The Five Tribes of Dzunge Duny
The Dzunge-dunylin Toculkar are the children of the great sky god Dzunge Duny. They are fiercely independent steppe-dwellers who have long lived at the periphery of the Geallian world, raiding their more settled neighbors as often as they raid one another.
Faith and Identity¶
The Duny understand themselves through descent from Dzunge Duny, whose sky realm gives religious meaning to storm, smoke, thunder, and open steppe. Their faith helps preserve tribal independence even when outside empires attempt to settle, tax, or convert them.
The five tribes share this sacred ancestry, but unity is rare. Honor, raiding rights, tribute, and control of pasturelands keep the tribes in almost constant rivalry.
Conflict with the Zani¶
The divided Duny were gradually forced to bend the knee to the Zani Empire, which settled their hunting grounds with foreign peoples. During the Great Invasions of the 650s, the hero Orcuz Gundogdu led the five tribes to victory against Zanic and Selaskusian armies.
The Duny interpret the Great Collapse as divine intervention: Dzunge Duny clouding his realm with smoke, shaking the earth, and raining thunderbolts upon the Zani. What Geallians remember as catastrophe, the Duny celebrate as proof that their god defended his children.
Razani Pressure and Jarenam¶
When the Razani Empire later marched on Duny lands, the sky god was believed to have sent the demon Jarenam the Formidable Dragon to ravage Razani territory. Jarenam's wars weakened imperial pressure and allowed the Duny to reclaim homelands lost to foreign settlement.
This memory ties Duny freedom to both divine favor and the chaos of surrounding empires. The tribes survive partly because powerful neighbors repeatedly exhaust themselves elsewhere.
Situation at 1000 LC¶
Two tribes are content raiding the Ytalians for tribute, but the leading tribe's great chief has larger ambitions. He tolerates conquered peoples, adopts useful technologies, and has already subdued and integrated several rivals.
His next goal is the remaining tribes. If he succeeds, the Five Tribes of Dzunge Duny may become something more durable than a raiding confederation.
See also: Geallian, Great Collapse, Zani Empire, Razani Empire, and Jarenam.