The Tsecsars | BRUTES OF THE NORTH

[TreeSmoothie 4895]

[Note! Please ask TreeSmoothie before playing a Tsecsar. This is not an open family, but we're absolutely more than happy to give people characters!]

 

Trials & Symbology

Lair Application

 

People of Thrawcliffe - the Tsecsars

 

 

---

 

 

Introduction

War. Wrath. Woe.

The tundras are a harsh domain, home to even harsher folk and vicious beasts. The tundras are untamable and unbested, untouched by humanity. Yet, they still found a way of encroaching upon the land as they had all others - and through bloody dominion, the tribe that once had called it home, the Rimetrolls, were purged. 

New faces wandered in and new faces wandered out; the cold, still, was too damning for those folk. Yet some, it seemed, could settle it. Mali’fenn, Mali’thill - those elves had the skills to survive and prosper while knee-deep in snow. They had a natural immunity. And it seemed, too, that some branches of     ‘Humanity’ could as well. 

‘Tsecsars’ - blondeheaded, pale eyed folk with long limbs and coarse skin. They stood as tall as Evergreens and possessed the wit to scale and settle great glaciers and inhospitable mountains. Tsecsars; Brutes of the North.

 

History

    Supposedly born in the Realm of Skjoldier, the Tsecsars - roughly, in the year 1720, made a voyage to the land of the Arcas alongside other kinsmen fleeing the city. Some of the few that’d survived the treacherous journey claimed to be of royal descent from the Citadel,

League of Legends Concept Art (Demacia)

a lone city in the North-Eastern of the Fjarriagua (Frost Witch) ridden continent. Once they’d beached upon the Arcasian shores, they headed Northward - until, in 1740, the thinning party at last settled in Helena, of the Holy Orenian Empire. There, a ‘Viktoriya’ was born, alongside her brother, ‘Freyr II’, after Freyr the Redeemer; a man who’d nigh beaten back the witches plaguing their lands centuries before. 

 

Time blurred, and their culture was set aside for a few several decades. The pair was taught of their history and their lineage, though, now, it was useless. Freyr soon disappeared, and Viktoriya had risen within the Orenian society, forsaking her role as a Matron . All, up until her banishment against the Empire. 

 

The Tsecsars fled to the Kingdom of Hanseni-Ruska, chasing their origins back to snowdrift-dwelling, elk-hunting folk - back to tales of the Mother and the Father.

 

In settling the cold-ridden lands, despite similar beliefs & societes, the Rimetrolls and the Tsecsars have often butted heads in conquest for territory. Relatives split off in hopes of creating their own village, only to return maimed and frostbidden by those behemoths - cementing in stone a bitter rivalry to tell of til’ times’ end.

 

Physical Appearance

Tsecsars of untainted blood have thick, blonde - nigh-white hair and glistening, pale eyes the color of a Winter’s sky. 

[Itaxita]

They tower above most descendants with long legs and sharp features. In legends of yore, a past Matron of the family - ‘Adelheid’, had stood 9 feet tall, and boasted a set of 4 arms. Though nothing, save for old paintings and etches of the Matron, had ever been found to prove her existence. 

Their hair is kept long and well-trimmed, kept up in buns or braided along the sides of their skull regardless of how cold and windy the weather. 

 

 

 

‘Ice-Scrawl’ was an archaic script developed by Adelheid I, and refurbished by Viktoriya I centuries later. They included complex runes in order to encrypt messages between villages - of assaults on the Fjarriagua North, to the locations of storages and stashes, though did still employ the use of ‘Common-Tongue’ grammar and spelling.

 

    Their numbers consisted of;

 

    And all other symbols, like question marks and dashes, consisting of only two;

    The first, denoting blunt wording, while the second denoted a question or an emotional phrase. It wasn’t exactly well developed, meaning something like the phrase ‘Interesting!’;

    Could’ve been misread as a sarcastic [‘Interesting?’] gesture. The lack of commas also made long sentences hard and odd-sounding, so many folk-writers often created their own sigils as a replacement for the lack thereof.

 

 

Naming Conventions

Modern-Tsecsars, having taken vast inspiration from the Hanseni-Ruskan people, follow a similar naming structure and similar conventions. Most offspring from the first modern Matron, Viktoriya I, bear Ruskan names.

