Darkness in the Crags

The mountains are home to many things, including the worship of dark gods. Though rare, it cannot be denied that the shadow of dark worship lies in pockets throughout the Red Veins. A lot is discrete, set apart from the towns and villages, secluded in caves and on crags between Giant camps, but not all. Within village lodges and town smithies, elements of the darkness can be found and even the best of intentions can be perverted to dark matters.

Hunters - Giants as the ultimate prize

The first case is the Vigilant Hunters Lodge, operating out of Ruda Gorod though they have small lodges and safe houses throughout the mountains. A hunters camp founded by Sven Lars Son, the Vigilants are dedicated to hunting the most dangerous prey in the mountains, from Giants to Cave Shadows and Sabre Cats. Unbeknownst to the people around them the Lodge is divided into two ranks. The lower ranks are simple hunters, trained in bow, spear and the other tricks of the hunt. The higher echelons of the group are rather different however. To enter their ranks is to take on a different calling, and embrace the Hunter. Only very specific members of the lower ranks are invited to apply for the higher tier; Sven is wary and with good reason. He was driven out by his family when his own inclination to dark worship was discovered and he is determined that nobody should know what the true purpose of the Vigilants is.

When a likely candidate presents themselves they are tested, often harshly. A ritual hunt is undertaken and the heart blood of the slain creature drunk by the initiate to test if they are the right material and to find their 'soul animal', usually a predator, something that Sven has made up as a way to ease the path into the Hunter's service for the unwary. They are tutored intensely and brought in on more and more dangerous hunts, where they are given important roles and praised for their assistance. Often the 'soul animal' is invoked as a reason for hunting, and at first there is a sense of nature to the proceedings. A wolf spirited person will be called on to hunt deer and so on. As time goes on this slips, a death is a death after all and the letting of blood and taking of life is the important part of the Hunter's worship.

The most sacred part of the Vigilant's activities are their Full Moon Hunts, which take place at night and involve either hunting humans or giants. Only the most trusted members of the Lodge are invited to partake and spend the night tracking and slaying for the sheer enjoyment of killing. To make things worse, the slain beings are ritually consumed by the hunters, to funnel their power into the hunter or into the Hunter.

At present nobody suspects the Lodge's participation in these practices; after all their public face is kind, caring and thoughtful. They act as guides for travellers and as defenders when trouble comes. This public face is part of Sven's strategy for ensuring the Lodge's survival, knowing that if the truth comes out most of the locals will turn against them. This is also informs the part of his strategy, to recruit as many locals as he can.

The Dark Makers by contrast keep themselves apart, dwelling in caves under the mountains to work their arts. Smiths and miners, they create weapons and armour, trying to make the most effective offense and defence for the wielder. The only difference is that they do so in a fashion that funnels dark power, using gifts that Baluz and Maradan, the shadow of Korvin, have taught them. This makes weapons more effective at killing, often without regard to the life of the wielder, and makes armour that is tough but demands a price. It is not uncommon for it to be 'consecrated' and bound to the wearer, making the two one. Sometimes this link grows over time, making the suit literally part of the wearer, though this is mercifully rare. They use the mountains as a place to make these twisted weapons because of the Giants. Their blood carries the magic of the pacts that made them, which the Makers unleash through their dark magics, making their creations tougher and more durable. The Makers pay handsomely for blood to quench their wares in.

The Makers have little organisation, they are largely formed of mavericks and crackpots, all seeking answers in a way that had them driven from society and their crafts and to the mountains in desperation. It is not publicly known that the Makers exist but most smiths and artisans know of someone, who knew someone whose master or apprentice's friend's cousin fled to join them. The idea of the dark forge is enshrined in the lore surrounding the working of steel, usually under the command; ''don't do this'. Their 'leader' is a woman, Elena Black Hand, whose name comes from the black gauntlet she has grafted onto her left hand. A testimony to her work, the gauntlet allows her to grip near molten metal without feeling pain.

