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aikoiya · 9 months

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LoZ: Wild - Ealiyah Town & the Highland Gerudo

Ealiyah Town is a Gerudo settlement situated in the Gerudo Highlands in Risoka Snowfield. Part of why they chose Risoka is brought up by Patricia, “Risoka Snowfield rests upon the shoulders of the eighth heroine.”

They were founded by Gerudo who wished to stay with their husbands & not have to send their daughters away, as men are forbidden from entering Gerudo Town & vaivïn (girls, plural) are supposed to be sent away to Gerudo Town once they start becoming more aware of the world around them; around 5. Then, those girls are forbidden from seeing their fathers again until they're adults. That's like 12-16 years!

As such, Ealiyah is inhabited mostly by Gerudo, Hylians, Ovelians (humans with regular-ass ears), & even the occasional Sheikah & a race that I call Lupos. (For a better understanding of what Lupos are, go here.) As a result of not being so thoroughly segregated from male figures, Ealiyan vaien (women, plural) tend to have a far better time of getting married. Their success rates being much higher.

Interestingly, Highland Gerudo seem to show a trend towards preferring Hebran & Ordonian humans, both rounded & pointed ears, especially Lupos ones. As they tend to fall more towards being taller, stronger, & more traditionally masculine, which much like western women IRL, the Gerudo tend to find much more attractive than the shorter & more delicate Hylian & Sheikah men of Central & Eastern Hyrule.

Hebran Lupos being some of the only Gerudo-compatible men that can manage to reach heights equal to & even sometimes taller than the average Gerudo on a decent basis. Which, as you can guess, tends to turn more than a few vaien's heads.

As a result, there tends to be a fairly large number of Viking-adjacent men living in the Highlands. Quite a lot of them being blonds & red-heads with green, hazel, or blue eyes too. With the occasional brunette & brown-eyed folks.

Culturally, the Ealiyans are something like Tibetan/Russian-flavored Gerudo. As such, their main language remains Gerudo, though with definite Hebran & Ordonian influence. (Which, Hebran is mainly old Norse with Russian & Welsh influence while Ordonian is very Irish Gaelic/Celtic with a bit of Welsh as well & a definitive southern US drawl to it.)

Like this:

(Not my art, but I love how it looks. However if the original artist wishes for me to take it down, I will do so.)

Over the millennia of living in the Highlands, the Eaylian Gerudo's aquiline noses have become more upturned like the Hebrans so as to heat the air that they breathe in. This makes them more readily adapted to their environment than their desert sisters.

—

They have become something of a farming village that cultivates hearty foods. Particularly Tabantha Wheat, Tundra Potatoes (Spicy), Hearty Radishes, Bloodberry Grapes (Chilly & Hydrating), & Endura Carrots.

A few Sheikah men also brought over Snowdrift Buckwheat (Snowdrift), Mountain Furberries (Freezeproof; Kiwis),

They also raise Highland Yaks, or Bōsa, for Bōmïchaa (Yak Milk) & use it to make Bōchurkha (Ealiyan Cheese) & Bōsudrï (Yak Butter).

Not to mention, Bighorn Sheep that some shepherds brought with them from the desert, or Ranqarn Ghanam. They tend to use a lot of Bōsoof, yak wool, & Ghansoof, sheep wool (specifically Merino wool), in their clothes which retain heat much better. They also produce milk, Ghamïchaa, which the Ealiyans use to make butter & cheese as well, Ghasudrï & Ghachurkha.

Because of this, whenever a recipe requires dairy, they tend to use local Bōsa or Ghanam products.

Many have become fierce hunters & have traded their claymores for longbows & arrows to better hunt for Tabantha Meese. They still do quite well with spears though. The guards also use Moonlight Scimitars, Mah'let Shim'tarren, & Shields, Ïkemen, much more often than Desert Gerudo.

And due to the Highland Gerudo having access to higher quality metals than the desert, they use the traditional Gerudo method of pattern welding known as Dawallaham with the Dawasaaq steel of the Highlands to make even better, more powerful & durable weapons. Thus, greatly improving on the Moonlight Scimitar's design. Dawasaaq steel being the Hyrule equivalent to Damascus steel.

