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THE
ICE
TRIBES
OF NORTHERN
SARVONIA |
The Ice Tribes are a
collection of twelve human tribes living a hard
life in the north western edge of the
Sarvonian continent. They usually lead a nomadic life and live in a state
of constant warfare. They have not developed a sense of solidarity for each
other, although the ice tribes have a vestigial sense of their “national”
identity. The natural boundaries that separated have left the field open for
many local variations in their ethics and way of life.
Appearance.
The Ice Tribes are usually dark in hair, complexion and eyes. However, there
are met among them blonde and red haired people and grey or green eyes. Their
height is average (1.8 peds)
in human standard for the male, while the
female are about 0.15 peds
shorter. Their skin is weatherworn from the cold
winds and the fight for food and
survival in this unforgiving region.
Hairstyle and facial hair are important for the Ice Tribesmen in order to
reveal their social status. The High Tribal Leader is free to choose any
hairstyle and facial hair he wishes. The warlords (minor tribal leaders) have
their face shaved. The senior officers grow a moustache while the junior
officers grow a moustache and a small goatee. The distinguished warriors grow a
beard but they shave their moustache as a sign of honour. The rest of the
warriors grow both beards and moustaches. The young men have their facial hair
unshaved until the day they acquire civil rights by killing an enemy in the
field of battle. Then and as a part of their warrior inauguration ritual they
shave themselves and let their hair grow in order to become warriors when their
hair grows again. Those who fled from battle are not allowed to have any hair
in their heads.
Further social discrimination is possible by the hairstyle. The use of one
braid being the most significant followed by two braids and a ponytail. Those
who have no rank let their long hair loose.
As for women they have their hair in pigtails when they are not married and
after their marriage they are allowed to choose their hairstyle.
Coat of Arms/Sign.
Each Ice Tribe has its own coat of arms. No common coat of arms is developed.
The Ice Tribes use their facial painting as in their coat of arms as well. Each
tribe has its own colour and pattern in order for warriors to distinguish
friend and foe in battle. The Ice Tribes have adopted the additional custom to
wear talismans unique for each one, because many times during the battle
warriors are so much covered in blood that their painting is not recognisable.
The colour schemes are as follows:
| Remusians: Blue and White | Inlerin: Brown and Blue |
| Tokarians: Red and White | Faerons: Yellow and Blue |
| Sarmanians: Yellow and Red | Sanartrim: Green and Black |
| Eanians: Black and White | Vertans: Grey and Orange |
| Tarkyns: Green and White | Filmainrim: White and Orange |
| Himiko: No coat of arms |
Aeidin: Red and Green
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Territory.
The Ice Tribes live in the Icelands, located in the north western part of the
Sarvonian continent. Their territory
stretches around the bay of Calinth, the peninsula of Iol and the Icelands
Coast. The Gathorn Mountains and the Wastes of Despair are the landmarks that
determine their only land boundary to the south. The rest of their territory is
doused by the Ice Sea.
The climate in the Icelands is cold and harsh. Snow covers their homeland most
of the year. That is why most of them lead a nomadic life following animal
herds.
The specific locations of the various Ice Tribes are as follows:
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The Remusians. The most developed Ice Tribe with Kanapan connections. They are in the area north of the Galthorn Mountains.
The Tokarians. Living in the land around Hargath.
The Sarmanians. The main village is Saeroth, they also have Abergath.
The Eanians. Eanin and Gourdynn.
The Tarkyns. Main village is Tehring, they also have Cordel.
The Inlerin. Only village Inlear.
The Faerons. Two villages Faein and Aelhrong.
The Sanartrim. Main village Sanctum, other villages Naroy and Trilhoth.
The Vertans. Vertico as the main village and Sirnil.
The Filmainrim. Finlmainh only.
The Aeidin. Aeidin only
The Himiko. The islands around the Three
Islands' Bay which are known under the names Wicker Islands, Napthos
Island and Bower Island.
People.
The Icemen are mainly renowned for their ability as warriors. They live in a
constant warfare among each other, the giants that live in their land and the
elements of nature. They are considered fearless and with excellent endurance,
although warriors from the civilized world consider them to be barbaric
berserkers without a fighting technique. Their social ranking is determined by
their gallantry in battle. Magic in general
is abhorred by them as most of the advances of civilization. Although mages are
not generally welcome, several groups have been spared. However, usage of
magic is punished with capital punishment.
