The Burbah Peoples

The Burbah are a nomadic people who's ancestral land lie on the fringes of the Empire. Territorial disputes have made them bitter enemies of the Empire as the Empire's mining operations continue to disrupt the routes along which the Burbah have for generations driven their herds of muskox.

In recent years what was once sporatic and scattered outbreaks of violence has turned to war as the Empire attempts to assert their influence on the area in order to extend their transcontinental railway to the seaports of Doneram and Listan on the far side of Burbah territory.

Burbah life and Culture

Burbah life revolves around the muskox. For general informations see
the wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muskox

They follow the herds from the summer hunting grounds to the mountain
heights for the winters to avoid the snow. They live in yurts made
from muskox hide. They clothe themselves in muskox hide. They light
their fires with muskox dung. They fashion cudgels from muskox bones
and use muskox guts to string their bows and musical intruments.

The division of labor is traditional, men tend to the herds and go
hunting and warring, women rear the children, cook, sew, and gather
plants. This is not to say that the women aren't fierce warriors,
they're trained from a young age in the bow and bolo and are more than
a match in hand to hand combat than most Imperial men.

Like most traditional peoples, the Burbah women are the spiritual
leaders and the keepers of the secrets and tales of their people.
Tribes will have an old wise woman who tends to the spirit world.
There are also male shamans who dispense the psychedelic reindeer piss
that is used in the visionary rituals fo the Burbah.

Like most peoples who live in the frigid parts of the world the Burbah are
unaccountably happy and cheerful nearly all of the time. The
exception to this is when outsiders are around which gives rise to the
tales of the Burbah's unforgiving dourness which form the basis of
most Imperal's conceptions of the nomads.

Clothing of the Burbah

Clothing of the Burbah is marked by layers of long formless robes of
various materials and a compleat lack of fasteners. All the layers
are held together at the waist by belts and sashes.

Materials for Burbah garments come almost exclusively from the muskox. Underlayers are made of various weights of muskox wool, and
outerlayers are made of the braintanned hides of the beasts
themselves. One musk ox hide is used to make a standard male's
longcoat. Clothes are also made from the hides of animals killed by
hunting parties.

For pants the Burbah tend towards loose-legged woolen jawns with
leather reinforcemnt in the crotch, seat, and inner and outer legs.

Our only example of Burbah wear can be seen here.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lastwear/sets/72157594519262150/

Note this is reproduction clothing and not authentic as evidence by
the use of synthetic fleece and canvas. Very little authentic Burbah
clothing makes it to the markets of the outside world, though there is
some trade with the merchants of the Hinterland. Reproduction Burbah
clothing is widely available and varies in quality from shoddy to
excellent.

On their feet the Burbah wear big furry boots called valenki of muskox felt with lots
of lacing around them. Underneath they bind their feet with strips of
muskox wool called protyanki.

Weaponry of the Burbah

We believe that the Burbah use air rifles as their primary weapon.
These have been around since the 15th century in our world and the old
guns look really bitchin'. They have the advantage of being able to
be fired when wet, no muzzle flash and quieter shot, and needing only
easily made lead balls as ammunition.

Here's some links to various examples:
http://www.beemans.net/images/Austrian%20airguns.htm

The Kunitomo airgun shown in the Wikipedia article is probably similar
to the guns the Burbah use.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_gun

The Burbah also need some sort of a cudgel for close in work. This
should be an integral part of Burbah life and culture and should have
a suitably significant name.

The recurve horn bow is also widely in use, particularly in the tribes furthest
from the civilized world, to whom guns are still a rarity.

A spear would round out the standard Burbah male's arms. These are
probably eightish feet long and most likely break down in to two parts
to be stowed on the back for traveling. They would also be used in
the more Northerly regions of the Burbah wandering lands where
glaciers rule the land as a precaution against falls into crevasses.

Hookah Smoking Cats

The Burbah have established an alliance with a species of snow cat, the cathod Y Mwg, resembling a lynx only bigger. The cats have become enamoured with
tobacco which they smoke habitually from specially designed cat hookahs made by
the Burbah. As cats cannot trade with tobacco merchants, they rely on
the Burbah for their supply of the leaf. In return the cats
provide a number of small services for the Burbah, such as alerting
them when predators move in on the herds and bringing back children
that have run off.