Southron

[Falenesti 36]

 

Southrons

 

During the departure from Vailor towards the isles of Axios two groups of fleeing refugees had their boats swept away from the main convoy of ships. A small contingent of Snow Elves in a boat and a large group of highlanders in a separate boat landed on the southern icy fringes of a new land. The year was 1572  when both ships crashed into ice and rocsk forcing them to leave their vessels.

 

The highlanders were most likely a group of Raevirs and the Snow Elves were a group of religious dissidents who were planning on finding a new homeland anyways. Upon landing both groups were aware of each others presence, but settled on opposite sides of the same snowy valley. The Snow Elves faired well in the cold, but as a group of religious dissidents they did not fair well in catching game. The Raevirs on the other hand had issues in the cold, but with their ample supply of mainly bronze spears they easily hunted boar and seals. Slowly the two groups began to settle closer in the next couple years after landing, both realizing that a mutual relationship would be the only way they could survive the tundra.

 

Around 1583 both groups were well integrated with each other, with the Snow Elves being the leaders of the group and the Raevirs being the workers. In the coming decades a mutt-race of half elves began to slowly be the main force in the population with the last pure snow elves slowly dying off. The Raevir population simply disappeared into the half-elven bloodline with their next of kin breeding into the half elves. By the year 1613 the population of the settlement was purely made of the half-elves with their leader being an aging and mad snow elf. The high elf went by the name Thrandir and made his loyal tribe take part in the religious ceremonies such as the blood duel where two willing participants take part in a deadly duel. However, as Thrandir lost his grip on reality the elders of the tribe staged a coup and threw him into an gorge.

 

The tribe became many different tribes after this moment as their unifying force caused a schism between the elders. Between 1615 and 1631 a period of tribal war began known as “The Time of Trials.”  Legends such as Kalvass the Unbroken who killed thirteen members of a rival tribe with a bronze shovel emerged in this period. Many Southrons to this day claim lineage from a hero or legend that performed a great deed in this period. This time period ended in 1631 when a major cold spell caused the tribes to work together to survive. At this time to present day the culture began to flourish with traditions such as the Woad and ceremonial bloodletting beginning in this time. The Southrons began to call themselves this name due to find an elven compass that told them they lived in the south. This land known as Baurgs in their tongue would later become known as Atlas to those that would come later.

 

Culture and Physical Attributes

The Southrons dress either in savage furs and mail when raiding or colorful clothes when they are not raiding. The common theme of all of the Southron tribesmen were Woad or tattoos all over their body in order to show their allegiance to their race. All members of the tribe are pale and have blue bloodshot eyes. Due to their mixed race heritage most have slightly pointed ears and lighter hair colors, but it is common for people to have brown hair.  They normally stand at 5’7 to 6’4 but are well built with even the skinniest Southrons being toned. Their eyes are always bloodshot due to the amount of snow hitting their eyes and ritual bloodletting in their youth. The reason why so many of the Southrons are well built is not only due to their strong mixed genetics, but due to the harsh conditions they live in. In the Snow, Forests, and foothills of mountains the Southrons thrive being able to live in places no man should...as long it is cold.However, that being said they are not able to thrive in warm and dry environment. In the desert they are very weak and have double the thirst for water than the average man.In the jungle, Southrons will get very ill and contract diseases and die with great speed. Limiting them to living in environments were the temperature is cold or very rainy.Men tend to wear their hair cut in anyway long or short, but women tend to wear their hair in a braid or a bun.  Women tend to pierce their ears and nose, some guys do this as well.  When at war and at work they wear furs and mail, but in casual wear they wear colorful clothes and fur hats. Both genders wear woad and tattoos in many colors.  Unlike human and elven cultures, the Southrons tend to lack the modesty in dress of their ancestors and it would not be odd to see a man walking around with no shirt on. When people converse with Southrons they may notice they only have one name, this is due to a complex religious ceremony where a man loses his family name and becomes one with the tribe. Another odd tradition of the Southrons is adding spice to all foods to combat the bitter bite of the cold. The wealthy men of the south are known to purchase hats made from the pelt of a raccoon. The animal is incredibly rare, and indigenous to the south, its pelt is highly sought after.

 

Language

Examples of words….

 

Dexas: Large amount of land.