The Ice Tribesmen are warlike people that live more on instinct than logic.
They hardly express their emotions and usually they are hard and unforgiving in
their everyday lives. They seldom feel compassion or mercy for anyone, which is
considered as a sign of weakness, and they are offended if anyone feels that
way for them. There is no providence for the weak or disabled who are left to
die or slaughtered if they can’t kill themselves with honour. Old people who
have no living relatives are left to die, unless they lost their families in
war. Sterile males are condemned, because they produce no warriors for the
tribe, while sterile females are forced to become prostitutes. The Ice Tribes
recognize no human rights for those who
can’t bear weapons. Women and children
are considered living things and are in the absolute disposal of their Master
(usually the father or husband). Among the Ice Tribes there is an old custom
that if a female takes arms against the Himiko and kills at least one she
achieves the warrior status as long as she is willing to participate in battle.
However, females cannot achieve further honours as warriors as they are
considered inferior to men.
The Ice Tribes are also notorious for the hardness of their lives. They can
suffer the worst tortures without complaining just like they can mercilessly
give pain to others. Slavery is an usual state of existence for the ones that
can’t bare arms and defend themselves or for the defeated in battle.
A sound exception in the Ice Tribes is the Himiko tribe, who occupy the islands
around the Three Islands‘Bay. In contrary to the majority of the other ice
tribes on the mainland, they have not only a slightly other appearance, but a
very different lifestyle as well. They are friendly and use a form of
magic in their everyday life. This is the
reason why the rest of the Ice Tribes hate the Himiko. Their hatred is
revitalized by the fact that from time to time Himiko raiding parties steal
their females, granting them freedom in their islands.
Housing.
Concerning the housing of the Ice Tribes you have to distinguish between the
nomads and the permanent residents:
The
Nomads
The majority of the Ice Tribes leads a nomadic life. They have a variety of non
permanent residencies. They carve small ice homes in the snow, called "ruhmir",
when they are about to stay in an area for more than a couple of days. These
ruhmir have just the necessary space to house the family and sometimes the
animals. At times they find caves where the whole tribe shares the room. When
the weather is mild they don’t hesitate to lay tents for them. Some other times
there are large permanent structures from wood that house the tribe that found
them for a winter. These structures are later on abandoned just to be inhabited
in the next winter usually not without a fight with another tribe that claims
the same privilege.
Permanent Residents
The vast majority of Icemen homes are made of stone or wood. The common house
is a small three room wooden and/or stone-based building with a narrow,
fur-covered, wooden roof which is weighted with stones to prevent the strong
winds to blow away the shingles. For
the same reasons only few houses have more than one floor and no building has
more than two. For cultivation most buildings however have a cellar carved into
the ground which is perfectly suited for cultivating a sort of edible fungus
called murmir. The houses have often only one big oven which is used for
cooking as well as heating. The room with the oven is usually kitchen and
bedroom in one. In more advanced homes the oven is arranged in the middle of
the house into the wall to heat several rooms at a time. Most houses of the
peasants house several generations at once.
Clothing.
The poorer citizens prefer dark fur coats and wool jerkins. The richer Icemen
prefer clothes of soft leather or wool. White fur is reserved only for their
Lanruls and shamans and when an Iceman uses white fur he ensures that the
colour is altered with dye or dirt. They wear thick blouses and trousers and,
above, a coat with a hood. On their feet they wear leather boots and they use
fur or leather caskets to protect their heads. However, fabrics are not
underestimated; on the contrary their use is considered a sign of prosperity.
The warriors commonly wear armour made of soft or studded leather. The richer
Icemen wear chain mail, if they can afford it or loot it in battle. However,
only the greatest of the nobles can afford bronze or steel plate armour. Fur
coats are standard clothing as well but they vary from class to class. Peasant
women normally dress similar to the men, with the difference that their dress
is longer. The noblewomen, however, would look very similar to a noblewoman of
a southern tribe and would probably own multiple, premium quality dresses and
coats.
Diet.
The climate in the Icelands is especially harsh. The severe winter lasts for
half a year. Three months is the duration of a milder winter and another three
lasts their “summer”, when the ice melts. This “summer” allows them to
cultivate some parts of their land with local plants in order to enrich their
supplies for the winter. During the winter, they can just dig in the snow and
find a kind of grass, called hrugchuck, that lives beneath and which they eat
just like they do with the algae from the sea and mosses under the snow. The
hrugchuck has its main roots in small regions which are warmer and have an open
water source, from there tentacles are
growing for strals
under the snow in the frozen soil. It has a kind of antifreezing liquid which
allows it to tunnel through the lightly frozen ground, can retrieve nutrition
from the frozen soil. To flower it has to grow grass like sprouts out of the
soil that have a major nutritive value but also healing powers that cause it a
valuable trade asset. A hrugchuck variety is believed to be responsible for the
ability of local fauna to survive with minimum amounts of food, although it
seems to have no such effect on humanoids.
The Icelands are blessed also with hot
water springs (gotgavnynn) that provide them with warm
water that through a channel network
can allow a limited space to be suitable for cultivation. All their villages
are built around one significant hot spring. These hot springs or Odenbels, are
often the prize of bloody and ferocious battles.
However, the Ice Tribes do not live in a favourable environment. This is the
reason that most of their agricultural food is obtained mostly through trade
with bold traders from the south, seeking furs, slaves and cheap minerals in
exchange of food.
As for hunting: Meat is enjoyed by the Ice Tribe and their diet includes the
cuncu sheep, the woolly boar, pinnips,
penguins, sea elephants, polar bears, snow foxes, ice rabbits, rheeahs and monh
rum, a large amphibious creature that comes out of the oceans in the short
Icelands summer and lies in the sun
in order to gather heat and energy from it’s weak rays. Monh rum is however a
very dangerous animal that is deadly when attacked.
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Image description. A Peat giant sporting a spiked
club. Picture from the game
Mystical Empire, used with permission. Image drawn
by
Faugar. |
Another source of food are the ogres and
giants who roam the Icelands springing from the Stone Fields of Peat. Both
men and giants prey on each other and
roast giant is considered a delicacy for the Icemen (just like the Icemen are
the favourite dish for the giants). Cannibalism of dead foes is also practiced
in the Icelands.
Finally, another very important food source for the Ice Tribes is fishing. They
break the ice and fish underneath or carry their boats to the end of the ice in
order to fish in the deep seas. Whaling
is also practiced by the braver sailors.
Weapons.
The Ice tribes use every weapon
possible, from heavy branches to expensive steel
swords they bought, stolen or looted.
Their most used weapon is a heavy
axe they call headcutter and resembles a
combination of axe and
sword. The headcutter axe comes in two
types. The first one has two sides while the second has a cutting blade on its
back side. As for long range weapons the Ice Tribes use throwing
axes and javelins instead of
bows since, because of the weather
conditions, bows cannot be used effectively
in the cold north. A popular material for the making of their
weapons is the bones of
thunderfeet, for these bones are
light, yet extremely strong.
Occupations.
The Ice Tribesmen are occupied as hunters, farmers, fishermen and
weapon smiths. All their other needs
are fulfilled within the family or tribe. The icemen have a collective form of
economy. Everybody offers their services to the tribe and is rewarded according
to their efficiency through a complex distribution system run by the tribal
leader. The tasks are appointed primarily according to age and gender.
Men till the age of 15 are prepared for battle and perform several chores
helping the adult males, men from 15-30 are used primarily as the main battle
force and secondarily helping at the rest occupations, men from 30-45 are
crafters, farmers, hunters, fishermen and auxiliary troops, men from the age of
45 and above either continue offering their services as long as they are found
fit for it or they become tutors for the young, the rest simply try to survive.
Females till the age of 12 help in the house and are trained for their future
lives. Women from 12-30 rear families, take care of the house, prepare clothes
and other items, from 30-45 they cultivate the land, gather whatever is edible
and continue with the family, women older than 45 try to survive or are
sacrificed if their husband is no longer needed by the community and their
children cannot feed them.
