The Second Alliance
16-10-2008, 06:33
Name: The Tribal Nations of The Mist
Race: Human
Overview: The Tribes of the Mist is a loosely connected alliance of small tribal cities and villages who, through magic and geographic positioning, have isolated themselves by choice from the remainder of the world. Their isolated stone cities and small villages are in tune with the ebb and flow of nature, compensating for their lack of technology with powerful, mysterious magics and the terrible might of their stone-carved Behemoth protectors.
Geographic Positioning:
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o316/Founderdude/TribeofLivingStone.jpg
Nation Specifics-----------------------------------
Government:
The Nations of the Mist are a loosely connected group of tribes whose only real "central government" is based around an unofficial Tribal Council of the Village Elders and Shaman Chiefs of the associated villages. This Council can be called into session by any Shaman in the Council at any time, and it is held in the village/city of the Shaman's origin. The Council is lead in recent history by a Shaman "Seer", a talented Shaman with the limited gift of premonition, elected by the Council to lead.
However, most issues are resolved at a local village/city level, where the Shaman Chief of the village handles them personally, helped by the Elders and local Militias and hunters.
Religion:
Conventional religion is not truly present amongst the Tribes of the Mist. Instead, a vague, simplistic shamanistic worship of nature and the spirits of the world and animal is the standard fare, with its objective being to strive to interpret the will of the wilds and bring it to fruition. The villages/cities are lead in their worship by the Shamans. The religion and magics of the Tribes of the Mist are one in the same.
Economy:
Simple trade is the only semblance of an economy. Tribesmen are encouraged to put the good of the tribe at large before their own needs, and since the tribes are so closely knit, this is easily done.
The greatest, and rarest asset they possess in regards to international trade would be the meteoric iron the divers of the tribes dredge (and rarely, forge with their primitive tools and ancient magic) from the bottom of the Seas of Malice. It is this they are most likely to trade with other people.
History:
The history of the Tribes is lost to time and shoddy record keeping between the individual tribes. The most important event of the past, such as the casting of the great concealing mist over their lands, is sadly only recorded in mythical tales. Only the most recent of history is recorded with any accuracy.
As of late, more and more outsiders have ventured into tribal lands, some as honest explorers, some as pirates and plunderers seeking treasure. The tribes, naturally terrified by the outside world, called themselves together for a Council of Shaman, whom elected the relatively young and dynamic Shaman named Dak Mustafar as a "Seer" to lead the tribes in the ever more dangerous times.
Under Dak's leadership, the tribes have begun to expand their influence to the outside world again. It was he who began to send spies and envoys out to nearby nations, cloaked in the concealing magic of his powers to learn of the greater world. It was he who summoned the Behemoths from the earth once more, sending them out on their patrols through the forest. It is under Dak that the magics of their people have been refined and amplified. And it is under his leadership that the Tribal Nations of the Mist may yet survive the changing times.
Society:
Most of the tribesmen live in small stone cities or simple villages. These communities are relatively tiny, with the largest reaching only over a few hundred, the smallest being less than thirty individuals. The tribesmen are hunters, builders, artisans, and militiamen all, each working to support their local communities. The people all wear masks from a young age, each mask is unique and individually made, though certain types and styles of masks are made for people of different professions. The rounded, wide-eyed wooden masks of the builders usually look nothing like the threatening, beaked stone masks of the warriors. Masks are always worn in public, and are not taken off unless they retire for the night.
These communities are led by the local tribe's Shaman Chief. The entire nation is led by the charismatic Shaman Seer, whom ventures from settlement to settlement as he is needed. Shaman of all ranks are afforded great respect by the village peoples, and rightfully so. They wear special, magical stone masks, each mask styled after the face of one of the many Behemoths wandering the land. It is said this mask gives them a latent soul-bond with that particular behemoth. They carry stone weapons of great power, and they are wreathed in a cloak of mist and fog which obscures their features. These magical individuals commune with the spirits of the wilds and the dead, maintain the concealing mist that lies of the Tribal lands and ensure that their village remains secret and lives in balance with the wild.