And their hunting companions are typically the Fïwa'gàtï or Snow Cats. Which are tiny, snow white or light gray felines with darker gray spots resembling the pelt of a miniature clouded leopard, but with thicker, more fluffy fur much like a Maine Coon or Ragdoll, larger, broader ears, & long claws.

These cats are the cousins to the Gel'gàtï, Sand Cats, of the Gerudo Desert. Instead of white or gray, Gel'gàtï are light yellow with white underbellies, brownish or blackish spots, & short hair. Though, they keep the large, broad ears & long claws.

(Just with Cheetah spots instead of stripes.)

Both species are known for their stealth, hunting, & tracking abilities as well as for being terrifyingly fast & excellent, very affectionate companions. The Gàtï are small, even compared to most house cats, but extremely vicious. They are basically domesticated attack honeybadgers. They will fight the gods given a good enough reason & will not even hesitate.

Sassy little stinkers, but, again, extremely affectionate. The fact that they are positively miniscule when perched on the shoulders of such giantesses as the Gerudo, just makes them all the better. Both species tends to burrow as wild ones build their own dens.

The Fïwa'gàtï came to be when the 1st Gerudo broke off from the main Gerudo society to live in the Gerudo Highlands around 30,000 years ago by the time of BotW/TotK & brought their little hunting buddies with them.

(It's very possible that the Gàtï way have a common ancestor in the Remlit.)

Anyway, the Ealiyans also have immediate access to Cool Safflina, Chillshrooms, Ice Fruit, Wildberries, Nayru Pears (Freezeproof), Frostbite Mint (Biting), Freezia Gardenia (Freezeproof), Stamstalk Stevia (Energizing), Frostbane Blossom bushes (Spicy), Gleam Ginger (Sunny), Ice Roses (Freezeproof & Amorous; extremely rare), & even a small amount of Vital Sage (Enduring). Vital Sage being great for flavoring meat, which the Highland residents tend to eat a lot of.

The caves around the Highlands also grow quite a lot of Cavern Sorrel (Dark/Warding) which is good for making soups & stews.

As a matter of fact, Ealiyans are quite adept mushroomers as the caves around the Gerudo Highlands tend to be very good for cultivating a variety of mushrooms. They are also the perfect places to brew alcohol, some of them even being set aside specifically for just such a purpose & referred to as Brewing Caves.

Not to mention the Snowcoat Foxes, Cold-Footed Wolves, Tabantha Meese, Grizzlemaw Bears, & Snow Pidgeons that live around there, thus they have quite a lot of Prime & Gourmet Meat & decent quality Bird Meat in their diets. Plus, the furs of these animals make for such excellent, warm clothes, perfect for guarding against the frigid air of the Highlands.

They also have the benefit of relatively easy access to 2 Satori Trees, 1 in the Gerudo Canyon & the other on Satori Mountain, which gives them a good amount of Satori Cherries (Hasty) & Satora Blossoms (Hasty & Amorous) during spring.

Ealiyan grocers tend to hire workers to go hike to Gerudo Canyon to gather things such as Sunshrooms, Warm Safflina, & even Fire Fruit & Shock Fruit, & the village itself has a strong trade alliance with Gerudo Town where they trade them a large variety of booze, Cool Safflinas, many different types of mushrooms (especially Chillshrooms), Bōsa (Highland Yak) products, textiles, dyes, & other things in return for Warm & Electric Safflinas, Voltfruit, Moonblooming Arguses (Dusky/Dawning; flowers that grow from Voltfruit Cacti), Shock Fruit, Oasis Honey (Recovery), Sàbaar Fruit (Recovery), Hydromelons, Zapshrooms, ect. Though, only after TotK Ganondorf was sealed away & they stopped performing Feminization of the Enemy upon foreign men. Not to mention abolishing slavery & freeing the Vo'màzren (male concubines) that they kept captive for the purposes of breeding.

