Barbarian Lands of the Known Realms
Posted: Sat Oct 28, 2006 10:50 am
So I'm looking over the Gazetteer, and putting together a list of barbarian peoples and their archetypes, and here's what I've found so far:
Northlands
Ashoch Elves: Barbarian elves that seek to slay non-elves in the Mirdar Forest.
Barbarians of the Frost Barrens: No mention of Vikings, and are savage and technologically backward (living in huts and caves), so probably like early Teutonic/Germanic tribes.
Cinai: Historical Picts, Celts, and Gaels, Howard's Cimmerians. Probably related to the civilized peoples of Thire.
Ferahn Forest: Tribes of goblins, orcs, and barbaric elves (notably, these elves are not mentioned in the Elven Nations entry).
Icenwastes Tribes: Savage humanoids, unorganized cousins of the Scourge to the south. The ancestors of the Scourge, the tribes that took the Mirdar-Luminor Plains, appear to have driven a wedge between the northern tribes ages ago, which resulted in the tribe of the Wintermere being separated from their cousins in the Frost Barrens.
Myrwych Elves: Another savage elven tribe that hunt the Horrors of Zamon.
Saramanthians: Huns, Mongols, and Easterlings, with a dash of Orc. Descended from the Abylosians and the Uru'Nuk.
Savages of Nos Caen: Howardian Picts, riding big boars. Possibly related to the Cinai, as their people and culture once spanned the Northlands.
Scourge: Huns, Mongols, and Easterlings, with a whole lotta Orc. Are the Scourge and the Saramanthians related? Perhaps the Uru'Nuk were a humanoid (goblinoid and orc) peoples, and when the Abylossians invaded the lands of the Druid Kings, they brought Uru'Nuk peoples with them. These evolved into the tribes of the Mirdar-Luminor Plains, and they eventually migrated north, driving the wedge between the northern human tribes.
Trolltooth Tribes: Savage ogres, goblins, and stone giants.
Urkallan Hills: Kobold and ogre tribes.
Wild Tribes: Human and gobhlinoid savages of the Wild Wood.
Wintermere Tribes: A pale-skinned tribe, perhaps related to the peoples of the Frost Barrens, inhabit the Wintermere Forest.
All the major European-style barbarians are represented... Celt, Germanic, and Hun. If the current threat of the Scourge is not enough, I might add a development among the Frost Barbarians of the Bay of Asur... perhaps the Asurian tribes have developed seafaring capabilities like the Vikings, and now threaten Crieste and the lands along the Lirean Sea directly! Hmm...
Southlands
Chiauhtli Lizardfolk: Nomadic lizardfolk inhabit this swamp.
Oddly, no human barbarians, as the Xumecs are civilized, if "primitive" by Northlands standards. I'd say, however, that minor savage tribes exist in the lands between the central regions controlled by each city state. After all, the peninsula is pretty darn big!
Then, too, there is the "Nameless Land" north of the Isle of Tarras. It looks perfect for placement of tribes related to the Xumec, but who never fell under the domination of the Nagas. Algonquian perhaps, maybe Iroquois in culture.
Lostlands
Bugbear Hordes of the Burned Lands: Though these guys seem to be from somewhere else... where is not said.
Gadjarrians: Semi-civilized Halfling gypsies with more than a dash of Bedouin.
Ghetrian Tribes: Desert tribes of humans and halflings, probably again, Bedouin.
Giants and Trolls: Tribes are said to inhabit the Pearl Spires and the Herennia Mountains (however, the Herennia Mountains are supposed to have been cleared of dangerous creatures by the dwarves of Taijin).
Gnolls: Roving tribes of gnolls inhabit the Mountains of the Fifth Prince.
Vermillion Tribes: Elven Bedouin.
Xyr Muthal: Savage, atavistic tribes.
Northlands
Ashoch Elves: Barbarian elves that seek to slay non-elves in the Mirdar Forest.
Barbarians of the Frost Barrens: No mention of Vikings, and are savage and technologically backward (living in huts and caves), so probably like early Teutonic/Germanic tribes.
Cinai: Historical Picts, Celts, and Gaels, Howard's Cimmerians. Probably related to the civilized peoples of Thire.
Ferahn Forest: Tribes of goblins, orcs, and barbaric elves (notably, these elves are not mentioned in the Elven Nations entry).
Icenwastes Tribes: Savage humanoids, unorganized cousins of the Scourge to the south. The ancestors of the Scourge, the tribes that took the Mirdar-Luminor Plains, appear to have driven a wedge between the northern tribes ages ago, which resulted in the tribe of the Wintermere being separated from their cousins in the Frost Barrens.
Myrwych Elves: Another savage elven tribe that hunt the Horrors of Zamon.
Saramanthians: Huns, Mongols, and Easterlings, with a dash of Orc. Descended from the Abylosians and the Uru'Nuk.
Savages of Nos Caen: Howardian Picts, riding big boars. Possibly related to the Cinai, as their people and culture once spanned the Northlands.
Scourge: Huns, Mongols, and Easterlings, with a whole lotta Orc. Are the Scourge and the Saramanthians related? Perhaps the Uru'Nuk were a humanoid (goblinoid and orc) peoples, and when the Abylossians invaded the lands of the Druid Kings, they brought Uru'Nuk peoples with them. These evolved into the tribes of the Mirdar-Luminor Plains, and they eventually migrated north, driving the wedge between the northern human tribes.
Trolltooth Tribes: Savage ogres, goblins, and stone giants.
Urkallan Hills: Kobold and ogre tribes.
Wild Tribes: Human and gobhlinoid savages of the Wild Wood.
Wintermere Tribes: A pale-skinned tribe, perhaps related to the peoples of the Frost Barrens, inhabit the Wintermere Forest.
All the major European-style barbarians are represented... Celt, Germanic, and Hun. If the current threat of the Scourge is not enough, I might add a development among the Frost Barbarians of the Bay of Asur... perhaps the Asurian tribes have developed seafaring capabilities like the Vikings, and now threaten Crieste and the lands along the Lirean Sea directly! Hmm...
Southlands
Chiauhtli Lizardfolk: Nomadic lizardfolk inhabit this swamp.
Oddly, no human barbarians, as the Xumecs are civilized, if "primitive" by Northlands standards. I'd say, however, that minor savage tribes exist in the lands between the central regions controlled by each city state. After all, the peninsula is pretty darn big!
Then, too, there is the "Nameless Land" north of the Isle of Tarras. It looks perfect for placement of tribes related to the Xumec, but who never fell under the domination of the Nagas. Algonquian perhaps, maybe Iroquois in culture.
Lostlands
Bugbear Hordes of the Burned Lands: Though these guys seem to be from somewhere else... where is not said.
Gadjarrians: Semi-civilized Halfling gypsies with more than a dash of Bedouin.
Ghetrian Tribes: Desert tribes of humans and halflings, probably again, Bedouin.
Giants and Trolls: Tribes are said to inhabit the Pearl Spires and the Herennia Mountains (however, the Herennia Mountains are supposed to have been cleared of dangerous creatures by the dwarves of Taijin).
Gnolls: Roving tribes of gnolls inhabit the Mountains of the Fifth Prince.
Vermillion Tribes: Elven Bedouin.
Xyr Muthal: Savage, atavistic tribes.