Military Doctrine and Organization:The Tribal Nations of the Mist do not have an organized, overarching military system. Instead, each tribe maintains their own, local militias which they train and equip with their own resources. The military doctrine of the Tribes dictates that confrontations between the Tribes and the outside world are confined to relatively small skirmishes, in which these local militias work together under the direction of a Shaman to isolate, terrify, and eliminate intruders.
The process begins when the Shaman uses his/her magics to confuse and disrupt formations, usually by calling forth a deep, nearly impenetrable mist which separates them as they travel. Then, the tribal warriors strike from beyond the mists with javelins, arrows, and sometimes even sneaking in to close quarters to slice throats and bludgeon skulls before retreating into the mist once again. They continue to lash out at the isolated group of intruders until either the intruders break formation and flee, withdraw from the area, or are completely destroyed. Then the Shaman designates a new target and the harassment begins again.
In the rarest of occasions when a heavily armed force enters the area, such as an expedition or plundering army, Shaman will call upon the warriors of numerous tribes or petitioning the spirits or Behemoths for aid.
Tribal Militia: The most numerous of all the Tribe's defenses. They carry a variety of primitively crafted hand weapons such as bludgeoning weapons made from stones on sticks, or simple stone swords and daggers, as well as wooden staves and spears. Most also carry a few Javelins or a bow and arrows in addition to their hand weapons. Clothing is simple and water proof, made from the fibers of water plants and the skin and bones of aquatic animals and reptiles. They wear sandals of tree bark and vines, and wear shawls of similar materials.
They are not numerous, usually numbering ten or so to a village, and even in the cities, only a few hundred can be raised.
They are not career soldiers, and are instead usually farmers and hunters who take up the sword to defend their communities when the call goes out. However, they are good fighters and survivors, naturally skilled in the arts of concealment and subterfuge. Hit and run tactics are the standard fare of these small tribal militias, using harassment to terrify and confuse intruders until they withdraw entirely.
They can be identified by their beaked wooden masks.
City Warriors: The only real career soldiers in the Tribal Nations, they are highly skilled combatants, equipped with heavy stone armor, thick stone shields and sturdy wooden spears with stone blades. They carry at their sides simple stone swords. They are only called upon in heavy fighting or to repel or capture interlopers in the stone cities of the tribes. They are all strong warriors, extremely skilled at melee combat, and trained to maneuver in simple battleline formations. It is rumored their formidable strength and vigor is in part magical in nature.
They wear square, horned masks made of heavy stone to protect their faces. They also wear long, hooded cloaks made of the same waterproof materials as their Militia comrades, giving them a distinctive, imposing look.
Shaman: These warrior-mystics are the leaders of the tribes. They are powerful individuals, capable of tapping into the powerful life-force of the world and borrowing power from its spirit. they carry magical stone weapons of great power, and wear simple shawls and clothes made of reeds and waterproof fibers. They are always cloaked in a misty fog, obscuring their features, and their eyes glow a ghastly shade of pale blue. They are leaders of the militias.
They unique stone masks of their own crafting, each one sculpted to resemble a particular behemoth with whom they share a connection with.
Spirits: These ethereal souls are sometimes called upon by the Shaman to aid them in their work. Their translucent black forms seem to shudder and quake, as if watching an old movie or film. They possess no facial features to speak of besides a pair of brightly glowing eyes. They are roughly human in form, but their limbs lack definition, and thusly they usually do not have discernable fingers and toes. When they walk, they leave behind smoking footprints which disappear after a brief period, and they periodically leave behind double images of themselves frozen in their current position which flicker away after a few moments. Sometimes a spirit will split themselves into two individual forms as if by some strange form of mitosis, and then rejoin into one form once again. They can speak, but their voices are quiet and hard to understand, as if many people were whispering at a distance. When struck, their forms dissolve into a strange, translucent smoke, only to reform shortly thereafter. They are confounding, unearthly things which are unnerving to behold at best, disturbing in the extreme at worst.
