Red Cow

You live in the kingdom of Sartar in Dragon Pass. Five hundred years ago, the dragons razed this land, killing everyone who lived here. You are afraid of dragons.

When they left Heortland and Esrolia’s North March, your ancestors settled in Duck Vale at the invitation of the King Varsmar of the Colymar. It was an ill-fated choice; for nine years, your ancestors had to fight for their survival, when the undead army marched forth from the Upland Marsh. Later, when King Varsmar made peace with the Durulz, for protection from the undead army, your ancestors had to leave their homes in Duck Vale.

Your ancestors migrated northeast and found empty lands along the Creek River. They made peace with the Ferfal Alliance, who had won the land from the Grazeland Pony Breeders at the Battle of the Sun Horses. This was good land and people grew prosperous and fat. That wealth attracted envy, and the  Culbrea and Malani tried to drive your ancestors out, pushing them from the Lorthing River and Boranini River valleys and the Arfritha Vale. Your ancestors joined the Sanchali tribe, and fought off the Culbrea and Malani at the Battle of Fordstone.

You have never trusted the warlike Malani or Culbrea, who remain envious and determined to steal your cattle and land.

In the years of peace that followed, no one paid much attention to the Sanchali king. Then the Telmori came.

The Telmori are werewolves; monsters from nightmare. They look like people, but every Full Moon they turn into wolves. They become ravening beasts roaming the land killing and eating people and animals. Only enchanted weapons can pierce their hides.

Only heroes are brave enough to stand against them. They call the Cinsina the ‘Brave Tribe’ because they have enough courage. You have that courage.

The Telmori wiped out the Sanchali, killing their king and stealing the tribal regalia. Your old tribe was no more.

At the same time, the king of Tarsh crushed the Ferfal Alliance, forcing refugees south of the Creek, and gave the land to Dinacol Hard-Rule. For the king of Tarsh, Dinacol kept the Telmori threat away, but enemies now surrounded the people of the lands south of the Creek.

It was Cinsin the Wolfskinner who organized the survivors in their forts and strongholds, and who kept the routes open between them. Your ancestors followed him willingly when he formed a tribe to pool your resources against the Telmori threat. Today you continue to support the Cinsina tribe because of the threat of the Telmori.

'Hauberk' Jon united the tribes when Orstajor Black-Paws of the Telmori tried to obliterate all the people south of the Creek. You continue to support the Jonstown Confederation in his memory, because only the united tribes can defeat the Telmori. When the werewolves ate the Maboder tribe less than a generation ago, only the Jonstown Confederation could stop them — under the leadership of Jomes Hostralos. What weakens the confederation strengthens the Telmori.

Your clan is counted amongst the Axe Orlanthi. The Axe Orlanthi tribes come from Heortland and the North March in Esrolia. Many trace their ancestry to the warrior bands that ruled the Adjusted Lands in the Second and early Third Ages. They worship Orlanth and Ernalda, herd, farm, and hunt, and fight amongst themselves. Some are patrilineal, belonging to their father’s lineage; others are matrilineal, belonging to their mother’s lineage.

The Axe Orlanthi do not object to owning slaves — but the Red Cow do not, as their wyter,  Many-Breath, was amongst those who welcomed the “Cloud Folk” or Karantuel to join his clan as free men during the Vingkotling Age. The Red Cow have many ‘adopted’ values from their pact with Many-Breath, which make them different to their kin who remained in Esrolia.

• Primary Weapon: Spear
• Secondary Weapon: Axe
• Tertiary Weapon: Javelin
• Language: Southern Theyalan
  

You are independent and your honor is important. You respond with violence if provoked.

The clan gives you a place in society, rights within that society, and sides with you against outsiders. You must keep your word, aid in feeding and defending your kin, support the decisions of the moot, and make guests welcome at your hearth. Working together, you are safe from the seven dangers: strangers, foreigners, enemies, hostile gods, disease, hunger, and Chaos.

You worship the Storm Tribe. Orlanth is King of the Gods, and his wife Ernalda is the source of life. You know their myths and stories, and you have experienced many of them in the Holy Day ceremonies at your temple.

