Deity: Matsu, patron “Goddess”

Matriarch: Corrine Ganga

Patriarch: Banjar Ganga

First: 

Base: Lower House associated with Andorian. Their base is the

peninsula jutting out of the southeastern coast of Andorian

 

History:

The origin of House Ganga is inextricably tied to the mighty river along whose banks the House first arose. The river Matsu wound down from the high mountains that was its source, providing life-giving water and fertile floodplains for the civilization that developed there.

 

The river provided one more thing - the spirit of the river itself, sung to life by the mystic arts of the ancestors of House Ganga during the dawn of Terra Dei. Whether this is fact or legend, is now lost in the myths of time, but what is undeniable is that this river spirit, also called Matsu, was worshiped by the Gangans as their goddess.

 

Legend has it that Matsu would intervene directly in the battles of the Gangans, leading House Ganga to once rule over much of what is now the southern coast of Terra Dei at the height of their peak around 1350 TD. In their hubris however, the Gangans failed to take proper care of their mother river Matsu, overusing her once bountiful waters and polluting her with their filth. This, according to the sages, led to Matsu’s decline, and allowed enemies such as the warlike Andorians and Svors to force the Gangans back to their original homeland, where they were protected by high cliffs and mountains on one side and sheltered by the sea on the other.

 

Tragedy struck when the legendary river Matsu dried up, and with it went any hope of salvation from their goddess. In these dark times, House Ganga was saved from ruin by the prophet Wijaya. The spirit of Matsu, he had claimed, lived on in the sea. Under his guidance, House Ganga developed their seafaring skills, adapted their rivercraft to the high seas, and gained knowledge of celestial navigation and ocean currents. They turned into fishers, divers, sailors, traders, and explorers, cultivating a close relationship with the sea and all its denizens.

 

House Ganga had since come under the suzerainty of Andorian power to their north. At their peak they had a maritime empire that stretched all along the coast of Terra Dei almost to the border with Svorolds. But at present, they are reduced to being a minor House of the Andorians, serving primarily as sea transport using the massive Andorian-style galleys and cogs. It is said that House Ganga would not recover its former glories until the river Matsu flowed again.

 

The historical animosity between Ganga and their overlord House had mostly faded at present, due to centuries of contact and intermarriage. However, the conflicting demands of the Andorians and the Gangans' own desires sometimes leads to friction.

 

Gossip

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• The river Matsu dried up because it was dammed by one of the House’s enemies

 

• Gangan divers can hold their breaths for an inhuman amount of time. They collect the largest and rarest pearls from the ocean floor.

 

• Gangans can travel the seas on wooden boards only a little larger than the size of a man

 

• Gangan ships sometimes disappear if they sail too close to Marē