The Audoi have no unified army. Each kin-group (clan) maintains its own militia, equipped, trained, and commanded within the clan. However, full-time professional soldiering is an expensive affair, and many clans cannot afford more than a handful of people kept away from daily labor to sustain the clan. Therefore, a number of active Audoi warrior relatively small during peace time. Despite the absence of a large standing force, the vast majority of Audoi have been trained for combat and weapon handling, including women, because martial arts is one of their favorite pastime activities. Clan Elders actively encourage this culture and frequently organize tournaments for all to participate. These tournaments, combined with years of inter-marriage, exchange of customs, and trade, helped to develop a shared way of fighting among the Audoi, even in the face of their deeply decentralized nation.

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Audoi militia can be generally categorized into four roles: Skirmishers, Warriors, Yrkul, and Aekyagt (I am too lazy to think more than 2 given-names for them). From these, the Yrkul and Aekyagt are considered the more professional soldiering, while the Skirmishers and Warriors are not permanent. They gather when needed and disband after the war is over.

Skirmishers are those who take up ranged weapons during wartime, raining arrows and bolts on the enemy from a distance. And warriors are those who favor melee weapons and several layers of armor to fight at close range. Specialized regiments such as siege specialists and demolition miners can form within either rank depending on the original professions of those who serve.

Yrkul, also known as Rangers, are warriors who have taken up arms and sworn oaths to forsake the comfort of the earth and endure the harshness of the wild to keep Audoi land safe from outsiders. They are organized into a semi-official military order and form multi-clan squads to confront the emerging threats. Typically, a lone Yrkul or a small squad constantly roams the surface, standing guard against the many dangers that haunt the wilds of Driftmount. Roaming sky-pirates seek to establish bases in the wilderness from which to raid unsuspecting Audoi settlements or the world below, hostile Driftmount primitive snow-apes, hungry Driftmount predators constantly stalk the wild, and worst of all, turncoat Audoi who have taken up banditry to prey on travelers and merchants. 

In combat, Audoi eyesight combined with their incredible strength makes the Yrkul something unsettling to face. Their arrows arrive from distances far beyond the warbow range of other races, and enemies fall to shots that seem to come out of nowhere. Even hilly terrain, where typical skirmishing would be greatly hindered, does nothing to blunt their effectiveness as the raining arrows arrive only to reveal that a Ranger has already climbed to positions other races would consider unreachable.

Aekyagt, translated as Armored Ones, are warriors who have wholly dedicated their lives to the safety of their community. They serve as police and firefighter during peacetime and form the elite core of the army during war. They take advantage of already impressive Audoi bodies by wearing far heavier armor than most other races could bear, carrying towering shields, and wielding brutal war pikes, hammers, and axes without tiring easily. A fully armored line of Aekyagt is a genuinely immovable object and a frightening sight to behold, yielding to nothing short of siege weapons built to crack fortifications.

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The weapons and armor the Audoi use are suited to their dense bodies and their way of fighting.

For ranged combat, the standard weapon is the warbow, a powerful bow of longbow or composite build. Crossbows are treated as sidearms as they cannot match a warbow's punch at the distances the Audoi prefer to fight, though their easy reloading makes them useful backup weapons for infantry. However, a far more fearsome weapon is carried by the Yrkul, monikered the Iron-Bow. Crafted entirely from metal using specialized techniques to hold exceptional spring tension, then further enchanted by magic-smiths, the Iron-Bow is in a class of its own. Rangers pair it with arrows reinforced by steel or bone cores, built to withstand the immense draw force and deliver deadly armor-piercing hits at range.

In recent years, guns have entered the Audoi arsenal. The Audoi appreciate how compact and easy to use they are compared to typical bows, but remain unimpressed by their accuracy at the distances Audoi fight. For now, firearms are mostly used in engagements where speed of shooting matters far more than precision.

Armor varies widely across clans depending on what each can afford. A mining clan sitting atop rich mineral veins can field heavy plate infantry that would draw jealous looks from a petty surface kingdom. Meanwhile, smaller hillside clans lean on layered leather and fur supplemented with metal, and rely on their deep knowledge of every hill, ridge, and blind corner in their territory as their true protection. Most clans field warriors in mixed sets rather than committing to a single type of armor.

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"Bleed them before hitting them hard."

This is the shared mindset of the Audoi toward warfare. Facing the Audoi means enduring overwhelming ranged combat for a long stretch before catching glints of their infantry metal plates. Rangers often operate several days ahead of the main force, scouting and harassing opponents at ranges the enemy cannot easily answer. When the enemy pushes forward past the ambushes and traps the Rangers have laid, Skirmishers step in and add more pressure to the fight. By the time the enemy reaches the Audoi line, they have been thoroughly bled and must now face the heavy infantry led by the Aekyagt. Through sheer physicality and layered armor, these troops break the enemy wave the way a dam stops floodwater. Few who have faced them want to do it again.