• Cautious: “Fools rush in. We prefer to tread carefully weighing our options before committing ourselves to action.”
• Courage: “Who dares wins! Those who take bold action gain the greatest prizes. Cowards and losers get the dregs.”
• Shrewd: “Keep your wits about you. The sharp mind is the greatest weapon. The sharp tongue is mightier than the axe.”

These values can come into conflict. Which values will you choose to follow?

Your clan is wealthy by the standards of Sartar, having prospered because you know the secret of birthing your famous red cows. The cows are important as sacrifices in many rituals. Clans across Sartar trade with you to obtain your cows, which never breed true outside your lands, so your customers must come back year after year.

Such wealth makes you the target of envy and jealousy. Your clan has had to train warriors to protect its wealth from those around you who would take it. Sometimes people just try to take the red cows instead of trading for them. The Dinacoli and Culbrea tribes have tried to overwhelm you many times.

Your wealth comes from raising cattle in conjunction with grain farming; you practice mixed farming. Your clan raises sheep as well, however, cattle are much more important and the source of your clan’s wealth.

(Map: Red Cow Lands)

You farm the lands between the Heort Creek and the Danda Creek, where you raise the fine red cattle that give your clan its name. On the borders of Stagland and Jarolvale, enemies have always surrounded you: the Dinacoli across the Creek to the north, the Culbrea around Two-Pine Ridge and beyond in Lorthing Vale to the south, and the Telmori to the east.

Your clan owns the lands from Red Cow Fort to the Finger along the Heort Creek, and as far west as the Danda Creek. The land slopes down from the Quivin Mountains toward the Creek and the Donalf Flats beyond with hills separating the valleys through which the tributaries of the Creek run. You live in villages along the rivers where the floodwaters yield fine meadows of hay to feed fat cattle. You use the hills between the rivers for summer grazing for the cattle.

Your neighbors to the northwest of the Danda Creek are old rivals: the Dolutha clan. To their south are friends, the Blueberry clan, once of the Culbrea, and now of the Cinsina.

To the south, lies Stagland, a lightly forested wild land the Cinsina and Culbrea tribes dispute with the Telmori. The clan’s hunters often clash with the wolfmen here, and travel is dangerous.

Further south, across the Jonstown to Jarolar Keep Road from the Red Cow is the Two-Pine clan of the Culbrea. They were once trouble, but have been quiet in recent years; the Culbrea king is a weak coward.

To the east, across the Heort Creek, are the Lunar Grantland of Jomes Hostralos and the wilds of Stagland. Jomes is a strong ally against the Telmori.

To the north of the Creek are your old enemies the Emerald Sword clan of the Dinacoli tribe. You have feuded with them many times.

There are about 1500 people in the Red Cow clan. Of that 830 are adults and the rest are children. Of those adults, 134 or so have lived long enough to become elders of the clan (50+). These elders are a significant asset to the clan in the preservation of tradition, knowledge, and magic. They are roughly equal numbers of men and women.

The inner ring, the chieftain’s housecarls, the priests who do not sit on the ring, the heads of the bloodlines and households, and members of the chieftain’s household are thanes. Your clan supports some 120 thanes.

Most adults work on the land as farmers, herders, hunters, and fishers. Your clan has just over 330 carls who farm their own land. Of the remaining adults of your clan, most work on the thanes’ farms as cottars. A small number, twenty or so, are destitute and scratch a living on marginal and wild lands, working as charcoal burners and firewood collectors, the ‘stickpickers.’

Your clan has six bloodlines. The bloodlines are divided up into households, of which there are 30 in the Red Cow clan. A village is typically one household, with an additional six households in Red Cow Fort.