Lastly the Cloud Shadow tribe of Giants are significant because of their own heretical ways. Dwelling in the lair of a dead dragon, the Cloud Shadow they take their name from, the tribe is ruled by their Queen and her lover, a shaman. Together they have guided the tribe in a new direction, one spurred by the discovery of a small statue at the back of the caves they call home. The image is crude but is also undeniably that of Baluz, the dark God of war and sadism. Something about it spurred them to worship it and at the Queen's command the tribe has converted to the faith. Driven on by the dreams she receives from the tribe's new patron, the Queen has started to direct a campaign against those that would harm the tribe, including the Vigilant Hunting Lodge. They have launched attacks against the neighbouring tribes, demanded martial contests from anyone who crosses their land and taken more prisoners in the past few months than in the entire decade before hand. They have even headed east to battle the Witch Tribes and out onto the frozen plain north of the mountains seeking out enemies.

Their prisoners meet a grizzly death, used as a novel way to mark borders and on the altar in front of the statue. The idea that the humans be made to fight each other is one that is slowly forming in the Queen's head, as is the idea of having her daughter battle the humans as a sign that she is as devoted as her mother. The ulterior motive, getting rid of her daughter and drinking her life essence to preserve her own is something that only rarely rises in the Queen's mind, but she and her lover are slowly preparing for the eventuality. There is nothing very novel about the way the worship of Baluz has been carried out, he is a conservative god and despite everything, rather unimaginative.

The human towns and villages have been slow to react to the Cloud Shadow's rampage, mostly because whilst they are used to Giant attacks, they have seldom been so fierce or coordinated. Used to Giants using captives as food the casual brutality the tribe exudes has also shocked them. The fact that the attacks came in winter has not helped, and whilst they scramble to mount fresh defences and build up their stocks the Cloud Shadows take full advantage. Their only advantage is that the Giant offence is not truly focused, they are fighting both humans and other Giants.

Next time: North of the Mountains

Born of War, the Children of Mountains

The Giants are the oldest of the pact makers. They forged their deal with the spirits of the mountains in the days after the Eclipse War, when the world was young and the thunder of those battles had only just faded. These were the days when the dragons discovered man and they resented the new race. For their part men resented the power the dragons wielded over the world. A new war broke out, the Dragon War, one where the Gods were distant, where dragons and men warred for control of the land.

The precise of details of the pact have long been lost, so gathering scholastic information about it is hard. The Giants have legends certainly, but parlaying with them to get an idea of what they believe is tricky, as enough of them consider men to be a tasty snack that would-be gatherers of their lore usually hire mercenaries for protection. Only one, Professor Griselda Angeladottir of the Jorvin Empire's Schweinestadt University, has managed to gather enough information to create a hypothesis.

Her theory is that in the days of the Dragon War the mountain peoples were particularly hard hit. The dragons claimed the mountains as their primary territory and the mining communities, vital to the development of weaponry, were ravaged by their attacks. In the face of this constant war and the terror it brought. the communities in the mountains saw their young men fall. Too many mothers buried their sons, too many sisters burned their brothers' bodies. A generation of warriors fell to teeth, claws and fire.

Angeladottir believes that eventually an inciting event occurred, an attack so terrible the towns united in the face of the dragons, but that even this failed. In desperation they turned to different methods, recruiting the men who had not been warriors to fight. This path would lead them to many different places, to the sorcerer Marius, to the spirit of Grandfather Stone Face. Whilst it is unclear how it happened, it is certain that the final ritual took place at the peak of the Red Veins' highest mountain. The bargain was struck and the remaining warriors took on the strength of the mountains, growing in size, though they did not achieve anything like the height they enjoy today. Their skins grew rougher, they became tougher, more able to shrug off the dragons' fire.

The dragons that dwelt in the Red Veins were dispatched, their names forgotten except as the names of Giant tribes (which were only ever the names they let humans know), their treasures scattered throughout the world, their lairs claimed. The new race suffered heavy losses during the battles but emerged, bloody and victorious. They were taller and stronger, and the gifts of the mountains grew with time.

