Zantira

Zantira, or Zantirans, also referred to as the Raft Dwellers, was a peaceful human Nubari tribe that inhabited the Sleepy Lake on the jungle-covered Malatran Plateau in Kara-Tur.

Description
The Zantira were short humans, on average; however, taller individuals were known to exist. Their small frame weighted around. The Raft Dwellers had very dark skin, developed due to the exposure to hot Malatran sun, and its light reflected off the Sleepy Lake's waters.

The name "Raft Dwellers" came from the Zantira's distinct skills in building their floating homes out of reeds, bamboo, various grasses, fish bone, and other materials of the Malatran jungles.

Habitat
Zantira tribe settled on the mist-filled Sleepy Lake that was fed by the equally misty Dreaming River. The mists were a terrifying presence for most beings of the Malatran Plateau. All Nubari, and most other intelligent inhabitants of the Living Jungle, apart from the enigmatic Zantira who loved there, considered the mist-engulfed lands dangerous and taboo.

As of the late 14 century DR, the Zantira was numbered around 250 individuals, 12 distinct family-group floating villages total. Each of these aquatic settlements was tied to the land, floating around or  away from the shores of the sizable Sleepy Lake. Buoyant thatch bridges connected the buildings in these floating villages. When Zantira needed to get to the shore, they used rafts, their namesakes, bade of the same materials as their homes.

The closest neighbor of the Zantira was the dangerous and xenophobic Huroola tribe, just up the river from the Rift Dwellers' lands.

Culture
The Zantira were a hunter-gatherer culture. Women and children spent their days crafting, foraging, and fishing, while men hunted bigger and more dangerous prey with lassos and javelins. The most skilled and respected hunters were proud to have killed crocodiles with nothing but a knife. Foraging was done on the lake shallows, close to the shores, and underwater. Common source of protein was meat of turtles, crocodiles, frogs, and fish, including dangerous but delicious s'repic. One of the plants the Zantira foraged was shameo water lily. Its plump roots were ground and juiced. The juice then was fermented to become shameo, a type of alcohol.

These humans valued strength, despite being kept safe by their watery homes. The strongest of the Zantira were trained in the art of combat as, during the rare times of war, the Zantira warriors sailed to the land to defend their homes, and that was where the training rituals took place – on solid ground rather than on the water. The warriors of the tribe trained their "land-legs" and learned to use javelins. Women of the tribe, even those who did not take a warrior's path, were trained in using bows. Both ranged weapons were used to defend the floating villages from afar. Crocodile leather was used to craft armor for the warriors.

Zantira were so accustomed to aquatic life that most had trouble sleeping on solid ground. An occasional Zantira youth discovered being unable to sleep on the water during the fifteenth year of life. These rare individuals were called Goval ("travelers" in the tribe's language). These men and women were destined to travel the solid lands of Malatra for a decade, trying to find a place where they could finally rest. In their reluctant travels, Goval learned unique skills to weave arcane spells as wizards or summon spirits as witch doctors or wage war as warriors. All who survived the journeys became exceptional people of great skill and power. However, the sleeplessness returned to Goval once again at some point after their twenty-fifth birthday. When that happened, the "travelers" returned to their homes on the Sleepy Lake to find rest once again. Those who survived and returned were called Goval'Ma, "true travelers."

Family
Individual family units were quite small among the Zantira, and a couple of parents seldomly had offspring number higher than two. This family unit was so traditional that being called "the third one" was considered a dire insult, implying that the offended individual was an unwanted child and a mistake. Because of this cultural norm, when a second daughter was born, she was given away to be raised by relatives whose children were all grown, while the parents attempted to produce a male child. This custom was more common among families of high social standing or wealth.

Garb
Due to heat, humidity, and lack of shade, Zantirans wore light woven clothing. Males decorate themselves with necklaces of crocodile teeth, symbolic of successful hunts. Women weaved intricate hairstyles decorated with fish bone accessories. Both men and women of the tribe covered their skin with a special type of green dye extracted from the local plants during the nightly water ceremonies.

Customs
The said water ceremonies were an important part of the Zantiran's life. Every evening, a family gathered around the center of their raft home to express gratitude toward the life and shelter-giving waters of the Sleepy Lake. The Raft People believed in protection granted by the lake's spirits, and though they were sheltered from dangers as long as they called the Sleepy Lake home. The water ritual guaranteed that the lake spirits guarded the families during nighttime from evil spirits, swimming garuda, and malicious black leopard katanga of the jungle who hunted on the shores.

Government
The tribal leaders were Goval'Ma, or the "true travelers" – those who survived more than 25 years of travel, becoming powerful individuals. As of the late 14 century, the leader of all the Zantira was Goval'Ma witch doctor Manyuk V'Domo. Manyuk learned of all other tribes of Malatra during his sleeplessness and earned the friendship of The Wise Ones of the Malatran savanna, who taught him the way of peace. Manyuk V'Domo brought the peaceful teachings with him to the Sleepy Lake and led the tribe for over sixteen years by the late 14 century DR. He decreed that all family-villages were to meet at the center of the Sleepy Lake every year during the vernal equinox. The villages were to trade, celebrate eachother and jointly perform the water rituals. The equinox was also used to arrange marriages and resolve disputes between families or individuals.

Trade
The Zantira had humble trade with their neighbors, exporting alcoholic shameo, s'repic fish meat and scales, as well as crocodile leathers.

History
In the ancient days, the Zantira inhabited lands away from the Sleepy Lake, where they were in constant danger from the black leopard katanga who killed villagers and raided their settlements. A legend verbally passed from one generation of witch doctors, told of great strife, a monstrous massacre of the ancient Zantira at the maws and claws of the much-hated leopards. A great liquid shape, the water spirit called Jung'r'na, rose from the Sleepy Lake and destroyed the katanga raiders, offering the ancient humans shelter in its waters. It taught the Zantira to make their ritual rafts and floating homes. The great spirit continued to guard the humans, keeping them safe from the katanga, the lake's population of crocodiles, and kept their floating homes from drifting into the mysterious and dangerous mists of the Dreaming River. No Zantira had ever returned from the mists, keeping the mystery and fear alive well into the late 14 century DR. However, some of the younger and "progressive-thinking" Zantira thought that in reality, the floating homes were kept safe by the local population of friendly caiman katanga, while others believed the caiman were servants of Jung'r'na.

Rumors & Legends
A popular tale to scare unruly children was that the dangerous s'repic fish that often went underneath the Zantira rafts ate not only accidentally dropped food but also naughty children.

Appearances

 * Organized Play & Licensed Adventures
 * Web of Destruction &bull; An Army of One Thousand &bull; Courage of a Coward &bull; Legacy of the Headshrinker