Rashemen

The people of Rashemen are called Rashemi. The country itself is surrounded by mountains, vast lakes and rivers, which provide natural fortifications, making Rashemen an ideally defensible region against The Red Wizards of Thay and the Nar barbarians who are known to attack the territory on a rather frequent basis. Geographically, the northern portion of Rashemen is predominantly barren and ravaged by strong, harsh winds; while the south is cooler and maintains a more placid environment, which is considerably more hospitable for habitation.
Rashemen is about the same size as Cormyr, running approximately 330 miles from its southern border at Lake Mulsantir to its northern reaches at the Icerim Mountains, and 270 miles from Lake Ashane, its western border, to its curving eastern border that ends at the southeast arm of the Icerims. The Sunrise Mountains and two small but thick forests divide Rashemen's lower third from the rest of the country, and most of its citizens inhabit this smaller portion. Although its size is comparable, Rashemen's harsh climate and remote location mean its population is less than half that of Cormyr.
The lower third of Rashemen is a cool, hilly land of pine forests and heather-grown downs. The land climbs toward the east, quickly becoming quite rugged as one approaches the Sunrise Mountains. The northernmost reaches of the Sunrise range are lower and snowier than the southern portion bordering Thay, and from these well-watered peaks, innumerable rivers and streams flow west to Lake Ashane. Ages ago, glaciers scarred this land, carving deep U-shaped canyons in the mountains and trapping hundreds of tiny lakes behind moraines.
The North Country, Rashemen's upper two-thirds, is mostly bleak, windswept plains with little vegetation other than hardy grass and scrub. The southerly reaches of this area consist of knife-edged rocky ridges with steep ravines covered with a thick pine forest, but the landscape flattens as one moves north, becoming a vast cold steppe unbroken for more than a hundred miles before the foothills of the Icerims rise up from the plains. The North Country lies 3,000 feet above sea level, as does much of the rest of Rashemen, and this altitude contributes to its harsh winters.
On Rashemen's western flank is a veritable inland sea, the great lakes of Ashane and Mulsantir. Stretching over 500 miles in length and more than eighty miles wide at their broadest point, these lakes occupy deep rift valleys between the high plateaus. of Ashanath, Thay, and the North Country. Rivers from the surrounding elevations drain into these lakes, which have no surface outlet. However, they are freshwater, not salt, which suggests that one or both are linked to seas or subterranean rivers in The Underdark.
Magic has sculpted Rashemen's geography as much as wind and weather. Caught between the warring nations of Narfell and Raumathar long ago, Rashemen is a place of ancient wizardry and powerful spirits (called telthors) tied to the features of the land. Spirits guard the forests, mountains, and waterways against defilers - in some places, every stone and sapling has its own guardian. The local folk respect and take care to not offend the spirits, which are said to punish those who are callous toward them and bear grudges against communities for years.
In addition to its native spirits, Rashemen features many old sites of battle between the dead warring nations, and from time to time dormant spells are awakened, rocking the land with earthquakes, freakish storms, and strange monsters. Fortunately, most of these battlefields are in the northern, less populated reaches of the country. The icy lakes and rivers that form Rashemen's western border are enough to deter casual aggressors, and the fury of its native sons and daughters drives off all but the most determined attackers. The people of Rashemen love their home despite its dangers and prefer to keep it untarnished by the footprints of ignorant visitors

People of Rashemen

The people of Rashemen are sturdy, hardworking, and deeply respectful of the land. A traveler here will never see a logger casually cutting down trees for greater profit, nor a stream dammed to power a mill. The Rashemi understand that they must respect the land as they would a neighbor, for the spirits punish those who take what they don't need.
Rashemi are a short, hardy folk, built for strength rather than speed. Men grow beards but keep them trimmed short. Both sexes keep their hair long: The men wear a pair of thick braids, while the women have only one. The length of one's hair is a measure of status, in marked contrast to the shaven-headed Red Wizards. The penalty for adultery in many villages is to have one's hair cut short, and others shun shorthaired Rashemi for this crime against the family.
Typical Rashemi dress is simple, made of wool, leather, and pelts. Men wear trousers, loose shirts, and fur vests, while women dress in long woolen skirts and blouses of linen. In times of celebration, both sexes dress colorfully, preferring vests and blouses of red, blue, and yellow, embroidered in red, white, and green. Rashemen is relatively poor in metal, and most of that goes to making weapons, tools, and armor, so Rashemi jewelry is made of carved stone, bones, and ivory decorated with complex patterns and runic markings. These pieces are often used as trade goods.
Long ago, these people were forced to defend themselves against the greed of Narfell and Raumathar, two magical nations that constantly fought each other, usually in the lands the Rashemi called home. This ongoing battle against aggressive neighbors turned the Rashemi into insular warriors, distrustful of outlanders and honoring kinfolk who destroyed the most enemies. That mentality persists today, fueled by the greedy attacks of the Red Wizards and Rashemen's relative isolation. With such a history, it is no surprise that the Rashemi glorify personal strength and shun people who are not like them.
Given their remote location and the natural barriers that prevent easy communications with other lands, it is not surprising the people of Rashemen are almost exclusively human. Although of the same racial stock as the Rashemi of Thay, they spit at the suggestion that they are related to weaklings who allowed themselves to be enslaved. The people of Rashemen are taller and paler than their Thayan cousins and can easily recognize someone from the land to the south.
As a warrior culture, the Rashemi see competition as a way to define status and honor, as well as to release pent-up aggression. Rashemi compete in nonlethal tests of strength, skill, and endurance, leaving overt hostility for their enemies. Rashemen would never host a gladiatorial arena, but many settlements have regular athletic competitions where contestants pummel one another into submission in hopes of achieving higher esteem among their peers.
For a country that always has a male leader and laws enforced by an exclusive group of female spellcasters, Rashemi are surprisingly egalitarian. Most warriors and berserkers are male, as are most craftsfolk in demanding fields such as black- smithing, but women with the necessary skill are not shunned or ridiculed, and the lodges that train Rashemen's berserkers welcome anyone with an interest in fighting.
While martial skill is respected among the Rashemi, the ability to go berserk against one's enemies is the mark of an elite combatant. Berserkers have the highest status of any class or group in Rashemen other than the Witches. Fangs (military units of ten to fifty berserkers) practice similar fighting styles. Each village has one or more fangs, each tied to a particular berserker lodge.

Type

National Territory