tarneni

Tarneni is a fictional ethnolinguistic group created for world-building and speculative fiction. In narrative uses, Tarneni are described as inhabitants of the central river valleys of the imagined continent of Auronia, known for trade, crafts, and communal decision-making.

Etymology. The name Tarneni derives from Tarn- meaning river and the suffix -eni indicating people in the constructed Tarnic language family.

Geography and history. The Tarnen homeland centers on the Tarnen Basin, with the Daro River to the south and the Salt Hills to the north. They emerged as agrarian communities and river traders in a fictional early millennium BCE timeframe; city-states along the river developed extensive trade networks and periodic pacts such as the Daro Accord.

Society and culture. Society is largely matrilineal, organized around clans and councils of elders. Guilds regulate crafts such as metalwork, textiles, and pottery. Religion centers on river spirits and seasonal rites; ancestor veneration is common. Cultural expressions include geometric textiles, copperwork, riverboats, and a cuisine of fish, millet, legumes, and herbs. Music features reed instruments and percussion.

Language. Tarneni is part of a small Tarnic language family, with neighboring tongues such as Darni and Lumen. Tarneni features SOV word order, agglutinative morphology, vowel harmony, and evidential grammar indicating speaker confidence about information.

In fiction. Tarneni appear in novels, role-playing games, and world-building repositories as traders, engineers, and navigators of the river networks; debates about state formation and intercultural exchange persist in fan scholarship.