Lirgeni (human ethnicity)

The bronze-skinned Lirgeni humans (sometimes spelled Lergeni), now a diaspora after the Eye of Abendego destroyed their homeland of Lirgen, are unique among their Mwangi and Garundi neighbors. Many claim to be pure descendants of the original humans of Golarion. They are physically similar to the Azlanti, which would give credence to this unlikely claim.

Appearance

In modern terms, they could be described as being closest to the Chelaxian, with a hint of Tian. They are typically tall, thin, and broad-shouldered, with dark, freckled bronze skin and light eyes. Many braid their dark, straight hair.

History

See also: Lirgen

While said to hail from some faraway land, the Lirgeni trace their recent origins to Rahadoum, from which they migrated in 2557 AR with the nation's atheist proscription against religion. Their strength in the arts of divination and astronomy brought them wealth and power in their new home of Lirgen along the Gulf of Abendego, under the leadership of the oracular Saoc Brethren.

Indeed, the Lirgeni were so successful that one of their kind launched one of Golarion's only known space programs, sending a spaceship christened the Lirgen's Glory off-world in 4600 AR.

Eye of Abendego

See also: Eye of Abendego and Lirgen

However, few Lirgeni remain in the area (now known as the Sodden Lands) because of the wrath of the Eye of Abendego, which buffeted the nation in 4606 AR after the death of Aroden. The people of Lirgen fled by ship from Hyrantam before the devastation of the Eye.

In modern Garund

See also: Jaha

Today, fewer than 5,000 Lergeni are thought to live in the Sodden Lands and follow their old ways of Lergeni astrology, and no Inner Sea port has seen a Lirgeni ship since the Eye's appearance. In 4717 AR, a coalition comprised of Lirgeni kinsfolk and lizardfolk astrologers from the Sodden Lands arrived at the gates of the xenophobic city of Jaha in the Mwangi Jungle with the intent of compelling the city's inhabitants to share their secrets. However, to their surprise, they discovered Jaha deserted, with its occupants inexplicably absent. Despite feeling unsettled, the coalition decided to settle within the abandoned ruins, opening the doors of Jaha to outsiders for the first time in generations.

Some Saoc Brethren and their descendants continue to return to the Sodden Lands to try to find some way to extinguish the Eye of Abendego, but all such efforts have failed.