 

Male Names include;

- Arne: eagle

- Anton: sword-bearing

- August/Augustus: glorious champion   

- Birger: keeper    

- Bjørn: bear      

- Demitrey, Demitriyus: chosen by the heavens

- Erik: absolute ruler   

- Frode: wise and clever 

- Heinrik: cherished son

- Ilya: one of the sun

- Lothar: holy

- Wilfriche: willful, powerful

 

Female Names include --

- Astrid: beautiful, loved

- Adelajda/Adelheid: kin of aengul

- Bodil: penance and fight

- Brynhilda: ready for battle

- Frida: peace

- Gertrud: spear

- Estrid: god and beautiful

- Viktoriya: victorious

- Yrsa: wild or she bear

- Tatyana: innocent

- Ulfhild: wolf or battle

- Åse: goddess

- Vasilia: keeper of the palace

- Zerlina: washer of fabrics

 

The only name to be completely shunned is ‘Solvin’, after Solvin the Craven, a former King of the Citadel, who’d attempted to trade his Kingdom for his wife’s life. Though some hail him as a kindhearted man, most believed Solvin to be the opposite.
 

 

 

Marriage & Courting

Marriage is heavily celebrated within the family, though neither women nor men are more likely or more known to propose. When a Tsecsar hopes to wed, they must seek out the individual’s guardians and bestow the Mother a string of glass beads, and the Father an Elk’s antler. If both were to accept, it’d be taken as a grant to then request marriage from their child.

 

Courting is a lengthy, and expensive process. Gifts of luxurious furs, strings of crystal beads, and other trinkets, for an entire week in hopes to woo their love. Courting multiple people was heavily looked down upon, though no records had ever shown a true punishment.

 

Upon the marriage ceremony, the Bride & Groom would endure a typical Canonist-esque proceeding, with the slightest twist. At the end, a log would be rolled into the courtroom, or wherever the Marriage might’ve been hosted; the couple was then awarded a two-person saw to cut the log in half. The tradition is meant to symbolize how the couple will work together as they face obstacles in their marriage and their life together, as Husband & Wife.  

 

 

 

 

Funerals

When a Tsecsar passes, they’re laid within a wooden boat and given grave offerings, in accordance with their earthly status and profession. These often included beads, pelts, and wooden trinkets of the Mother to guide them into her realm, as the boat was then sailed off, burning and cremating what it held. Cremation Funerals were often held in lakes, to create a more ‘concentrated’ ground of the dead & deceased - giving, what they thought would be a closer connection to the Mother. The water was considered Blessed, where ‘baptisms’ and blessings could be held, later. Many paintings, songs, and poems by the Tsecsar-people include these bastions of spirituality as a nod to their revered Mother. 

 

 

 

 

Clothing

Tsecsar garb is often crafted from furs and skins of elks & bucks for good insolation, decorated in the animal’s antlers as gifts from other family members. Those of higher standing - governmental figures, Matrons/Patrons, et Cetera don paler furs, with a Polar Bear’s pelt often reserved solely for the family’s head.

[Veronica Lewski]

 

Yet some opt for a more Ruskan-styled garb; sarafans, shawls, guskas, from the Kingdom of Hanseni-Ruska. Very, very few don Imperial clothing because of cultural sentiments, though it’s not to say they’d never be seen donning a tailcoat or a tricorn hat in visiting the state. 

 

 

 

 

Heirlooms

Throughout their long history, great smiths forged heirlooms - primarily, weaponry, to be passed throughout the family’s Matriarchs & Patriarchs. These are; 

- Deiavausan’s Thunder; The Mother’s Blade 

- Piety, Oath of the Righteous; The Father’s Blade 

- Titan’s Fury; The Bride’s Hammer  

- Avarice, the Captain’s Vow; Viktoriya’s Triumph  

- and Halycon, Blade of the Grey; Adelheid’s Might.

 

Deviausan’s Thunder, a modern relic, according to more recent tales, was said to have slain thousands of Infernal legionnaires in the Infernal-Demonic war. It thrums with some eldritch energy, rumored to be of Aengulic-Creation - while others only chalk it up to a petty enchantment of sorts.

 

Spoiler

 

 

Piety, Oath of the Righteous, a poleaxe presumably haunted by the ghosts of the Citadel’s past - or, so the Tsecsar’s Matron, Viktoriya I, claims. Those unfortunate enough to wield such a weapon had suffered a vicious rage not long after, causing it to be sealed away as a totem; an attestation of the existence of  harrowed souls.

