Vintafolk

Spending just a short time with the people of Maksem has shattered my understanding of the Frost Giants. Perhaps there is more to their society than bloodshed and anger. There is a softness that is present beneath the wounds of our ancestors.

— Scholar Giorge 102 RB

The Vintafolk are a tribal people that occupy the Vintaflans in the north of Yule's Heart . They refer to themselves as the 'Drakonadi' - children of the dragon, but are sometimes called "Frost Giants", or the "Glacehom" by the F'yorish. They are distinctive in their pale skin and bright red hair, and that they stand often seven, eight or even nine foot. For generations they have lived in the cold north, once living close to the Froix Mountains but driven out by the Valyean Empire during the Campaign of Winter's Heart .
Public perception personifies them as barbaric and unintelligent, but their society is more comparable to the tribes of elves that exist in Eleanor, ostracised by the rest of civilisation.

Basic Information

Anatomy

The Vintafolk are humanoid, taller and bigger than most humans and elves. Their skin is tinted blue due to thick skin and partly an evolutionary trait for living in the colder parts of the world. Their hair is distinctly red or orange, a trait that carries to other peoples that have Vintafolk ancestry.
They are vulnerable to fire and so will often avoid warmth if they can help it. This means that cooking amonst the Vintafolk relies on embers and hot coals as opposed to a burning fire.

Genetics and Reproduction

The Vintafolk can reproduce with any of the other humanoid species of Giulia, though this can prove difficult with the males of their species when their partner is much smaller in size. Their preference of cold make their fertility dependent on temperature and so it can be difficult to reproduce in warmer weather. This makes them are particularly exotic partner in warmer temperatures with a lower liklihood of impregnation.

Growth Rate & Stages

The Vintafolk are no different to other humanoid species, growing to adolescent in roughly ten years, and adulthood at roughly thirteen years.

Dietary Needs and Habits

The Vintafolk, due to their environment, subsist on fish as a meat source, or larger tundra creatures such as bear, elk, or moose. Vegetation, their stomachs are hardy and can ingest many plants considered inedible to other species in Giulia. The bark of the Lewda Pine, for example, is inedible by all peoples but the Vintafolk, who describe the taste as 'meaty' or 'metallic'.
Due to the cold, the Vintafolk can often keep their meat for a long period before cooking on embers.

Additional Information

Social Structure

The structure of the Vintafolk is very dismissive of gender norms - male and female is considered neither better than the other, as long as they respect their roles.
Family structures tend to be very fluid amongst the Vintafolk, with the best descriptor being 'it takes a village to raise a child'. Monogamy is not practised in Vintafolk tribes, with females bearing children for multiple partners. This leads to no distinct 'father' or 'mother' figures in their society, and all of their tribe being often referred to as 'brother' or 'sister'.
The heirarchical structure in leadership amongst Vintafolk is based of one or multiple 'leader' figures that gain the tribe's loyalty. They will lead rituals, migrations, and make decisions for civil disputes. These leaders are often called 'kings' by the Yuletyde and F'yorish, but the Vintafolk call them as 'tsashi' which more closely means 'elder' or 'wiseman'. These leaders will often take advice from anyone in their tribe depending on their expertise and their communities rely on strong ideals of family and loyalty.

Civilization and Culture

Major Organizations

The Vintafolk organise themselves into tribes, collectives of kin. Often they dispute hunting territory or fishing territory, especially valuable in their cold climate.
There is no total organisation of the Vintafolk since the days of Baudikka, or since the arrival of the North Wind. Often they will follow a tsarshi, or those with expertise and experience.

Average Technological Level

The Vintafolk do trade with the rest of Olivia giving them access to better tools, materials, and clothing, but their extreme;y cold climate and difference in biology lend them to prefer primitive forms of tools for some situations. For example, the Vintafolk still live in caves or stone huts that are easier to maintain and shield from storms. They prefer not to use fire and so their cooking is done using embers and coals to char meat and food.
They do not sail often, preferring shallow waters for fishing or ice-fishing. They also hunt rather than rely on agriculture, or migrate to areas that bear fruit and vegetables at the warmer times of year.
In metallurgy, they prefer the [Cold Iron] that the White Foundry uses - it is said the White Foundry stole the methods they use from the Vintafolk and this causes conflict amongst the forge and the Vintafolk, who thereby believe dwarves to be thieves and fools.