Almost immediately new problems arose; the Professor points to a number of folk tales concerning clumsy and/or malicious Giants to show this. One area she has identified was that there were no women for the young warriors to take as brides. Women who had welcomed the idea of the Giants when their lives and homes were in danger had no wish to be married to one. The men were also unable to fit back in, struggling with the tools they had once been so adept with. They became seen as brutish and crude, and gossip began to spread about them. Perhaps it was inevitable that sooner or later this would take a turn for the worst.

Angeladottir's treatise points to a fire that occurred at an Autumn dance in one of the villages, Snegpik. Here, the Giants effectively declared war on their own people by setting fire to the hall where the villagers had gathered and letting it burn. In the following days this group of Giants razed the village and established their own camp, replacing too small buildings with tents of hide that could accommodate them. Word spread and other villages began to have similar problems. The Giants broke away. The most peaceful of the interactions is recorded in Ruda Gorod's lore, where they simply vanished over night.

For the most part the villagers say their ancestors breathed a sigh of relief, glad to see the back of the shambling creatures they had helped to create. The Giants speak of raids and battles as a new war shaped in the mountains for control of ore and mines, one that initially drove them back to the dragon lairs. They took the names of the dragons they had slain and began to fight back, determined to have women and animals, and secure their future. They built forges to their own size in the lairs, hunted the larger creatures to give themselves leather and made clubs out of dragon bones. One early leader is recorded as using a dragon skull as a shield, impaling foes upon its horns. The mountains descended into a long, bloody war. The villagers suffered from the power the Giants wielded and soon had to find new ways to fight them. They sent word to Marius for aid, but none came, their messengers never returned. The alliance that had been forged to fight the dragons splintered as chaos reigned. Whilst the Giants did not present the same threat the dragons did, they were still feared and because they had other motives, all too human motives, they struck fear into the hearts of men in a very different fashion. The dragons had simply been using their might to assert control of what they believed to be theirs; the Giants' grudges were personal.

Attempts to breed with human women proved fruitless, the Giants whilst not above rape, found that their seed took no hold in the women's wombs. If a pregnancy occurred it was short, there were no children and the miscarriage often killed the pregnant woman. In desperation they headed back to the mountain.

It is here that another figure enters the history, one that is reviled by one side and celebrated by the other. A woman, Alina, one of the prized daughters of the Mayor of Ruda Gorod, made her way into the mountains. She was looking for her sister, Dina, who had been stolen by the giants in the spring. According to the villagers she was captured and taken to Grandfather Stone Face, though the Giants insist she followed them up the mountain. Whichever version is true she introduced something that changed the situation fundamentally: she became the first woman to become a Giant. Whether she was forced or willingly took the burden is unknown and both humans and Giants would say that it does not matter. In becoming a Giant she saved the race, and it is said that all the Giants born since are descended from her.

The second pact also strengthened the Giants' links to the mountains. They became one with the stone, developing a sympathetic link to it. From Professor Griselda's notes there is an element that feels pain when mining is undertaken, which would explain why the Giants hate the mining so much. There are also suggestions here that the pact made the new race taller and stronger, compounding the process they had already gone through, but at the cost of their minds and their skills. The early forges they had built in the dragon lairs fell into disuse, apparently because the ways of forging became forgotten.

The pact had another downside; it bound the Giants to the mountains, making it difficult for them to leave unless they carried part of the mountains with them. Those that tried fell sick and eventually died, and as they grew older the process happened faster and faster, until the oldest of the Giants simply fell to pieces a mile from the Red Veins.

Alina became the first Queen of the Giants, forging a nation and claiming Grandfather Stone Face as her own. Owing to the longevity the Giants possessed she lived for over a century, taking lovers among the males she liked and controlling her children with an iron hand. Perhaps it was inevitable that when she died the nation would fall apart and rents soon appeared, as the Giants devolved back into camps and feuding tribes, albeit ones ruled by female because they are smarter than the males. The old lairs had never been abandoned and they became the focus for many of the tribes, just as particular mountains became the focus for others. The old names, the ones they had stolen from the dragons, came back into use. Attacks on human villages soon began anew, though now people were not carried off as potential mates but as food or as slaves to undertake 'small work', the kind of things that require skills the Giants have lost. The slaves made weapons and armour, jewellery and even clothing, as even with immense needles their captors could not understand the ways of sewing or weaving.