 

Spoiler

 

Titan’s Fury -- The Bride’s Hammer. A great Maul constructed from the remains of an Orcish spirit’s totem, wreathed in black smog. It represents the Bride’s havoc, as its owner claims, and the destruction that’d ensued as she sought to undo the Mother’s work on the mortal plain. The spirit that’d blessed, or cursed it, perhaps, is still unknown.

 

Spoiler

 

 

Avarice, Captain’s Vow -- Viktoriya’s Triumph. A small medallion crafted from silver, as a testimony to the Matron’s sacrifice and long-standing devotion. During the second trial for a Tsecsar’s Vzrosleniye - in Ruskan, meaning ‘Coming of Age’, the Tsecsar would be adorned with Avarice to encourage them on their last trial, The Mother’s Gaze.

 

Spoiler

 

 

Halycon, Blade of the Grey -- Adelheid’s Might. A shortsword forged from Arcanium, depicting a vast tundra. Though its origins remain unknown the day it’d appeared within their early encampment, their present Matron had taken it as a symbol of Adelheid I, the ‘Leviathan’.

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

Religion

Though in publicity the Tsecsars veil as Canonists, some follow the age-old belief of the Mother and Father.
 

 

As quoted from ancient Skjoldier tomes . . .

“Religion serves as a unifying factor of the continent, with the majority following the doctrine of the Mother and the Father. The Father is generally reviled and unspoken of, believed to be the cause of the plague and general misfortune that has befallen the lands. Because of this, things that are believed to be his “creations” are generally unappreciated, as well. The winter and fall seasons, and the sky, with many of the stars and constellations being entirely unnamed and uncharted…

She [the Mother] went to Father once, and asked him to awake. He did not. After a hundred years, Mother went to him again, and he opened his eyes, but pushed her away. After yet another  hundred years, he finally awoke. Mother pleaded with him, her desire, and eventually he relented.

 

Their work began, Mother moving swiftly to enact her vision, working tirelessly and without rest. Mother made the earth, the land, and the sea. From her hands she wove the dirt together, lifting rocks to make mountains and carving out grooves for the rivers and oceans. From her warmth and presence she made Summer, and Spring. 

 

Father started to make the sky, but after his first attempt did not think it reflected them well enough. So he undid it. After his second attempt, he thought it was too odd and misshapen, and so he undid it. Once he was satisfied with his third and final attempt, placing the stars carefully into curious shapes and playful things, knowing Mother would be delighted. She was, but there was little work left for him. She offered to allow him to make the final two seasons. Father was dumbstruck by her work, jealous at how much of hers would be seen, and not his. His seasons were harsh, beginning with Autumn, to pull the pretty leaves and things off of her trees and plants. He then made winter, and snow, to coat all that she had done with his own, ensuring it was all that would be seen.

 

 Mother then made her first children, and set them out into the world. They flourished and thrived, living happily in her seasons, and struggling during his. Mother spent more and more time with her children. Father grew resentful. He missed his time alone with her. He missed sleeping. The noise of creation kept him awake, and alone.

 

Father then approached Mother, alone, wrenching her away from her precious children for a few moments. He pleaded with her, he was tired, and lonely, and he missed her and his sleep. She scolded him, for his avoidance of her children. She scolded him again, for his refusal to sleep when everyone else slept, for he wanted to appreciate his work on the night sky as no-one else did. She denied his request to leave her children and return to nothing. He returned, again, bringing her proof of her children’s misdeeds, pleading for her to return with him. She denied him, proclaiming that they were imperfect, and that was why she loved them.

 

 Father was furious, unable to see in her children what she saw. So, as she did, he descended to the lands to observe. His travels brought him to a wedding, standing quietly in the back, as the Bride waited patiently at the Altar. Time passed, but the groom did not come. When the Bride fled, only Father followed. She ran, alone, into the frozen tundra, as a Blizzard whipped up around him. Father understood her loneliness, her pain, and he was determined to make her his Bride, in Mother’s stead. 

 

His creation was twisted, however. His love was pulled from jealousy, and rage, and the Bride’s form twisted in his hands, becoming a mockery of Mother: the first Witch Mother. Father’s creation spread quickly throughout the land, bringing ruin and death in its wake. Mother could do little to stop his work, her power drained greatly from the creation of her children.

