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<h3>-16000 — The wars of elcari and múrtani</h3>
By -21000 the <b>elcari</b> had adopted, or re-adopted, agriculture, mostly growing wheat, rye, oats, and wild rice, in the valleys and foothills, as well as flax and hemp for textiles. Not long afterward they began their characteristic building complexes (<i>khak</i>) in the mountains, a combination of mines, palaces, and temples. At this time these were largely surface structures. (In human sources and legends elcari are depicted as all being miners or craftsmen. It’s part of the elcar self-image as well: <i>elkar </i>means ‘the creating (people)’. But a large fraction of elcari are farmers or herders.)
<IMG Align=right SRC="../elcar.jpg" width=239 height=128 title="Elcar and múrtany">
<p>There was a particularly large population in the Elkarin mountains, centered on the <i>khak </i>called<i> </i> <b>Khatelyên</b>. It was here that the division into <b>elcari and múrtani</b> occurred, around -19500. The reasons are clouded by legend; most Almeans speak of two separately created species. However, elcari and múrtani can interbreed, so biology is not willing to speak of anything other than races within a single species.
<p>At least three origin stories are attested:
<ul><li>The <i><a href="Javascript:parent.updir('ciroma5.htm');">Count of Years</a></i> has the demon Soxāeco stealing away elcarin children and raising them as his own and teaching them to raid the elcari.
<li>Some elcarin stories describe the sin of one Nkâshegg, an insane elcar who demanded that his tribe worhip himself rather than Khemthu-Nôr, the elcarin god.
<li>The elcari of the Kroŋa mountains in Arcél claim that a tribe of elcari, eager to exploit the riches of the northern hemisphere, passed through the Zone of Fire. They survived, but the process turned them into twisted, malign caricatures of themselves, the múrtani.
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The múrtani abandoned the worship of Khemthu-Nôr and instead worship a set of gods; some claim that the names of these gods are those of the demons in elcarin religion. As the múrtanin gods enjoin a despotic social structure, hostility to other races, the sacrifice of captives, and alliance with the ktuvoks, the elcarin estimation of their character is generally accepted.
<p>The múrtani today are normally in a state of civil war— advancement in their tribes requires bold action in raids and warfare, and external enemies are not always available. Once or twice a generation, a particularly strong leader leads a force to attack the elcari (or occasionally humans); this is a serious matter, not only because the múrtani are notorious for enslaving and sexually abusing their captives, but because the tribe will keep attacking till it has a sufficient store of captives, or it is entirely killed.
<p>At the time of the original division, however, they were a united and formidable force. The war continued for centuries, culminating in a great defeat for the elcari, who were driven out of Khatelyên and the Elkarin mountains entirely.
<p>Around -16000 the elcari returned and reconquered Khatelyên, destroying the múrtanin empire. It’s said that the band structure of the múrtani dates to this time. The defeat was so thorough that many múrtani scattered to other parts of Almea to escape.
<p>Of course elcarin history is more complex than this; but due to the nature of their society little of it is visible on a small-scale map. Elcari do not really have states in our sense; they organize temporary structures of the right size to face a given problems; and a <i>khak </i>is a sprawling structure much larger (but less dense) than a human city. Thus the ebb and flow of kingdoms and empires doesn’t really exist for them. Elcarin political history largely consists of the machinations of clans (<i>tely</i>), but these involves territories far too small and convuluted to show on the map.
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