Silverstand Chiefdom
The Silverstand Chiefdom, or the T’kope Tip’-so Chiefdom in the Elves' native tongue, is a confederation of several houses organized into a large chiefdom spanning the Silverstand Forest around the confluence of the Silverstream and Thunderbird Rivers.
Ever since the Wild Flame Pact, the Chiefdom has operated as a semi-indipendent nation within the Empire of Keoland, lending military aid to defend against the horrors of the Dreadwood and Drowned Forest.
Ever since the Wild Flame Pact, the Chiefdom has operated as a semi-indipendent nation within the Empire of Keoland, lending military aid to defend against the horrors of the Dreadwood and Drowned Forest.
Structure
The Silverstand Chiefdom is a union of four matrilineal tribes. Each tribe has a pair of moieties, one of which is always the Moon (or Changer) Moiety, while the other is named after an animal spirit. The villages are further divided into houses; within each house dwells a group of interconnected clans. The houses are both physical locations (i.e. a singular longhouse) and political units.
The leading tribe is the T'kopechuck Tribe (Silverstream Tribe), ruled by the the House of the Silver Wolf of the Moon Moiety. The eldest man born into the house is the Saal, or leader of the Chiefdom. Currently, that man is P'hgwl-saal.
The Chiefdom is further stratified. There are the Tyees - those in the noble houses - who have more wealth and social power than the commoners, who in turn are free unlike the slaves. Semi-separate from this social stratification are the doctors (typically one per village), who are born into the commoner or tyee class and recieve formal training and spirit helpers, separating from their house and working for the good of the tribe.
The military of the Silverstand is made up of warriors, who are drawn from both commoner and tyee houses and are typically (but not exclusively) men. The Silverstand Chiefdom, being Tənas Palach Elves, practices the art of Bladesinging, who can only be trained from the tyee rank. Social mobility, however, is fairly flexibile given the Chiefdom's gift economy.
The leading tribe is the T'kopechuck Tribe (Silverstream Tribe), ruled by the the House of the Silver Wolf of the Moon Moiety. The eldest man born into the house is the Saal, or leader of the Chiefdom. Currently, that man is P'hgwl-saal.
The Chiefdom is further stratified. There are the Tyees - those in the noble houses - who have more wealth and social power than the commoners, who in turn are free unlike the slaves. Semi-separate from this social stratification are the doctors (typically one per village), who are born into the commoner or tyee class and recieve formal training and spirit helpers, separating from their house and working for the good of the tribe.
The military of the Silverstand is made up of warriors, who are drawn from both commoner and tyee houses and are typically (but not exclusively) men. The Silverstand Chiefdom, being Tənas Palach Elves, practices the art of Bladesinging, who can only be trained from the tyee rank. Social mobility, however, is fairly flexibile given the Chiefdom's gift economy.
Culture
Magic is practiced widely in the Silverstand, even some slaves are taken explictly for their magical abilities. Most magical abilities others would describe as divine or druidic are practiced by doctors, but many houses keep sorcerers, while wizards and bards (or spell-keepers) are a deep part of the Chiefdom's oral and artistic traditions. What the Keoish would deem warlock pacts are a commonplace arrangment between a person and a powerful spirit-helper, though they certainly can be a dangerous one.
History
Founded centuries ago during a time of great conflict, the Silverstand Chiefdom has operated as a local power for generations.
First contact with imperial forces was facilitated by Musa, an explorer hired by the Keoish Empire working alongside an elven ranger named Oonwe (sometimes spelled "Unque" by Keoish scholars) in 43 IA. A decade later, the Southern Coast Colonies were established. During the inital waves of colonization, the Silverstand maintained a policy of isolationism. Sicknesses sweeping the Salmon Coast had already placed the elven chiefdom into an uneasy quarantine, and news from Oonwe and others of the Mistlands and Arrow Shore Massacre made the Chiefdom wary of the Empire.
However, early colonization of the Silverstand's surroundings wasn't nearly as bloody as that of the peninsula. Seaton would not become a large city until the mid-100s, and most Keoish colonists were seeking coin in the fur trade. Seeing an opportinity to gain manufactured goods to increase their status, a noble couple of the Moon Moiety's House of the Silver Wolf, Ku'shew and Shol'tsa, quickly began leading hunting parties for bevears and other game to trade for Keoish steel, alcohol, and firearms. Quickly, Ku'shew became a renowned hunter with the keoish name of Rodrigo, while his wife (a prominent bladesigner) was dubbed Marcia by the dwarves she traded with.
This economic boom was fortitous, as a plague destroyed the downriver community of Old Harbor, causing the Silverstand to take in an influx of refugees. in the late 70s IA. A decade later, the Empire claimed the site as their own and founded Saltmarsh.
