Ruwwad
The Ruwwad
With a population spread across the Sector, originally inhabiting much of the Trailing Regions now consumed by the Tenebris Storm, the Ruwwad have their origins in old Terran West Asia. Archaeologists and Sector historians have speculated that the variant naming conventions of the Ruwwad-root Mechanicus on Naximus Prime (whose names and culture reflects old India and the Persian Empire) and the Amenophis Ruwwad (whose name, culture and traditional dress often resembles ancient Terra Egypt) are reflective of a combination of colonist populations drawn from different areas of Old Earth, and a desire for recreationist cultural homogeneity in the early colonist populations.
Loyalty bonds are considered extremely important in many surviving Ruwwad cultures, with ties of familial, tribal, city and professional loyalty all interplaying in complex ways. The Ruwwad populations have typically assimilated better than the Anfwynn; having been conquered, demonstrating loyalty to their new Imperial masters is considered virtuous and appropriate by most Ruwwad tribal leaders. However, pockets of resistance do still exist, and linguistic insurgency - the use of one of the languages in the Niquash group, the Ruwwad's native tongue before colonisation - is a perennial problem in areas of high Ruwwad population. The population are also known as curious and robust explorers, with many ancient Ruwwad tales focusing around the adventures of expeditions of hardy young folk setting out to discover the mysteries of their native planets.
Ruwwad names tend to have Semitic roots, with auxiliary names often including references to a beloved family member, town of origin or profession. Some, particularly the older generation, will use different surnames in different contexts, to illustrate the different 'person' they become when invoking their loyalty bonds to one or other institution. For example, Keje's birth certificate might read Keje Bat-Rivka (daughter of Rivka); but in different contexts, she might write her name as Keje Umm-Qubad (Qubad's mother), Keje el-Butoniy (from Butonia), or Keje HaMuhandis (the engineer). Moreover, if she holds a position of authority, she might be known as Sheika Keje, Marat Keje, Keje Khan, Bibi (grandmother) or Haisha (mother) Keje, Keje Saidi or Rebbe (teacher) Keje. There are old Ruwwad superstitions attaching values of spiritual value, or protection from evil spirits, to the use of certain names in certain contexts - these superstitions are habitually and ruthlessly repressed by Imperials wherever they surface.
Planets with Ruwwad-origin populations include Amenophis, Caudica, Naximus Prime, and Vallum, amongst others.
The Ruwwad population is physically diverse, but the stereotypical Ruwwad depicted in family legends has dark, curly hair, a love of adventure and travel, a very large extended family, and a reverence for the written word.
THIS PAGE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION