Ossi Hiekkala has done some concept art for Chaosium about the look of the Talastari, an Orlanthi group stuck between the Lunar Empire and Dorastor. I thought many of you all might appreciate it if it was shared with you.
A few notes on the Talastari:
They are an Orlanthi people, who have inhabited the foothills of the Western Rockwoods and the tributaries of the upper Erinflarth for over a thousand years. However, they are also close to Dara Happa – Alkoth is only about 150 or so km downriver and it is easier to get goods up and down the river than it is to carry it over the foothills by mule train. Their lands were too difficult or too worthless for Dara Happa and its successors to invade, and none of the tribes or confederations were able to overcome the other neighbors for more than a few generations. But where military means failed, economic conquest succeeded. Thus in pottery and clothing, or armor and sword styles, they became more like their Dara Happan enemies than their cultural cousins in Dragon Pass.
They are materially poor compared to the Lunar Heartlanders (at least compared to the city folk they are likely to have interacted with). Lunar Heartlander material technology and style casts a big influence on them (and on pretty much everyone in Peloria).
They look to the Heartlands and not the Holy Country for the symbols of status and power. Crafters copy lowlander techniques but then localize it by adding local flourishes to it or repurposing things.
Long-distance is largely an elite thing that happens at the markets in Lakrene.
Most people are farmer-herders. They raise sheep, some cattle, and grow wheat and barley. These villages are largely self-sufficient and autonomous.
