Annascians
The Annascians were an ancient people who inhabited Syara sometime between 2000-1000 BCE.
The Annascians were descendants of the Khotoi, members of the Erani-Eracurans who had arrived in western Siduri sometime in the 3rd Millennia BCE. The Annascians were among the four largest tribes that formed in the wake of the Khotoi expansion, along with the Aleitians, Gaetlii, and Dovossians. The Annascians settled in southern Syara in what is present-day Hayreniky, among the western edge of the Matra Mountains up into the Thanor River. The Annascians, along with the rest of the Khotoi descendants, gradually replaced the native Segelen as the primary population of ancient Syara.
Compared to the great valley of neighboring Galania, the Annascians inhabited a predominately mountainous land known for its extensive mines of copper, iron, and salt. The Annascians geographic location played a major role in the development of their own culture. The most prominent figure in Annascian religion was the "Mountain Mother", a likely predecessor to the Titan Gaia that would eventually form the basis of the later Zobethos faith. The Annascians were unique among the Khotoi in that they practiced human sacrifice, although some historians consider this an invention of later writers and the archeological evidence for its practice is scarce. In most other regards the Annascians are believed to have shared most cultural traits with the other Khotoi descendants, including manners of dress, rituals, and societal organization.
The Annascians played a major role in the history of ancient Syara, and due to their close proximity to Mansuriyyah maintained a close relationship with the Naharin and later Erani Empire. The Annascians waged war against the neighboring Kartozan of Ruvelka on several occasions, marching as far east as the Kurilla Mountains. By the mid 2nd Millennia BCE the Annascians had developed into their own distinct culture and language dissimilar from the rest of Syara.
The Annascians were the largest of the so-called "Lost Tribes of Syara" which perished in the Bronze Age collapse following the conquest of the Naharin by the Erani. Between 1,300-1,100 BCE all major Annascian settlements in Syara and southern Ruvelka were sacked and destroyed, most never to be occupied again. The Annascians did not disappear from history completely, and remnants of their language and culture persisted past the conquest of southern Syara by Orestes II. What remained of their civilization however was effectively lost following the Hayren Migration.
The Annascians are of importance to historians for the value of their language and art which help to explain the diffusion and connections of cultures of western Siduri during Archaic Syara. The Annascian language, which exists today only in scattered fragments, is largely unknown. Linguists identify Annascian as part of the Erani-Eracuran family, which had been known to the ancient Syarans; Rhadamanthos identified Annascian as a "brother tongue" to the Symmerian language. Of particular note is the similarities between Annascian and the Hayren language, which modern researchers believe is evidence of a Hayren-Hellene connection dating back to the 3rd or 2nd Millennia BCE.