Mon Sep 21, 2020 2:41 pm
Wolf nomads
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by Rodney "TSRORexx" Hart
“The Wolf Nomads crouched on the lip of the arroyo, looking down on the rocky slope of land that stretched between themselves and the bend of the river. The ground was covered by a frenzied army of kobolds that screamed and yelled and waved their weapons in the air as they closed the gap…” — Rose Estes
A vast stretch of northern Oerik’s tundra is home to the Baklunish-Flan mixed people known as the Wolf Nomads, traditionally called the Wegwiur. Like their Tiger Nomad cousins to the west, these tribes have members that bond with the indigenous alpha predator of the land, Canis lupus albus, the tundra wolf. These pairs are seen throughout the region, providing for their people both meat and protection in the harsh tundra environment. The dawn and dusk air are thick with mosquitoes, a ubiquitous nuisance. A storyteller wishing to relate man vs. environment stories will find the Wolf Nomads full of potential, with ample monstrous adversaries to push heroes to the brink of their physical and mental abilities. The heirs to the Relentless Horde, the Wegwiur are steeped in tradition and cultural pride.
Country Specific Resources:
Master Wolf (1987), by Rose Estes, Chapter 3 describes the environment particularly well.
Adventures in this country include:
- The region was scoured by continental glaciers during the last Ice Age thus littering the land with boulders and arroyos whipped by the constant bone-chilling north winds from the Land of Black Ice. Little grows here aside from cushion plants, greasewood and stingweed. Indeed food and shelter are a daily adventure in of itself traveling these steppes.
- Where the land is not covered by glacial till, limestone karst landscapes hide all manner of predators, be it beast or monstrous. Scaly kobolds are vermin of the arroyos adjacent to limestone caves while gambado ambush the unwary in the karst topography.
- The Howling Hills of Iuz border the Wolf Nomad lands to the southeast; the sacred dead of past khans lie here. Reclaiming the Hills is goal of the tarkhan and battles against Iuz have been fought and won here, many more are yet to come.
- Lumber is a valuable resource in these lands as most of it is imported, be it the roanwood they build their permanent structures with or the sablewood that makes their weapons. Guarding caravans up from Lake Quag to the south or from Yecha to the west is a source of work and adventure for the Wolf Nomads.
- Mastodons wintering in the taiga Burneal Forest migrate south and join the perennial auroch herds at choice grassland sites, ideal for competitions of athletics, weapon skill, and hunting between tribes to determine khan hierarchy for the next solar cycle.
Adventures in nearby areas include:
- Iuz’s tainted lands hangs like a blight, darkening the eastern horizon. Some brave Wolf Nomads prefer to take the battle to Iuz directly than live in fear of what may happen.
- Blackmoor, with all its ancient secrets, is one stalked migrant herd of aurochs away for a hunting party of Wolf Nomads to start their adventuring career.
- Bandits from Cold Marshes grow overconfident and need to be eliminated.
- Neighbors to the south and west have resources that are scarce in the Wolf Nomad lands, a simple trade expedition to Perrenland, Highfolk, or even Ekbir will expose a Wolf Nomad “barbarian” to a larger world awareness.
Urban intrigue will be scant in Wegwiur lands as well as adventures that depend on large forests with boughs that seem to touch the clouds. The land has been scoured by glaciers, so ancient ruins will be unlikely at best.
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Richard Di Ioia (aka Longetalos)
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