The Rhennee

The Rhennee are gypsy folk who ply their barges along the Selintan River, and across the Nyr Dyv to all ports of call beyond. Their "barges" are large, sturdy vessels well capable of negotiating the Lake of Unknown Depths, and the Rhennee are expert sailors and navigators. Along rivers, Rhennee barges usually travel in groups of 7-12 (ld6 +6).

Rhennee are strong, dextrous (2d6 + 6 Dexterity) people, with skin tones ranging from tan to olive. They have black curly hair and a typically wiry build, although they are not tall (males average 5'6"). Rhennee folk are largely (85%) of neutral alignment, with lawful neutral and chaotic neutral accounting for another 5% each, and the remainder of various evil alignments.

Their society is one with very strictly observed customs, which can be highly confusing to outsiders. For a start, they have their own language, a variety of Thieves' Cant, although they can speak the common tongue also. A non-Rhennee thief can readily have a basic conversation with a Rhennee, or pick up a fragment of Rhennee Cant, but anything complex or lengthy requires a successful Intelligence check for the thief to under stand correctly what is being said. All Rhennee have thieving ability; even children have 1st level ability, and even an adult Rhennee who does not practice the thieving profession has the abilities of a thief of level 1-4 at least.

Rhennee are extremely loyal to each other so far as outsiders are concerned. Any threat given, or harm inflicted, to a Rhennee by an outsider will arouse the wrath even of Rhennee who are hostile to the injured party, unless truly exceptional circumstances prevail. The leaders of Rhennee society are called "lords" or "nobles." These titles may have been originally adopted in mockery of true aristocrats, but the nobles are the Rhennee's major decision-makers, together with their wise women. It is the nobles who are the most knowledgeable about tides, winds, and currents, and they know the secret bays and sites where Rhennee meet in large numbers or take shelter during winter, when severe winds make travel difficult for them. A Rhennee noble is effectively dual-classed as a fighter of level 8-9 and a thief of level 10-13.

Below the bargewrights-the nobles are the men who own the barges the Rhennee travel on. Each bargewright is responsible for, and protects, the people on his barge; each of these men is a fighter of level 4-7 and a thief of level 5-7. The Rhennee on each barge are more or less an extended family, although several barges together may often be an even larger "family" under the leadership of a noble traveling with the group. A Rhennee barge has a variable number of people on board, depending on the size of the craft: 2-4 guards (all males; fighters of level 3-5 and/or thieves of levels 2-4), 13-24 ordinary folk (50% males, 50% females; fighters of levels 1-2 and/or thieves of levels 1-4), plus 7-12 children, and a wise woman.

The wise woman is a symbol or the odd role of women in Rhennee society. A wise woman is 35 to 85 (5d10 +30) years old, and in addition to being a thief of level 1-4, she also has talents (similar to spellcasting, and treated as such here) which make her a major source of advice and comfort to the superstitious Rhennee folk.

Wise women have skill in herbalism and healing; 75% of them can cast one cure light wounds spell per day.

They can read tea leaves and perform similar actions, allowing them to cast augury once per day ("time limit" 8 hours rather than the usual 30 minutes).

A small number of wise women can use legend lore once per week with a 50% chance of success.

Finally, wise women can predict, in general terms, what the weather will be for the next 12 hours, with a 75% chance of being utterly correct and a 50% chance (if not utterly correct) of being correct within reasonable limits. For instance. if a wise woman says "It will rain in six hours," she may be absolutely correct; she may be off by an hour or two in either direction; or she may be completely wrong-but she's at least partly right often enough so that people keep on trusting her predictions. This ability is usable once per day.

Wise women are the real power in Rhennee society, for their word will not be knowingly contracticted even by a Rhennee noble. They do not use this power for leadership, however. They suggest, insinuate, and use cryptic prophecy to influence their men, whom (basically) they can twist around their little fingers.

On the other hand, other females (except for the 1-2 females who attend the wise woman) are treated as helpmates and with some respect by their menfolk, but basically they are regarded as chattel. There is no formal marriage rite among the Rhennee, and nobles and barge wrights have as many cohabiting females as they can afford to keep.

This chauvinism, and the macho behavior of Rhennee males in general, can be used to embroil PCs in embarrassing disputes. A Rhennee male may challenge any other (usually non-Rhennee) male who looks at his female in the wrong manner, as he sees it. Further, if his female looks at another male in an interested way, he will issue a challenge. The challenge is for immediate combat, with whatever weapons one has at hand. Declining to fight is regarded as shameful, and the use of underhanded means such as magic or a poisoned weapon will bring down the wrath of all Rhennee in the area on the offender.