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The Ten Tribes of the Oak

The Ten Tribes have long been residents of the area, united in common worship of the Elder Oak, a great Forest Spirit. While individually unique, each of the tribes shared a common heritage and roots -- different branches of the family tree, sharing the same ancestral songlines where they fled from the site of a great diaster.

With the coming of the Loggers of Farhold, however, the Tribes were abandoned by Elder Oak. Some of the tribes have tried to regain the favor of their former totem, others seek new totems while a few others are as yet unsure what to do. Into this tumultous situation came a great Shifting God from the Songlines that the tribes ancestors had once walk...

the Tribes of the Moon

Once the smallest of the tribes, the Red Scars are known as one of the most violent and warlike of the tribes, located far to the East where they hug the bases of the great trees with their small villages, which move with the changings of the seasons. Always loyal and fierce defenders of the Forest at the behest of Elder Oak, keeping their skills at war well-honed through ceremonial warfare with their fellow tribes and raids against the civilized folk, the very core of the Tribe withered and died with the abandonment of the Tribes by the great spirit.

The Red Scars were lost in depression, alternatively wallowing in bloody raids and seeking out additional totems. Of all the tribes, none took the loss of their spiritual patronage more harshly -- the very reason for their lifestyle had been ripped from them, and the fact that it was lost to the hands of their enemies was even more disgusting to them. Thus, the Red Scars were deeply affected -- yet, it was not this that let Dark Eyes to their lands. The Red Scars stood guardian over the ancient Songlines that the ancestors had walked, and when Dark Eyes came to the Lands of the Ten Tribes he walked those lines -- the Red Scars were thus the first to question the savage shifting animal god, and the first to rally under his banner and prepare for war. First, against their fellow tribes, and then against the weak civilized folk of Farhold. Dark Eyes has told them what must be done and they are eager to please this new God and gain his favor.

Nor are the Red Scars alone; the Get of the Tigress had always been close allies and friends of the Red Scars, living even further from the River and the Ancient Songlines but often helping the Red Scars with raid and sacred duties. The two tribes waged Ceremonial War quite often, each keeping the warriors of the others well trained and honed -- the bonds that bind the two tribes were strong, so when the Red Scars approached them with news of their new God the Chieftan of the Get of the Tigress listened. The more they heard, the more they liked...

The Get had always been warlike, even more so than the Red Scars. While they are not as religious or devoted as the Red Scars, they are eager to bring blood and death to the invaders from the Scavenger Lands and to test their might against the other Tribes that will not accept their words. They have also gained a powerful patron, in the elder God, and sacrifice to him often during their hunts and rites. While the Lunar stays in the care of the Red Scars, he often visits the Get of the Tigress to use the other tribe as his gauntlet. While the others train and prepare, he sends war parties of the Get out to raid the Logging Camps and even some of the slaving tribes. Already, the other tribes of the land have learned that they must fear the war-parties of the Get of the Tigress as they never had to do before...

...the Devil Braids were among the first to learn this lesson. A river-dwelling tribe, always living on the banks of the Maruto River, the Tribe was perhaps more prepared than many others when they were abandoned. Since they had always lived on the bounty of the river, their Canoes even ranging up to the civilized city to trade, they were familiar with it's Goddess -- abandoned by their totem, they sought to gain a new one in the Emerald Waters Queen! Yet, such a goal was lost, when the Red Scars learned of it...for the Devil Braids had no use for the great Dark Eyes and his patronage, and the Red Scars took this as a direct insult.

The Get of the Tigress joined their brother tribe in teaching the Devil Braids the mistake they had made, to trust the spirit of the water over the ancient and terrible God that they had allied themselves with. Lightning fast raids brought death, and finally a war party led by Dark Eyes himself broke into the tribes main village. The God himself slew the head chieftan, taking his blood into his own and feeding the blood of the shamans into the River. Now the Devil Braids live under the rule of the Red Scar and the God Dark Eyes -- preparing for war, and serving their Totem.

The Slaving Tribes

The Green Shadow had been a relatively peaceful tribe that tended to the Forest and the Oaks that make it up, protecting it from all the Myriad threats that awaited it. Shamans warded off dangerous Gods, the Dead, and even the Wyld. The people of the tribe lived through foraging, living off the bounty of the Forest itself, eating no animal that lived within it's bounds. When the Loggers from Farhold first came, the Green Shadow came out of the shadows of the Night and slew them with silent garoutes -- dragging their bodies to the center of great groves and cutting their necks open so that the life-giving blood could feed the trees. When the Elder Oak abandoned the Green Shadow, the tribe was devestated even more so than the Red Scar! All their effort focused on regaining the favor of their Totem.