And if an enemy somehow breaches an Audoi settlement and the fighting moves underground, the heavy infantry become worse to deal with, not better. Their ability to see in near-total darkness, combined with armor that shrugs off light weapons, turns tight tunnels into brutal affairs where numbers count for nothing.

Over the years, many enemies have gone to early graves after assuming the Audoi were weak prey, simply because they do not project the power of an empire.

Ukan-Agula’s top surface is very unforgiving to the unprepared. Its exceptionally strong winds and brutal winters have driven ancestors of Audoi to adapt their living conditions compared to comfy non-flying island surface dwellers. Typical buildings without good insulation are deeply impractical to live inside as such structures are required to burn enormous quantities of firewood or coal to simply remain liveable through long winter months. As a result, the overwhelming majority of Audoi make their homes underground or partially buried, where the earth itself becomes the primary insulator.

The Audoi doesn’t have a favored single type of architectural style. How an individual builds their home is shaped by the characteristics of the local clan traditions and the terrain available to them. However, their dwellings can be broadly grouped into four types:

Typical Building: Nothing to be noted. It's what you can expect of a building. These buildings are the simplest and offer no particular insulation beyond their walls.  For the Audoi, these are considered temporary by nature and primarily used by travelers, merchants, rangers and clans doing their annual relocation. Nobody plans to spend a winter inside if they can help it.

Earth-Covered Surface Buildings: These are the first step toward something more permanent. These are structures built on or just above the ground surface, using load bearing and long lasting materials, then they are heavily buried and packed with earth and turf over their roofs and walls. The thick earthen layer traps heat and deflects wind, turning what would otherwise be a freezing shell into a surprisingly warm interior. These tend to appear on the flatter regions of the island where digging deep is difficult, and are also often seen along the outskirts of any growing settlements.

Hillside Dwellings: These are bored sideways directly into the faces of hills, ridges and cliff walls. Entrances  typically face away from the dominant wind direction or cluster together in natural hollows where terrain provides cover from the wind.From there, the living space expands inwards into the living chambers that offers comfortable cool conditions. These are popular along the foothills of the central mountain range, where the terrain lends itself naturally to this approach. These hillside settlements are considered the most comfortable places to live, sheltered by hills from the winds and naturally experience milder winters and pleasant summers.

Near-Surface Pit Dwellings: They are dug downward from the surface, typically several meters deep, supported by carefully engineered roofs and columns of stones or bricks. They sit in a middle ground between the surface and the deeper underground, offering meaningful insulation without requiring the extensive excavation of a full underground city. These vary enormously in sizes and character from clan to clan. Some settlements favor large open communal halls at the center, warm gathering spaces where the whole settlement eats, works, and socializes together, with smaller personal chambers radiating outward from that central hub. Others take the opposite approach, building dense warrens of narrow, winding corridors that connect individual family dwellings in an interconnected maze — more intimate and  private. These types are most common to form settlements located on flatter regions of the island with little natural wind protection.

Underground Cities: A marvel of Audoi settlement that dwarfs all above. However, many of the such Audoi settlements were not built from scratch but grown outward from existing natural cave systems deep within land itself. Over generations, skilled miners and smiths expanded these caves into vast, multi-layered cities capable of housing thousands. The mountain itself becomes the architecture, great halls are carved from a  living rock, streets winding through passages that were once natural tunnels, and whole districts are stacked vertically o spread horizontally through the earth's interior. These cities are the cultural and political heart of Audoi society. Each of their age and scale mean they have accumulated layer upon layer of construction from different eras and different designs, making them feel like living records of Audoi history carved in stone.

(My bad attempt at helping some visualization)

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https://preview.redd.it/l8wg5tugaqyg1.png?width=990&format=png&auto=webp&s=7b2aeb83b54652e90e335b1de77dc2fd93e8bd91

Name: Audoi or Ukan-Agulyn Audout (The People of The Driftmount in their words)

Flag/symbol: There is no unified flag for Audoi. However, the most common identifying item shown among them is a banner with a sun and moon symbol.

Location: Here

The Audoi reside on Ukan-Agula or commonly known as Driftmount to other nations, a massive landmass that slowly floats across the sky. The island drifts along a slow and cyclical migration path, passing through different zones over a period of 8 years.