 

 When Mother finally confronted Father and his Bride, she was struck down without a second thought. Her corpse was propped up in the center of the frozen castle, and became a corrupted source of energy for the Bride, who consumed her godly flesh. With his counterpart missing, Father felt a great emptiness within him. He left his Bride, and returned to sleep eternally, in solitude.

 

The Bride still continues her work, driven by a desire to undo all that had been done by the Mother who came before her."

[From the Skjoldier World Lore submission by No2TypeB.]

 

A loose, but thorough history, and one to fear at that. Tales of Frost Witches and foul Men - tales of hatred and jealousy. Thus, women in their society are often hailed more than men, thought as a symbol of havoc, and thus are ‘lesser’ - though very few are genuinely considered undesirable as such a belief might entail. 

 

 

 

Coming-of-Age

Once the Tsecsar reaches fifteen, they’ve the option to partake in three trials.

 

The Father’s Woe

A test of control, be it of fear or anger. The Tsecsar will often be dangled over large drops, before bears, submerged just below nose-level in water, for a certain duration to gauge their trust in their kin and their ability to reason.

 

The Bride’s Wrath

Once having passed the first trial, they’ll then have to face ‘The Bride’s Wrath’. The Bride - after losing the Father to his woe, sought to destroy the Mother’s work through plaguing it in an eternal cold. The prospecting Tsecsar must face this wrath, and beat it, by enduring the tundra’s cold for a week on their lonesome. Should they return, they’ll then face the third trial.

 

The Mother’s Gaze

The Mother was proud of her creations, despite their flaws and weaknesses. Despite her death, her gaze lingers on upon her children - upon those of the Citadel, especially. The third trial is a test of strength against a fellow Kinsmen, and he who manages to turn the other combatant on his back is deemed triumphant. 

 

Should a Tsecsar pass these three trials, the path to becoming an Eldar opens.

 

 

Food & Agriculture

Meats are the primary food of Tsecsars; for the tundra is too cold and windy to support the growth of crops. Eggs, Sheep, and Pigs are of their primary diet; seafood, though a traditional dish, now rare as they’ve moved inland.

 

Tsecsars have also been known to be fairly proficient wheat farmers, producing a lot of breads and pastries featured in many of their sweeter dishes. Their resourcefulness in farming despite the climate they dwell in has been a constant source of surprise to many who venture into their domain, especially given their current residence.

 

Among the Tsecsar bloodline, many have taken the mantle of a chef at least once in their life, previously even Viktoriya I herself holding the mantle of “Master of the Kitchens,” within the imperial palace courts of the Orenian Empire. This led to the creation of traditional family recipes being made common practice, and something of an heirloom themselves, ensuring the climate of their residence has no bearing over their tastes for the culinary arts.

An aspiring Tsecsar youth will be encouraged to experiment where they may with new flavours and tastes, those who produce edible food are given praise, those who intentionally produce something more toothsome are rewarded abundantly for their contribution to the recipes of the house. Many within their horde had compiled these dishes themselves, to preserve the greatest banquets of the Tsecsars forever, immortalised upon parchment eternally, a well-guarded secret.

 

Matr ór Tsecsars

“Food Of Tsecsars.”

 

Spoiler

Skjoldier’s Broth:

A dish created by the resourceful master cooks among the original gaggle of immigrants deeply homesick from the path they’d strayed to Arcas, simple in nature and composed of ingredients easily sourced from the dissimilar terrain they found themselves in. Usually cloves, wild mushrooms, and nutmeg comprise the flavours of the stew- the protein drawn from a local source of meat, commonly a pair of coneys (wild rabbit) or some kind of elk meat. This dish is known to warm the centre, and to provide a certain kick to one’s food- especially in frigid environments. Usually serves up to 3-4 people depending on the number of animals caught for the practice.

 

Witchroast:

Despite what the name insinuates, this fairly innocent dish has very little remarkable qualities to it, merely the more favoured hearty dish among the snow-dwelling Tsecsars- this meal is usually the centrepiece of many banquets, enough to feed up to 8 people, depending on how good the haul of game is hunted by the kin of the family. One of the most prized avian creatures in Tsecsar cuisine- pheasants are an excellent meat for a warm roast, given the fact that they remain mostly unphased to colder temperatures, similar to the Tsecsars themselves. Served with a fine portion of rosemary stuffed potatoes, usually fried in olive oil- this dish carries substantial flavour and leaves full bellies all ‘round the table.

