Paraphrased excerpts from the work titled “People of the Western Steppe”, by Historian Valriss, Imperial Scholar.
Considered by many to be savages, the Somari simply live outside the rules that bind societies like the Empire. They are a people defined by movement, rarely building permanent settlements and working with the land. They emphasize “the hunt”, and rely on herd animals that graze on the wild grassland rather than needing to be fed through farming. The Empire views the people as a problem to be managed, and not without merit. Raiding is a common practice among the Somari when trade agreements break down. Crucially, they are a collection of independent clans or tribes and not a unified nation. That works perfectly well for the people, and it keeps the Empire from having to contend with a strong adversary state full of people trained for combat from birth.
Mobility of the people is by design. The Plains of Somaria are home to more than just people, and makes for poor farmland. The people circulate legends of great beasts roaming parts of the plains or flying through the skies. Permanent settlements simply represent a food supply for such beasts, and the people have decided that is not a viable survival strategy. So they wander, moving their camps periodically with their herds, and do not become attached to any particular place.
Somari politics is a mystery to the author. They exist outside of Imperial territory, and do not document their philosophies. It is therefore nearly impossible to determine how the clans relate to each other, how they established any hierarchy, and how they manage trade between groups. What is known is that they appear to be matriarchal, or at least the elder women have a special place in their clans, doing as they see fit and others follow.
Trade with the Somari may be one of the more important considerations for those who live near them. It is important that they see your existence as valuable, otherwise an outsider is simply viewed as another type of beast, a threat to their existence. They are known to engage in raiding as another type of hunt. This practice creates significant instability for Merchant Houses along western supply routes. In fact, the author surmises that were it not for the great cliffs separating the Plains of Somaria from the Heartlands, they would pose a much greater threat to Imperial stability than they currently do.
The Somari provide meaningful resources to the Empire and the Merchant Houses. Horses trained by the clans are fearless mounts in combat, and some Somari warriors have found gainful employment among other groups. Their archers are among the finest in the lands, and they have a reputation for fearlessness that even seasoned warriors struggle to comprehend.
What the author hasn’t been able to describe is the Somari relationship to ownership - of the land, the people, the herds. Who speaks for them and how that is determined. The author concludes that more time must be spent in the region to understand the Somari, but declined to volunteer for that assignment.