By 135, however, the situation had become tenuous. The Dreadwood (then simply known as the Eastern Forest) had been overhunted, and the Silverstand lacked hunting rights to the Hoolwood (Drowned Forest). Furthermore, the Empire had set up a trading post, Burle, where the Thunderbird meets the Silverstream, not far from Rodrigo and Marcia's village. The tensions came to a head when elements of the Cult of Fire, brought over to the Salmon Coast by dwarven colonists, attacked the Silverstand and tried to burn their sacred groves down. Knights of Keoland helped defend the Silverstand, not wanting to loose a valuable economic ally, and the Wild Flame Pact was formed. This granted the Silverstand not only better standing in the Empire's eyes than other Tənas Palach (and especially Littlefolk) groups, who were suffering under the Encomienda system, but also forced the Silverstand to help militarily defend the Empire.
Shortly after the signing of the pact, as a show of good will (and to escape rising political tensions in the Silverstand), Marcia's band (now with their young son Virion) took the imperial name of Sylvenne and moved to Seaton. Their elder son, Noohw't-la-hash stayed in the Silverstand and took up leading incusrions against the rising Night Hag Mother Nightshade
The rest of the 100s IA saw the Silverstand declining in population and becoming further entrenched in the Imperial military, opposing the Dreadwood. When the Hold of the Sea Princes ravaged the region, the Silverstand aided the Keoish military in forming a navy to combat the pirates in the Cobalt Reconquista. During this time, the Hoolwood became the Drowned Forest, and the Chiefdom, stretched thin from war, denied the Javan Tribe sanctuary among their silver pines.
By 214 IA, the Silverstand found some of their resources in Burle diverted by an up-and-coming Sir Virion Sylvenne and the respected Talon Co'oquilan Mystan to deal with the Cult of Zuggutmoy in the Drowned Forest, much to Virion's elder brother's dismay.
First contact with imperial forces was facilitated by Musa, an explorer hired by the Keoish Empire working alongside an elven ranger named Oonwe (sometimes spelled "Unque" by Keoish scholars) in 43 IA. A decade later, the Southern Coast Colonies were established. During the inital waves of colonization, the Silverstand maintained a policy of isolationism. Sicknesses sweeping the Salmon Coast had already placed the elven chiefdom into an uneasy quarantine, and news from Oonwe and others of the Mistlands and Arrow Shore Massacre made the Chiefdom wary of the Empire.
However, early colonization of the Silverstand's surroundings wasn't nearly as bloody as that of the peninsula. Seaton would not become a large city until the mid-100s, and most Keoish colonists were seeking coin in the fur trade. Seeing an opportinity to gain manufactured goods to increase their status, a noble couple of the Moon Moiety's House of the Silver Wolf, Ku'shew and Shol'tsa, quickly began leading hunting parties for bevears and other game to trade for Keoish steel, alcohol, and firearms. Quickly, Ku'shew became a renowned hunter with the keoish name of Rodrigo, while his wife (a prominent bladesigner) was dubbed Marcia by the dwarves she traded with.
This economic boom was fortitous, as a plague destroyed the downriver community of Old Harbor, causing the Silverstand to take in an influx of refugees. in the late 70s IA. A decade later, the Empire claimed the site as their own and founded Saltmarsh.
By 135, however, the situation had become tenuous. The Dreadwood (then simply known as the Eastern Forest) had been overhunted, and the Silverstand lacked hunting rights to the Hoolwood (Drowned Forest). Furthermore, the Empire had set up a trading post, Burle, where the Thunderbird meets the Silverstream, not far from Rodrigo and Marcia's village. The tensions came to a head when elements of the Cult of Fire, brought over to the Salmon Coast by dwarven colonists, attacked the Silverstand and tried to burn their sacred groves down. Knights of Keoland helped defend the Silverstand, not wanting to loose a valuable economic ally, and the Wild Flame Pact was formed. This granted the Silverstand not only better standing in the Empire's eyes than other Tənas Palach (and especially Littlefolk) groups, who were suffering under the Encomienda system, but also forced the Silverstand to help militarily defend the Empire.
Shortly after the signing of the pact, as a show of good will (and to escape rising political tensions in the Silverstand), Marcia's band (now with their young son Virion) took the imperial name of Sylvenne and moved to Seaton. Their elder son, Noohw't-la-hash stayed in the Silverstand and took up leading incusrions against the rising Night Hag Mother Nightshade
The rest of the 100s IA saw the Silverstand declining in population and becoming further entrenched in the Imperial military, opposing the Dreadwood. When the Hold of the Sea Princes ravaged the region, the Silverstand aided the Keoish military in forming a navy to combat the pirates in the Cobalt Reconquista. During this time, the Hoolwood became the Drowned Forest, and the Chiefdom, stretched thin from war, denied the Javan Tribe sanctuary among their silver pines.
By 214 IA, the Silverstand found some of their resources in Burle diverted by an up-and-coming Sir Virion Sylvenne and the respected Talon Co'oquilan Mystan to deal with the Cult of Zuggutmoy in the Drowned Forest, much to Virion's elder brother's dismay.
Territories
The Silverstand Chiefdom occupies the Silverstand Forest, for which it is named.
Type
Geopolitical, State
Alternative Names
T’kope Tip’-so
Demonym
Silver Elves
Leader
Leader Title
Government System
Oligarchy
Power Structure
Confederation
Economic System
Gift economy
Location
Neighboring Nations
Related Species
Related Ethnicities
Comments