Savage Lands – Asthalia Wyrldica

Table of Contents

The Savage Lands

This misnomer “Savage Lands” persists despite everyone pretty much knowing it isn’t true or accurate. Far to the northwest of the Empire, the nomadic nations of Hyboria and Kahokia have a colorful, strange, and peculiar history that is isolated and distinct from the Empires for the most part.

Hyborians are a people who were created to ensure that life survived, and they carry both that and an insatiable curiosity about the world around them in their hearts.

Kahokians are the descendants of folks who stepped off the Bitter Road and traveled a different bleak journey that tested and honed them in the cold steppes they found themselves in once they escaped the rare pass.

When many folks say “savage lands”, they conjure in their minds the ideas of barbaric peoples who live lives of struggle and survival, lacking social graces and without the benefit of civilized amenities. It is not what the Savage lands are – those who hail from them call them the Steppes, and their peoples Nomads, and while they do indeed tend to wear furs and such, they also brought more knowledge of dyes and pigments to the Empire than there were before the peace was made, and they are no more feral or wild than some of the small Hamlets in the Boonies are.

They are both nomadic peoples, traveling seasonally in large family groups, but in both cases they have a single fixed settlement that is now occupied year round, though at once time it was only found during the heavy winters.

Over the centuries, wanders, outlaws, explorers, and more have mixed and mingled with these people, so they are not all of one sort or another, and like the Bright Lands, one could meet a Myrmidon or a Dwarf whose homeland is one of the two Nomad nations, though not as likely as one is to meet a Therian or Dakoan.

Hyboria

Introduction

All Therian originally come from Hyboria, those mysterious and barely known savage lands, but how they got to the Bright Lands is always a tale – even if they were born in it.

Hyborians live in Camps, essentially hyper-extended family networks derived from seven origin families for each Brood. Each kind of Hyborian is a separate Sect, and they mostly stick to a given sect, but are not entirely limited to such. Located on the shores of the Sea of Far Wandering, between two broad rivers, lies the Grand Camp, the Heart of Hyboria, the Palace of the Plains: Hyboria Proper. It is relatively sparsely populated much of the time, as the sects all have territories to which they stay, hunting some six dozen different herds that move throughout the region and living off the strangely edible everythings that are there.

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Hyborians do not farm. They do fish (it is very popular among Harrier and Panther Sects), and they are semi-sedentary, moving from time to time in their articular territories that all more or less bump up against each other. Hyboria is a common meeting ground, used for celebrations, festivals, dispute settlements, and now commerce, with the merchants coming north from Sibola on their way to Many Bridges or back.

Hyboria is also where they have many things that do not travel well, such as the great Forge, which is a massive building that houses seven forges (one of which is always cold). There are also some Ovens. And, of course, Hyboria proper is where those who are not Therian tend to live for the overwhelming majority. It is the trade station for Hyboria, and a way stop on the way to Many Bridges and from there to the Tents of Kahokia.

Features

Sect Lands

Hyboria’ s lands are generally divided into slightly overlapping territories by the sects, with each one (Whisper, Vulcan, Serpent, Harrier, Panther, and Swift) avoiding the others except when they meet or they travel to the large, permanent camp of Hyboria itself, which is a kind of neutral ground.

Different sects may be composed of all sorts of the variants of Therian people, and even include non-therians but the sect is dominated by a given type, and that determines much of it.

Legacy

The vast, rolling plains of Hyboria, flat but for the pop of a tree or the rustle of the grasses, are known as the lands where the Powers That Be placed their desperate for the survival of life on the world during the God’s war.

That hope, as strange as it may seem to us and as weighted with insult as it can be, was the seven Sects of the therians. One of those sects is lot and mostly forgotten. The remaining six are all a bunch of tough, hardy, adorable people who have forged a way of life in an area that is even less tamed than the wilds in the Empire.

To many in the empire, Hyboria sounds like either a pastoral wonderland or a nightmarish hellscape filled with wild and poisonous animals and terrifying Mekaniks. The truth is that it is both, and for a thousand years the Sects have made it their home.

They are a hardy, curious, vital people, who care little about the Empire and its ways.

Attitude

Hyborians are a gregarious, sometimes violent people who seek challenge and adventure. Really.

They see every day as a survival contest, them against the world, and they will take their adventures back to their knot and their brood and share the tale in words and dance and often elaborate stories that frequently seem to have parts from other stories sneak into them. Some have described Hyborians as fearless people, given to acts that would make another shudder. Things like the young Panther girl who found a sinkhole that was so deep the bottom could not be seen and after a talk to explore it, simply jumped into the hole.

Others will claim that this is a kind of mental lack on their part, but it is quite different. Hyborians are devoted to survival, and a part of that is knowing one’s limits, and few people are as adept at testing their own limits as they are. They are Daring, curious, courageous, and committed people who can find just as much joy surviving the Great Plains as they can some deep delving or an expedition to the Underdark.

They live mostly in the moment, and as a result rarely carry much animosity with them, except when they are treated like pets or children as adults.

Most Hyborian are ultimately considered cute by Imperial society collectively. This means that they are treated as if they were pets, or animals, or children, with people bending over to pet them without asking or even acknowledging them. Their small stature makes it difficult for them to move around in Imperial society (everything is built for larger people), and they are often treated as children, since even their adult forms seem to possess “cute” features.