Government.
An Ice Tribe is comprised by many minor clans called "Lannes". Most of the Ice
Tribes are governed by a High Tribal Leader called "Lanrul" who rules all of
the minor clans of the main Tribe. The minor clans are governed by warlords.
The Lanrul holds all the judicial, administrative and legislative authority,
while the warlords have executive and judicial duties within their Lannes’
limits. The Lanrul is elected for life by the gathering of the warriors who
select him among the warlords. The warlords are elected by the Lannes warrior
gathering. The only criterion for the election is the gallantry in battle.
Production/Trade.
The Icelands have only fish and furs to export. Rheeah furs are highly prized,
because this small animal that resembles a mixture of monkey and
fox has an all white soft fur during
summer and in winter it becomes more yellow tinged. The reason for this is that
the rheehah finds its way to small sulfur springs in the winter and spends a
lot of time near and in the springs to keep warm. Their fur naturally absorbs
some of the sulferous material and is of high demand by mages in
Santharia. It is believed that there
are valuable minerals in the area but since there is no significant and
organised mining it is impossible to determine the quantity and quality of the
minerals. However, many Icemen have obtained armours and
weapons in exchange of large pieces of
gold that are easily found in their region.
Natural Resources.
The Icelands is an area rich in fish and livestock. The hardy breeds of the
north manage to survive with the short summer and the grass that grows beneath
the winter snow. It is also rumoured that the area is rich in minerals but the
Icemen do not have the means of mining nor do they let anyone else dig in their
lands since they are hostile to strangers.
Religion/Beliefs. The Icemen worship the forces of nature. They
think that the world is ruled by 15 gods, who actually have the form of the
element they represent, and are in a constant fight with each other allying
occasionally for the needs of their war. The supreme gods are Phoblit (the male
day god) and Nechya (the female night goddess), Brender (thunder), Asterlin
(lightning), Chelinor (snow), Weabor (wind),
Reanor (rain), Peierojon (fire), Pargis
(ice), Heterniz (water), Zundefor (the
land animal spirit, in the form of the great
white bear), Aleshnir (the sea
animal spirit in the form of a white whale), Necteref (death), Asendin (sea)
and Ertemmir (the earth). These gods -
according to Icemen mythology- are the breed of Afrasnyr the hermaphrodite
chaos god, who - being alone for eternity - decided to fight with his own self
and, during the struggle, he split himself to the 15 gods living inside them.
The Icemen believe that Zundefor and Aleshnir mated with the other gods and
with each other giving birth to mortal life. The
humans according to their beliefs are the
children of Phoblit and Nechya mating one time before they begin their eternal
warfare.
The Icemen do not build temples or practice ceremonies for the major gods other
than appeal rituals, when they seem menacing (during a storm for example). The
Icemen carve totem poles in ice representing the animal that symbolizes their
individual tribe and is tattooed upon them. This way the totems establish a
connection between them and the land itself. Their yearly renewal during the
summer defines not only the change in seasons, but also the change in everyday
life.
Holidays,
Festivals and Observances.
The Icemen have many holidays that are connected with the change of seasons,
but little is known about them. Their main holidays are the following:
The Parginlnag (Icebreaking), when the Ice totem melts. This is a celebration for the coming of summer that allows fishing, farming and intensified warfare.
Thorenhon when the sun reaches its highest point.
The Chelarrin (Icecoming) when the winter comes. It is an appeal to Chelinor, the Snow God to be merciful upon them.
Helleborne a honorary ceremony when warriors kill a frost dragon or a lesser drake. Hellebornes take place also when a significant victory against ogres, giants, mohnrRums or other tribes is achieved.
The Warrior Chant, in the middle of winter, when boys become warriors.
The Langral Meeting. The Icemen Lanruls once in 12 Parginlnags meet in Langral, a sacred place between Aelhrong and Eanin in order to beg the gods for their benevolence and discuss matters of common interest. During the meeting a cease fire is established among every tribe. The only Ice Tribe that does not participate (but yet respects the cease fire) are the Himiko.
...and several other
Maturity rituals (several for males and one for females when they reach
reproduction age and are given to a man).
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Information provided by
Curgan
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