The Xilaq tribes are a group of wood elf tribal cultures in the counterroundwards of Luxiterra, inhabiting the last predominantly elven areas of the continent before the Manrats of Cang-bahan. This land is hot, with the sun high in the sky, and the coastline is tropical, buffeted by storms off of the Sabhyan Ocean, but the Canaqas range of mountains prevents these storms reaching far inland, leading to more inland areas being far more arid. There have been Xilaq people in this region for over a millennium, but incursions from the Magnapuri Empire such as the founding of the Dostipur Rajdom, as well as from the Cang-bahan have reduced their territory. In 1181YM however, several groups of Xilaq have survived unconquered in their ancestral lands.
There are a few things all Xilaq have in common. They are of very dark skin, notable even in Luxiterra, and the majority of both men and women shave themselves entirely bald. This originates from the local religion of Solisticism, or worship of the Sun God, in which the Xilaq consider it disrespectful to hide their heads from their God. As such, they have a deep mistrust of the hairier of the Elfborn races such as dwarves. All surviving Xilaq cultures speak dialects of a language that is very rapidly spoken, and easy to misinterpret, with intonation changing meaning significantly. As such, it is a difficult language to learn to outsiders, especially with some of the significant dialectical differences.
The main groups of Xilaq in 1181YM are:
- Xilaq Jumsaq are found darkwards of the Canaqas, excluding the area of Tamilar Xilaq. This area is tropical and heavily forested, and the Xilaq Jumsaq live in small towns built within the forest, and sometimes within the canopy itself. They are adept at bushcraft and traversing the thick jungle, but the larger towns and tribes have established some agriculture, likely from Xilaq Tam influence. Xilaq Jumaq are also known for their skill with the natural medicines and poisons found in their natural home. Many of the younger generations now look towards Tamirlar Xilaq and seek to emulate the more settled people, whether by joining them, or by reforming the Xilaq Jumsaq tribes into their own more organised state.
- Xilaq Jilqi are found counterroundwards of the Badir River, though their range has varied significantly over time. Much of the Xilaq Jilqi population was once subject to the Siquur Kings and a confederation of Xilaq Jilqi tribes, both free and Siquur subjects, fought alongside Nectar the First Ahqukh to overthrow the Kings. They later betrayed Nectar and claimed significantly more lands than the peace treaty allotted them, claiming up to the Badir River and freeing the last of their people from foreign rule. This did lead to many Ahqukh and some Barit people living in Xilaq Jilqi land, where they were slowly integrated into the tribes. As such, the Xilaq Jilqi are amongst the most outwards looking and warlike of the Xilaq, using hit and run tactics with skirmish cavalry, and their knowledge of the terrain to bleed foes dry who trespass on their lands. In recent years, they have had to put this into practice against the encroaching Dostipur Rajdom, and they have delayed settlement and conquest attempts, though not in their entirety.
- Xilaq Qun are found lightwards of the Canaqas, in a much more arid region. As such, the tribes rely less on agriculture, and more on nomadic pastoralism. They are the most isolated of the tribes from non Xilaq influences, with the exception of border skirmishes with the Cang-bahan, and as such their culture and religion is the least impacted by other cultures. Many Xilaq Qun still practice the traditional sacrifice or execution of criminals to the Sun by tying them in such a position to die of exposure, referred to as "Offering life back to the Sun".
- Xilaq Xu have entirely come under the rule of the Dostipur Rajdom and are found on the counterroundwards coastline of the Badir Estuary. Even before their subjugation, they were a relatively settled people living in large towns and farming and fishing the lands around the estuary. Many Xilaq Xu are adept at making and using stilts to wade the various marshlands around the estuary, and they are still used for fishing and searching for shellfish. The Xilaq Xu drew attention from the Magnapuri by being particularly rich in peals, which they revere as Sundrop Stones, thought to be a little bit of the Sun God's Light trapped inside a shellfish. Few Sundrop Stones are kept by the Xilaq Xu now, as most are taken by their Dostipuri overlords to trade.
- Xilaq Tam who reside in Tamirlar Xilaq, who have diverged significantly from the other unconquered Xilaq cultures by forming a centralised state, governed by a pentarchy from the city of Uyde. Due to Tamirlar Xilaq being a fertile, high rainfall area they have significant agriculture, especially rice and taro which grow in paddy fields along the coast. More traditional Xilaq often view the Xilaq Tam as having strayed from the Sun's Light, by being influenced with outside cultures, and it is true that Uyde is a large port and trades with both the Magnapuri successor states roundwards, and the Manrats of the Ren Shu Empire and its tributaries counterroundwards. However, to a Xilaq Tam, they have seen that it is necessary to adapt to survive, with potential threats closing in on them from all sides.
- Some consider the citizens of the Jisvic Hierarchy to be Xilaq Jis still, though the culture has been so heavily influenced by their time under Imperial rule that it is hard to classify them as such. The Xilaq Jis were an ocean going group who settled the Ackori Isles. Xilaq Jis means "ordered people" and their society certainly reflected it - laws and interactions were heavily structured by the prominence and position of one's extended family within their arcane and quasi-religious legal system. This ordered nature has stayed in some form in the strict hierarchy that now governs the isles.