Of course, that doesn't mean that all the men left, a handful remained due to their own issues. Either as horndogs themselves or just with their own senses of self-worth telling them that they don't deserve better lives. As such, the sex industry still lives on, but at least now the men aren't slaves & are actually paid. All other Surré Qasrehsen (Pleasure Palaces) have been dismantled, leaving only the one in modern Kàra Kàra Bàzaar, which is swiftly growing into Kàra Bàzétto. Bàzétto being the Gerudàn term for Market Town or Martown.

This is due to a recent change in Desert Gerudo policy. While men are still not permitted inside Gerudo Town proper due to it being classified as a vaidina or sexually segregated town where only women are allowed entrance; however, men are more than allowed to stay in Kàra, which has led to the husbands & fathers of many Gerudo to take up residence there.

Several even taking up positions as venders, store owners, & even guards. This, along with an effort to produce their own food in the form of Hydromelons, Shock Fruit, Fire Fruit, Dazzlefruit, Voltfruit, Safflinas, Zapshrooms, Wildberries, & Spicy Peppers by one Dālia (now an adult), who along with her Gopongan husband, has discovered new agricultural practices, including the introduction of hydroponic gardening in Gerudo Town itself & the strawgrid planting method in Kàra. Which has allowed the Desert Gerudo to begin producing their own crops. This has resulted in rapid growth for them as a culture.

The things that they are now able to grow there that they hadn't before, includes Tabantha Wheat, Hylian Tomatoes, Stambulbs, Sun & Fortified Pumpkins, Swift & Endura Carrots, & Hearty & Big Hearty Radishes.

As well as the things that I've made up for the purposes of fleshing out the desert, Shadow Yams (Dark/Warding; grows in shade), Càrïtàn Beans (Toxic; for bathing products & caring for Everlost Silkworms, not for eating), Zonai Cocoagranos (Spicy & Amorous), Zonai Cofégranos (Energizing), Zonai Corn (Mighty), Desert Queen (Chilly; Mangosteen), Faron Pineapples (Spicy & Hydrating), Pyre Beans (Scorching), Brushberries (Sanddrift & Hydrating; evolved from Wildberries), Amorous Figs (Amorous), & Bloodberry Grapes (Chilly & Hydrating) that are, likewise, able to survive easily in the desert. Then, there are the 4 Cactus plants I made up, such as Prickly Peaches (Chilly & Hydrating), Desert Aloe (Chilly & Recovery), Boltshield Houseleeks (Lightningproof), & Sàbaar Fruit (Recovery; Agave Fruit). As well as a few flowers, herbs, & spices, such as Rainfall Pansy (Hydrating), Paradise Bird flowers (Aerodynamic), Wave Saffron (Gills), Hoy Mustard Greens & Seeds (Spicy), Gleam Ginger (Sunny), & Sand Cistanche (Vitality & Amorous). As well as Cavern Sorrel (Dark/Warding), though they only grow in caves.

There's also Arrōyorice (Sanddrift) which is a type of Farrow, but this is actually Tabantha Wheat that has fully adapted to the desert. It's a very new discovery, so it's still being learned.

Not to mention Water Cabbages (Gills & Hydrating), Bayou Bellpeppers, & Freshwater Cucumbers (Rapid & Hydrating) that can only be grown in water. So, they are grown in the oasis itself.

Which the Ealiyans will also gain access to via trade.

---

Anyway, Sunshrooms are always appreciated as they are one of the only mushrooms that Eaylians can't grow in their mushroom caves.

Due to Stamstalk Stevia (Energizing) growing in the Highlands, Ealiyans simply don't use Cane Sugar in their cooking, instead replacing it with Stevia.

Highland Gerudo also don't tend to use Cool Safflina or Chillshrooms in their cooking as the effects are pretty counterproductive to living on a block of ice 24/7 &, in fact, tend to make you freeze quicker. Instead, they tend to sell them to Gerudo Town, who has much more use for it, or make the Safflina into alcohol & then sell it to Gerudo Town.

—

Living in a colder climate, Ealiyan Gerudo don't focus as much on jewelry as their desert sisters. They do wear some, but it usually has a simple elegance to it & is functional, such as a simple pair of ruby earrings to help keep the cold away.