These entities are not malevolent by nature, but can be roused to anger. They cannot fight in the conventional sense due to their intangibility, but they can be dangerous. Their otherworldly breath is chilling to the body and soul, and enough of them can send the body into shock, and in worst case situations, kill them. Their bodies are likewise icy cold to the touch, and simply being in their presence can begin to numb one's extremities. However, their greatest weapon is fear. How it is done no person knows, but the creatures have the uncanny ability to tap into one's inner most fears and distort them until the unfortunate soul drops dead from fright, their pale features contorted into hideous screams. Spirits will only engage in such violence in the most dire of straights.
Behemoths: Behemoths are created by the Shamans to defend their lands from intrusion. The Behemoths are wild peaceful creatures under most circumstances, but are naturally suspicious of visitors, aggressive to the point of insanity when provoked, and more than capable at destroying anything that may the threaten the welfare of the forest, and all too pleased at fulfilling that purpose.
Carved from huge slabs of stone, given flesh made from earth and moss, these mysterious stone creatures are powered by the spirits of the primal wild and controlled by the magics of the Shamans of these people. However, they are not simply tools to be used and controlled, but creatures of their own drive and intelligence, with glimmers of individual will and intelligence. They are usually carved from white, granite like rock and their skin is usually made of the dark, damp dirt of the Northern Marshes. Wild plants and moss cover their forms like the fur of an animal. Their faces are distinctive, each carved in a distinctive mask-like style. Their eyes are usually dark orbs illuminated by a bright blue, expressive iris. When roused to anger, their eyes change color to a fiery orange shade.
There are about sixty behemoths within the territories of the Tribal nations and they are crafted in many different forms. Some are long serpentine constructs with many sail-like wings or bird-like constructs that soar through the misty skies above the seas and marshes, others walk upright with ponderous pace and humanoid shape, peeking their towering forms above the tree line to survey the land, whereas still other are strange creatures that burrow beneath the earth, and some are shaped as monstrous representations of wild four legged animals with wicked horns, teeth and strong skulls. Despite their differences they all share some similarities: they are all incredibly big and weigh many tons, they are all made of the same earthy form, they are all empowered by arcane magics, and they are incredibly powerful wild creatures.
Even the smallest of Behemoths can crush chariots and structures with little effort, while arrows, bullets and most manners of attacks barely register with the beast. A Behemoth's only weak points are its nodes: places where the spirits within it converge to animate the great creature. These nodes are can be uncovered by certain magics, and when discovered glow brightly. In order to actually injure or kill a Behemoth, you need to disrupt these nodes of energy by plunging a blade deep into the earthen flesh of the creatures. The rest of its body is literally animated dirt, stone and moss, and shooting at this animated dirt and stone is about as effective at injuring the Behemoth as shooting an arrow into the ground is effective at disrupting the local ecosystem.
These creatures usually keep to themselves, and will usually attack to frighten away attackers, restraining themselves if an interloper retreats from its attack and returning to their peaceful coexistence with nature. Only if they are directed by a Shaman will they press on in their attack with the intent to kill.
The tribes and the Behemoths are symbiotic in their relationship, the Behemoths depending on the powers of the Shamans to sustain their life and the tribes depending on these great creatures to provide the fear and dread necessary to keep wandering eyes from their lands. A Shaman and Behemoth share a spiritual bond that goes beyond words, something that cannot be fathomed or understood. All that is known is that their souls are inexplicably bound together forever.
Magic: Magic is a pivotal aspect of the Tribal Nation's survival. It is the practice of the Shaman Chiefs of the villages and cities to use their magic to influence the weather, enhance the natural abilities of the tribesmen, and of course defend their villages.
Shamanistic and shadowy is this tribal magic. Reliant on subtle effects and altering of nature and man, fireballs and the like are not the fare of this art. Most of their magic is centered on misdirection of foes, the augmentation of one's body by infusing the forces of nature into the mundane tools and the human form, and directing the powers of the primal forces of nature, even going so far as to summon the primal spirits of the wild themselves. Mist and fog are core components of their powers, and many Shamans can disappear in clouds of fog, only to appear at other locations. Masked warriors attack from the mist, only to disappear moments later. Intruders in the marshes around their lands find themselves walking in circles hopelessly as magic interferes with their travels. Dark, translucent apparitions emerge from the earth to terrify interlopers. These are all aspects of the tribal magic of the mist.
