#staaka

[know-o-princess]

The Sarmani tribes

Kuda, the main protagonist of Know, O Princess grew up among the Staaka, one of a group of nomadic steppe tribes known collectively as the Sarmani. The Sarmani tribes are mainly inspired by real-world central Asian steppe nomads such the Scythians and Sarmatians.

...Only instead of horses they ride domesticated horse-sized alioramin tyrannosaurs.

Mostly known for their ferocity on the battlefield and for the fact that their women routinely fight alongside the men, the Sarmani tribes have spent the last few hundred years sweeping out of the east in waves, with each new tribe displacing the one before it and pushing them further west and into conflict with the people already living there. Able to move quickly and masters of mounted archery, the Sarmani tribes are both feared by the surrounding peoples and prized as mercenaries.

[know-o-princess]

I just realized that saying the Staaka are Denisovans (Homo longi) adds a question to Kuda's backstory.

As you may recall from previous posts, the Staaka practice ritual endocannibalism, consuming parts of their dead as a sign of love and respect. And having been raised among them, Kuda would have done this as well. Which would make her a cannibal, right?

BUT! Kuda is not a Homo longi. She's a Homo sapiens, adopted and raised by the Staaka (and she's not the first, the Sarmani tribes, all of whom would be H. longi now, adopt the children of outsiders pretty frequently). So when she took part in that custom, she was technically eating a different species than her own. So was it really cannibalism?

...Not that this question would matter to her, or that anyone would even think to ask it; Erud has just begun to enter its Iron Age, they don't know shit about genera and species. As far as they're concerned, Erud's three species of Homo are all just people that look a little different. So from that perspective, yes, she'd still be a cannibal.

[know-o-princess]

Since some Greek cities apparently used Scythian slaves captured in battle as city guards, I may include a part during Kuda's journey back to the steppes where she runs into members of her old tribe while passing through a Danaean (Erud!Greek) city.

[know-o-princess]

Aside from their ferocity on the battlefield and their equal standing with their men in virtually all areas of life, Sarmani women are also known for their promiscuity; Sarmani tribes have rather flexible ideas about monogamy, and the men see nothing wrong with letting their wives play the field if they think it will result in them bearing strong warriors.

Kuda, having no interest in men, isn't in any hurry to get knocked up any time soon, but she otherwise embodies that permissive Sarmani attitude towards sex, leaving a string of female lovers seemingly wherever she goes in her wanderings across Erud. Yemsher, having grown up extremely sheltered in the conservative society of Dar-Shelem where female sexuality is seen as shameful and same-sex relationships are at best quietly discouraged, finds all of this very scandalous and Kuda takes great delight in getting her flustered by bringing up her sexual exploits.