#balchoth

The Balchoth were a confederation of Easterling Tribes, close relatives to the wainriders but usually considered to have been more primitive.Like their relatives, the wainriders, the Balchoth were known to live and travel in large covered wagons or Wains.

In contrast to their relatives, the Wainriders who are descendants of the Ulgath, the Balchoth are usually seen as Tribes of Ioriag descent. Especially the Asdriags are identified with the Balchoth or are at least regarded as their early predecessors or forerunners of the later Balchoth. Original home to the tribes that later became the Balchoth was a region east of the known lands of Rhûn called the Kýkurian Kýn, but later the Balchoth moved westwards to the sea of Rhûn and settled down in the Talath Harroch, Lands east of Mirkwood once home to Northron Tribes as the Éothraim, the ancestors of the Rohirrim.The principal Head of the Balchoth is the Bôm, an elder presiding over a council patriarchs (two from each tribe).

After the deafeat of the Balchoth in T.A. 2510 two tribes, the Manvul and Hurgung remained with the Asdriags, Odhriags and Magriags as remnants of the Balchoth-federation in eastern Rhovanion.

                From the rolling grasslands of the Kykurian Kyn to the grand markets of Mistrand, from the shores of Rhûnaer to the Horseplains of Harrhûn and the Barren Wastes in the north, the EASTERLINGS are not ONE people, but MANY who call these lands their home.

                                               ( Fanmix for the Easterlings ; Easterlings Appreciation Week 2015 )

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Oran (Lucy Lawlass as Xena) and Yumruk (Marton Csokas as Borias) of the Pultai (Balchoth) Tribes, circa T.A. 2460.

|| And now there should be no doubt who Vezely 'inherited' her mean/slightly insane streak from...||

In my headcanon, several Rhunic cultures (not all, but many of the warrior clans) tattoo themselves as signs of prestige. The Blachoth and Variags, and of course the Haladrim, don tattoos on their bodies. Here are some conceptual images which have fed into how I imagine what the tattoos of Vez's culture may look like.

Concept 1 - Miyavi, Japanese guitarist, singer, and songwriter: Balchoth tattoos could be mainly textual in format, as Vez's are mostly clan sayings and names of former challengers. We are not provided a Rhunic writing systems by Tolkien, but in my headcanon Easterling characters might look like a mix of Arabic and Chinese characters, and represent whole words rather than speech sounds. (Also, I like the darkness and crispness of the black ink of Miyavi's tattoos; I can imagine the ink sticking out quite like this on the paleness of Vez's Elvish skin.)

Concept 2 - Victoria Beckham, Hebrew script: I actually imagine Vez's clan words ("Strength in time of darkness, courage in time of fear, death to those who oppose you") to be written in this linear style and of this size.