Mar (ethnicity)

The Mar were a race of humans dwelling in the Utter East.

History
The Mar were the indigenous inhabitants of the Utter East; they had settled along the coastline in past ages. Their histories told they had known only oppression since that time.

In the Year of Nineteen Swords, 621 DR, Moonshaes Ffolk arrived on the shores of the Utter East, where they chose to settle. They were later joined by Northmen settlers. The native Mar welcomed the Ffolk, who spoke of peace and brotherhood between the two races. Indeed, relations were friendly for the first few years. However, Ffolk soon turned greedy, and they seized Mar lands for their own, and then subjugated and enslaved the Mar tribes themselves. They carved these stolen lands into their Five Kingdoms.

The Ffolk discovered the bloodforges in the Year of the Dancing Daggers, 648 DR and burst into the Bloodforge Wars. The Mar could only be helpless witnesses, recording events for posterity. A decade of unending warfare devastated the Utter East, leaving the ancestral lands of the Mar despoiled. Finally, after the Plague of Fiends in the Year of the Nine Stars, 657 DR and the subsequent Scouring of the Utter East, the Five Kingdoms were in ruin and chaos, but the Mar had, at least, survived. They stood up and demanded their freedom, and the Ffolk, weary and sick of warfare, yielded it, however reluctantly. Nevertheless, they still had no land of their own, nor were they heard in the royal courts. This state of affairs continued for centuries.

Language
The indigenous Mar people spoke the Maran or Mari language, which was most closely related to the languages of Zakhara. It was melodious but rapidly spoken, with short syllables and throat clicks.

Personality
As the Mar told it, they were not a proud people, but they were patient. They saw their endurance under the yoke of oppression as their greatest virtue.

Appearances

 * Novels:
 * Faces of Deception &bull; Errand of Mercy &bull; An Opportunity for Profit