Some also enjoy light, if modest, makeup or even in some cases, none at all. Usually just a touch of brown kohl to give their eyes a nice smoky look. The same shade that Riju features.

And while they don't wear much, if any, makeup, on special occasions it is common practice to wear a type of rogue made from dried Wildberries. The color is considered to be sultry & intoxicating, while still managing to be very refined & tasteful.

What isn't diminished, however, is their love for textiles & vibrant colors, which is every bit as present in the mountains as it is in the deserts.

As a result, despite not having many in the Highlands, they have a great love for bright, exotic flowers, which they use to make lovely dyes that they ship to other villages.

Along with this, much like their desert sisters, a lot of Ealiyan Gerudo have a very well-developed instinct for brewing & mixology. Thus, they have an appreciation for herbs as well.

A Highland Gerudo actually invented the technique used to make daiquiris & other frozen cocktails by using Ice Fruit.

—

Some of the dyes they are well-known for are Wildberry Burgundy from Wildberries, Frostbite Mint-Blue from Frostbite Mint, Cobalt from Cool Safflinas, Freezia Sky from Freezia Gardenias, Blossom Red from Frostbane Blossoms, Truffle Brown from Hearty Truffles, & Pear Green from Nayru Pears.

These are all made from the local flora & are common colors to find people wearing in Ealiyah.

Pear Green is actually a favored shade for Desert Gerudo lipstick & the Cobalt for kohl. Cobalt, on the other hand, is the favored lipstick shade of Riju.

The Highland residents also regularly trade with Lurelin, Ordon, & Gerudo Town for other flowers & fruit to make dyes with. Such as Electric Safflina to make Electric Yellow, Warm Safflina to make Brick Red, Lovely Roses to make Rose Magenta, Sweetheart Pink from Sweetheart Orchids, Voltfruit Fuschia from the hulls of Voltfruit, Silent Princesses to make Maiden White, Thunder Chartreuse from Thunder Buttons, Light Indigo from Swiftsail Lavender, Hyrule Herbs to make Herb Green, Hydromelon Orange, Sunrise Orange & Pink from Valiant Gladiolus, the hulls of Desert Queens to make Royal Purple, Violet from Swift Violets, Amethyst from Armoranth, Sunshine Yellow, Sunset Orange, & Gold from Sundelions, & more.

Not to mention Sunshroom Orange from Sunshrooms. Also blending Truffle Brown & Brick Red to make that lovely Smokey Brown that Riju uses, which is also the preferred kohl shade in Ealiyah.

(If you'd like to better understand the flowers, herbs, fruits, vegetables, ect. that I just listed that don't appear in the games, go here.)

—

It's still tradition for Ealiyah Gerudo to leave the village to find a husband once they come of age (though, it's possible for them to have already found one in the form of another Gerudo's stepson or stepbrother or even half-brother & in such cases, they are allowed time to figure out if the relationship will work out), the only difference here being that they're not expected to leave their husbands behind when they & their daughters are expected to return to Ealiyah. In fact, it's encouraged that vaien bring their husbands & their stepchildren (in the case of a widower) along if they so wish.

Any stepchildren that come to live in Ealiyah are treated no different than the Highland Gerudo vaivïn born there & are even allowed to train in the ways of the Gerudo. Regardless of sex.

Ealiyah, despite its location, is a very warm & loving community full of happy families & stalwart, hearty, hardworking personalities. Part of the reason for this being that one of the ideas that Ealiyah was founded on was the idea of keeping families together rather than separating them as has been tradition for the Desert Gerudo for generations.

—

Whereas the Gerudo of Gerudo Desert worship the Goddess of the Sand (al'Geru'è Vallah, referred to by the proper title of Vah Gela when her name is used) & her demi-goddess daughters, the 7 Heroines (al'Zaf Vahshô'làran), & it's debated as to whether there even was an 8th at all (some even regarding the speculation of there actually being one as sacrilegious), Ealiyans worship the 7 as well as the 8th definitively (the 8th & the 1st above all the others), who was actually a lesser Hylian oni god of heroism, a Kishin or as the Highland Gerudo referred to him, a Voh'lawàr (look up the Buddhist Pāla), who'd once worked as a retainer for the late Fierce Deity. He was on a pilgrimage to find his new life's purpose after his master had willingly given up his immortality in order to act as Hyrule's Legendary Hero in a never-ending cycle of reincarnation with his wife, twin sister, & their sworn enemy. On this pilgrimage, he made it a habit to aid those in need.

