Still Still Working
Ok, I'm still working on the campaign. It's gotten down to nuts and bolts, number crunching, name generation, figuring out who the major players are. I've got the kingdom mapped out, so I just need to take the map and scan it in. I'm fleshing out the history now, and figuring out how the kingdom interacts with the surrounding political entities.
Important sources of conflict, if you're thinking about character history: Directly to the south of the Hundred Kingdoms is the Undermire, where Mike's old character of Skarhav was from. The Undermire is full of several small to large Orcish kingdoms, or at least, they tend to be predominantly Orcish. There are also sizable bugbear and hobgoblin tribes that live in the area. At any rate, the Orcish population of the Undermire has a significant admixture of Giant and Ogre blood in their heritage, making them at times considerably larger than Northern Orcs.
Also, there are two areas to the East that the party should be aware of. First, along the coast, the cliffs that make all traffic in or out of the Hundred Kingdoms go through the city of Landskhar start to break up and gradually disappear about 400 miles east of Landskhar. This area is called the Marauding Coast, and a number of pirate and vagabond bands live in this area, composed of a diverse mixture of tribesmen, exiled or seeking fortunes, (to be discussed below), exiled ethnic Valens (the Hundred Kingdoms is predominantly composed of ethnic Valens, related to the Westervalens, the Eastervalens, and the Velens of the Velen Empire), exiled Azeris from Azerad, criminals and other miscreants.
The second area to the East is the Tribal Lands, south of the Marauding Coast. The Tribal Lands are a mixture of dry grasslands and desert. In the past, the tribes of the Tribal Lands have invaded the Hundred Kingdoms several times, ultimately to be pushed back or assimilated. The tribes are, in order of size, the Arsekh, the Hasekh, the Kimmekh, the Arbedj, the Mazakh, the Arzakh, the Arkhad and the remnant of the Astrakh (Who 200 years ago invaded the Hundred Kingdoms and were eventually defeated. The ruling family of the Astrakh, the KhaiGhitai, at the time were assimilated and given titles and lands, when the nephew of the Khan Ghitai betrayed the Khan to the Hundred Kingdoms.) When the tribes are not fighting each other, they are often riding into the Hundred Kingdoms to steal horses or women.
Regarding the beliefs of the tribes, there is a strong sense of personal honor amongst the men of the tribes. Their stature within the tribe is a combination of how many kills they have made (Proof being the decorative body parts of their enemies that they hang outside of their tents; a different body part is collected by each tribe.) and how much wealth they bring to the tribe. Wealth and booty does not belong to the individual warrior, but rather to the tribe as a whole. The tribe is organized in this way: a large central tent for the khan of the tribe, then a large tent or series of tents for all the women of the tribe, who control the cooking and control the wealth of the tribe, such as captured cattle or sheep and other booty. Surrounding all this are the individual tents of male warriors, who sometimes group together into a 'claw' or group of allied warriors who fight as brothers. A claw of warriors is often organized by paternal clan lineage, wherein the sons, grandsons and great-grandsons of a great warrior fight as one group.
Tribes are organized into clan lineages, by both mother and father. Each individual both belongs to their father's paternal clan, and their mother's maternal clan. Marriages between persons sharing the same clan are forbidden. For instance, Khadrak belongs to the Khuros paternal clan, and the Idhrek maternal clan. Meelos, a maiden, belongs to the Zharak paternal clan and the Idhrek maternal clan. Khadrak and Meelos would not be allowed to marry. Clans are often named after an honored ancestor.
A tribesman may be exiled from the tribe for laying with someone of the same clan lineage. Other infractions that lead to exile are murder, adultery, cowardice and dishonoring the gods. The tribes tend to worship Krall, God of War, Lord of Battles.
The one exception to personal ownership amongst the tribes is that warriors may own their own weapons and up to two horses.
The khan of a tribe leads the tribe on the battlefield, and decides when the tribe will go to war, and where. The khan is normally the warrior with the largest number of trophies hanging from his tent, but not always. At any rate, at any time up until the khan orders his warriors to ride out to war, any warrior may challenge the khan to combat. The tribe assembles in a circle around the two men, and hear the challenge. If the tribe is convinced by the challenger's arguments, then he is allowed to fight the khan. If he wins, he becomes the new khan. If not, then there is no retaliation against him, (if he survived) and he swears to follow the khan into any battle, or he is exiled from his tribe. If a khan is deposed and survives the challenge, then he becomes just another warrior, and swears to follow the new khan into any battle, or he is exiled from his tribe.
Each tribe speaks its own language, but a bastard form of Trade Language is also common.
There is trade between the tribes and the Hundred Kingdoms, and they also sometimes wander far to the south beyond the desert to trade with the darkskinned peoples who live in the hills directly to the north of the Mqanga Rainforest, which stretches along the equator. Relatives of the tribes also live across the desert far to the East on the edge of the continent in what is called the Lawless Lands. These peoples have a more settled existence, but still have no real central government or body politic beyond the tribal level.
I know Wes is planning on playing a barbarian. Someone from the Tribal Lands would work quite well. Of course, why is a lone tribesman in the Hundred Kingdoms? Is he exiled? Or is he seeking his fortune to increase his stature in his tribe?
