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the Lanji Nation

An Overview of the People of Lanji

The Lanji Nation is located in the far north, near the edge of the White Sea and along the borders of the Elemental Pole of Air. A large winding mountain chain, topped with ice and gorged with glaciers many aeons ago, is inhabited by a hardy folk who survive in this verdent and forbidding landscape. Small villages of no more than 600 people fill the valleys, sometimes two or three in a given area, separated from their neighbors by mountain passes that are closed by snow for most of the year.

Even through this intrinsic separation, the various villages of the Lanji remain separated and whole in spirit. When the snow thaws and the passes are open, many of the folk who live in these isolated homes make a pilgrimage to the one city of their people -- where they share stories, drink ale and warm themselves by the fires. These meetings help to forge the Lanji into a cohesive whole, and shape the lives of those who attend them ever afterwards. Sometimes man and woman are joined at such meetings, and a new member of the village travels back to her new home. Othertimes two great warriors forge bonds of friendships that prove vital when war and danger threaten the mountain villages.

Not all of the Lanji are so settled, however.

A number of small nomadic tribes also roam the lands, herding caribou and following their flocks. When the snows block off the passes, they set up small huddled camps near their herds and pass the winter in the manner of their ancestors. Yet they do not do such alone, for there is almost always a village somewhere nearby -- trading meat and furs for some of the bounty of the village, the two related folk mingle and celebrate in a more subdued but just as important ritual bonding themselves together.

Thus, wide and scattered Lanji exist...separate, but whole.

the Lanji Nation, geographic features

The Lanji Mountains straddle the edge of the ice flows, in many cases disappearing under the great mass of crackling ice that flows through the northern most portions of the landscape. Indeed, climbing the steep mountains of Lanji is the second best way to reach the Great White North and it's desert of snow and ice. The best method, of course, being the taking of a Haslanti Airship to the solitary League outpost on the glacier (the Haslanti Gas Mines).

These mountain ranges twist and cut through the landscape, jutting up toward the sky in Earth's final reproach against Air. Most of them linger on for a thousand miles or so, dividing the landscape into valleys that look vaguely like shelves. Some of these effectively isolate each other totally (both ends digging into icy glaciers), but most gradually die into foothills and rolling grazing land -- allowing the traveler to pull north and head up into another shelf. However, this is hardly a shortcut -- the trip across the freezing snow-covered valley inevitably takes months, and some never return at all. During the few summer months, when the rare passes between the valleys are open, they are used instead. Due to the danger, the lengthier trip down the shelf is typically not attempted unless the situation is dire.

The shelves tend to be lengthy, but fairly thin. Several is there more than a hundred miles or so between one mountain range and the next up in the shelf, and much of that land is filled with foothills, ravines and canyons. Some such offer shelter from blizzard and harsh weather, so travelers tend to stick in the buffer between flat land and the mountains. Even more rarely, for those especially familiar with the landscape, are the numerous caves that cut into the chill mountains. These mazy underground passages are tombs for the unwary; it's not uncommon for one to wander the twisting landscape for weeks before emerging back into the same shelf you entered...not always from the same cave face, either! Sometimes those who wander too deep never emerge, and a few have even hinted that some caves provide entrance into the Underworld. Even rarer are caves that, if one knows the proper path, lead to the next shelf. Where they exist and are widely known, these caves provide more constant passage through the range and into the next valley.

The land between the mountain ranges, the 'shelf' itself in common parlance, is typically quite fertile. Most host rivers and lakes caused by runoff from the mountains, and villages are typically built near such. Some are more barren, but are still used as fodder for the herds of caribou. Snow is omnipresent here, except in the brief summer months. Other than bare plains, lakes and rivers other features are common as well. Some forests cling to the shelves, most notable of all Everwinter Forest. Located in the last shelf, furthest to the North, filling the entire shelf in a dense forest of ice-covered trees. No Lanji villages live there, for it is inhospitable -- the winter never ends, in Everwinter, and while game is plentiful it is also deadly -- predators of all nature lurk in the woods, and hunt man as eagerly as their normal prey. Any attempt to clear the forest fails; the attempted settlers vanished into the wood, never to be seen again.

