Ethwarks

The Ethwarks were a group of peoples indigenous to Miktere from about 100,000 B.O.E. to around 55,100 B.O.E. when they abruptly disappeared. Most widely recognized for being the first settlers of Bunjet by coming across the ice sheet that once connected Bunjet and Miktere through the Jic islands. They made simple stone and log homes all around the Janwell region, though sparse evidence for their existence spreads all the way down to the Dancovar area. They were characterized for being ahead of their time in stone and tool making, even theorized to be the first people to refine animal parts into tools, with evidence of antlers, ivory, and tar being used in tool construction. Also being one of the first peoples to gain a rough understanding of magic, they are renowned for their ability to cast a variety of what experts believe to have been primarily defensive spells. Strong evidence points toward the Ethwarks being the founders of a primitive version of a spell that is today known as "stoneskin," which they often cast on hunts.

Experts of course know all of this because the Ethwarks also had a very strong interest in art. Almost everywhere an Ethwark was there was some sort of depiction of themselves or their lives. One of the greatest findings of modern Bunjic archaeology is a giant stone tablet roughly 9 by 4 feet large found a few miles south of Flet, nicknamed "the journey tablet" that depicts in great detail the voyage the Ethwarks took from Miktere across the ice sheet. It goes into detail, even showing figures lying down in one area, then missing in the next image, depicting death. With amazing linear storytelling, and some symbolic language throughout. One segment is widely renowned for being so straightforward and is often told as: "A man came with us who wore no big clothes like the others. We called him a fool but he did not listen. He froze to death at the first setting of a sun," told clearly through symbols and imagery. Unfortunately, the Ethwarks were hunted by a variety of predators in Bunjet, and found it was much more dangerous than Miktere, so most of them ended up leaving the continent on a great voyage back in around 60,000 B.O.E.

The Ethwarks spread very briefly to the Palkt area but retreated due to lack of resources. Palkt is the only city on Reene that has a partially inherently Ethwark name, and it literally means "toward the sunrise" or "east."

The Ethwarks dominated Miktere for roughly 45,000 years until their documentation suddenly stopped and all evidence of them randomly ceased, around 55,156 years ago (55,100 BOE). Nobody can exactly tell what happened to the Ethwarks, but what has been ruled out is epidemic due to their distant nature from one another. Some experts suggest there may have been some scarcity that is is no modern records that caused them to move elsewhere, but no evidence has been found anywhere else for their movement. Even more experts say a new predator began developing a desire to hunt them, but no abnormal markings have been found on bones to suggest this. As of today, nobody has any clue how possible hundreds of thousands of inhabitants suddenly disappeared over less than a century.

Though their untimely disappearance brought their widely ahead of their time development to a halt, their impact wasn't forgotten. Ethwark understandings and worldviews are the main source for Bunjic and Miktegian archaeologists and their progress in magic gives us many ideas as to where it comes from and how it has evolved over time. Thank the Ethwarks for what you have today.