Gur

The Gurs, also known as Selûne's Children or the people of the highway, were a nomadic human people.

Description
Like their Rashemi kin, Gurs were typically a stout, strong, and sturdy people, with thick black hair, dark eyes, and dusky skin.

Society & Culture
By the 14 century DR, the Gurs were divided into two distinct cultures, those who traveled throughout the Western Heartlands and those living in the Endless Wastes. A few settled in some of the poorer sections of cities such as Baldur's Gate, Elturel, and Iriaebor.

The Gurs of the Western Heartlands were arranged by large extended families. A nomadic people, they traveled from settlement to settlement in assorted caravans, picking up random jobs and selling or trading any unwanted goods. Some found work as soothsayers and diviners. Those few who settled in cities struggled to survive in their poorer quarters. Gur culture placed a high value on honor, but they suffered long-standing prejudices from other folk.

The Gur of the Endless Wastes were on friendly terms with the Oigur and the Tuigan tribes. Their lands bordered those of the Fankiang and Zamogedi tribes.

Religion & Magic
The Gurs of the Heartlands mainly followed Selûne the Moonmaiden, goddess of wanderers and navigation. They thought of themselves as "children of Selûne". However, some Gurs of prophetic bent were also known to worship Savras, Lord of Divination, with a faith secretive to outsiders. This likely explained the survival of his faith during his long period of imprisonment. Thus, Gurs were often gifted oracles and known for their talent in soothsaying and divining.

Like their Rashemi kin, some Gurs possessed "the Sight", an unreliable gift for glimpses of the past and snatches of history.

Languages
Within their own tribes, the Gurs of the Heartlands spoke Gurri, a patois or creole tongue with roots in the Imaskari languages, but with influence from many other tongues, many thought long-dead—in particular, Halardrim, an ancient dialect of the Rashemi language. The Gurs used the Thorass alphabet. They were also proficient in Chondathan, which they used when communicating with those outside their culture.

The Gurs of the Hordelands continued to speak a related dialect of the Imaskari language.

Population
Gurs made up only about 1% of the human population of the Western Heartlands, but this was perhaps their greatest population in Faerûn.

History
The Gurs were believed by scholars to be mainly of Rashemi descent, owing to their strong similarity with the natives of Rashemen. They were also likely to have acquired ancestry among other ethnicities on their travels. Fragments of lore originating from the period around the first-century Dale Reckoning could be found that described the Gurs as a group of nomads. What was known of the early Gurs suggested that they were refugees fleeing the long-ago war between Raumathar and Narfell.

The Gurs were well known in the Western Heartlands of Faerûn in the 14 century and late 15th century DR.

In the Hordelands, when Yamun Khahan came to power in the 1350s DR, the Gurs joined with his Grand Army of the Tuigan against the Zamogedi, hoping to improve their standing among the tribes of the Endless Wastes. Because the Oigur were afraid of the anger of the Yamun Khahan, they allied themselves with the Gur in supporting the Tuigan.

Notable Gurs

 * Therin, a thief and strongman of Pinch's gang.

Inspiration
Described as "gypsylike", the Gurs are inspired by the Roma people during Europe's Middle Ages when they were called Gypsies, which is a contraction of "Egyptian". However, this application is now considered to be derogatory, though it and other meanings remain common in the English language and in popular culture.

Appearances

 * The Nobles, Book One: King Pinch