The Korvon (pronounced KORE-vonn) are a dwarven nomadic people of the Wounds who consider themselves Fanakaran. They abandoned the mountain cities of Harv Taruhm long ago, originally over religious matters and their rejection of the antagonistic pantheon, but a broad enmity has developed since then - the Taruhmites view the Korvon as willful agents of Tnatrak, while the Korvon in turn view their kin as suffering a slow death due to their overly conservative culture.
Nearly all other peoples of the Wounds have bad relations, if any, with the Korvon.
Demographics
Dwarves account for effectively the entire Korvon population. There are somewhere between eight hundred and a thousand Korvon, spread across nearly the entirety of the Wounds save for the Old Twins, Soul's End Islands, and Salt Spring Archipelago.
Culture
The Korvon have entirely abandoned the traditional faith of their people, casting aside the antagonistic Taruhmite gods in favor of animistic beliefs focused on the wind spirits that control life on the open waters of the Na-Gaesa Ocean. These beliefs are highly decentralized, as the Korvon respect no religious authority. It is the role of their captains to negotiate with, appease, or otherwise commune with these spirits, in order to ensure favorable conditions as they cross the sea.
The most important social unit amongst the Korvon is the crew-clan, effectively an extended family. Loyalty to the crew-clan, both on land and at sea, is paramount, and Korvon social norms are heavily based around avoiding offending or harming other members of one's clan.
Unlike the oar-driven ships of the Taruhmites and Doruhlites, the Korvon use more nimble sailing ships, more akin to the catamarans commonly used by other Fanakara. These vessels tend to be much larger than those built by other seafaring peoples, however, though still smaller than Taruhmite galleys. They infrequently feature covered living space, only sometimes employing woven mats as canopies, as the Korvon prefer to avoid long voyages at sea. Instead they hop between coastal island villages, their ships only carrying what is immediately needed. Over-preparing is seen as a failing amongst the Korvon, in fact, as to them it shows a lack of confidence in one's own abilities or in those of their crew-clan.
The Korvon engage in frequent raiding of the villages and encampments of other peoples of the Wounds, both as a means of acquiring wealth and as a way of seeking personal status. Each crew-clan has their preferred method of conducting these raids, but strikes in the darkness of night are common - the sight of fires approaching from the sea, the result of the Korvon attaching tar-covered ropes to their ships and setting them ablaze, are feared by many peoples of the Wounds. But not all items the Korvon steal in this way are even used. Some are, those for which they can find an immediate practical purpose, but others are stashed away in secret sea caves and other hidden locations, possibly recovered later but more often incorporated into an individual's personal legend.
While they consider themselves Fanakaran, the Korvon are culturally quite distinct in many ways. One of the most striking of these is that they lack a prohibition on writing, and in fact encourage it, as it is an important way of sharing their daring deeds even if only amongst themselves.
As a consequence of their raiding the Korvon are despised by many others who live in the Wounds, but none more so than the Keleta-Ru, with whom they have a long enmity stemming from what the Keleta-Ru view as numerous breaks of their rules of hospitality. Korvon warriors do, however, frequently join the Shieldbound, in greater proportional numbers than any other people other than perhaps the Bakari.
Government
Only those who prove themselves can lead the Korvon. The position of captain, of which there are many, is held by the dwarf most capable with the spear, the word, and their own physical form. A well-respected and strong captain commands the respect and loyalty of his crew-clan, but those viewed as lacking will be frequently challenged until they are able to demonstrate their worthiness. Such challenges may take many forms, limited only by what the clan considers fair, but sparring matches, hunting or diving competitions, and spell-writing contests are all common.
Captains lead not ships but rather people, who then happen to serve as crew on a given ship. This leadership applies equally when on land. Korvon settlements are typically led by many captains, who tend to carefully deliminate what is theirs.