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Nomadic Kurta Warriors
The Kurta clan was a nomadic group of extended family that followed herd animal’s along their migratory paths, living in temporary shelters and occasionally building stone shelter that would remain after they moved on, and would be inhabitable when they returned. Their mounts were a species of large avian incapable of flight, possibly bred out of it for larger and sturdier bodies. Their style of dress included loose, long-limbed underclothes that cinched at the wrists and ankles, tunics with bright colors and swirling designs, and flat slippers filled with various natural insulators such as down feather, fur, and soft plant matter.
The leadership system seemed to be patriarchal, and men were more in charge of planning and problem solving around the home, while women ventured farther away and led the hunts. There were also non-marrying members dedicated to child rearing, and those who helped in the home or hunted despite their build, suggesting gender was more of a class than an assignment and sex not nearly so important as in current large-scale societies. Recorded diet revolved around meat and gathered plant matter, and a lack of dairy products or tended crops.
The Kurta were once known for their fighting prowess, a mix of natural born talent and developed skill. The natural talent was mostly due to their ability to send the adrenal gland into overdrive, a physical reaction that presented outwardly as shining red irises that mostly obscure the pupil. Through assimilation of and experimentation with the fighting styles of the lands the Kurta moved through they developed their own ways of fighting that outclassed each of its original muses. They were able to train themselves to activate the adrenal ability on command through meditation and necessity, although for non-warrior members of the clan it mostly remained a natural reaction where the eyes would glow as the adrenal gland became more active.
There is also a recorded method of an even more excessive overdrive, known only to those warriors willing and able to activate it. The Kurta warrior would need to eat certain highly nutrient rich foods and sleep for a longer period of time than average, then consciously activate not only the natural overdrive, but push beyond it into a high metabolic state that would burn them out much faster as expense for greater strength, speed, and reaction time on the battlefield, described visually as lighting up not just the iris but the entire eyeball either due to a light from within or the irises simply shining bright enough to obscure yet more details. This was not an art that remained in practice for very long after the nomadic period, falling out of style when stability became more desired to the group.
Fall of the Kurta Empire
With growing numbers and more powerful nations to move through and compete with, the Kurta eventually settled into one of their permanent settlements, building upon it until it was a defensible structure able to store food, and then walled crops, wells, and places of recreation. As the extended families grew in number, so did the need for genetic diversity. Word of the Kurta prowess in battle led to people from other nations to seek asylum within their ranks and walls, solving problems on both sides.
Runs to gather supplies from nearby towns and nations became trade routes flowing both ways, allowing the Kurta to become better known as a stationary people rather than as bedtime stories to make children stay in their beds. Stories of savage red eyed demons dwindled and were replaced by tales of bright flowing fabrics and brighter eyes that shone during celebrations and in love stories. With the introduction of trade and an expanded political reach, the Kurta royalty began wearing rubies and other red stones on rings, necklaces, piercings, crowns, and sewn into clothing amidst the swirling embroidery and thick, blocky hems.
Once they were established as a small yet powerful kingdom, nearby groups of people petitioned them for assistance in many forms such as law and order, protection, food and supply stability, and other similar day to day needs. The kingdom grew to an empire through these means, simultaneously spreading word of their power not only to those who had need of it, but those who sought a challenge. The Kurta strength soon became a beacon for thieves, mercenaries, and greater empires that desired to take land, people, and resources alike. For each group that failed, another came behind them with greater martial strength and tactical genius.
The Kurta empire pulled back, ceding land to invaders in order to better protect their central buildings and people, until even their main structures crumbled beneath the weight of their notoriety and were no more.
Xenophobia and Return to Nomadism
Chased from their home by those who would prove their skill through besting a Kurta warrior in battle, they were followed by misfortune. Enemies of the Kurta were often enemies of the common people as well, and those who tried to defend or hide the Kurta were subjected to distrust, violence, torture, and occasionally death both by those hunting the clan and those in the populations who desired the bounty placed on their heads.
People who had killed a Kurta could be rewarded either through a great deal of money, fame, or elevation in political position, something that many people were willing to do vicious and inhumane things for. Some Knights who came back with proof even changed parts of their clothing to bear depictions of red eyes, red circles, or simply wore red dyed fabrics.
Oral tradition once again came back into play rather than carry books lost to invaders, leaving behind most of their accumulated library and recorded traditions. Some of the original stories and customs were lost entirely as living people forgot and physical books were destroyed, although a great deal of the library was saved and sold, spread to other kingdoms and empires who prized and history and academic pursuits. As the Kurta moved farther from their fallen empire, they faded from memory and were once again replaced by stories and rumors colored by the old tales of violence, and backed up by the hunters on their trail. For the Kurta to show up meant they would soon or immediately be followed by misfortune and strife, to the point that they would be chased away by towns before they could even begin to rest or be caught up to by hunters.