As a result, while traveling, he came across the Gerudo who were being besieged by some great strife & went out of his way to lend his aid to the 7 Heroines. While the Heroines had been doing extremely well on their own, it had been his wisdom & military expertise from having spent years at the Fierce Deity's side that ultimately tipped the scales in the Heroines' favor.

This resulted in the Gerudo tribes being saved, but he was still forbidden from entering Gerudo Town due to being a man. The Voh'lawàr himself was understanding of their traditions, if a bit stung by their rejection.

This all takes place around 10-20,300 years after Ocarina of Time as the "no men" rule became an official law around when the next Centennial King, after the 2nd Ganondorf (FSA), was born. At that point, they were only just beginning to transition away from a life of thievery & banditry. (Keep in mind that it was specifically said that there had been no male Gerudo leaders in centuries, not that there were no male Gerudo at all.)

It was soon after this that the Gerudo Tokens turned from a simple membership card into a sort of visitor's pass for certain men who had proven themselves trustworthy.

(I hc that Wild Link is given one after BotW even though that didn't canonically happen.)

Anyway, it's because of this that the 7, or at least the 6 younger Heroines, are sometimes (often) regarded by Ealiyans with a certain degree of harshness & even hurt & bitterness, as a result of what is perceived as betrayal & ingratitude.

The 8th is referred to by the Ealiyans as the Forsaken Hero (al'Mà'trook Voh'lawàr) & regarded as the God of Unsung Heroes (Nàreq'lawàren'è al'Vollah). So, to remedy this fact, they sing his praises & praise other such unsung heroes. It's due to this fact that Ealiyans have a Library of Myth of sorts filled with an abundance of extremely old legends depicting heroes that have been largely forgotten by other societies. Including decently detailed stories of the previous Links (though, not their names; that seems to have almost been entirely scrubbed from history, which Ealiyans see as suspicious) & the Legend of the Birth of Hyrule via the 3 Golden Goddesses, who had been largely forgotten since before the arrival of the Zonai. And even a very vague folktale of the war between Hylia & the Bringer of Demise. Though, only Hylia's name is remembered.

They also have a small Shrine of the Unsung Hero (al'Nàreq'lawàren Devïdán'è) in town that is treated similarly to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in America. It always has a guard standing there guarding it with an extremely strict patrol protocol. And when the guard changes, they go through a routine that is very different from the Unknown Soldier, but is no less important. These guards are a known part of the Shrine Guard (Devïdàn Mèdja or Dán'ja for short). Every Shrine Guard is strictly a volunteer & to be accepted for the position of Shrine Guard for the Unsung is considered one of, if not the, highest honors.

So admired is the respect given to such unsung individuals that Hyrule had a shrine of their own built in Hyrule Castle Town before the Calamity destroyed it 100 years ago. It's architecture is directly inspired by that of the Shrine of the Unsung Hero, though Hyrule's is mostly for honoring soldiers who've died in battle. It is protected & treated with similar diligence, honor, & reverence as the Shrine of the Unsung, just in a different way.

As a result, Ealiyah tends to produce numerous Àliqologists, which are like historians, mythologists, anthropologists, archeologists, record keepers, & librarians combined.

(Which tends to be why Ealiyah gets a decent number of researchers visiting.)

Anyway, it's because of this that Ealiyans have grown to become natural storytellers.

And if anyone were to notice the pattern of the Demise-born Centennial Kings, it'd be an Ealiyan Àliqologist.

In fact, it was an Àliqologist who made the discovery that the Gerudo kings most likely to become tyrants have always been born under the sign of Khinzïr, the Boar.

