The most easterly group of people on the Steppes, the Witch Tribes', or Wise People as they call themselves, lands begin where the land begins to dip away into a crater several hundred miles wide. They are a discrete group among the Steppe dwellers, taller and paler than the other tribesmen, with thick curly hair and piercing brown eyes. The other thing that sets them apart is a lineage that they claim, one that reaches back to a curious set of ruins at the heart of their shared lands.
Their legends claim that once the ruins were a city, a metropolis of magic and myth, where their traditions were born and they commanded spirits, of all sorts, to work wonders. At the heart of the city sat the Star Heart, which had fallen from the sky and created the crater in the beginning. According to the stories the Witch Tribes used the knowledge they gleaned from the Heart, which they described as a beating thing, made of stone but still functional as an organ, to raise the city with help of magical servants. Elementals, demons and others were pressed into their service, bound to tasks and punished if they failed. With their assistance the witch women grew food and banished the bitter winters. Civilisation bloomed, great houses developed as the women became powerful, and passed that power to their daughters. Puberty became significant not just as a sign of maturation but as the point where the first hexes and incantations were taught. Men were raised as labourers, scholars and soldiers but denied any form of arcane power, from fear that they would misuse it.
Most of the tales the Tribes tell of the city suggest it was a paradise, which creates a nagging question of how it fell. Here, the lorekeepers tend to clam up and refuse to be drawn on the matter. There is of course speculation, from stories of bargains gone astray, and demons who were impossible to placate. Inevitably there are stories of men who learned magic and brought doom on the area, one more reason why the Witch Tribe men are still barred from learning even the simplest cantrip. Only a few stories tell of war and destruction, even though the ruin's stones are marked by fire even centuries after they were abandoned. The fact that each of the tribe matriarchs proudly traces her lineage, real or imagined, back to the city and that there is a great deal of antipathy between the tribes is ignored. The elaborate rituals they use to secure peace when tribes meet are similarly set aside, as are the spirits that still lurk in the ruins, keeping all humans out. So fearsome are the defenders of the ancient city that a small group of Sharoban's graduates have a yearly contest to see which of them can brave the crater and retrieve a token from the remains, in a sport called 'ruin running'. So far only a handful of the competitors have returned, and all of them barely escaped with their lives. Their reports suggest a number of powerful and inhuman creatures now inhabit the area, including a chimera that has the body of a tiger and the tail of a scorpion, and is believed to haunt the Inner Market area.
The origins of these creatures are not known, but there is some speculation that they are bound to the place, especially as they never seem to venture into the wider world.
Away from the ruins, the Tribes have fallen into a way of life very similar to their cousins elsewhere, following their herds, minding their borders and fighting small, sporadic, wars with their rivals. Moots are rare and only held for marriage reasons, or if there is a shortage of something. Even a threat from outside the area is unlikely to unite the tribes, and any alliances that are forced into existence that way perish within weeks.
The Tribes are stolidly, and openly, matriarchal. Men do as they are told and do not even occupy positions of authority during wartime, even if they are expected to be on the front line of any fighting. Women form the strategy and diplomatic groups for every tribe, and it is an established fact that they will not deal with men. Caravans who pass through Witch Tribe lands always take a woman to serve as a negotiator as a result. This isn't to say men have no influence, but it's small. It's rare for a man to get his own way and floggings of disobedient males aren't uncommon. That being said, the tribe leader is very much the mother of the tribe and she will typically take a personal interest in the men's well being. Cynics might say that this is to ensure that good matches are made, but there's little evidence for this.
The other constant is the use of magic. Almost every aspect of life is governed by ritual; the women tend to the spirits whilst the men tend to the world. Offerings are made regularly and every territory has locations rich with offered blood, bones and skulls; all to appease the spirits and win their allegiance. Where this differs from shamanism is that the Wise People do not simply ask for aid, their rituals continue long standing bargains that require the invisible world to give them aid, and which can be enforced if necessary. Women still offer their blood, and their lovers for mystical aid, and whilst the stories of men being sacrificed after successfully impregnating their wives are just that, stories, they remain and there's a nagging sensation that they have been true at some point in the past.
In their relationships with the other Steppe inhabitants the People maintain a singular face; closed, standoffish. They do not mix well with the other nomads, nor with the Arctic tribes. They may trade with Sharoban's caravans but only at a safe distance, and woe betide the ruin runners who cross their lands without caution. They have no time for Giants or Hobgoblins, and battle both groups with equal vigour.
The advice given to those who must cross the People's lands is; travel swiftly, be polite and take nothing away.
Next time, we'll turn our attention to the west and the Jorvin Empire, beginning with an overview and a small slice of history.
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