A typical household — and village — has 24 adults and 26 children. Of the adults 12 are men and 12 are women, of whom six of each gender are married couples. Of the adults four are thanes, 10 are carls, and 10 cottars. A typical household has four long houses — long, narrow, single-roomed farmhouses. Two thanes and their wives manage a house each. Both thanes have four unmarried cottars working for them, and four children. The remaining two houses have six adults: two carls and their wives, an unmarried carl, a cottar, and their eight children. The thanes and carls are usually within one degree of kinship, the cottars come from any bloodline; the wives all come from ‘somewhere else’ though on the borders it is usually from neighboring clans. The household works 11 hides of land — a hide is the traditional amount of land required to feed a family — and has 88 oxen for plough teams, 30 other cows, 10 horses, 80 sheep, and 5 alynxes.

The four ‘old’ bloodlines are from the former the Drutorae clan and trace their descent from Karganar’s Sons or their followers. The two ‘new’ bloodlines came from clans annihilated by the Telmori. All the bloodlines take the name of their founders.

• Largest of the bloodlines is the Tormakting, the descendants of Tormakt Stout-Hearted, second chieftain of the clan, which has about 150 adults.
• The Sarostiping descend from Sarostip Breaker-Of-Men and has about 100 adults.
• The Bolthoring descend from Bolthor Hairy-Breeks and has about 100 adults as well.
• The Kerenelling trace descent from Kerenelli Indigo-Warrior, a son of the Blue Woman and Karganar from when he went upon the Orlanth and Aroka heroquest. Descendants of the Kerenelling bloodline often have a bluish tint to their skin, and silver or white hair. They have an affinity for the Water Rune and worship Heler. There are around 60 adults in the Kerenelling.
• The Sardaling descend from Sardal Dawn-Raid who led the survivors of the Brusting clan to safety after the Telmori slaughtered their clan in 1458.
• The Osmanning were also once a clan in their own right, bordering Stagland, but constant struggles with the Telmori took their toll. By 1474, they were so few in number that they could no longer stand on their own. Long alliances with the Drutorae by marriage made it easy for the Osmann survivors to merge with the Drutorae. After that merger, the clan began calling themselves the Red Cow. Both of the new bloodlines have around 60 adults.

Most of the bloodlines have as many children as adults and a dozen elders.

Married women come from ‘someplace else.’ Many of the Red Cow women come from Cinsina clans. Most of those come from the Frithan and the Underwillow, with a few women from the Dolutha. Numerous women come from the Red Cow’s friend and neighbor, the Blueberry. They were once a Culbrea clan and are now part of the Cinsina. Some women come from other old Culbrea clans: the Goodhaven, and Greenhaft; these women tend to be among the young mothers of the clan. The Red Cow rarely takes wives from the Dinacoli or the Two-Pine because they feud with them. Sometimes women come from further away such as the Malani or Torkani, but usually within the Jonstown Confederation.

When a woman from the Blueberry, Frithan, or Underwillow joins, she finds herself among cousins and sisters who have made the journey before her. In the early days of her new life, she obtains comfort in her former clan mates. These  bonds frequently persist and the relationship among Red Cow women from the same maiden clan is often strong.

The Frithan, Blueberry and Underwillow clans have dominated these kinship ties for generations. This has created strong bonds of kinship between the clans. Red Cow folk have many in-laws in these two clans. Women who do not form part of these sororities may come to resent their influence on Red Cow politics. The one thing that unites women from the Frithan, Blueberry and Underwillow clans is attempts by upstarts from the Goodhaven or Greenhaft clans to influence the clan.

Like all clans you have distinctive marks that display membership of you clan — usually given at initiation. The Red Cow clan tattoo is the head of an Auroch in black ink — the mighty cattle, sacred to Urox, which once roamed Dragon Pass. Men have the tattoo on their chests, women on their backs. It is a large tattoo, with the massive horns reaching to either side of the back or chest, and the snout of the animal reaching to the bottom of the sternum, or the middle of the back.

In addition, people have rank tattoos on their arms, depicting their roles as cottars, carls, thanes, priests, or chieftains and kings. Most people have their runes tattooed on them as well, marking their affiliation.

Some people have much more intricate tattoos, indicating cultic affiliations in detail, marking life events, or heroquests, or simply because they feel they enhance their beauty.