 

Tsecsar’s Tort:

A traditional dessert among the residents of Thrawcliffe, these exceptionally sweet layered honey cakes usually take hours of preparation, and differ from a standard Medovik Tort in many ways. A family secret has usually been to add a certain pepper to the batch of batter, giving the product a sweet flavour with a certain tangy kick within the aftertaste. These confections are popular for a Tsecsar to wrap and take as a source of sustenance on their longer voyages from the keep.

 

These recipes in particular are among the more iconic and favoured meals presented at the feasts organised by the family, often even gaining the approval of the Family Head after their initial debut, making them an instant repeat at other occasions.

 

 

 

Architecture

Being that they live in the North, and had been Nomadic for nigh four decades, the Tsecsars’ architecture generally consisted of large tents and hastily constructed shacks - though this wasn’t always the case. In times where they’d settle as Hunter-Gatherers, they’d construct homes and turf houses to host their party in. Their characteristic elements were thick walls to protect them from the cold, typically measuring 2 meters thick, and oblong-shaped foundations. The houses were built from stones as wood was scarce on the tundra, typically used only for roofing. These roofs were often multi-layered, and they usually had a tower or spire in the middle of the highest layer of the roof with multiple chimneys and thin holes to allow smoke to escape when heating food or warming the adobe.

[BaseDwelling02]

    Rather than having a ‘palace’ as the Citadel had, a large building would be constructed to serve as a town hall, while also including few amenities for their reigning Matron/Patron. This was to cut time on construction down and reserve materials, whilst also having a primary structure to convene in for governmental affairs.

[Nele-Diel]

 

Wilfrieche II ‘The Reclaimer’

A revered man, and often the very one credited for the Tsecsar’s rise to glory within the Citadel. Though not great & lumbering like his later successors, nor wise and aged like the House’s Eldars, it was said that he was the very soldier to put Solvin in his eternal grave, ending the time of uncertainty in their endangered state. The legend goes on to claim that he’d helped the city rebuild and reform, and later claimed the title as King of the Citadel. These, of course, are old legends - some believed it, and some certainly didn’t.  

 

Brynhilda ‘The Brutus’

‘Brutus’, as her name entails, was a gladiator of vast skill, and more surprisingly, vast knowledge. Though she was slow on her feet, Brynhilda had supposedly reclaimed a small sliver of the Eastern portion of Skjoldier from the Fjarriagua - lost only when she’d been killed in battle, orphaning her two children and leaving one as the Child-Patron of the Tsecsars at a mere 12 years of age.

 

Adelheid I ‘The Scholar’

Despite her infamy within the family line, Adelheid’s true appearance and her merits are unknown. Legends of the woman standing at a great Nine feet tall - of her having four arms - and other wild stories, have muddled accounts of the Matron to where only few of her achievements can be recalled; the creation of Ice-Scrawl, among the most notable. It’s unknown if her successors had despised her, and purposefully exaggerated tales to make the gentle giant seem dull and blood-lusting, or if they’d simply revered her and exaggerated tales to make her seem greater than she’d once been. Because of the sudden lack of scribed history, it’s thought that the Tsecsars had gone into hiding for centuries on end - only reappearing in Arcas in the early 1720’s.

 

Viktoriya I ‘The Undauntable’

[IrenHorrors]

A giant among Mankind, Dame Viktoriya Tsecsar I. Until the Tsecsar’s banishment from the Empire of Man, their family lived unheard of - yet, following the punishment, they faced a great ‘boom’ in population. Over a dozen children and hundreds of tales of conquest against the Daemonic, the ‘tall’ tale set off to reclaim her bloodline and reunite those of the Tsecsar blood.

 

 

---

 

 

HELLO! And thank you so much for reading!

This has been my first ever *super* big post, and my first lore/family lore post as well. Vik’s really been my only ever character to take off, so I figured I’d cement her family and their past in a post. 

 

All but one section was written by me [TreeSmoothie!]

The awesome portion on Tsecsar Tsecsarian? Food was written by the one and only, Benjibot!