The Tundra shifters are divided into three great nations, the Qiku tribes of central Tashana; the coastal Saartuk people, and the more warlike Chuniigi in the north. Although intertribal skirmishes and raids are not uncommon, the elders of all three nations work hard to maintain the peace of recent generations.
Whereas the shifters of Khorvaire tend to value selfreliance and personal freedom, the Qiku and Saartuk shifters place much more importance on the community. Allegiance is to the tribe, the family unit, and the nation— in that order. The harshness of life in the Tundra has dictated this be so—rugged individualism in the Tundra is not advised. Going it alone, to a Tashana shifter, is dangerous, stupid, and spiritually misguided. Tundra shifters do not struggle against their bestial nature, but rather embrace it as a sign of their oneness with all living things. Shifting is a profoundly exhilarating and joyful experience, even when the aim is aggression. Tashanan shifters have a remarkable ability to accept violence and death as part of the natural order. If it's necessary to tear an enemy to pieces, a tundra shifter does so with great passion.
Tundra shifters who choose to explore the wider world might be doing so at the bequest of the community. Such braves gather ideas and knowledge before returning to the tribes, seeking to make the nation stronger. Because Tashana shifters place a premium on community, such a character is likely to be fiercely loyal to his companions. Possessions mean little to shifters aside from their utility. Although they understand the concept of currency, hoarding coins and gems is a strange practice to them.
Shifters from the northern Chuniigi tribes have a simpler, more aggressive viewpoint. While the community concept is still very strong, these are desperate times for the Chuniigi. A tribe might raid another tribe to supplement its hunt, and intratribal conflict can pit factions and families against one another.
The Qiku and Saartuk nations are composed of hundreds of individual tribes, each led by a council of elders. The tribe is the basic organizational unit of the shifter people, and each functions more or less independently. Each tribe has one or more shamans—healers and spiritual councilors. In the north, the desperate and more warlike Chuniigi are more fractured and entirely nomadic, following the herds of caribou and competing with the many human tribes and Neanderthal packs in the area.
The three nations have enjoyed a state of relative peace for many decades. The great wars of the past had been devastating for all, and the Tundra is too harsh a land to spill unnecessary blood. Twice a year, each nation holds a gathering of its internal tribes and once a year, representatives from the three nations convene a Summit Council at a secret location in the central plains known as the Speaking Stones. Recent threats by the Kalaak barbarians have tribal leaders uniting in common defense, and a semipermanent Summit Council has gathered for several years now. The Council is led by a triumvirate known as the Sky Tellers, with each of the three great nations represented. Among all three nations, adult males and females are both hunters and fighters, and in times of war, each nation is capable of fielding an army of fighters on very short notice.