Race: Human
Overview: The Tribes of the Mist is a loosely connected alliance of small tribal cities and villages who, through magic and geographic positioning, have isolated themselves by choice from the remainder of the world. Their isolated stone cities and small villages are in tune with the ebb and flow of nature, compensating for their lack of technology with powerful, mysterious magics and the terrible might of their stone-carved Behemoth protectors.
Geographic Positioning:
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o316/Founderdude/TribeofLivingStone.jpg
Nation Specifics-----------------------------------
Government:
The Nations of the Mist are a loosely connected group of tribes whose only real "central government" is based around an unofficial Tribal Council of the Village Elders and Shaman Chiefs of the associated villages. This Council can be called into session by any Shaman in the Council at any time, and it is held in the village/city of the Shaman's origin. The Council is lead in recent history by a Shaman "Seer", a talented Shaman with the limited gift of premonition, elected by the Council to lead.
However, most issues are resolved at a local village/city level, where the Shaman Chief of the village handles them personally, helped by the Elders and local Militias and hunters.
Religion:
Conventional religion is not truly present amongst the Tribes of the Mist. Instead, a vague, simplistic shamanistic worship of nature and the spirits of the world and animal is the standard fare, with its objective being to strive to interpret the will of the wilds and bring it to fruition. The villages/cities are lead in their worship by the Shamans. The religion and magics of the Tribes of the Mist are one in the same.
Economy:
Simple trade is the only semblance of an economy. Tribesmen are encouraged to put the good of the tribe at large before their own needs, and since the tribes are so closely knit, this is easily done.
The greatest, and rarest asset they possess in regards to international trade would be the meteoric iron the divers of the tribes dredge (and rarely, forge with their primitive tools and ancient magic) from the bottom of the Seas of Malice. It is this they are most likely to trade with other people.
History:
The history of the Tribes is lost to time and shoddy record keeping between the individual tribes. The most important event of the past, such as the casting of the great concealing mist over their lands, is sadly only recorded in mythical tales. Only the most recent of history is recorded with any accuracy.
As of late, more and more outsiders have ventured into tribal lands, some as honest explorers, some as pirates and plunderers seeking treasure. The tribes, naturally terrified by the outside world, called themselves together for a Council of Shaman, whom elected the relatively young and dynamic Shaman named Dak Mustafar as a "Seer" to lead the tribes in the ever more dangerous times.
Under Dak's leadership, the tribes have begun to expand their influence to the outside world again. It was he who began to send spies and envoys out to nearby nations, cloaked in the concealing magic of his powers to learn of the greater world. It was he who summoned the Behemoths from the earth once more, sending them out on their patrols through the forest. It is under Dak that the magics of their people have been refined and amplified. And it is under his leadership that the Tribal Nations of the Mist may yet survive the changing times.
Society:
Most of the tribesmen live in small stone cities or simple villages. These communities are relatively tiny, with the largest reaching only over a few hundred, the smallest being less than thirty individuals. The tribesmen are hunters, builders, artisans, and militiamen all, each working to support their local communities. The people all wear masks from a young age, each mask is unique and individually made, though certain types and styles of masks are made for people of different professions. The rounded, wide-eyed wooden masks of the builders usually look nothing like the threatening, beaked stone masks of the warriors. Masks are always worn in public, and are not taken off unless they retire for the night.
These communities are led by the local tribe's Shaman Chief. The entire nation is led by the charismatic Shaman Seer, whom ventures from settlement to settlement as he is needed. Shaman of all ranks are afforded great respect by the village peoples, and rightfully so. They wear special, magical stone masks, each mask styled after the face of one of the many Behemoths wandering the land. It is said this mask gives them a latent soul-bond with that particular behemoth. They carry stone weapons of great power, and they are wreathed in a cloak of mist and fog which obscures their features. These magical individuals commune with the spirits of the wilds and the dead, maintain the concealing mist that lies of the Tribal lands and ensure that their village remains secret and lives in balance with the wild.