One tribe, the Black Fire tribe, even went so far as to enslave an entire village, surrounding it and starving the humans until they begged to serve them. The Black Fire leader went on to become the second leader of the Giant's nation, though on his death they again fell back to tribes and this proved to be last time that unification was possible. Subsequent efforts have either been defeated or short lived. In revenge the villagers eventually poisoned their overlords, sending them fleeing back to their stronghold.

For a long time the relationship between the Giants and humans continued in this pattern, and it was really only the arrival of the Six that changed it. As money for ore and stone flowed into the communities along with mercenaries and other soldiers, the situation began to change. In return for iron, the Six authorised Giant hunting expeditions, determined to drive them back enough to access mines and start to re-establish the mining industry in a proper way. This involved a number of new ideas, including the use of ropes strung with bells that Giants would trip as they approached mines and hidden pits that would slow them down. Blasting powder from the East has been used for this purpose, and as a distraction, on the advice of Professor Angeladottir. The centuries have seen a more equal balance of power emerge in the mountains, but it has taken time for this to have an effect and the gains the villagers make are constantly tested. The Giants hate the fact that they are being constrained, even if they struggle to understand how it is being done.

Within the last decade it is believed that a Giant chief, named Alina after her many times removed Grandmother, undertook a new pact at the peak of Grandfather Stone Face. She asked to be able to understand what the small folk were doing and this was granted, but a terrible price, one that left her unable to leave the mountain. She has tried to impart the knowledge to her followers but to no avail. They simply do not understand what she says. The only thing this new Alina has managed to impart is the need for unity; leading to a fresh round of tribal wars as each chief tries to stamp her authority over all the others.

For the moment it looks as if there is a stalemate in the Red Vein Mountains; mining will continue as will Giant attacks. Sharoban will continue to support the villages and towns, if only because they need stone and metal. For their part the Giants are incapable of doing anything to leave the mountains for any length of time and Sharoban seems to be the extent of their range. The city has been attacked in the past, usually by small groups of warriors who have followed caravans back to Sharoban's gates.

Next time: Step back into the dark as we consider the Red Veins and the dark gods.

The Mountains

The western most tip of the Red Vein Mountains lies two hundred miles from Sharoban. They run east to west and measure 2000 miles in length and 100 in width. The tallest peak, Grandfather Stone Face, rises a good seven miles at its highest point and only slightly shorter at its 'shoulders'. The mountain has particularly significance for the locals, serving as a navigation point as well as having a mystical significance, which has led a group of wizards from the Jorvin Empire to come out to study the mountain's energy. No mining or foraging takes place upon its flanks, and the paths up it are approached only with caution. The weather is tempestuous around the peak and it has a reputation for wild creatures. Wolves and bears are said to inhabit the slopes.

And then there are the giants.

The mountains are home to a number of tribes of the creatures, each of which clings to a territory, usually around a particular peak. Grandfather Stone Face, however, is divided between a number of tribes, each of which controls a section of the mountain. This arrangement came about because of a bloody civil war fifty years ago, where a struggle for control of the tribe that controlled the mountain led to it shattering into a number of smaller, mutually hostile, tribes. They share the mountain, frequently war against each other and make life difficult for anyone who wishes to climb the peak. The summit is particularly fought over: a tall standing stone on the top is held to be sacred by the giants and is believed to be the site of the pact that created them in the first place. A group of elders actually tend the stone and keep out of the way when trouble starts, as their days as warriors are over.

War is the natural state of the Giant tribes, against each other, against the towns throughout the mountains, and against the monsters that also call the Red Veins home.  They are extremely territorial and violence is to be expected when entering their lands, especially if you go close to their shrines, which are always central to their domains. In turn, the borders of different domains are marked by large cairns or other markers. Ignorance is no excuse, and even the most bitter of the humans dwelling close to the mountains does not fault the Giants for their way of marking their territory and will warn against taking them lightly.