Lifestyle

The typical Hyborian day is generally going to involve either preparation to move to the next seasonal camp (they move by seasons, always heading towards Hyboria first, where they camp in clusters outside the “official” borders), taking care of chores and children, preparing and eating food, and then either some sort of useful craft or hunting and gathering. There is not much beyond that, but just that alone can be filled with enough interesting things.

Hyborians focus on what they are doing, throwing their all into whatever it is, and they are always seeking a way to adapt, to overcome, to make something more useful.

This can cause quite a challenge when dealing with the young, who are apt to pick things bigger than they are ready and need to be guided. But this is why they have Elders, for outside of the governing expert, Elders serve to teach and bring about the growth of each person, hoping to draw the best of them out and make that what guides them.

Historically, save that period when they raided the people during the Bitter Road, they have succeeded.

Family

Hyborians have two or four children at a time, and mixed pairs will always result in children who take after one or the other, never a mix of the two. It is through this that the different Sects manage to not have a state of constant war, as the Brood of one sect may include children from a different Sect, and they have an ancient custom of only killing those who are different form them, never the same.

Hyborians fall in love and get married, with some marriages having as many as five partners. They will set their individual shelters of the adults in close proximity, or perhaps even disassemble them and create a larger one, but always int eh same tall, pointed style with a hearth in the center. Hyborian Families are called Knots. Their family is always built around a common core of people, and they are known to be affectionate and to stay close when they have children.

Within the Camps, however, they are a broad people, and while there is a great deal of history and often animosity between Sects and Broods, it is not uncommon for love to cross those lines, and it never seems to be seen as hurting anything. They do always go to the husband’s family – though who is the husband is not always a simple thing. Hyborians stay together for life. No one can seem to recall a time when any Hyborian ever divorced. Hyborian inheritance is always by the youngest, because by the time the parents pass on, they have always given the basics to the older kids, and the youngest is expected to stay and take care of the parents.

Government

Each brood or Sect is led by a group of the three eldest from Men, Shamans, and Women. They will often each have a second who accompanies them and cares for them (and often becomes one themselves in due time). It always passes to the eldest, and they count by moons, following primarily Coyola.

This Council of Elders listens to all sides in disputes, all thoughts from those who choose to speak on matters before the whole and will consult among themselves. They meet at the full moon of Coyola each month, and each meeting begins with the decisions of the prior meeting before moving on to new business. For disputes among two different Sects or Broods, they meet quarterly on the full moon of Sina at Hyboria properly, and a hold on resolution s set until the following season. Aside from that, they generally follow the laws as given, and follow the ancient edict that began Hyboria: Survive. Adapt. Overcome.

Commerce

Education

Hyborians are stunningly quick at growing up — the fastest of all the peoples. An adult Hyborian is ready to go at ten years of age, fully grown at three feet (five feet for Serpents), and willing to tackle the world. Hyborians are very high energy and seek to explore everything in their own particular ways. Hyborian say both that they were given the gift of life by the Gods, and it is short, so they do not waste any of it, as they have so much energy that they burn out faster than the other peoples.

As a result, Hyborian education is as comprehensive as it can be in critical needs – which may be reading and writing if they head into that kind of a field. Otherwise, they are raised by their parents and taught the essential rules and skills of surviving the plains and staying with the Camps.

Culture

Arts

Values

Hyborians value the community over the individual, the Knot over the Brood, the Brood over the Sect, the Sect over all the rest. Those of their personal knot are people they feel tied to, for good or bad, and they will always accept them fully, flaws and all, for that is the nature of a bond. Hyborian also value anything fun, though what they consider fun is almost always something exciting, dangerous, foolish, or loud.

Nobility Fashion

The presumption that a people like these are could have a sense of style or fashion is something those of us from the Empire tend to find at the very least mockable.

They generally wear breeches and shirts, with boots, and they have a focus on fit and practicality over any kind of actual sense of style.

Which is not to say they lack it – they most certainly do have a strong sense of style.

Culture Heroes

Daget: A legendary hero who was followed around by an Incarnate that “came from the stars” named Buk something. Daget was said to be such a potent Vulcan that he was able to stop a Skystone from destroying the Great Camp, Hyboria proper.

Raftalia: A member of the Harrier sect, she was famous for traveling with (and eventually marrying) an Incarnate Runewright who was summoned from another world.

Miciru: A Swift sect member who help uncover a plot by a trader to bring in an occupying army and attempt to conquer Hyboria as a vassal state of Durango.

Weapons & Armor

Hyborians are known for wearing the thick, treated and cured and shaped hides of some of the creatures that can be found on their plains, including the Dreadnaughts. They shape it like clothing and wrap it to quiet it for hunts.

The common weapon of a Hyborian are a thin bladed, recurved weapon not unlike a sickle, with eh edge on the inside, a form of short sword, that is sometimes so flexible it more resembles a fencing or dueling weapon used in practice. Designed and made by the great Smithy of Hearthka, it is a weapon that matches the warriors’ strengths. It is called a Kukris, and is often paired with a small, tightly curved knife that resembles a claw, called a Sharambit. Both weapons are particularly useful in the tight and close combat favored.

With that they also use slings, and something called a bola. The slings are typically used to fire small, spiked forms, often cut from quartz or obsidian, dangerously sharp. The Bolas are a set of three weighted stones tied together by long cords that they spin up and hurl at the legs of larger creatures to down them or foul a strike by an opponent.

Watching three Harriers take down a zedeer in a herd in less than 20 beats is an experience that will always leave one with a lot more respect for them. No matter how cute they are.