Geography: The climate of Driftmount is extreme and unforgiving. Powerful winds frequently batter the exposed top surface relentlessly, while inner valleys hugging along the central mountain range enjoy comparatively milder conditions, shielded by the mountain peaks. The island’s seasons are stark: long harsh winters dominate the most of the year and temporarily broken by short and mild summers. Every eight years, when Driftmount migrates to the subtropical regions, the summer season becomes notably warmer and pleasant. Much of the island is covered in permafrost and glaciers are found throught the valleys and some highland regions are blanketed in a perpetual snow. All animal and plant life on the island has evolved to thrive in cold, wind-blasted environment.

Biology: Audoi are humanoids comparable to humans but have much heavier bodies. They have broad, barrel-shaped chests adapted for breathing in thin Driftmount air and oversized hands and feet that aid in gripping surfaces and maintaining balance against constant winds. Their bones and muscles are remarkably dense making an average Audoi roughly twice the weight of humans of similar size. This grants them exceptional grip strength and stability.
Their facial features also reflect generational adaptation to Driftmount’s harsh conditions:

• Eyes: Medium to small, set deep beneath heavy brow ridges. This structure shields against both sun glare and wind. Audoi eyes possess an extraordinary capacity for dilation and constriction, granting excellent vision in darkness and at great distances.

• Ears: Small and close-set to minimise exposure to frostbite. This adaptation weakens their hearing somewhat, which is why the Audoi are known for speaking very loudly.

• Nose: Large and broad, facilitating efficient breathing in cold, thin air.

• Beard: Both males and females can grow thick facial hair that serves as natural insulation against biting winds.

Although their hearing is below average, the Audoi compensate with exceptional eyesight. Their extreme pupil dilation allows them to see clearly in near-darkness and extreme constriction allow them to pick fine details at remarkable distances.
Additionally, the Audoi possess unique tactile sense through their large, bare feet. When walking without footwear, they can sense subtle vibrations in the ground which allows them to sense shifts in the island’s mass during migration. This ability is considered vital for navigating Driftmount’s edges.

If you need visual help, just imagine a fantasy dwarf the size of a human. Its important to note that Audoi are biologically incompatible with humans and cannot interbreed with them.

History: According to the Audoi legends, Driftmount was once a mountain range firmly rooted in the earth. However, a cataclysmic battle among unnamed forces shattered the land and tore great pieces from the surface and cast them into the sky as floating islands. The Ancestors of Audoi were people who found themselves trapped atop one such fragmented island. It is unknown when Audoi started dwelling underground as there are no known records extended to the creation of Mountain cities.

Society: Audoi are organized around kin-groups or clans. Each clan consists of families bound by blood and resides in their claimed portion of the island. And these clans function as semi-independent regional powers, maintaining their own militia, economy and internal governance. Each clan typically governed by a council of wise elders, who are advised by specialist experts. Authority and council membership is usually earned through experience and the trust of kins.
Once a year, delegates from each clan convene at the mountain city located in the central tallest peak. At this gathering, each representatives share news about island condition, discuss threats or opportunities and make collective decisions on matters that affect all Audoi.

Culture: Audoi culture values familial bonds and unwavering honesty. Because nearly everyone within clan is related by blood, lying to a clanmate is considered a betrayal of family. They greatly shame liars and ultimately many liars choose exile. Over generations, this cultural norm has shaped Audoi into a people who are blunt, straightforward in all their dealings.
Interestingly, marriage within one’s own clan is strictly forbidden. When young Audoi come of age, it is customary for them to travel to other clans and live among them for a period. During this time, they must earn the trust and respect of the host clan. If successful, they may court and marry a member of that clan and bring their spouse back to their home holdings. This tradition serves to continuously blend customs, stories and practices between clans, creating shared culture across the island while allowing regional variations. Therefore, clan members are encouraged to travel farther regions to find spouses.

Occurrence of magic: Magic is considered to be a specialized branch of smithing. They welcomes it and greatly respects magic smiths because their constructs allows Audoi to live underground, travel to the surface and and generally make life more bearing.

Faded Wonder: The eternal Spring. Deep within the central mountain, there is a spring that flows without ceasing known as Heart of Driftmount. This spring feeds water to the entire island and has never been known to run dry. Approximately once every eight years, the spring’s water temporarily turns milky white. This phenomenon is known as Lifeblood pouring. Any creature or plant that drinks the lifeblood during this period receives a surge of magically charged energy. They grow larger and stronger and their overall vitality is greatly enhanced.

IMPORTS, EXPORTS, & MAJOR INDUSTRIES: Due to the rather isolated nature of the island, Audoi happily imports goods they cannot easily produce: foods, quality timbers and raw minerals.
In return they would sell highly purified mineral ingots, fur/leather(all animals on the surface of Driftmount are adapted to extreme cold and wind, making their fur one of the best in the world) and their interestingly earthy and tasty Mushroom-Ale!
Underground dwellings of Audoi are great places for smiths to gather. They produce great quality metalworks with fine details.