In fact, Ealiyah has a decently-sized town square where there is a large stone fire pit, inside of which is a bonfire that is lit every night. This pit is surrounded by a stone amphitheater that's recessed into the ground. Beyond that, along the edges of the actual square are little stalls that sell goods. During festivals, they sell foods & snacks.

And bi-monthly, the residents, especially children, come out to settle into the amphitheater with blankets & hot drinks to listen to the elders tell fables, legends, myths, parables; any sort of story you can think of. Whether actual history or a work of creative fiction. So long as it's acknowledged as such at the beginning, you can tell whatever story you wish. Acting & the theater having even become a large part of their culture.

They are also known to weave splendid, vividly-colored tapestries that depict these same stories, which are regularly used by storytellers as visual aides. Though, those are more for home use.

Theater costumes are also a decent industry there.

At the same time, this also tends to produce elderly folks who are... a bit long-winded & chatty. Even a bit gossipy, but normally not in the mean way. The kind of elders that always have a story or lesson up their sleeves. They will lore-dump on you real quick!

—

Despite their patron being the Forsaken Hero, they are also known to pay special respect to Vah Kàvtrïna, the Goddess of Love, Passion, Pudicity, & Family, as well as the Home. As well as the Hebran deity, Hebrogar, who also has many domains of his own, some of which being family & fatherhood.

Which, as discussed before, are all very central & important concepts to the Highland Gerudo as a culture.

Of course, the Highland Gerudo have also taken on several aspects of Hebran theology & even a handful of Ordonian ones as a result.

In particular, the idea of the gods preferring self-reliance in their followers. Meaning that the gods are more likely to help those who help themselves, tending to see incessant praying without action as whiny. This being a particularly Hebran belief that meshed quite well with the Gerudo's own self-reliant tendencies.

---

Ealiyah's interior style tends to be very Bohemian-Tibetan-Russian, being very colorful & eclectic. They are also known for their mosaicry, weaving, knitting, & crocheting.

They also tend to have a liking for organized clutter.

It's said that the original founders of Ealiyah were Gerudo who were disgusted with the injustice visited upon the Forsaken Hero & thus broke away from the Gerudo Culture in order to found a settlement where he would be properly exalted. At least partially.

Anyway, while the Desert Gerudo simply assume that the 8th was a woman just like the other 7, the Highlanders know the truth, but don't go out of their ways to correct the mistake.

Now, admittedly, part of the reason why this belief became as such was due to it simply being the style. Much like it was the style in ancient Egypt to portray Pharaohs with beards even if the Pharaoh happened to be a woman.

The Desert Gerudo simply portray all heroic warriors with breasts. (This wasn't the case before the female-only curse, but thousands of years of only female heroes tends to cause certain habits.) However, the Ealiyans realized that this leant itself to inaccuracy & began to change this trend in the Highlands. While tradition is important, if it is a detriment to a society, then those traditions should be adjusted.

In my hc, the 7 Heroines are the daughters of Vah Gela, the Goddess of Sand (al'Geru'è Vallah), who birthed them from her many mortal concubini (male concubines) or Vo'màzren.

This reflects how IRL sultans would have multiple wives, concubines, or a harem. Gerudo women, especially back in their thieving era, had multiple slave men who they'd kidnapped & forced into sex in order to have as many daughters as possible. It was believed that the stronger the man, the stronger the daughters.

(However, the facts surrounding these individuals as actual deities have largely faded from desert theology.)

As such, the men of other cultures were both coveted, as well as seen as less than to a degree. This is another reason for why the ancestors of the Ealiyan Gerudo broke off from the Desert Gerudo.

Thankfully, this practice has long since been abolished, but it remains a black spot upon the Gerudos' history.

As mentioned above, the Forsaken Hero was just a lesser Hylian god & a retainer of the Fierce Deity, who wished to help & in the end, he & the eldest Heroine ran away together (along with their followers) to marry & help found Ealiyah. As such, Ealiyah's Chief is always the vai descendant of the eldest demi-goddess Heroine & the Forsaken Hero. (Though, the fact that they have the blood of deities is more so a rumor by now.)