These things are just facts of living in the mountains.

The chief industries within the Red Veins are mining, stone quarrying and trapping, with a small amount of forestry and furs , though the trees that grow in the mountains are only slightly stronger than the ones that grow out on the steppes. They are sufficient to construct basic buildings and stockades, and these form the basis of the towns that cling to the edges of the mountain range. Few grow larger than hamlets and villages, though the town closest to Sharoban, Istoynt has begun to construct stone walls and a keep, in part because of the money it has earned trading iron ore with the city, and in part because there are enough people flocking there that the mayor, Bolaslav Blackhead, fears that the number of citizens in the town will attract the attention of the Giants or worse.

There are a variety of mines in the mountains, though tunneling is seen as slightly safer than open cast mining. The latter tends to attract the attention of Giants if carried on too long, and stone quarrying carries similar dangers. Adventurers and mercenaries are welcome here as the mine and quarry owners are always looking for sentries and guards to protect their workers. The pay is not particularly high; most owners prefer to pay in board and lodging with bonuses for Giants slain. Mines within the mountains attract less attention, whilst the Giants do not like their mountains being cut into for reasons that the miners do not understand, they can do little to stop it,. Iron is the most common product of the mines, but there are other veins too, notably silver and tin. Sapphires and rubies are frequently found too, though their quality is usually poor and only attract middling prices. Higher quality gems are usually sent west to the Empire, in the hopes of getting more money.

Mining is a dirty, unpleasant industry. The mines are small and cramped. Many of the miners are children or teenagers, who go on to to operate the smelters and forges when they become too big to work the mines. The profession is open to both men and women, with the latter particularly valued for their ability to find their way into small spaces. Most mines are considered to be haunted, owing to the number of deaths that inevitably occur within them. Small rituals are enacted to appease the ghosts, usually taking the form of small food offerings and salt. Most mines have a small statue of an androgynous figure by the entrance where the offerings are left.

Iron is blessed as it leaves the mines, to make it ready for the road and to protect it from Giants, who often raid the ore stocks and carry off the mountain bounty. More practically, this is another job that mercenaries undertake in the mountains, and they are always in demand, partly because there is a high chance of death.

The people of the mountains are a mixed bunch. Some of them are slight and dark and are believed to the descendants of the original settlers, who made the pact. Other groups have moved in since, from nomads who have settled to people from the western kingdoms and even a few runaways from the Witch Tribes in the eastern parts of the mountains. There is a great deal of intermarriage and families are composed of many peoples. Whilst it is frowned upon by outsiders multi-parent families are not uncommon, though they usually arise from deaths in the family. There is an expectation that widows and widowers will be supported by the rest of the family and the larger community. Marriage is seen as a public commitment rather than necessarily a matter of love or even lust. This being said, it is not that uncommon for sexual relations to occur between a widow or widower and the spouses they marry after their primary partner has died.

The mountains are noted for their smoked meat, goat's cheese and fish which are seen as delicacies elsewhere, but the locals smoke food simply to preserve it. They also drink goats milk, which they ferment with berries to create a strange, sickly liquor.

Besides Istoynt, notable towns are Ruda Gorod, a prosperous mining that has successfully negotiated a peace with the local Giants, though the price has been high. Krazny Mill sits beside a waterfall and smelts the ore its mines provides. Important landmarks at the western end of the mountains include Utyug Ozero, a lake with red water, and the Charodei Rok, believed to be the historic home of an enchanter, Marius. A mysterious figure there are many stories that concern him, including some that name him as the father of magic and the creator of the pact with the mountain spirits that created the Giants during the Dragon War.


Next time: Giants, lots and lots of Giants!

Small Break

Just a quick note to say I've had some technological issues and Sharoban's been on hold because of that.

We'll be back next weekend with a look at the Red Vein Mountains and the uneasy relationship between the miners and the giants.

The week after we'll look at the children of the very first pact, the Giants, and how they came to be.