Military Doctrine and Organization:The Tribal Nations of the Mist do not have an organized, overarching military system. Instead, each tribe maintains their own, local militias which they train and equip with their own resources. The military doctrine of the Tribes dictates that confrontations between the Tribes and the outside world are confined to relatively small skirmishes, in which these local militias work together under the direction of a Shaman to isolate, terrify, and eliminate intruders.
The process begins when the Shaman uses his/her magics to confuse and disrupt formations, usually by calling forth a deep, nearly impenetrable mist which separates them as they travel. Then, the tribal warriors strike from beyond the mists with javelins, arrows, and sometimes even sneaking in to close quarters to slice throats and bludgeon skulls before retreating into the mist once again. They continue to lash out at the isolated group of intruders until either the intruders break formation and flee, withdraw from the area, or are completely destroyed. Then the Shaman designates a new target and the harassment begins again.
In the rarest of occasions when a heavily armed force enters the area, such as an expedition or plundering army, Shaman will call upon the warriors of numerous tribes or petitioning the spirits or Behemoths for aid.
Tribal Militia: The most numerous of all the Tribe's defenses. They carry a variety of primitively crafted hand weapons such as bludgeoning weapons made from stones on sticks, or simple stone swords and daggers, as well as wooden staves and spears. Most also carry a few Javelins or a bow and arrows in addition to their hand weapons. Clothing is simple and water proof, made from the fibers of water plants and the skin and bones of aquatic animals and reptiles. They wear sandals of tree bark and vines, and wear shawls of similar materials.
They are not numerous, usually numbering ten or so to a village, and even in the cities, only a few hundred can be raised.
They are not career soldiers, and are instead usually farmers and hunters who take up the sword to defend their communities when the call goes out. However, they are good fighters and survivors, naturally skilled in the arts of concealment and subterfuge. Hit and run tactics are the standard fare of these small tribal militias, using harassment to terrify and confuse intruders until they withdraw entirely.
They can be identified by their beaked wooden masks.
City Warriors: The only real career soldiers in the Tribal Nations, they are highly skilled combatants, equipped with heavy stone armor, thick stone shields and sturdy wooden spears with stone blades. They carry at their sides simple stone swords. They are only called upon in heavy fighting or to repel or capture interlopers in the stone cities of the tribes. They are all strong warriors, extremely skilled at melee combat, and trained to maneuver in simple battleline formations. It is rumored their formidable strength and vigor is in part magical in nature.
They wear square, horned masks made of heavy stone to protect their faces. They also wear long, hooded cloaks made of the same waterproof materials as their Militia comrades, giving them a distinctive, imposing look.
Shaman: These warrior-mystics are the leaders of the tribes. They are powerful individuals, capable of tapping into the powerful life-force of the world and borrowing power from its spirit. they carry magical stone weapons of great power, and wear simple shawls and clothes made of reeds and waterproof fibers. They are always cloaked in a misty fog, obscuring their features, and their eyes glow a ghastly shade of pale blue. They are leaders of the militias.
They unique stone masks of their own crafting, each one sculpted to resemble a particular behemoth with whom they share a connection with.
Spirits: These ethereal souls are sometimes called upon by the Shaman to aid them in their work. Their translucent black forms seem to shudder and quake, as if watching an old movie or film. They possess no facial features to speak of besides a pair of brightly glowing eyes. They are roughly human in form, but their limbs lack definition, and thusly they usually do not have discernable fingers and toes. When they walk, they leave behind smoking footprints which disappear after a brief period, and they periodically leave behind double images of themselves frozen in their current position which flicker away after a few moments. Sometimes a spirit will split themselves into two individual forms as if by some strange form of mitosis, and then rejoin into one form once again. They can speak, but their voices are quiet and hard to understand, as if many people were whispering at a distance. When struck, their forms dissolve into a strange, translucent smoke, only to reform shortly thereafter. They are confounding, unearthly things which are unnerving to behold at best, disturbing in the extreme at worst.