History

In 282RB, Emperor Dafyd I lead the Campaigns of the Winter's Heart to push the Vintafolk out of a number of settlements in the north of Yule's Heart. These settlements were amongst wooded areas and were valuable for minerals. The Vintafolk were pushed to the northern Vintaflans where the sudden migrations caused conflict amongst the tribes as they foguht for good usable land. Their territories eventually settled and stabilised.
In 436 RB, the dragon known as the North Wind settled in the north of Yule's Heart and attempted to usurp the authority of Olivia. Dymercia, of which controlled Yule's Heart after its independence, fought a long war against the dragon to keep it from moving south. The Vintafolk, seeing an opportunity to reclaim their lands, and revering the dragon, fought alongside the North Wind as its main infantry force.
This war ended in 455 RB, 19 years after it began. The war often had moments of stagnation where the Dymercian forces only defended, and the North Wind sought sustenance. The North Wind was finally defeaten in the Battle for Iludigav are considered dragonkillers in the eyes of the Vintafolk.

Historical Figures

There is also many a tale told of [Baudikka], a great warrior lord of the Vintafolk, who fought many great battles and was eventually slain. Historical records do prove the existence of this warrior existing almost a thousand years ago. The tales of Baudikka are numerous, showing intelligence, strength, and great dexterity.
Some tales include:

• when she fought an army that outnumbered hers by ten-to-one by luring them upon a frozen plate of ice in the sea, waiting until the final moment to give the order to smash the ice and cause the oncomign army to fall into the water and be slaughtered.
• when she managed to best a dreaded three-headed bear with only a broken spear to defend herself. She managed to defeat it by breaking the spear into multiple daggers of wood and stabbing into the bear's heads.
• when she climbed each of the most northern peaks in two days as a pilgrammage to seek the assistance of multiple tsarshi.
• when she laid with seventeen warriors in one night and bore twenty children.
• when she solved a conflict between two warring tribes by cooking a legendary elk, and besting both of their greatest warriors in hand-to-hand combat
• when she made her armour from the iron of a fallen meteorite
• when she crafted a set of gauntlets using only the fire of a burning tree and in doing so could control the power of fire and ice
• when she caught and killed an orca in the sea by swimming with a knife to retrieve a lost pendant
• when she stood in lava as a show of strength to a rival tsarshi
• when she seduced the queens of Olivia and stole a princess from a F'yorish King as payment for their disgressions

The list goes on
Her defeat is also recorded. She was betrayed once by honor - she entered the battlefield to make parley and was stabbed by a rival Yuletyde lord. The army she commanded raced to the battlefield to defend her but was flanked by another force to the east. An ally of Baudikka, Dewydd, turned away from the fight to preserve his forces and left the forces to be flanked - a betrayal of loyalty. When attempting to defend, Baudikka's forces were fighting against a rising sun and its blinding light gave them such a disadvantage that they were slaughtered - the betrayal of sense. Baudikka was captured but managed to escape. In a fit of depression, she threw herself to the bottom of the sea holding a great boulder and was never found.
Some historical records say she was beheaded and her head was instead displayed as a manner of disuasion. Some records also say there was no betrayal and it was simply an unfortunate unexpected change of weather that turned the battle, that and the Yuletyde forces technology was far superior, their weapons being stronger than the Vintafolk.

Common Myths and Legends

The Vintafolk mythology believes that the world is an egg that holds a great Dragon, Kaia. Kaia sleeps until Ragnarok, when the world will crack and the final dragon is born. The Vintafolk maintain the prevention of the world's destruction by persisting the cold that keeps Kaia sleeping.

Lifespan

80 years

Average Height

6' - 8'

Average Weight

100 - 200 kg

Geographic Distribution

• Yule's Heart

Related Ethnicities

• Vintafolk
• Yuletyde