Winter's Children: The Hobgoblins

Loathsome and terrifying, the Hobgoblins have been a thorn in Sharoban's side for centuries. The tragedy is that once they were human and one of the first tribes to see the city's value as a trading partner for the nomads.

What changed has been the cause of much speculation and argument; entire volumes of scholarly and wizardly thought on the matter sit in Sharoban's libraries. What is plain is that before the coming of the Ice Walker there were no Hobgoblins at all, and afterwards a new scourge had arisen to harry the steppes. There are a number of competing theories; the following is the most common of them.

That winter was especially hard. The Ice Walker's march brought heavy snows and biting winds, which stayed even after the Six had sallied forth to defeat the ice giant. Food became scarcer than ever before, fresh water a distant memory. By the winter solstice the Szytedes tribe were starving, their herds had been slaughtered for hides and meat and their usual wintering places had been lost beneath the blanket of snow. Their leader, Kedves, knew that unless something was done, only a handful of the tribe would see the spring. He resolved to do something to save his people and turned to the Grandmothers for help.

Of the old women the only one who had time for  him, and did not berate him for thinking rather than doing, was Dalma; the oldest of the women in the tribe. Her reputation was as a wise woman, but also as a secretive and condemnatory one. The two of them had clashed frequently over the simplest of things, from marriage matches to the direction to take the herds in. It is not clear what made her listen to his fears, perhaps they mirrored Kedves' own; perhaps something else was at work. Whatever the circumstances, she listened to him and then, hesitantly, she told him of the Fekete Talicska; the Black Barrow.

Little is known of the Barrow in the west. The steppe dwellers shun the area it sits in, citing it as the cause of plagues and curses. They claim the dark gods have a fingertip of power within its confines and that the man who is interred there was not only the greatest leader the steppe tribes ever knew but also worshipper of the dark. In the centuries since his death his name has been lost; only his title 'Veres Kezzel Vezetto', the Bloody Handed Leader, has remained and in most people it prompts shudders of fear.

The barrow sits alone on the plain. None venture near and the land is truly wild and untamed. Once the Veszelosak tribe claimed the pastures and meadows for their herds, but they had abandoned the area soon after the Leader's death. But, despite this, Dalma was sure that the power that had driven the Leader to greatness was still there, waiting for someone to take it up.



If Kedves was sure; if he was prepared to pay the price for calling up the dark, then it seemed to be the only way to survive. The spirits the tribe summoned could do nothing to aid them. The Luminal Gods were distant and had not answered any prayers.

It seemed there was only one choice left, no matter how terrifying the thought of it was. Dalma warned him not to go; to take a shaman with him if he did, but Kedves did not listen. He could see no other way. He had to act, or the tribe would be lost.

Alone, he left the Szytedes and travelled south, to the Black Barrow.  He was half dead by the time he arrived and half mad from the acres of sheer white snow. In truth, it was a dark sort of miracle that he had survived the trip at all.

Kedves entered the barrow and made his way down to the bowels of the earth. He passed the burial chamber of Veres Kezzel Vezetto, pausing only to spit upon the stone sarcophagus the Leader's corpse mouldered in. He made his way through the horde of gold, gems and weapons the Leader had gathered in his life and went down into the darkest place.

At the bottom of the barrow he found the well, a shaft that penetrated deep into the earth. And it was there that he found the Giver. What passed between them may never be known, but can be guessed. In many ways it seems the textbook bargain gone wrong, though the fear that Kedves invited darkness upon his tribe willingly has haunted the other tribes ever since.

Whatever the bargain had been meant to be, its effect was to transform the Szytedes into something new. They gained the power to survive, no matter how harsh the winter, growing bigger and more hardy. Rotting meat would succor them, tainted water would make them strong. Even small stones could be eaten all of a sudden.  Their senses grew sharp, fresh kills could be smelt from ten miles away, further with a good wind.

Other changes were inevitable. They gained a new, feral, perspective. Meat became meat, nothing more. The first human they killed was Kedves own son and they feasted on his flesh. Soon they became a threat to caravans and other travellers, feared not just because of their ferocity and cannibalism but because they killed everything and everyone. Not even women and children were safe from their blades.