These entities are not malevolent by nature, but can be roused to anger. They cannot fight in the conventional sense due to their intangibility, but they can be dangerous. Their otherworldly breath is chilling to the body and soul, and enough of them can send the body into shock, and in worst case situations, kill them. Their bodies are likewise icy cold to the touch, and simply being in their presence can begin to numb one's extremities. However, their greatest weapon is fear. How it is done no person knows, but the creatures have the uncanny ability to tap into one's inner most fears and distort them until the unfortunate soul drops dead from fright, their pale features contorted into hideous screams. Spirits will only engage in such violence in the most dire of straights.
Behemoths: Behemoths are created by the Shamans to defend their lands from intrusion. The Behemoths are wild peaceful creatures under most circumstances, but are naturally suspicious of visitors, aggressive to the point of insanity when provoked, and more than capable at destroying anything that may the threaten the welfare of the forest, and all too pleased at fulfilling that purpose.
Carved from huge slabs of stone, given flesh made from earth and moss, these mysterious stone creatures are powered by the spirits of the primal wild and controlled by the magics of the Shamans of these people. However, they are not simply tools to be used and controlled, but creatures of their own drive and intelligence, with glimmers of individual will and intelligence. They are usually carved from white, granite like rock and their skin is usually made of the dark, damp dirt of the Northern Marshes. Wild plants and moss cover their forms like the fur of an animal. Their faces are distinctive, each carved in a distinctive mask-like style. Their eyes are usually dark orbs illuminated by a bright blue, expressive iris. When roused to anger, their eyes change color to a fiery orange shade.
There are about sixty behemoths within the territories of the Tribal nations and they are crafted in many different forms. Some are long serpentine constructs with many sail-like wings or bird-like constructs that soar through the misty skies above the seas and marshes, others walk upright with ponderous pace and humanoid shape, peeking their towering forms above the tree line to survey the land, whereas still other are strange creatures that burrow beneath the earth, and some are shaped as monstrous representations of wild four legged animals with wicked horns, teeth and strong skulls. Despite their differences they all share some similarities: they are all incredibly big and weigh many tons, they are all made of the same earthy form, they are all empowered by arcane magics, and they are incredibly powerful wild creatures.
Even the smallest of Behemoths can crush chariots and structures with little effort, while arrows, bullets and most manners of attacks barely register with the beast. A Behemoth's only weak points are its nodes: places where the spirits within it converge to animate the great creature. These nodes are can be uncovered by certain magics, and when discovered glow brightly. In order to actually injure or kill a Behemoth, you need to disrupt these nodes of energy by plunging a blade deep into the earthen flesh of the creatures. The rest of its body is literally animated dirt, stone and moss, and shooting at this animated dirt and stone is about as effective at injuring the Behemoth as shooting an arrow into the ground is effective at disrupting the local ecosystem.
These creatures usually keep to themselves, and will usually attack to frighten away attackers, restraining themselves if an interloper retreats from its attack and returning to their peaceful coexistence with nature. Only if they are directed by a Shaman will they press on in their attack with the intent to kill.
The tribes and the Behemoths are symbiotic in their relationship, the Behemoths depending on the powers of the Shamans to sustain their life and the tribes depending on these great creatures to provide the fear and dread necessary to keep wandering eyes from their lands. A Shaman and Behemoth share a spiritual bond that goes beyond words, something that cannot be fathomed or understood. All that is known is that their souls are inexplicably bound together forever.
Magic: Magic is a pivotal aspect of the Tribal Nation's survival. It is the practice of the Shaman Chiefs of the villages and cities to use their magic to influence the weather, enhance the natural abilities of the tribesmen, and of course defend their villages.
Shamanistic and shadowy is this tribal magic. Reliant on subtle effects and altering of nature and man, fireballs and the like are not the fare of this art. Most of their magic is centered on misdirection of foes, the augmentation of one's body by infusing the forces of nature into the mundane tools and the human form, and directing the powers of the primal forces of nature, even going so far as to summon the primal spirits of the wild themselves. Mist and fog are core components of their powers, and many Shamans can disappear in clouds of fog, only to appear at other locations. Masked warriors attack from the mist, only to disappear moments later. Intruders in the marshes around their lands find themselves walking in circles hopelessly as magic interferes with their travels. Dark, translucent apparitions emerge from the earth to terrify interlopers. These are all aspects of the tribal magic of the mist.