Personally, I thnk the Pithdarans should not be so strongly racially defined. Sure, ther ancestors may have been tall Masai like Agimori, or they could have been short Pygmie like Agimori, or a mix of all sorts of Pamaltelans, but as you note, they have been in Genertela for 9 Centuries without some sort of racial segregaton policy that I am aware of, so I would make them far more a mixed "race" being more of a culture with a tendency for dark skin.
I also don't follow the great sailor logic. Sure, they cross the oceans but they were Closed off like the rest of the world, without a Bay of Akem, or Mirrorsea to practice in. They may be good sailors, but not because they saled across the Ocean 900years ago.
Keith
>
>
> Beyond Jeff's political details about Pithdaros, I want to try to flesh the
> pithdarans out some.
>
> Pithdarans are agimori : tall, strong, RW massai-like. They walk proudly. They
> despise any sign of weakness such as reliance on others. They abhor slavery, the
> greatest and most shameful weakness of all. They dress like malkioni, down to
> caste-related colors. Only a few details still show their ancestral origins :
> their horali fight without heavy armour and have no cavalry, and their talari
> sit on ornamented stools and not thrones.
>
> In the nine centuries since they landed on Genertela, the pithdarans have gone
> through a lot ; this transformed them from agimori hunter/gatherers to
> sophisticated malkioni who venerate under the Pithdaran Church's wing.
>
> First, they landed only a few years (seasons ?) after Tanien's Victory. They
> were one of the first people to cross the seas just after it was cleared of
> waertaegi, and saw many strange and wondrous things. In fact, some say they must
> have placated Magasta to cross. So they might not have needed Dormal's secrets
> that much indeed. To this day, many are great sailors and captains, and many man
> the fleets of Pasos.
>
> Second, they saw the destruction of Seshenela firsthand, and many of them died
> in 1049. They do hate the luathans and non-humans, as good malkioni do. Their
> champion Yomili did indeed fight the GLs very hard and they take pride in this.
> Unaligned sorcerers are rare in Pithdaros, and never far away from a torch-throw
> (on their funeral pyre). But many pithdarans were at the front of GL
> expansionism for almost three centuries, a fact that is conveniently forgotten
> today. Pithdarans are touchy on the subject of their past.
>
> Despite their very strict malkionism, pithdarans still venerate Saint Hrestol
> and the whole concept of Knighthood : "Be The Best You Can Be" fits perfectly
> with their pamaltelan traditions. There are pithdaran "overmen" who master the
> skills of all castes and are an example to their people. This is anathema to the
> seshnegi.
>
> D'you gents want to add anything ?
>