Eengarinn Khain
The village of Eingarinn Khain, called "Eingarinn" or "The Khain" most often by the inhabitants, is a small settlement of "Fallen" Aasimar nestled high in the Tall-Horn Mountains, far from any normal human habitation their only neighbors are the Minotaur Tribe of Broken Gulch and the Dwarven town of Kegspeak. Even these are distant with closer of the two, Kegspeak, over 100 miles away.
A visually stark village, its rough stone and wood houses are roofed in with mats of living grass, everything designed to maximize the internal warmth for the incredibly harsh winters that the Tall-Horn mountains are known for. Some of the buildings are perched on flattened pieces of rock and within shallow dells along the banks of a shallow river, some of them perched on cliffs with winding trails hacked into the rock mere feet above the rushing river, white tipped waves clutching for any misstep. Others are set further from the river, the rolling hills covered in rugged heather that slowly transitions into gnarled stands of windswept pine and copses of sheltered oak within the hills as they become more and more rugged.
The Aasimar of the Vör Clan that make this land their home were originally a group of disillusioned clerics of Reka who balked at the growing corruption within the Church and even their own holy chapters. Whenever the then leader of the core Knightly Chapter, The Knights of the Alabaster Citadel, an ancient order dedicated to impartial law, began to enforce the highly questionable activties of the church, the schism happened. The ensueing chaos is known in the Kingdom of Glernor as "The Confusion" as it was the central point of the ripple effect that struck all of the major religions in the area and beyond. At the end of everything, Aasimar of the Vör Clan had gathered those followers that would leave with them and boarded ships, leaving for far off lands. As they travelled, Aasimar from around the continent with their own dissatisfactions joined with them. The Aasimar had never been thick on the ground and this small fleet amounted to the largest single gathering of Aasimar ever, such was the sense of divine ennui that gripped them and the various divine orders they swore to uphold.
The fleet eventually made its way to the distant city of Slagport, attempting to gain permission to settle in the dwarven holds. Though the clans had no care for the squabbles between the humans and their religious, they were uncomfortable with the thought that these exiles would bring their troubles with them or even worse, would cause problems between the divine order that existed between their two pantheons. As a compromise, they allowed them passage through the deep throughways of Greyharbor, the dwarven Kingdom. They would not be allowed to settle but they could settle on the surface outside of the domains of the dwarves and they would have friendly relations and trade, if they wished.
Stripped of their celestial bonds, these Aasimar took up a simple life away from the politics and troubles of both city and religion. Though religion is allowed, it is not common in the village. Many of the members turned to more animist teachings and druidism, finding solace in the closer and more material needs and thoughts of powerful animal spirits of the land. Some of them learned at the feet of powerful Minotaur shamans about the ways of the land and the spirits bound to it. Over the centuries, many Aasimar who held doubts or had fully fallen would make their way there and it paradoxically remains the largest gathering of Aasimar in these lands, far surpassing even the largest monastery or knightly order anywhere on the veiled continent.
The Clan is made up of nearly a dozen "Blooded" families that nearly always result in Aasimar children, the blood breeding true do to the unfortunate amount of inbreeding in the early days of the settlement. There are another 100 families that either never produce Aasimar or produce few, more often than not the exiles that come to the village are not Aasimar at all, though all are welcome who wish to throw off whatever chains that bind them and keep them from happiness.
The village produces more than it needs on several fronts, its herds of goat and sheep are plentiful and the river it is perched above runs deep with fish twice a year. They often send caravans to the Broken Gulch tribe or Kegspeak with barrels of dried fish and wool to trade for fragrant Taak from the Minotaur or Ale and finely crafted tools from the dwarves. Often they trade Taak with the dwarves and ale to the minotaur, serving as a sort of middle ground for both parties that have no interest in trading over that long distance themselves.
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The need for these trials were exasperated by the appearance of a group called "The Scourge" made up of several Aasimar who lead their own companies of hunters and zealots, dedicated to the eradication of evil and dead set on destroying the gathering of what they saw as a blight on the face of their divine parents. The Scourge have been eradicated several times in the past, but they have also wrecked havoc on the village and its caravans. They travel to this distant locale through various means, the Dwarves of Greyharbor cannot bar their passage by virtue of the same agreement that they let the Vör Clan through. The Dwarves of Kegspeak will usually do whatever they can to delay any new groups of the "Scourge" that come through and warn the clans traders if they are present.
The village will send out scouting parties and war bands at times to try to find any of the hunting groups, at times they like to camp in several ruins scattered in the mountains and at this point those are the first places that the villagers will go to flush them out before they can attack the village. Unfortunately the villages population is never high enough to be entirely sure of a steady defense and there is nothing like an army or even a regular militia for the settlement. At times they have worked with the Broken Gulch tribe to deal with particularly troublesome groups.
The government of Eingarinn Khain is loosely based around a singular leader that is not so much elected as they rise to the occasion, usually much to the relief of whichever leader is currently in charge. The chief of the village is less an authoritarian leader and more a first among equals whose council is heeded as one would an incredibly wise elder, usually an elder that is wise enough to listen to knowledgeable people in their council.
Taak
A leafy plant that is prized for the rich and complex smoke it creates whenever dried and processed. Used for smoking pipes, rolled cigarettes and snuff.
The Confusion
A group of disillusioned clerics of Reka who balked at the growing corruption within the Church and even their own holy chapters. Whenever the then leader of the core Knightly Chapter, The Knights of the Alabaster Citadel, an ancient order dedicated to impartial law, began to enforce the highly questionable activties of the church, the schism happened.
The Kingdom of Glernor
Type
Village
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