Realm of the Mammoth Lords
The hearty folk of the Realm of the Mammoth Lords are surrounded by upheaval. To the west, the land of Irrisen recently lost its queen and is in the middle of the first significant change in the inheritance of power in 14 centuries. To the south, the orcs of Belkzen seem on the cusp of transitioning from a more warlike and brutal way of life into something new, with their refusal to rejoin the ranks of their one-time oppressor Tar-Baphon as a potential catalyst. But it was to the east that the biggest change surrounding this realm took place, for here, with the closing of the Worldwound, the Mammoth Lords have less to worry about with each passing day. Every demon slaughtered now lessens the whole, whereas before it seemed as if untold more sprang from the rift between worlds with each minor victory. The Mammoth Lords are proud that through it all, life in their lands has remained largely unchanged. They point to this as a strength, seeing it as proof that their ways and traditions have not only withstood the test of time, but vanquished it. And while there is wisdom in these beliefs, there is also bravado, for not all is safe and sound in this rugged landscape.
One need look no further than the Mammoth Lords themselves—various bands of nomadic Kellids—for proof of the land’s dangers, for the Mammoth Lords are very much a product of this region. Here, megafauna of all sorts live wild, from armored glyptodons and giant ground sloths to ravenous cave bears and smilodons. None are larger or mightier than the mammoths that travel the plains of this land in vast herds.
The Mammoth Lords earned their name by mastering these elephantine creatures, as well as many other types of megafauna. These animals serve the Mammoth Lords as mounts, guardians, and engines of war. The Mammoth Lord clans have no central organization and instead gather along extended family lines; occasionally multiple families join together as followings. The followings keep territories that often clash with others, but they have no true capital city.
Now that the orcs have grown more peaceful, Irrisen has gained a potentially gentler queen, and the Worldwound has healed, these clashes are growing. Some of the wiser among the Mammoth Lords see that the lack of conflicts along the borders has left the more violent-minded of the various followings without real enemies to face, leaving them to invent conflicts with each other.
Traditionally, the Mammoth Lords have had another sort of enemy closer to home—the frost giants. But as with the more distant dangers, the giants have seemed to fade from view. The prouder of the Mammoth Lords attribute this too to the superiority of their way of life, bragging that giants can witness “smaller folk” defeating their kin in battle only so many times before they retreat for good. Some Mammoth Lords have already taken to calling the giants a folktale of the past, despite the fact that proof of their kind remains scattered throughout the land in the form of lost oversized weapons or immense bones left behind by not-so-ancient battles.
The giants have not vanished, though. The greatest among them, Jarl Gnargorak, is no fool, but neither is he kind and forgiving. He and his frost giants have clashed against the Mammoth Lords his entire life, and the voices of his ancestors remind him that this has always been the way of things. Jarl Gnargorak foresees a day in the not-so-distant future when his people rule this land, and the Mammoth Lords are extinct. For now, this canny leader has ordered his armies far into the Tusk Mountains to hunker and remain in quiet wait. He knows the Mammoth Lords see the victories along their borders as engendering weakness and that they claim responsibility for changes beyond their borders that were not directly due to the Mammoth Lords’ actions—that they have benefited from the acts of outside heroes. And so Jarl Gnargorak waits for the followings to grow fat and lazy, at which time he will march his armies down from the frozen mountain heights to claim the lands he sees as rightfully belonging to the Jotun.
One need look no further than the Mammoth Lords themselves—various bands of nomadic Kellids—for proof of the land’s dangers, for the Mammoth Lords are very much a product of this region. Here, megafauna of all sorts live wild, from armored glyptodons and giant ground sloths to ravenous cave bears and smilodons. None are larger or mightier than the mammoths that travel the plains of this land in vast herds.
The Mammoth Lords earned their name by mastering these elephantine creatures, as well as many other types of megafauna. These animals serve the Mammoth Lords as mounts, guardians, and engines of war. The Mammoth Lord clans have no central organization and instead gather along extended family lines; occasionally multiple families join together as followings. The followings keep territories that often clash with others, but they have no true capital city.
Now that the orcs have grown more peaceful, Irrisen has gained a potentially gentler queen, and the Worldwound has healed, these clashes are growing. Some of the wiser among the Mammoth Lords see that the lack of conflicts along the borders has left the more violent-minded of the various followings without real enemies to face, leaving them to invent conflicts with each other.
Traditionally, the Mammoth Lords have had another sort of enemy closer to home—the frost giants. But as with the more distant dangers, the giants have seemed to fade from view. The prouder of the Mammoth Lords attribute this too to the superiority of their way of life, bragging that giants can witness “smaller folk” defeating their kin in battle only so many times before they retreat for good. Some Mammoth Lords have already taken to calling the giants a folktale of the past, despite the fact that proof of their kind remains scattered throughout the land in the form of lost oversized weapons or immense bones left behind by not-so-ancient battles.
The giants have not vanished, though. The greatest among them, Jarl Gnargorak, is no fool, but neither is he kind and forgiving. He and his frost giants have clashed against the Mammoth Lords his entire life, and the voices of his ancestors remind him that this has always been the way of things. Jarl Gnargorak foresees a day in the not-so-distant future when his people rule this land, and the Mammoth Lords are extinct. For now, this canny leader has ordered his armies far into the Tusk Mountains to hunker and remain in quiet wait. He knows the Mammoth Lords see the victories along their borders as engendering weakness and that they claim responsibility for changes beyond their borders that were not directly due to the Mammoth Lords’ actions—that they have benefited from the acts of outside heroes. And so Jarl Gnargorak waits for the followings to grow fat and lazy, at which time he will march his armies down from the frozen mountain heights to claim the lands he sees as rightfully belonging to the Jotun.
Type
Political, Confederation
Government System
Tribalism
Power Structure
Autonomous area
Location
Related Ethnicities
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