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• Mrenkulkja are seafarers who sail the remaining northern oceans as both fishermen and raiders Their numbers in these dark days are unknown, but they once dominated the waves with enormous fleets of oaken ships • Vallitag are Nordran marriage brokers, a profession respected and feared • Karhuna are rugged wildermen who train bears and wolves to their bidding Karhuna are individualists who protect their privacy • Urshkarl are urshevan handlers and trainers, skilled in trapping them while young and keeping them alive in captivity • Kotkarl are “eagle seers” who use them to scout and send messages; eagles are symbols of strength among the Nordor • Skaal are “woe-weavers” or tale-spinners with at least one in each generation having psychic abilities, whether as a Sarhak, Trakeen, or a Shadazim Customs & Culture The northern lands are as harsh as the south in many ways, though for different reasons, and the means to survive there are as varied as the terrain The Nordor prize the individuality necessary to make one’s way in the wilderness, and respect initiative and cleverness As a result, their traditions are localized, not spread across the tribe as a whole, and their tolerance for different beliefs and lifestyles is high Just as there are many types of snow, so too are the Nordor across the north Not surprisingly, the tribesmen distrust all non-Nordor, though they are mostly tolerant of outsiders One must earn their trust and, once lost, it is nearly impossible to win it back The Nordor greet each other with long, deep embraces, ostensibly to give each one time to whisper their name and a formal greeting to the other, but essentially the action is to exchange body heat When hunting, Nordor gorge on a kill that cannot be preserved, to the point of lethargy and food-induced sleep Hoarding food is a taboo; if it is available, then everyone deserves at least enough food to not starve, though repeated freeloaders are not tolerated Marriage without the approval of a Vallitag is forbidden, and the old marriage brokers can be especially stubborn or procrastinating at times, to the exasperation of young Nordran lovers Youths of both genders must survive a week in the frozen wilderness (or sail across a frozen sea) to attain adulthood Failure in the endeavor brings shame to the family, so some elect self-banishment and wander south in search of other fortunes rather than fail their families Elderly moth56 ers and grandmothers recite the record of each family and its deeds, loves, and losses weekly The song takes on new exaggerations and twists over the generations, but it is rude to dismiss or challenge a song’s contents, no matter how far fetched the tales Blood feuds darken many Nordor communities, generations old with no sign of abeyance Insults are taken hard and kin stick together against adversaries Once a slight has been offered or a taboo breached, they revert to stubborn ways and attitudes Nordor make slaves of captives, as slavery is the punishment for military failure This failure does not extend to the children of slaves, so subsequent generations are born free Such slaves are put to difficult and untouchable tasks, and their lot in life is unpleasant at best The Nordor proudly carry forward the ways of their ancestors: • Stone Builders: Nordor are master stone builders and their quarries supply all manner of marble, granite, sandstone, and other building materials They erect truly massive walled cities in the distant north, far from the paths of many southern visitors (which is why most think the Nordor not very civilized, having only seen their wandering encampments) • Skilled Miners: Nordran miners dig deep into the bowels of the earth, and so fearlessly They also excavate enormous underground caverns as complex and massive as their cities, creating domains of magnificent splendor far greater than first presumed when encountered from above or below • Taulu Manuals: The Nordran Taulu (tablets) are the original stone manuals of collected lore on mining and construction, their tribe’s essential crafts These actual stone tablets, older than 100 generations, hold a cult-like status and are well guarded, secure in the mountain fastness of Pohjos-Paika • Cremation: Nordor cremate their dead, their bodies lashed to wooden crosses and set alight on the fifth dawn after their passing • Birth Gifts: Any new birth heralds a gift-giving ceremony from the family to everyone of importance to them in the community • Shadow Cognizance: Nordor never let their shadow fall on a known superior—an insult punishable by dismissal or thrashing among military ranks • Boneshards: There are Nordor Boneshards who stash weapons beneath the skins of the urshaven mounts Of Great Dragons & Glaciers Of all the human tribes, the Nordor harbor the least concerns over the absence of the Dragon Kings Those few who held sway over the northern lands allowed

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