You are a mixed clan, striking a balance between the violence of Storm and the harmony of the Earth. Of the Old Gods of the Celestial Court, Harana Ilor, ancient goddess of harmony and peace, is the one most favored by your clan.

Your clan politics is personal and factional. The factions are not organized groupings with regular meetings or  memberships but are alliances of like-minded people. Their leaders might be members of the ring, but sometimes hold no other position and qualify only by their passion for the cause and willingness to cajole and persuade their neighbors. Clan-folk do not use these names, they know their kin’s political viewpoints. The labels are provided solely as a player convenience.

The Free Sartar faction keeps the flame of Sartar alive. Their numbers include supporters of the rebellion and guerrilla fighters against the Empire. Many are loyal to Kallyr Starbrow and fervent in opposition to the Empire. They seek to expel Jomes from the old Maboder lands, punish the Moon Winds, and liberate Sartar. Kullina the Fat, Farandar Orendalsson, Enerin Bristle-Beard and Kernalda Other-Ways are among the leaders of Free Sartar in the clan. Venharl Stormbrow and Orstalor Spearlord are the most famous rebel leaders operating in Cinsina lands.

The Eye of the Hurricane faction is isolationist, believing that involvement in the politics of the kingdom only leads to suffering. Though the tempest blows all around, they know all storms eventually blow out. They are the faction that refuses to talk of the Hero Wars and keep the troubles of the world outside. They want to raise families and cattle in peace and seek a peaceful accommodation with the Empire. They respect Jomes alone as a ‘fence of swords’ against the Telmori. Broddi Strong-Kin, Lhankpentos the Blind and Griselda Gray-Tresses lead this group.

The Conquering Storm dreams of settling old scores. They are angry at the tradition of Red Cow payment of tribute to the Culbrea, and demand that the Red Cow continue to refuse to pay it. They want to keep the Culbrea split and weak. They do not wish the Maboder to return to their former lands, remembering many blood feuds. The Dinacoli are old enemies and they are happy to plunder the ‘Fat Tribe.’ This faction has long memories for old feuds and slights and contains many of the clan’s traditionalists. Darna Longcoat, Jaranil the Thunder, Salissa Three-Husbands and Kangharl Black-Brow lead this faction.

The Wolfskinners hate and fear the Telmori above all else. Jomes led them against the wolfmen a generation ago and they would support him now. They do not trust Kallyr Starbrow. Ortossi Ketilsson, Frekor Deep-Woods, and Borngold Many-Brothers, who lead this faction, fear that Kallyr would give the werewolves Stagland, in return for their support in the Hero Wars. They worry that the Telmori would exploit conflict with the Empire to fall upon the tribes south of the Creek. With every decision the question for this group is, does it help us in the struggle with the Telmori?

The Moon Winds has converted to worship of the Red Goddess, usually through the Seven Mothers. They cite the example of the old chieftain Willem the Knowing who showed hospitality to the Lunar missionaries. They seek closer ties to the Empire pointing to the material and cultural benefits coming from embracing the Lunar Way. Bolik Red-Turner and Tarkalus Bigger-Boat lead this faction.

Your friends stick by yours in your time of need as well as triumph. You have a long history of friendship with the Blueberry, Frithan and Underwillow clans. Many women marry into the Red Cow from those clans. That means you have kin there: cousins, aunts, and uncles. You would support these people whenever you could, because they would do the same for you.

• Blueberry, Cinsina tribe
• Frithan, Cinsina tribe
• Underwillow, Cinsina tribe
  

An ally is someone who co-operates with you to mutual advantage. You have alliances with the Erlending, Greenhaft, Orlmarth and Toena clans. Sometimes your wives come from these clans. Some of your kin live there. These people would help you, but expect you to reward them for their help or a share of the venture’s proceeds. Generosity is a virtue, so if you need help from these people take them impressive gifts to win their support.

• Erlending, Torkani tribe
• Greenhaft, Cinsina tribe
• Orlmarth, Colymar tribe
• Toena, Aranwyth tribe