I consider the Ralios (Tanisor, better) basmoli and telmori a different story from most of the hsunchen of the region.
I lack some sources to make this authoritative, but I like this theories.
I do support the idea that the basmoli were civilized enough to have cities, and that some of them used sorcery.
Basmol was crippled and killed in the Darkness. This myth was repeated for almost all the possible foes of the basmoli, who had made the mistake of not siding with the other hsunchen of Ralios. That made it hard to use Basmol's magic, so they turned to any magic they could find, without forgetting who they were and why they were enemies of everybody. Contact through Hrelar Amali showed the advantages of gods, and the neighbouring Seshnela was the source of sorcerous knowledge.
Without their traditional magics, their lifestyle changed too, and they profited of the silver age before the Dawn, so despite being the people of a defeated god, they were one of the main powers of the region. An advantage of eclecticism.
The telmori were a different story. The city of wolves was just a trading post, at first. The telmori kept independent of the different confederations, and rejected the missionaries of the First council, surviving with their culture intact. However they were incorporated in Nysalor's Empire, and the Bright God gave them a great gift: He showed them that Telmor was inside all of them, and how they could manifest their wolven nature at will. With personal contact with Telmor, the tribal structure collapsed, and they became Nysalor's soldiers and servants, incorporating many of the features of the Golden Empire. Talor's curse and Arkat's devastation ended all this, with only the scattered survivors as a remnant of this proud people, unable to keep cities, industry, riches. A true reversion to the primitive. That's why all the Telmori have myths of the golden age, and why some of them are capable of working with more advanced societies.
Just my IMHO, of course.
Jose
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