Important sources of conflict, if you're thinking about character history: Directly to the south of the Hundred Kingdoms is the Undermire, where Mike's old character of Skarhav was from. The Undermire is full of several small to large Orcish kingdoms, or at least, they tend to be predominantly Orcish. There are also sizable bugbear and hobgoblin tribes that live in the area. At any rate, the Orcish population of the Undermire has a significant admixture of Giant and Ogre blood in their heritage, making them at times considerably larger than Northern Orcs.
Also, there are two areas to the East that the party should be aware of. First, along the coast, the cliffs that make all traffic in or out of the Hundred Kingdoms go through the city of Landskhar start to break up and gradually disappear about 400 miles east of Landskhar. This area is called the Marauding Coast, and a number of pirate and vagabond bands live in this area, composed of a diverse mixture of tribesmen, exiled or seeking fortunes, (to be discussed below), exiled ethnic Valens (the Hundred Kingdoms is predominantly composed of ethnic Valens, related to the Westervalens, the Eastervalens, and the Velens of the Velen Empire), exiled Azeris from Azerad, criminals and other miscreants.
The second area to the East is the Tribal Lands, south of the Marauding Coast. The Tribal Lands are a mixture of dry grasslands and desert. In the past, the tribes of the Tribal Lands have invaded the Hundred Kingdoms several times, ultimately to be pushed back or assimilated. The tribes are, in order of size, the Arsekh, the Hasekh, the Kimmekh, the Arbedj, the Mazakh, the Arzakh, the Arkhad and the remnant of the Astrakh (Who 200 years ago invaded the Hundred Kingdoms and were eventually defeated. The ruling family of the Astrakh, the KhaiGhitai, at the time were assimilated and given titles and lands, when the nephew of the Khan Ghitai betrayed the Khan to the Hundred Kingdoms.) When the tribes are not fighting each other, they are often riding into the Hundred Kingdoms to steal horses or women.
Regarding the beliefs of the tribes, there is a strong sense of personal honor amongst the men of the tribes. Their stature within the tribe is a combination of how many kills they have made (Proof being the decorative body parts of their enemies that they hang outside of their tents; a different body part is collected by each tribe.) and how much wealth they bring to the tribe. Wealth and booty does not belong to the individual warrior, but rather to the tribe as a whole. The tribe is organized in this way: a large central tent for the khan of the tribe, then a large tent or series of tents for all the women of the tribe, who control the cooking and control the wealth of the tribe, such as captured cattle or sheep and other booty. Surrounding all this are the individual tents of male warriors, who sometimes group together into a 'claw' or group of allied warriors who fight as brothers. A claw of warriors is often organized by paternal clan lineage, wherein the sons, grandsons and great-grandsons of a great warrior fight as one group.
Tribes are organized into clan lineages, by both mother and father. Each individual both belongs to their father's paternal clan, and their mother's maternal clan. Marriages between persons sharing the same clan are forbidden. For instance, Khadrak belongs to the Khuros paternal clan, and the Idhrek maternal clan. Meelos, a maiden, belongs to the Zharak paternal clan and the Idhrek maternal clan. Khadrak and Meelos would not be allowed to marry. Clans are often named after an honored ancestor.
A tribesman may be exiled from the tribe for laying with someone of the same clan lineage. Other infractions that lead to exile are murder, adultery, cowardice and dishonoring the gods. The tribes tend to worship Krall, God of War, Lord of Battles.
The one exception to personal ownership amongst the tribes is that warriors may own their own weapons and up to two horses.
The khan of a tribe leads the tribe on the battlefield, and decides when the tribe will go to war, and where. The khan is normally the warrior with the largest number of trophies hanging from his tent, but not always. At any rate, at any time up until the khan orders his warriors to ride out to war, any warrior may challenge the khan to combat. The tribe assembles in a circle around the two men, and hear the challenge. If the tribe is convinced by the challenger's arguments, then he is allowed to fight the khan. If he wins, he becomes the new khan. If not, then there is no retaliation against him, (if he survived) and he swears to follow the khan into any battle, or he is exiled from his tribe. If a khan is deposed and survives the challenge, then he becomes just another warrior, and swears to follow the new khan into any battle, or he is exiled from his tribe.
Each tribe speaks its own language, but a bastard form of Trade Language is also common.
There is trade between the tribes and the Hundred Kingdoms, and they also sometimes wander far to the south beyond the desert to trade with the darkskinned peoples who live in the hills directly to the north of the Mqanga Rainforest, which stretches along the equator. Relatives of the tribes also live across the desert far to the East on the edge of the continent in what is called the Lawless Lands. These peoples have a more settled existence, but still have no real central government or body politic beyond the tribal level.
I know Wes is planning on playing a barbarian. Someone from the Tribal Lands would work quite well. Of course, why is a lone tribesman in the Hundred Kingdoms? Is he exiled? Or is he seeking his fortune to increase his stature in his tribe?
posted by Peter at 12:16 AM
1 Comments:
Also, it is not unusual for someone who lives in the Marches next to the tribal lands to have some tribal blood, either through marriage or through warfare. Also, it is rare, but people from the Hundred Kingdoms do leave and join the tribes.
More tomorrow about the history of the Hundred Kingdoms in regard to the invasion of the Khan Ghitai. Also, a history of several major noble houses, and finally, a history of the War of Foundation and the House of Bareth, Kings of Landskhar.
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