They carved a bloody swathe through the steppes; wherever they went the nomads muttered that a new Bloody Handed Leader had arisen. As they became more violent, the Szytedes became less human, their faces became terrifying, their teeth transformed into tools for rending flesh from bone. Within a decade, they had become so steeped in violence and blood horses would not carry them.

Kedves returned to the Barrow and struck one more bargain. Again the details are lost, trapped within the well, but the Giver had grown fat and was generous. New mounts would be found, if Kedves performed one, simple, task. The Bloody Handed Leader never emerged from the Barrow, but in the spring a group of wolves, unnaturally large and ferocious, found the Szytedes and travelled with them. In time, they consented to be ridden.

Since this time the Hobgoblins have become a true menace and the names of their tribe and their leaders have been struck from the horse tribes' lore. Only in Sharoban is there any record of them and those are safely locked away behind the immense doors of the libraries.

The Horse Tribes

The horse tribes are the people who live closest to Sharoban and are the city's first enemies and allies. Their relationship and history with the city is fraught with enough twists and turns, drama and betrayals to make it seem more of a bard's tale than actual events. About fifty tribes travel the lands close to the city, though their routes and customs mean that they are seldom in the area at the same time. Close is a relative term too, the lands the horse tribes range through have their edge five hundred miles to the south and two hundred miles to the north. Their western border touches on the Jorvin Empire's territory and clashes between the two are common, as the tribes raid. This has only become worse as the Empire tries to find more space for its people; campaigns have been waged to try and keep the tribes back.

In some respects, Sharoban is in a precarious position, surrounded by a sea of nomadic barbarians. The city is fortunate, the tribes' way of life make alliances difficult and temporary at best. A few of them might unite for a season, but the feuds and quarrels in their own ranks mean that by the time winter comes a new vendetta is as likely to have been created as their initial goal achieved. This has been the saving of the city on more than one occasion, though the city dwellers are loathe to admit it. It is something of a strange oxymoron. On the one hand, Sharoban derides the tribesmen for their disunity and on the other are determined that it is their superior skill that wins battles against the tribes.

In truth, the steppes people have adapted well to Sharoban's presence. They trade there and take their leave once their business is concluded. Whilst young people will often stay behind, it is also true that the tribes will take people with them. Sell swords and adventurers, young fools in search of a new life or the tentative concept of freedom. Most abandon the life fairly quickly, but at least one of the tribal chiefs started life as a baker's girl in Sharoban's northern quarter. Many of their raids are strategic, designed to get one thing. They know the city will write off minor losses and all but the most hardline chiefs are willing to abide by a sort of level that they can raid up to before Sharoban feels the need to loose the Wind Strikers.

The tribesmen's culture is a strange one to the outsider. They set a great deal of store by honour and are easily offended. However, the things that cause offence in the city will often go past without a word whilst other things, which seems inconsequential to the outsider, will have them reaching for their sabres. The most catastrophic version of this was the so-called Beard War, where the Lotankan tribe felt the Wind Strikers were mocking their beards, and therefore their manliness. A series of short skirmishes followed, culminating in a brief siege which was broken only by the Six's willingness to ride out unarmed to make peace.

These misunderstandings are common, some traders dread the coming of the tribes, even though it makes them a great deal of money. The furs and horses the nomads trade are a cut above the ones that are locally available and have a large resale value. The horses are sought after by Jorvin knights for their destriers. Perhaps the strangest thing they sell, and which finds a market, are jars of tree sap. The sap is used as the basis for a glue that fletchers value highly. In return the tribes buy new weapons, silks and spices and, oddly, pastries which carry a high amount of kudos in their culture.

