Toltraua

A short-lived offshoot of the Lily Civilization, the Toltraua were a culture that took their name from that of their leader, Toltrau. The Toltraua are believed existed on Yuriba between approximately 3500 BCE and 3000 BCE. The exact reasons for their division from the main Lilian society are unclear, although many historians suspect religious differences. Whatever the reason, they appear to have retreated into Yuriba's forests and taken up a hunter-gatherer existence, what little trade they did being engaged solely with the residents of Underhill and local nature spirits. While there is no solid evidence on numbers it's believed the initial group was a few hundred; the civilization inarguably never numbered past a thousand individuals at any time.

Mythology and art dated to the period of the Toltraua is most often traceable to the Lilian culture, rather than their own. Amongst these, the Toltraua are generally depicted as savage figures, falling beneath the superior numbers and military might of the Lilians. Their own art is far rarer, and very little is in a form that tells a story obviously. A few pieces of hard leather armor, worked in geometric patterns, has survived the ages, as have a somewhat larger number of pieces of stone jewelry, most commonly beads although bangle braclets are sometimes seen. Like the armor, these tend to be decorated with geometric patterns, rather than the organic or divine imagery that the Lilians favored.

Although it is little enough to work on, some scholars have theorized that this may mean that the mythological vision that Toltrau supposedly had to inspire her to split away from the Lilians may not have been divine in origin. Of course, this theory may be intended to comfort the religiously devout among those who study the past; Underhillian folklore and records strongly hint that the Toltraua were hunted nigh unto extinction by their Lilian counterparts, and that the last remnants were killed in a mass sacrifice on the slopes of Inishie-san.