Karkit (culture)
The Karkit are the scions of the few Karana who fled westward of their ancestral homeland rather than east, trapped in a land of harsh hills and untameable forests. As a result of living on such an alien frontier of their home region, the Karkit lifestyle diverged significantly from their mountain-bound cousins. Instead of agricultural cities, the Karkit build small homesteads with lush gardens around them as a perimeter. One in every seven boys is chosen to train as Garden Warden, trained both martially and horticulturally. This guardian protects the humble gardening communities from their less passive neighbours, although a lone protector has historically not fared well against anything more threatening than lost bandits.
A Karkit homestead usually consists of a single clan formed of seventeen families, between which childcare and medical assistance is a shared duty. Slow to trust but possessive of those they love, Karkit culture is built around a shared struggle in a land that is not their own. Whilst the young amongst them often pine for their lost home found only in songs and stories, the elders are known to be fiercely proud of the hills they have tamed.