The Peshwa

[Havard]

Ethnically, I think they must be distinctive in both appearance and language, judging by thier names and the general sense I get from RJK's story and the FFC. I'm thinking tan skin and brown/black hair but I wouldn't necessatily pin them any more specifically to any real popuations than that.

This is pretty similar to my ideas.

Culture - not seeing much relevance of arabs here, though I do get the Dune connections in Blackmoor generally. Nobody has mentioned the Mongols or Huns, surely horse and warrior centered cultures. Ostrogoths, the inspiration for the Rohirrim deserve a mention too.

I'm up for stealing from any kind of nomadic culture here.

Belief- Plains Indian? Okay, good as any.

Well, at least in general I see them as having a sort of Animist world view. They do have a number of gods that they worship though.

Tech - Early medieval "Hun" level seems reasonable and portable, but high medieval "Knightly" level tech seems like it would be impractical and unnatractive to horse nomads. OTOH they could likely get anything through trade.

Well, itis true that they might not have the skills to manufacture too much advanced equipment, but I see them as using swords and metal armor and weapons.

Havard