Tribe of the Bear
The other great tribe of the Reghed is the Tribe of the Bear. Driven to desperation by Auril's fierce winter, the Tribe of the Bear has broken peace with the other tribes and with the Ten-Towners, launching raids to steal supplies. Worse, the tribe has turned to the worship of the Frostmaiden and joined forces with Hedrun, the Ice Witch.
Gunvald Barrundson
King of the Bear Tribe King Gunvald Barrundson, true to the name of his tribe, is a bear of a man. Approaching seven feet tall, he has a mane of white hair and a bushy, yellow-white beard, though he is only 35 years old. His eyes are pale blue, and his skin is pale and chapped. King Gunvald is said to have wrestled a polar bear and come out the victor, though he himself never makes that claim. Some say the bear he defeated is now his compan¬ion, Hundel. In any event, the legend reveals much about his nature and his rule. Gunvald is a strong man who loves strength. He covets power, he is willing to wrest it from the grip of those he feels are unworthy of holding it, and he keeps a tight grip on his own authority in order to dissuade anyone who might try to seize power from him. His rule of the Tribe of the Bear has been marked by violence—he has killed several would-be claimants to his title, has broken longstanding alliances and gone to war with the Elk and Tiger tribes, has set Hundel against warriors who failed in important tasks, and now, in Auril's deadly winter, has offered human sacrifices to the Frostmaiden. The Bear Tribe suffered badly when the harsh winter began. It lost many members to beast attacks and was in danger of running out of food as the beasts and the storms claimed more and more reindeer. From the start, the tribe's shaman proclaimed Auril's wrath and urged his fellows and his king to appease her, and Grunvald was soon forced to acquiesce. When a yeti took the life of his wife, Affya, his patience broke and he personally led the tribe in a terrible ritual slaughter of the warriors whose injuries prevented them from fighting. Since then, the fortunes of the tribe have improved, and now Grunvald has sworn allegiance to the Ice Witch—a bitter pill for the power-hungry man to swallow, but a necessary concession in his mind. For all his aggressive nature and the bloody history of his reign, Grunvald is an honorable warrior—or was, until the black ice of Hedrun's tower worked its influ¬ence on him. He never ordered his warriors into a fight he wouldn't join in himself, and he knew enough to pull his warriors back when he led them into a battle they couldn't win. Though he was fond of raiding Ten-Towns and the other tribes, ambushes were not his style. He enjoyed the thrill of the fight, even when his opponents' efforts to defend themselves were futile. The black ice has exacerbated his worst qualities and all but obliterated his redeeming features. He longs for battle, looks for any pretense to start a fight, and now refuses to back down from any conflict, no matter the losses that he or his warriors might suffer. He has also grown desper¬ately afraid of losing what power he has left after allowing his tribe to come under the Ice Witch's thrall. He suspects his underlings—his own younger brother, Wolvig, and the tribal shaman Bjami Tengervaald—of plotting against him.Bjami Tengervaald
Shaman of the Bear Tribe For all of Gunvald's lust for power, and his fear of being usurped, it has been a long time since he actually steered the activity of the Bear tribe. For years, Bjami Tenger¬vaald, the tribe's shaman, has manipulated the king, the war chief, and every influential tribe warrior to see that his own will was carried out—all while making Gunvald believe that all the best ideas were his own. Bjami is a small, withered man who has endured over sixty winters in Icewind Dale—an accomplishment few can claim. His size and gaunt frame hide a hardy strength that can be attributed to long years spent in communion with wintry spirits, bear totems, and the Frostmaiden herself. Winter seems to have taken root in his very bones and blood, making him something slightly more than human. He believes that his actions are the will of Auril—and he's right. When Auril made the Ice Witch her Chosen, Bjami realized it immediately, and he was filled with an apoca¬lyptic religious fervor. He believes that Auril's choice of a woman from the Elk tribe is a sign that all the tribes will come under her dominion, united again as they were in Wulfgar's day. He imagines himself and the Ice Witch, side by side, ruling together over a conquered Icewind Dale that is locked in eternal winter.Wolvig Barrundson
War Chief of the Bear Tribe King Gunvald's younger brother is Wolvig Barrundson, who holds the title of war chief while Gunvald coordinates the tribe's efforts from the Ice Witch's palace. Though he believes the position is a great honor that recognizes his skill in battle, in truth he holds the position because Bjami desires it—and because Bjami knows Wolvig to be extremely pliable to his will. Wolvig is tall and fair like most of his people, with long, blond hair and no beard. An angry red battle scar runs across his neck, and he displays it proudly as a sign of his strength. “I survived this,” he is fond of saying, pointing at the scar, “and I think I'll survive you too.” Few people take him as seriously as he takes himself. Although the Tribe of the Bear, under Bjami's com¬mand, is sworn to the service of Auril and the Ice Witch, Wolvig still prays to Tempus—though silently—in battle. Sacrificing people to Auril by leaving them exposed to the cold is not how warriors should behave, he believes, and he secretly resents the path that Bjami has led the tribe down. But his fear of the shaman, and of his older broth¬er's wrath, keeps him in line. Wolvig is a simple man with simple tastes. He enjoys battle, good food, and good company. He often finds himself wishing that life were less complicated, and he believes that acting as Bjami and Gunvald desire is the simplest course of action, even if it doesn't match his own sense of a warrior's ethics.Если вы хотите что то добавить или присоединится к команде редакторов - пишите комментарии
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Тип
Geopolitical, Tribe
Головная организация
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