the Lanji Nation, towns and villages =

Most shelves boost a number of villages, typically five or so. The numbers grow fewer the further north one travels, but seldom get any more populous than that except along the northern shore of the White Sea itself (which hosts 9 villages, and a Haslanti city). Villages support themselves through farming, which is vital to the survival of any village -- the growing season is painfully short, and if enough food is not stored away for the winter famine is inevitable. More than a few ruined settlements or shadowlands have emerged in such dark times. Due to the short growing season, most villages supplement their supplies with fishing (even iced over, the lakes can yield a bounty) or a bit of light hunting. Those villages lucky enough to have a caribou herding tribe nearby during the winter typically do better than others, but generally a Lanji village survives the winter well enough.

Each village is home to about 300-700 villagers, arranged into 'clans' of 50 (as an average; some are smaller, others are much larger), which are split into individual families. The clans are divided along familial lines, and typically descend from the heroic individuals (whose exploits are recalled in song and tale) who founded the village. The wives of the most powerful families, who in turn form a council that looks over the entire village, lead each clan. This council doesn't rule, however, but instead picks one of the strongest and most powerful warriors or hunters of the village to rule as the Jargang. The males are typically seen as the leaders, acting through the advice of their mates, who wield most of the real power in the villages. Lineage is matrilineal.

The largest by far of these settlements, located in one of the shelves loosely considered 'in the middle', is the City of "Northgale". Home to nearly 2000 people, Northgame serves as the destination point for the Lanji pilgrims that make the trek every summer. The city boosts some of the mightiest clans in the Nation, and numerous landmarks shared in villages throughout the mountains grasp such as the Hall of Oriner and the Palace of the North. The Palace is home to Raventalon, the God of Settlement, the Frontier, and Exploration. Long regarded as the patron of the Lanji, Raventalon keeps the bounty of Northgale a bit steadier. While famine is not unknown, for Raventalon is a harsh god who does not want his follows to grow reliant on his support, the city itself can reliably feed it's overly large population. Some who come here do not wish to return to their meager villages, and some in fact do not.

The Heroes of the Lanji

the God-Heroes of Lanji have been raised to near legend, and deserve to be talked of on their own.
Similarly, the Gods of the Lanji deserve their own detailed examination.

The Heroes of the Lanji for the stories of the greatest heroes -- and villains -- of the Lanji.

The Clans of the Nation for information on the Clans of the Lanji people.

Enemies of the Lanji

Lanji is not without enemies.

Primary among these are the Haslanti, who took over the ancient city of Crystal and settled in it's surroundings. Many Lanji stare up hatefully at the airships that fly overhead, and more than a few dream of retaking their heritage from these thieving Northmen. Yet, for the time being, greater threats await and the Haslanti are left largely to their own devices.

A more ancient, but less prominent enemy, is the CrownedSun/Kuniktik. Every few decades these Wyld Barbarians come screaming down from atop the Great White Glacier, not stopping until they are killed or have dragged back captives of their own.

Death, of course, is a part of life in these cold lands and more than a few villages have vanished during one particularly harsh winter. Some of them linger behind, the walls between life and death tearing, leaving behind shadowlands. Lately, the Deathlord known as the Lover Clad in a Raiment of Tears has cast her eyes north to Lanji -- the people worry of her influence, especially among their Shadow-Villages. It is merely a matter of time before her Deathknights walk amongst the snow-covered valleys with none to stop them but their Gods.

A more recent, and unexpected, foe is the Icewalkers. Under the leadership of the Bull of the North, all the Icewalkers of the North are being united into a great horde. Only the Lanji, distant relatives of the Icewalkers, have so far been spared -- too civilized and sedentary to be noticed for now. Slowly, however, the eye of the Bull falls on the Lanji and the village warriors sharpen their axes and prepare to fight for their independence from their wayward cousins.