Northerners

Written by Salen

Long and long ago three clans of humans were tasked by the elven House, Silverblade, to journey into the Wyvernguard Mountains and settle down in separate villages. These three clans brought along other people left clanless after the dragon wars and each started their own villages high among the snowy peaks. Their job was simple; keep watch over the slumbering dragons and stay ready to fight the day they awaken. This was so long ago that even the knowledgeable chiefs have lost the records of those days...so long in fact that there are no elves left alive that remember them at all!

Naming Traditions

Feminine names

Ayra, Ayla, Bearn, Caryn, Dyln, Lyran, Mane, Nela, Olren, Pelan, Yalla.

Masculine names

Agran, Baervan, Dorn, Granar, Horan, Korr, Marat, Nagar, Oran, Rader, Tavar.

Family names

Surnames are given upon reaching adulthood for most Northerners. This surname depends on their coming of age trial and always takes on an aspect of that journey. Some examples are: Stoneheart, Frostmane, Bonefist, or Saberclaw.

Culture

Culture and cultural heritage

The culture of the Northerners is that of hunter/gatherers and as such they live in crude huts and/or caves. Their weapons are more sophisticated, as they do have smiths that work in the iron they mine in the deep caves, and work into tools like pots and levers. they eschew armor made of iron mainly because of the cold and the weight. They still have things like art and song, but their main focus in the training of the warriors.

Common Dress code

The Northerners dress in thick hides and furs, often times leaving parts of their bodies bare during the summer months (still cold just not deadly)

Common Customs, traditions and rituals

The biggest tradition is the choosing of the warriors at a young age. By five winters they select the strongest and bravest of the children (male and female) to be trained as warriors of the tribes. These warriors are shown various fighting stances and skills in fighting both land and air predators. They train for about eight years until their coming of age trial, then work towards mastery if they pass that.

Coming of Age Rites

At thirteen winters the warrior is sent alone into the high mountains with only a spear and told to survive for three days. After that time they can make their way back and tell the tale of their survival. This tale is taken in by the elder and their surname is then figured out and given.

Funerary and Memorial customs

Rock cairns are the norm up in the mountains as the ground is too hard to dig into even for these strong people.

Common Taboos

Magic. Of any kind. These people have grown up over the centuries fearing the magic of the elves and what they had seen during the dragon wars. Though the people that call themselves Northerners do not remember that dark time themselves, the fear of magic has been absorbed into their culture.

Common Myths and Legends

The dragons of course. They have lived their lives training for the eventual return, something that has never happened...until now.

Historical figures

Korr Dragonsight. This tall Northerner was instrumental in the events leading up to the return of dragons to Erendor and is special because he did not receive a surname until he was well into his twentieth winter. The elder had seen a vision of Korr's influence over the future and had left it until the return of the mighty beasts. It was bestowed upon him as he left the village to travel south to help the heroes against the returning dragons, as he was the first of them all to behold one of the creatures again.

by Stepan Gilev

Resistant to Cold

While not a power, the Northerners are adept in the extreme cold of the high mountains. They dress in hides and thick furs, yet can withstand the temperstures if need be for up to twelve hours before feeling the effects of frostbite and hypothermia. This does translate into a slight resistance to ice and other forms of cold damage from wizards and sorcerers however, but not enough to withstand a full assault.

The man, known to those of his tribe as Korr, walked on as the clouds moved in, a sure sign of storms to come, and with that would be the first of the northern snows. Thank the gods-in-the-sky that it’s only summer, he thought walking quickly over the rocks and crevices. He knew these mountains like his own hands and understood that if it were winter, he would never make it home. The snows hit all year round this high up, but in winter they were devastating, accumulating quickly and obscuring vision. The summer squalls weren’t as deadly, but still they could slow him down; Korr had to get back before they hit and tell the elder that it was indeed as they had feared — the dragon had been awoken. From Dragon Master, Rise of the Archmage book 2