Capital: Ustin

Cow: Longheffer

Guard: Sheriff

Friend: Partner

Greetings: Howdy

You all: Y’all

Hell/Oblivion: Tarnation

Isn’t: Ain’t

Invader: Drakkar

Dilrusti!: Cheers

Goodbye: Uthrec

Yes: Yup

 

Religion

The pantheon of gods followed by the Southrons are known the Sukkari. Which when roughly translated to common the meaning is something like “Southern Spirits.” The best way to describe this system of worship is a sacrifice and reward system. A man may pray to the daemon Belka to possess the passion to talk with a certain woman, but he may also acquire the side effect of having his Woad turn purple. This odd system causes many Southrons to possess odd traits such a stammer in exchange for good looks, or a goat leg in exchange for good climbing skills. The Sukkari may give rewards, but they also like to amuse themselves.

 

Belka: Daemon of Passion, Lighting, Love, beauty, and Fertility.

Desc: Belka is a daemon followed by not only dwarves, but the Southrons as well due to their tendencies to be passionate about what they love. Artists may follow Belka, but even warriors with a passion for battle as well!

Her ritual is sacrificing a part of your passion to her along with Magenta dye by tossing it into a fire.

 

Turak: Daemon of Fighting, the violent death, and fury.

Desc: Screaming into battle many Southrons praise Turak and hope to slay as of their enemies as possible. If Turak is in a good mood he may grant a warrior a maddening fury in battle….lets just hope he decides to end said fury. Turak ritual is killing another race and throwing their body into an icy gorge.

 

Vortigec: Daemon of Knowledge, learning, and the forbidden secret.

Desc:  When you wish to learn a subject or some sort of secret you ask Vortigec. However, when you learn said knowledge you are also given another set of answers to something you don’t want answered. Many worshippers of Vortigec are paranoid or mad at the end of their days. His ritual is writing a book then burning it in a fire with redstone.

 

Mira: Daemon of Nature ,the hunt, the forest, and the animals within.

Desc:  The survivalist will pray to Mira to grant him luck in a hunt. However, Mira loves granting wishes at the expense of a mutation such as a goat leg or a set of ram horns. Many hunters will come back with food for a year, but with an interesting addition to their body. Her ritual involves placing an arrow and a piece of meat under a tree then waiting a day for what is inside the stump.

 

Gicela: Daemon of Ice, Snow, and Water.

Desc: Ice and snow surround the southrons for all their life. Gicela gives them their paleness in order to hide in the snow. They way she does this is a bloodletting ceremony when a child reaches ten years of age. This ceremony welcomes them into the tribe, but also gives them bloodshot eyes as a mark of Gicela.

 

These are the five main gods of the Pantheon that constantly push to control the others in the underworld where all Southrons go when they die. The underworld known Ubbock is a warm cave filled with food and women welcoming all enter. That being said there are many minor daemons who are pawns for the major gods to use. These daemons will also try to gain power through finding worshippers among the general populace.

 

Warfare

Despite the Southrons being a very warlike culture they really do not have advanced military tactics. They could be more akin to Orcs with disorganized mob tacts and an emphasis on winning in close quarters combat. However there is one tactic they use when attacking, first the Southrons will throw a volley of javelins, then draw blades to attack, with some men in the back firing arrows. In battle they don themselves in even more paint, mail, and fur. Upon victory Southrons are known to take weapons, armor, and body parts from the bodies of their enemies. Wood Elves are favorite target for the Southrons to practice their skills in battle. After any battle, there is a big feast in their current capital with all that were in the battle getting wasted and drunk.

 

The Current Age

At the moment the Southrons are dealing with the ramifications of dealing with races they had forgotten about in their long isolation in the southern ice fields of Atlas. The Southrons may have found there “perfect Dexas” or piece of open land to settle in a new city known as Nottingham (a name taken from surviving documents from Vailor). Men such as Miraak and Ruk who survived the time of trials now lead the people in search of new Dexas. The Southrons now must react to their spoiled isolation and must now interact with the outside world. Will the new arrivals in Atlas be a blessing or a curse? Only time will tell for the Southrons. 

[Jordan1921 373]

Interesting idea, I also upvoted for Belka.

[Balthasar 2058]

somehow it reminds me of the adunians. it must be that snow elf and highlander part. but i find it odd how they literally cannot thrive in an environment which isn't wet or cold, for example i live in a damp environment, but i can certainly stay in places that are warm, for example.

 

all in all, i like it anyways

Edited January 31, 2018 by Balthasar