THE TRIBAL CITY

A tribal city has much in common with an autocratic city, and depending on the structure of the ruling clan, a feudal city as well. Power lies with a local chief, who might or might not answer to a higher chieftain of his own. As a rule, the tribal structure only works well on a small scale; like communism, the farther it spreads, the shakier its foundation becomes. The intriguing exception to this, like the magocratic city, comes with nonhuman communities. Indeed, some humanoid races (particularly the so-called races of savagery, such as goblins, orcs, and the like) understand only a tribal structure, and can extend its efficiency to include entire kingdoms, each ruled by a supreme tribal chieftain. The look and operation of a tribal city depends on the tribe in power, of course, and to a lesser extent on the mix of races and cultures over which the tribe rules. Savage tribes tend to demonstrate their power and dominance at every turn, festooning the streets with heads on spikes and similar decorations, while more cultured tribes merely try to make the city an honest reflection of themselves. No matter what the nature of the ruling tribe, however, those outside its membership—or worse yet, members of a rival tribe—will find life difficult in the extreme.

The larger it gets, the more a tribal city takes on the aspects of a feudal city. Because a ruling clan or family can only oversee so much on its own, it must eventually rely on the input and support of other families to govern. Indeed, tribal cities often grow to become metropolises when a powerful tribe gathers neighboring tribes to its banner, and either subsumes them into itself (thus creating a tribal system of nobility) or rules over them with their support. The greatest and most successful tribal regimes keep the values of their people—ties of faith, blood, ancestry, and belief—in mind at every turn during their expansion and growth. A united tribe is a powerful thing to behold, no matter what its culture is. Tribal cities are typically associated with (and primarily encountered in) areas on the so-called “edge of civilization.” This is only a stereotype, however, and some of the largest and most self-sustaining metropolises follow a variant of the tribal structure. A tribal city usually falls when it faces internal dissent or revolt, and it tends to go down hard—often taking the entire populace with it in blood-soaked confl ict. Tribal cities are a close step behind feudal cities and theocratic cities in that they can appear in regions dominated by every possible alignment. Despite this, the preponderance of tribal fantasy cities are either neutral or evil.