Maling
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| c. 100 million | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 c. 100 million | |
| Languages | |
| Imerian | |
| Religion | |
| The holy chronicles (Asger Sect) Gudaföljare Faith of Ishiri | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Imerians, Vedians, Erathians, Minor Scanderan peoples Other Scanderianized ethnic groups |
A maling is an ethnicity in the absolute royal federation that is officially recognised as a Scanderan people and member of the high culture by the federal authorities and society in the absolute royal federation as a whole. They trace their origin to the Malgravean invasion and short occupation of the federal realm of Björnland. When the Federal authorities retook the island did the Malgraveans flee or were rounded up facing enslavement, sentencing, or being sent to federal orphanages if one were too young to face federal courts. The ethnicity can be found all over the federation but especially the federal city of Malborg in Imeriata proper that serves as their base of operation. While generally Scanderan in their outlook on life is the group still divided internally in three groups those that were free and traced their linage to orphans and people that were not sentenced at the end of the war serves as the highest of these groups often having most of the wealth and power and are often called "vit malingar" or white malings. The Second group was those that traced their lineage to prisoners and forced labourers that while serving time where still considered free federal subjects at the end of the war they are generally called "sfart malingar" or black malings. The third group were the slaves and those that were sentenced to enslavement after the Björnland war but were liberated at the end of slavery in the federation. These people were formally and informally were called "Bundna Malingar" or "bound malings".
Cultural distinctiveness
There are two mayor ways except the higher level of worship of ancestors by the malings that they stick out from most Scanderans. One is the level of scholarly pursuits that are held in respect, while not a dishonourable line of work in the view of most federal subjects do Malings raise this occupation amongst all other and nobles from this group very often pride themselves not on their martial prowess or their skills in arts but instead on their learning. The more extreme versions of maling distinctiveness is their marriage habits, as men are rare amongst them compared to other ethnic groups and only the all female Leporidaeri of Leporidaeria outproduces the Maling in a female to male ratio. Lacking the Malgravean solution of woman on woman childbearing as such is highly frowned upon in the federation as abominable have the Maling adopted a unique solution taken from the old tribes in Imerian africa where marriages were arranged between daughters from one family and sons from another, however this is edited slightly to have the Malings often arranging polygamous marriages between a son and the daughters of another family.
Similarly in their religious differences do each family have a paragon that is an honoured ancestor that achieved great honour and upon the ascension of a greater individual of a lineage is the old paragon replaced with a new one in a ceremony unique to the Asger sect of the holy chronicles. This do mean that each family from the lowest commoner to the highest noble have a, and often several, paragons they claim descent from. This dead individual is often honoured extremely with places of respect placed in the household as well as sacrifices made to the paragon they hail from.
Appearance
While mixed with Scanderan blood are Malings still shorter than the average Scanderan even if often taller than the average Malgravean. Their hair tends to be darker also than most blond Scanderans with black and dark brown being common giving them an odd exotic look as far as most federal subjects are concerned not unlike that of Sydvinläningar. However their faces and frames are very often Scanderan with broad shoulders and broad faces as is common with the people they share their homes with.
Religion
Most Malings follows the holy chronicles, while Gudaföljare is a common sect do the people also have their own subsect of the holy chronicles, called "The Asger sect" that is recognised as a legitimate sect of the holy chronicles that focus more on the veneration of ancestors and the appeasement of their spirits in the afterlife than most sects do. However a large subgroup of them also follow the worship of the two faced goddess Ishiri.
The asger sect faced originally heavy pushback from mainstream chronological orthodoxy as dead worshippers and as thus Útblóts and worshippers of darkness. This however was solved in a great hearing by the chronicle sects and the clerics of the Asgers. Arguing that they did not worship the dead but instead honoured their ancestors and prayed not to the dead but instead praying for intervention by the souls of those that now delved in the afterlife on their behalf to the gods were the asger able to prove their orthodoxy and were granted the recognition as a legitimate sect and now hold their own high cleric that takes part in the election of the arch cleric.
MID
Malgravean Immunodeficiency Disorder still affects the Malings as it does those in Malgrave and is considered by some as the main reason the group did not integrate fully into Scanderan society as matches between them and outsiders while far from unheard of are still rare. Generally considered as a taint of the blood by those around them do the Malings often look upon it as a curse and in the federation is it simply called "Björna förbannelsen" or "the bear curse" that they must all bear. The curse is not seen in federal society as a whole nor amongst the Malings as a punishment for the treason of their ancestors but is instead looked at as a curse due to the hubris of their ancestors that engaged with the machinery found in Björnland.