Examining the timeline, if we follow my hc, we know that this takes place after the Gerudo-Hylian War that resulted in the Gerudo's women-only curse (al'Sûl'si Nàshàlay'è, the Curse of Castration) that took the lives of all their voen, which itself takes place not long after the Bringer of Demise was finally defeated in Skyward Sword. However, it also has to have taken place after at least the 1st Ganondorf made his attempt on Hyrule.

It was between a hundred or so years after the 1st Ganon's death/sealing/victory & the 4th Ganon's sealing, which is a 30,000 year range.

—

Aside from leaving to exalt the Forsaken Hero & to get away from a culture that exploited men, there were many who also left due to having found the social expectations of the Gerudo traditions stifling. Not necessarily the need to find a man, as such was essential to the continued existence of their people & culture, thus making it a tradition founded on necessity; but more so the strictness of needing to break up their families to keep their daughters separate from men, including their own fathers.

Many felt it unnecessarily cruel & a holdover from a misandristic bias & a rather extreme attempt at overcorrecting after 4 of the Centennial Kings (Ganon from OoT, Ganon from FSA, Ganon from HW, & Ganon from TotK) grew to be psychotic warlords hellbent on "ruling" Hyrule. (Read as destroying then salting the earth so that nothing can grow there again.)

Which inevitably ended in renewed prejudices towards the Gerudo & left the desert amazons to pick up the pieces & deal with the consequences themselves. This nurtures a bit of internalized, generational resentment towards males of their own kind which, unfortunately, can somethings spill over onto the men of other races as well. (They are most definitely getting better, but they still have a ways to go.)

As a result of this bias, a lot of the Mafzīnàla Voe'attàren (Centennial Kings) are often either culled as soon as they're born or grow up hermits & outlaws of the Desert Gerudo. This is a secret that not many Gerudo below a certain rank even know. The few who do tend to be very high ranked & keep the secret with their lives. Buliara specifically has kept it a secret from Riju to give the girl plausible deniability. It is the secret that the Gerudo are most ashamed of.

Luckily, Gerudo mothers who do not wish for their sons' lives to be cut short, will often travel to Ealiyah Town to take refuge there among those who've allowed themselves to move on from that old hate & hurt. There are still whispers & some wary looks, but no outright hate.

Others will instead choose to move to other areas or, in desperate situations, will even leave their sons with their husbands before returning to Gerudo Town to make a show of having lost their child. Either through miscarriage or stillbirth.

As a result, many Centennial Kings tend to live much more humble lifestyles than those of the distant past. Some are even lucky enough to be born Ealiyan. On extremely rare occasions, they are even born to the Ealiyan Chieftain.

Unfortunately, politics still play a part, so it isn't uncommon for the next Chieftain & a Centennial King (so long as they themselves aren't also related to the Chieftain) living in Ealiyah to marry. Fortunately, most have resulted in long & at least pleasant marriages rather than misery.

It's only recently that the Desert Gerudo have managed to pinpoint that the tyrant is always born on the 21st of February, under the Sign of the Boar, the Khinzïr constellation. Thus, those who are aware of the trend have begun to refer to them as the Vōton al'Khinzïr'è (Sons of the Boar) or the Mafzī'àlfankha Sûlfetànïren (Myriennial Tyrants).

(I sort of hc that TotK Ganondorf was the son of an Ealiyan Gerudo & her Ovelian Hebran husband. TotK Kōme & Kotake are worshipers of the Bringer of Demise who sought him out specifically because they are some of the few out there who know in intricate detail when exactly the bearer of Demise's hatred would be born. So, they kidnapped him as a baby & killed his parents. He doesn't know, if he did, he would've killed them himself. In fact, all Ganondorfs are kidnapped by Kōme & Kotake. Thus, making him an unknowingly tragic figure.)

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There's more, but I'm still figuring it all out.

LoZ Cultural Masterlist

#loz #botw #totk #legend of zelda #breath of the wild #tears of the kingdom #loz wild series #gerudo #gerudo culture #gerudo highlands #highland gerudo #ealiya town

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