Reghed Tribes
They are children of the glacier, as suggested by their collective name. They are people of the wild, as revealed by their tribal names—the Elk, the Tiger, the Wolf, the Bear. They are the tribes of Icewind Dale, proud and wild and strong, bound to ancient traditions that have kept them alive through countless harsh winters in Icewind Dale. The people of Ten-Towns and southern lands call them barbarians, because these wilderness folk disdain what they call the weakness of civilized people.
Description
Markedly taller than most southerners, with some males approaching seven feet in height, the Reghed barbarians have blue eyes and hair of blond, red, or light brown. Their skin is bronzed from the sun and cracked by the wind, giving their faces the look of tough leather set in an expressionless mask. They dress in leather and furs, dyed in bright colors that stand out against the brown and white of the tundra.
Culture
The four main tribes have been bitter rivals in the past. Some tribes have diminished, and some minor tribes have disbanded over the past century, many of their members settling in Ten-Towns and abandoning their traditional ways. Of the remaining tribes—Elk, Tiger, Wolf, and Bear—the Tribe of the Elk is the most prominent. It is the tribe of the bestknown hero of the Reghed barbarians, Wulfgar, son of Beornegar.
The Reghed tribes are nomadic, following herds of reindeer on their annual migrations southwest in the winter and northeast in the summer. The barbarians live in large, round tents made of deerskin and supported by beams of wood harvested from the Spine of the World or the trees near Lonelywood. After each seasonal migration, they erect their tents in an encampment that remains more or less unchanged for the length of the season.
A typical camp includes a ring of large tents that house the tribe’s king and the other important members: its shaman, its most honored hunter, its greatest warrior, and the like. Each tent is surrounded by campfires where warriors of the tribe sleep in the open, protected from the cold by the flames and thick fur blankets. Smaller tents surround the inner circle, with campfires scattered around and among them.
The Reghed tribes have been known to raid TenTowns for supplies and slaves, but only a handful of such attacks have occurred in the last century, mostly launched by the small, aggressive, and desperate Tribe of the Bear. Instead, the tribes have begun to engage in limited trade with the towns, particularly Bremen and Caer-Konig, where many of their distant kin still dwell. Because of this trade, the barbarians are better armed, better equipped against the cold, and better fed than ever before, and they seem to be gaining in strength despite their diminished numbers.
Religion
The Reghedmen worshiped tribal beast spirits and Tempos, the god of war. Tempos was served by shamans who revered their tribal beast totems highly.
These beast totems were great spirits, similar to those of the Uthgardt barbarians. Unlike the Uthgardt, Reghedmen shamans could not call upon a beast power, however, extremely motivated or experienced shamans had been known to become possessed by the spirits of their totem animals.
History
Around the Year of the Crown, 1351 DR, the Reghedmen invaded the Ten Towns of Icewind Dale, and were rebuffed by an uneasy alliance formed by the folks of the dale and the dwarves of Kelvin's Cairn. After the barbarian army was all-but-destroyed, King of the Tribe of the Elk, Heafstaag, allied the tribes with Akar Kessell, a dark wizard from Luskan. Kessel used the last Reghedmen in his plan to exact revenge upon the Ten-Towns. Fortunately for all, the barbarian Wulfgar slew Heafstaag in a challenge and became king of the tribes. He brought the fifty remaining Reghedmen to the Ten Towns, where they turned away Kessell's invading horde and settled down for a time, away from the harsh wilderness of the north.
The survivors dwelled in the Ten-Towns, mostly in Bremen and Caer-Konig, while others went south to Settlestone, to rebuild their strength and learned how to exist within "civilized society". Over the next couple of decades though, more and more tribesmen decided to return to their traditional ways, splitting along similar tribal lines. Two new tribes sprang up, the tribes of the Seal and Caribou but they were both eventually absorbed into the Tribe of the Elk which had again emerged as the strongest of the Reghedmen tribes.
15th Century
As of the late 15th century DR, the tribes of the Wolf and Tiger barely managed to exist out on the tundra.
The Tribe of the Tiger tried to gain entry to Bremen during the winter of the Year of the Iron Dwarf's Vengeance, 1485 DR, but were refused by suspicious townsfolk, forcing them to make camp on the northwest shore of Maer Dualdon where they suffered repeated attacks from beasts. The Tribe of the Wolf took shelter against the wind in the lee of the Spine of the World near Ironmaster but lost its king in the journey. The Elk and Bear tribes were much more prosperous, although the latter had come under Auril's sway and they had begun to exclusively worship the Frostmaiden.
The Lesser Tribes
After the united Reghed tribes attacked Ten-Towns under the leadership of King Heafstaag of the Elk Tribe, the tribes were sorely depleted. It is said that only fifty warriors survived the ill-fated assault, and the harsh winter that followed took the lives of many of the women and children who had not participated in the attack. Though they clung to their traditional names, the smaller tribes were absorbed into the Tribe of the Elk and the Tribe of the Bear, living and hunting alongside the “true” members of the two strongest tribes.
After the war with Akar Kessell, the people of the tribes abandoned their nomadic ways for a time and settled in Ten-Towns, particularly Bremen and Caer-Konig. Over the succeeding decades, though, they slowly returned to their old traditions, and the tribes took on their old identities. Aside from the Tribe of the Elk and the Tribe of the Bear, the Tiger and Wolf tribes retain a significant presence on the tundra. The Tribe of the Seal and the Tribe of the Caribou emerged for a time and then were reabsorbed into the Tribe of the Elk.
With the coming of Auril’s deadly winter, the smaller Tiger and Wolf tribes are struggling to survive. The Tribe of the Tiger tried to find shelter in Bremen, but the group was rebuffed by the suspicious townsfolk and set up a camp instead on the northwestern shores of Maer Dualdon. Its numbers have been whittled away by persistent beast attacks—the people of Bremen and Lonelywood have no idea of the extent to which this tribe has served as a buffer between them and the Ice Witch’s fury.
The chieftain of the Tribe of the Tiger is a woman—which would have been unthinkable before Wulfgar’s time. Queen Fritha Craegmar is a wise and fair leader and a mighty warrior, though she has no love of violence. While some in the tribe wanted to attack the “weak folk” of Bremen and take the town by force, Fritha relied on a diplomatic envoy, and she withdrew the tribe peacefully when Bremen’s speaker rebuffed her. Perhaps fortunately for both peoples, Speaker Dorbulgruf shares Fritha’s calm head. Many members of the tribe grumble against their leader now, however, saying she should have led them to war for the sake of preserving the tribe. It is possible she might not hold her position much longer.
The Tribe of the Wolf, meanwhile, has moved as far to the south and west as possible without leaving Icewind Dale, sheltering in the foothills of the Spine of the World near Ironmaster. Its people have suffered greatly from beast attacks, though they have erected makeshift fortifications that protect them from the worst of the assaults. They grow hungry and desperate, though, as the Ice Witch’s beasts drive reindeer and other game away, out of their reach.
The Tribe of the Wolf is currently without a king. The former chieftain, Halpstaag Kaerigson, died during the tribe’s migration to the south, and no one has sought to claim his place in this dire time. The tribe’s shaman, Jütti Merliss, leads the tribe by default.
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