The Axe of Judgement lived near the lands of the Grand Shadow, closer to the River, living in congress with the Forest and protecting it from anyone who entered into its embrace. They kept the ancient law of the forest, and many of the other tribes looked to the Shamans of the Axe of Judgement for wisdom on the ancient lore and wisdom of their people. They assisted the Red Scar in their raids, and the Green Shadow in their tending to the Forest, but in truth were closer to neither. Of all the tribes, the Axe of Judgement were the least affected by their abandonment by the Elder Oak. The Shamans consulted their legends and tales for a week, and then sought wisdom from where they could find it.

The Axe of Judgement were the first to discover that, while they had lost the Favor of the Elder Oak, the loggers of Farhold had gained it. When the Green Shadow discovered this, they fell into imitation of the 'new rites' that the men of Farhold had discovered -- cutting down trees and floating them down the River. The Axe of Judgement digged deeper, watching the loggers, capturing some of them and torturing them for information, and even sending men to the walled town of Farhold -- these men brought with them captives, who had been captured in the ceremonial war of the various Tribes. One of the first things that they discovered is that these captives gained them a fair amount of wealth from the merchants within Farhold, in silver and riches they had not seen before.

Now, the Axe of Judgement launches more raids on their neighoring tribes as the chieftans and warriors try to go rich off slaving. The Green Shadow have taken up the practice as well, but not as heavily; instead preferring to learn the new 'arts' of the Loggers, and the deeper details of how the Shamans of Farhold gained the attention and patronage of Elder Oak -- still hopeful of gaining back his favor.

The Cursed Tribes

The Bone Faces live between the lands of the Green Shadow and the Get of the Tigress, having always engaged in hunting and lived a largely comfortable lifestyle under the patronage of the Elder Oak. The Wolf Eyes tribe inhabits the most northern reaches of the Forest, while the Endless Branch dwell closer to the River and were brothers to the Devil Braids. Both tribes are known for their semi-permanent dwellings, and their fine woodcarving and other such delicate art. All three tribes enjoyed a fair amount of prosperity and safety under their former Totem. None were intimately connected in the worship and rites of the totem, however; they had their purposes, but they were secondary to survival itself. Thus, when the Elder Oak abandoned them they simply sought out new Totems -- with varying degrees of success.

The tribes regarded as Cursed have suffered under their ignorance of the Spirits. Unschooled in the vagaries of other Gods, they stumble and make offense when trying to gain patrons -- yet, knowing no other option, they accept the punishments hurled upon them as chiminage and hope only for the opportunity to prove their worthiness. The way of life of these tribes has broken down considerably, due to the simple fact that they must not struggle for something that they previously took advantage of with very little work on their part.

Other things than Gods, of course, stalk the tribes. Especially the Wolf Eyes, who have suffered extensively from the predations of the Fair Folk. Their shamans, directionless, can offer little protection and -- unknowing -- often invite the Dreamstealers in, thinking them protectors. The two slaving Tribes have preyed horribly on the Cursed, while the Tribes of the Moon have taken their own toll as well.

The South-Bank Tribes

Located on the far Southern Edge of the Maruto river, separate from the great bulk of the Ten Tribes, the Sky Runners and the Nine Ravens have always been quite close -- forced to cooperate and work together by the effective separation of the mighty rivers bank from the rest of their kin. In these times, those bonds have grown even closer.

The Sky Runners always served a position somewhat close to that of the Green Shadows, tending to the forest and performing the necessary rites. The Nine Ravens, on the other hand, were the analog for the Red Scars -- defenders and guardians of the Forest. Each tribe, due to their overlapping territory, shared authority and responcibilities more readily. After all, they had to cover a lot more land by themselves!

In their isolation from the totems, the South Bank Tribes have been cautious so far -- looking for other totems, while not throwing themselves into the uncaring worship of other divnities like the Cursed Tribes. They have heard, and even suffered to some extent, of the excesses of the Tribes of the Moon and the Slaving Tribes, but their isolation has saved them to no small degree. For the time being, the two tribes marry even closer together and prepare to defend themselves while they watch and decide which side to join or if they should tend to their own affairs.