Culturally family is the key to the tribes. Everyone is related to everyone else and can relate long lines of lineage through several generations. In order to travel with a tribe, you must convince them to 'adopt' you into a family, which then acts to vouchsafe for your behaviour. The families are matrilineal, though the tribal chief can be of either sex. Women have a strong sway in the tribal structure though, and male chiefs speak bitterly of the 'grandmothers' who control the social aspects of the tribe, often to the point that the chiefs are powerless. The women are the ones who decide if a war will happen, where the tribe will travel to and are inveterate matchmakers. When tribes to meet it is rare for there not to be a marriage. On the odd occasions when a grand moot gathers all the tribes together the weddings are so numerous that couples take their vows en masse.

Food is basic, meat and whatever vegetables can be foraged. Some tribes go even further, drinking the blood of their herds rather than waste the meat.  Bread is a luxury and the pastries the tribesmen and women are so fond of even more so.

The other key figure is the shaman. Of either sex, they are the people who treat with spirits and bind dark things that are out of place. They commune with the gods of light, who they refer to as the Greater Spirits and treat with the local, smaller gods, to ensure prosperity. Sometimes this leads to bargains being struck, but only in the direst need. There are enough cautionary tales about the practice of dealing making that it is undertaken only when absolutely necessary and then, under strict limitations. It is understood and drummed into apprentice shamans, that the spirits are different and a slip of the tongue can lead to unforeseen consequences. Most of the time the spirits are called upon for auguries and blessings for the herds and for marriages.

The magic the tribes practice also has an affinity for ice and cold, which leads some people to suspect that they were behind the Ice Walker's rampage. If this is the case, however, there has been no repeat of the incident which raises more questions than it answers.

In the end, there will likely always be an uneasy relationship with Sharoban. The expanding Jorvin Empire causes concern for both groups and has prompted numerous, short lived alliances which have been led by the Lotankan tribe. However, it has been made equally plain that if things go against Sharoban the tribes will scatter and abandon both lands and city to their fate.

The Steppes

We're back!

After about a month's break, we're back and looking outside Sharoban...

Around the city of Sharoban and its fields, stretches the Steppes. A wide, wild expanse of flat ground that expands for thousands of miles, they are filled with tribes of nomads, groups of non-humans and, sadly, monsters. Battered by winds and snow, the ground is frozen for most of the year. The steppe is divided between praerie and cold desert, bound by perpetual snow north of the Red Vein Mountains. This extends up to the frozen sea, cordoned off by eerie black menhirs that form a sort of barrier against the demon rumoured to dwell beneath the shifting ice. Cultists of the dark make their way here in the winter, few return. To the south the Blasted Lands are ruled by the dragon Bright Wing, though he rarely takes a real interest in what goes on in his domain. As a result, the Blasted Lands have become a haven for the people who cannot even find a home in Sharoban. The low lying city of Avryda forms the hub of what passes for society in the region.

The tribes closest to the city have made some peace with Sharoban, uprisings against the city are rare and usually the work of hot-headed youths, desperate for recognition. They ride well established trails across their territories, trade horses and cattle and when they do stop they set up in tents or yurts, even in the winter. Whilst they nominally worship the Luminal Pantheon, far more reverence is reserved for the spirits of the Steppes, which are beseeched for aid.

Beyond the lands of the close tribes the Red Vein Mountains rise, which is the home of giant tribes, whilst to the south the Black Barrow remains the domain of the Hobgoblin tribes who have harried caravans for centuries. These creatures at one point were humans, but they made pacts that had unforeseen side effects.

Beyond this lie the lands ruled by the matriarchal Witch Tribes, who use magic as their chief weapon in all matters, and whose sons are forfeit if the weather turns too harsh. Their magical traditions are blood based and dependent on spirits. Whilst the western tribes only revere the little gods of wind and rain, the Witch Tribes use blood, bones and even sperm to allow spirits to take corporeal form for short lengths of time. Each tribe has its own patron spirit, bound by pacts by the witches. These are tightly controlled and any deviations within the structure of pacts are punished.

This is the last point before the walls that hem in the lands of the East block the way. The wall is punctuated by the Sun Gate, a huge entrance which provides entry to the lands beyond. Not that the merchants know anything about these lands, caravans are met and escorted to the trading camps. Once their trade is done, they are sent on their way, back to the west.

Next we go in focus to look at the tribes that live near Sharoban.