Depletion and Group Assimilation
Protection and rest now nearly impossible, the clan’s numbers dropped drastically. Besides those who would kill them, sickness and injury claimed the lives of many weaker members of the group and the demanding journey itself wore many down until they simply couldn't go on any longer and remained where they fell to await their fate. Trail foraging and hunting animals that could be eaten quickly without much waste were the main source of sustenance, leading to malnutrition and parasites the Kurta were not previously acquainted with, further adding to the death toll.
However, some stories of their protection of others spread as well, and those equally in need chose to band together with the clan for safety, if only for the added numbers. People farther from the original kingdom were able to show them places to hide for longer periods of time, what to eat and what to use for medicine, inevitably becoming one group as the people became closer and found time to create progeny. Geometric designs entered into the general Kurta swirls and the mixing of both became a new art form for the clan, finding ways to celebrate their new lives on the run.
While it is unclear who the original Kurta were, the newer clan displayed a wide range of hair and eye colors, between dark brown and pale blond but without the red or white mutations found elsewhere in the world. Other physical difference could be found in those with monolids and those without, differences in height, and slight but noticeable skin tone differences.
Legends of the Kurta V/S Kurta legends
Many stories of the Kurta revolved around their abilities in combat, positive and negative alike, or their glowing red eyes. Parents would tell their children stories such that if anyone stayed out too late alone or wandered where they couldn’t easily cry for help that demons with the fires of hell sprouting from their eyes would rip them to shreds or even carry them off. More convoluted tales grew from children themselves scaring each other, the same holding true for adults keeping each other entertained at gatherings and on long hunting trips.
More historical stories were also occasionally told about great skirmishes and battles from the time of the Kurta empire, romantic tales of outsiders falling in love and marrying into the kingdom of people with rubies for eyes, rumors of feral children and madmen trapped in a panic who never stopped glowing who wandered the woods between villages and towns to be encountered on the trail.
Meanwhile the Kurta themselves were more interested in the stars and stories of the constellations and polytheistic gods that held information that could be passed from parent to child more easily than memorizing realistic clan history. Due to their early nomadic nature their celestial and theological topics ranged wildly between mountainous, coastal, desert-like, and even swampy regions. From dolphins who taught them how to fish, to great birds who eventually gave up their wings to ride with the Kurta into battle, to small creatures made of gems and starlight that argued endlessly over the causes and meanings of the various shades of red that came about with heightened emotions and gave the red gems to the Kurta for helping them solve various riddles, Kurta tales were always much more colorful than those told about them by outsiders.
Besides folktales, the Kurta also had a polytheistic religion based around the changing seasons and patron deities of the different cultural tasks, such as housekeeping, food gathering, hunting, meditation and fighting, and problem solving. They believed in a form of reincarnation where the energy of life was borrowed from the world, and would return there upon death, teaching that the soul was not personal but borrowed and shared.
The Scarlet Eyes
Now highly prized relics of an extinct people, the Scarlet Eyes were historically much rarer and preserved more poorly, most pre-massacre Eyes deteriorated within weeks or were dehydrated past the point of recognition, used only long enough to share proof of victory and then discarded or used in questionable folk medicine. In more recent times, members of the Kurta clan have been abducted and sold through human trafficking networks, likely later being killed and their eyes preserved, or being murdered immediately upon capture for the same purpose. The massacre was an unprecedented event that likely would not have been successful centuries or even decades previously, at least in the complete sense that was reported.
These days the Eye’s have a fluctuating monetary worth, set as high as the seller is wont to place it and low as the buyer is able to reach. Reports of theft and willful destruction of Specimens are low but increasingly frequent, causing the price of remaining Eyes to skyrocket even further. The Scarlet eyes are even becoming too sensitive to be showcased at the few museums who host them, as this makes them more likely to be targeted and stolen, which endangers the security of other exhibits nearby.
The history of the Scarlet Eyes and the Kurta clan are in danger of being overridden by more recent fabrications by those who have acquired specimens and do not bother to look into the historical and intricate records of these unfortunately persecuted people, however fabrications are always only that, and easily debunked by those with any passing desire to do the research. Many of the books from the Kurta empire have been collected and are being kept with many of the discovered mummified body parts and articles of clothing and daily life. The Kurta people may be gone from the tides of time, but their impact on surrounding cultures and attempts at building a place for themselves will not be forgotten by those academically inclined.