of destruction. The haggard survivors who made it underground lost much of their former culture, and had no interest in gaining it back, instead seeking to start anew in the battered world. The Western Ozbarai were also the most connected, being the heart of the old empire, they had an infrastructure of tunnels already built that united the old mine-cities. This served for both good and ill, leading to cooperation and wars. A few centuries after the exodus to the underground, attitudes began to change a new wave of fervor was instilled into the western azkolmai to return to the surface. The Western Ozbarai where the first of the underground Ozbar to reemerge back onto the surface. They have various above ground settlements, many which are newly built. A dream is to one day reclaim the old capital of Tolgazad, although it is fiercly guarded by the Kelmid orcs as a sacred city in reverence to Kaganatar, the World Breaker. This quest differs from those of the Surface Ozbarai as they seek not to rebuild the old empire, but instead forge a new land in their ancestral home.

The Western Ozbarai are most iconic for their rugged mountaineers and rangers, which trudge the cold peaks and work as both survivalists and guerilla fighters, against any invaders to their land. Some western azkolmai do not even have standing armies, and instead have entire dedicated ranger corps that protect the nation. In spirit, the Western Ozbarai are survivalists, whether it be below or above the ground.

The Western Ozbar too, are distinguishable for their shipbuilding, similiar to the Eastern Ozbar. However, this only takes place in the northernmost Azkolmai, where the mountains border the sea.

Some Surface Ozbarai have even adopted the culture of the Western Ozbarai through assimilation or closeness, most notably the, who where one of the first to establish contact with their deepground brethren.

-Gem cutters

-Rangers and mountaineers

Surface Ozbarai
The surface ozbarai are a rare breed that survived the collaspe of the Kholmaz Ozbarok and the exodus of their brothers to the deepground. For a variety of different reasons, these nations were able to exist on the surface and withstand the ages. Many early nations of the surface ozbarai fell, although the few that survived are a people hardened by difficulty. They are located in pockets scattered throughout Ghalzund, and do not dominate any particular region. Their relationship with their other brothers varies by azkolmai, some being xenophobic while others being more liberal.

To many of the surface ozbarai, retaining the traditions and knowledges of the Ozbar Empire is of prime importance. Recovered artifacts of the past empire are very valuable and treasured. Many clans, too, claim descendance from the families of past Kholms. To the surface azkolmai, reclaiming ruins of the old Empire is of great priority, and they have been locked in combat with the Orcs for centuries over the fallen territories. This quest to reclaim the old Empire has met varying degrees of success. Some have successfully reclaimed and rebuilt settlements of the old Empire. They, too, have retained much knowledge from the Empre, although it is only a fraction of what the great libraries of the Empire once possessed. On the flipside, they have taken many losses in this long and bloody quest, and pale in comparison to the glory of the old empire.

Many of the greatest architects in the world are of surface blood and this can be attributed to the vast wealth of architectural knowledge they still possess from the days of the Empire. Their modern architecture does indeed, too, resemble that of the old Empire, although many techniques have been long lost, such as the great archbridges of the old Empire.

Despite their longing to reclaim the empire, even the surface ozbarai know the importance of moving on. Without magic, they can never truly be like the great empire, and many natural but drastic changes have evolved in their social life, culture, politics, and military, that diverge from those of the Kholmaz Ozbarok.

Southern Ozbarai
The Southern Ozbarai are a reclusive, mysterious, and strongly xenophobic people, even to their fellow Ozbarai. They have little contact with outside races, except the rare trader.



They are too an industrious people, with large forges, workshops, and mines dotting their cityscape. Many of the world's most skilled smiths are of Southern Ozbarai blood. The mountain homes of the Southern Ozbarai house some of the largest stores of ore in the world. They are a devout and loyal people to their tasks, making them a powerful and productive.

Unlike the other Ozbar, the Southern Ozbarai are infact their own singular empire. They may not be on the surface, but below the ground they have constructed a vast array of tunnels and mines. Some rumor that there is even one that stretches so far it reaches Qamin.

Their society is a contradictory one, however, as the sense of duty and loyalty is starkly contrasted with the great political intrigue that plagues the upper class of these nations. In their politics, nothing is as it seems, and nobody can be trusted but oneself.

Factions
Multiple western azkolmai

2 or 3 Eastern azkolmai

1 Southern empire

Many surface ozbarai maybe like 4

Technology (Remove this later once u archive the info. Keep this more exclusive to nation pages)
=This will need revision. Remove gunpowder weaponry but keep it for mining=

The Ozbar are currently one of the most technologically advanced peoples on Thendarr. They are skilled engineers and have a mastery of clockworks, with great elevators and mine shafts across their large underground complexes. They too, have much scientific knowledge about the world, which has been proven a neccessity for designing such machines, navigating their deep caverns, and constructing in such difficult terrain. Their arguably most important invention in recent times is Barut, an explosive powder that was originally used for excavating mines. However, it would be first weaponized by  only very recently. Such weapons are rare and uncommon, but are slowly garnering interest from other inventors observing it's properties. The new weapons include: Ozbarai are also known for forging some of the best steel in the world, known as , attributed to their advanced forging and smelting techniques beyond those of the human kingdoms. Very few individuals of other races have ever produced , and the Ozbar are the undisputed masters of it's creation.
 * Torgak - A siege weapon
 * Gradambhar - A firearm invented by.

The Ozbarai are also attributed for bringing into , an art that was originally created by the Elven Empire thousands of years ago. It would be widely practiced during the Ozbar Empire, and after it's fall, the skill would be retained, albeit in much rarer quantities. Today, an weapon is extremely expensive, rare, and highly regarded, especially among the human kingdoms. In the Elven states it is too highly regarded, yet is less foreign as they still hold the skill themselves.

Religion (Remove this later once u archive the info. Keep this more exclusive to nation pages)
The Ozbar have had numerous religions. In older times, there was little centralization of religions and they were freely practiced, worshipping various gods who watched over aspects of daily life. The first large religion would be Kholmazgoln, the official religion of the Ozbar Empire, a mix of the Othrumn and Elven faiths. Though it encompassed most of the Empire, the practices and beliefs varied regionally as it was often incorporated with other local beliefs.

After the collaspe of the Kholmaz Ozbarok, Kholmazgoln would greatly fall out of favor, however it is still practiced today by Surface Ozbarai. In the deepground however, a plethora of new religions would spring, a few inspired by the Kholmazgoln.These included:
 * bleeod
 * smerp
 * laod