Mulan
Since the fall of ancient Imaskar, the Mulan have dominated the eastern shores of the Sea of Fallen Stars. Led by two pantheons of deities, the ancient Mulan empires of Mulhorand and Unther conquered at various times Ashanath, Chessenta, the Eastern Shaar, Murghôm, Rashemen, Semphar, Thay, Thesk, and the Wizards' Reach cities that lie south of the Yuirwood. In their wake, these empires have left ruling elites composed almost exclusively of Mulan. After millennia of rulership, the Mulan have become arrogant, highly resistant to change, and wholly convinced of their cultural superiority.
The Mulan are firmly wedded to the use of magic, with the only major point of disagreement being whether to pursue the arcane or divine tradition. For many generations the god-kings, powerful avatars of the Mulhorandi and Untheric deities long resident on Toril, ruled both empires as incarnate gods. The somnolent rule of the god-kings permitted the development of a powerful priest class in Mulan cultures that has long struggled with practitioners of arcane spellcasting for power. Their heavyhanded clerical rule prompted repeated rebellions by wizards and sorcerers, leading to the dominance of Thay by Red Wizards of Mulan descent.
Mulan are generally tall, slim, and sallow-skinned with eyes of hazel or brown. They lack much body hair, and many, including all nobles, shave any hair that they do have. Hair color on an unshaved Mulan ranges from black to dark brown. The lower classes of Thay, Mulhorand, and Unther often have significant Rashemi or Turami blood, leading to darker complexions. The folk of Chessenta have long mixed with the nearby Chondathans, and pure Mulan features are rare there.
The Mulan have a long and proud history, viewing both their society and their culture as eternal. Rapid change is regarded with suspicion, and the arcane arts either warmly embraced (Thay) or viewed with deep distrust (Mulhorand and Unther). Mulan believe themselves to be more civilized, more prosperous, more creative, more powerful (should they choose to be), and in all other ways superior to all other ethnic groups. Even in the face of evidence to the contrary, Mulan are dismissive of other cultures' accomplishments and openly arrogant with respect to their own.
Outlook
The Mulan believe in order and discipline and are strongly resistant to change, the legacy of millennia of undying rule by the god-kings of Unther and Mulhorand. They haughtily believe that they are either the chosen of the gods (in Mulhorand, Unther, and Chessenta) or above the gods (in Thay) and hold their culture above all others. Unlike most other human cultures, the Mulan believe they dwell in an earthly paradise, where stability and security shall reign for all eternity. The afterlife is merely a mirror of the mortal realm. In Thay, such beliefs have been twisted to regard undeath as the mirror of life, while in Unther the centuries-long tyranny of Gilgeam made a horror of both this world and the next. Mulan are indoctrinated from a young age to revere their cultural traditions, to respect the law, and to honor the servants of the gods (or the Red Wizards, in the case of Thay).
Although not drawn to adventuring, Mulan seen outside their traditional homelands are usually adventurers of one sort or another. Some have fled enslavement or been driven into exile due to differences with the local authorities, whether they be mercenary lords in Chessenta, cultists of Tiamat in the remnants of Unther, bureaucratic priests in Mulhorand, or autocratic Red Wizards in Thay. Others are sent abroad as agents of one of the Mulan realms, serving as representatives of a Thayan enclave, tracking down relics plundered from a Mulhorandi tomb, fighting in a Chessentan mercenary company, or spying on those who have designs on Unther's carcass.
Mulan Society
Despite the fragmentation of the Old Empires of Mulhorand and Unther, the Mulan have changed little despite the passage of centuries. Strict class divisions segregate Mulan society into the nobility (including all clerics and arcane spellcasters), the commoners (farmers, merchants, and skilled craftsmen), and slaves (everyone else). Although upward and downward mobility is possible in Mulan society, primarily by joining the clergy or studying the Art, the Mulan discriminate against most other human ethnic groups and races and preserve strictly defined class roles.
Despite the centuries-long presence of the god-kings, the Mulan are not particularly reverent, nor are they overly interested in commerce. The Mulan aspire to power, preferably backed by magic, and engage in endless intrigues to accumulate personal power no matter what the cost to the ideals to which they nominally ascribe.
Mulan place great stock in education, and all members of the nobility and middle class receive some amount of instruction as a child. Many youths are apprenticed to a powerful wizard (Thay) or join the church of one of the god-kings (Mulhorand and Unther) at a young age and are raised apart from their families. As adults, the Mulan are expected to serve their role in society and not make waves. Death is a lifelong obsession for most Mulan, who spend their entire lives preparing themselves for the afterlife. The Mulhorandi epitomize this obsession, planning every detail of their journey into the afterlife.
Outside Mulan-dominated lands, Mulan keep to themselves, forming isolated enclaves apart from the local society. Thayan enclaves are simply the latest such example of the Mulan holding themselves apart from and above other races and human ethnic groups when dwelling in foreign lands. Of necessity, some cross-pollination of cultures does occur through trade contact with neighbors, but expatriate Mulan prefer to limit such contacts whenever possible. Mulan from the Old Empires almost never venerate deities other than their homeland's pantheon, and most Thayans can hardly be bothered with any gods. Few Mulan see the point of any languages other than the local dialect of the Common tongue.
Language and Literacy
Depending on their homeland, mulan speak one of the various tongues of the Rauric language family - all derived, at least in part, from the slave argot of ancient Imaskar. The language of Unther is Untheric, while the language of Mulhorand, Murghôm, Semphar, and Thay is Mulhorandi. Untheric employs Dethek runes for its alphabet, suggesting a strong tie between the gold dwarves of the Great Rift and the early inhabitants of Unther. Mulhorandi is rendered in the Celestial alphabet, first introduced by a manifestation of Thoth.
In Chessenta and the Wizard's Reach, Chessentan, a tongue closely related to Untheric with strong Chondathan and Shaaran influences, has largely supplanted Untheric. The folk of Chessenta have long used the Thorass alphabet in addition to Dethek runes, and Chessentan is almost exclusively written using Thorass characters. Both Thay and the cult of Set render Mulhorandi in the Infernal alphabet, consciously repudiating the rule of the current god-kings.
Common is less frequently spoken in Mulan-dominated lands than elsewhere in Faerûn, but it is still widely known nonetheless. Mulan who learn second tongues often choose one of the other Rauric languages mentioned above, Aglarondan (among the cities of the wizard's Reach), Chondathan (Chessenta), Durpari (southern Mulhorand), Rashemi (Thay and the Wizard's Reach), Shaaran (southern Unther), Shou (Semphar), and Turmic (Chessenta and Mulhorand).
