Proposal - Horselords of the Pell

[HolyMan]

Going to answer Qik's littler post before tackling GE's bigger one.

You have the right of it Qik - The Goti (or the Unsen as GE calls them - great touch there) are descendants of the escapees from Rhat'matanis. The Pellmen's ancestors hail from the Landadel Baronies.

My goal for the horselords has always been to have one area (not the right word) from were the best horsemen come from but have it so a player could make different types of mounted warriors.

A Pellman would lean towards Fighters (Roughrider and/or mounted feats), Cavaliers, and Barbarians (with the mounted fury archtype) - I had an idea for a PrC like class were truly savage axe wielding Pellman barbarians would take Fleet of Foot and keep up with their mounted cousins. They would fall behind a bit, but be there to mop up any left over enemies after the initial charge.

The Goti would lean towards mounted rangers, druids, and maybe even wizards.

But it was all to let the players have some openness to their character creation.

GE had it right my thinking has always been Riders of Rohan meets American Indians With Shera taking on the role of Pocahontas lol.

Everstar was just a name I pulled out of the air it might be for others to decide if the name was well known in the Baronies or didn't become heard of till the first king.

HM

 

[HolyMan]

However, there are some continuity errors, things that just don’t seem to precisely fit with some of our already approved information, things that I would like to think could be integrated more fully into the existing background of E’n and a few new ideas I'd like to see. My main concerns are that the history is a little confusing as written, doesn’t entirely follow the history we’ve approved elsewhere and contains a pretty long bit the relevance of which I’m sure I haven’t fully understood. Note that I’ve removed that section about Shera; I think it should be put under a separate section, ‘Legends of the Pell’, rather than a broad overview of Horselord history.

Thanks GE - I am long winded and like I said if I put down everything I was thinking it would have been overly large. Maybe you were right I was getting caught up in the legends and not the factual history as it were. I looked over both the Rhat'matanis and Rorn and didn't see what yo umean by not meshing with the approved histories. Did I miss something I should have looked into? Also the history I wrote was to help divine why the horselords only have the upper NW half of the great grass sea, and why Rorn cuts right through it up to Evinel Sea (Finally found a name for it glad I could help).

Pre-History:
The great grass sea that stretches for hundreds of miles south of the Evinel Sea has been home to the herds of E’n since time unrecorded. Kase, a god as wild and untamed as the grasslands, came upon the grass sea in his wanderings. His immediate love for the endless horizon and the fierce joy of thundering hooves led him to take the form of a great charger and roam the grasslands among the herds.

It is said that Kase sired several bloodlines during these idyllic times including the ancient and wild tribes of the Kholani, a race that appears as a melding of man and horse known in Common as the centaur.

The free-spirited Kase stood outside the division of gods but with the Kholani and the great herds and his love for the grasslands he now had something to lose. During the Years of Darkness he fought fiercely for his people and lands against the beasts and dark tribes that ravaged E’n.
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Great add in there. Wasn't there a monster in basic D&D that could turn from a horse into a centaur?? That might take some looking into later.

Early History: Birth of the Pell
After the Pact, as the sorcerer-clans of Rhat’matanis were consolidating their power into the Empire of Rhat’matanis, a prophet by the name of Evinel Ser rose up with a vision of freedom from the strictures of the sorcerer-clans. Collecting defeated clans and the Goti, the Unseen, a caste of undesirables under her banner Evinel Ser led her followers to the site of a natural gate and, guided by the divine hand of Yelola, opened a way to the grasslands they called the Pell, a word meaning ‘green’ in the Goti tongue.

Kase, allowing their exodus to end within his lands, sent the Kholani, both wise and wild, to instruct them in the ways of the great grass sea, the dreaming, and the pairing, the formation of strong bonds with the horses of the grass. The Goti eagerly accepted the Great Stallion, Kase, Yelola, Opener of Ways, and the myriad local Tal, minor gods and nature spirits revered by the Kholani. Those clans under Evinel’s banner not of the Goti who lost more were less willing to take on new ways. They took Kase and Yelola as their patrons in the new land but clung to the old, settled styles of living from their former homelands. Once the Kholani had instructed the newcomers they retreated and tend to only have contact with them at holy sites throughout the plains.

So here you wish to have the Horselords be one people just group into different societies by clan. The Goti were the slaves of the Rhat'matanis. While the new Pellmen were the "middle class" (best I could think of this late).

I see were they would then be different the Goti becoming nomadic (like the centaurs), and the Pellmen wanting to build cities, towns, and farms. I just don't see where they would differ when it came to horses and war. If they kept to the old ways they would build chariots and fight mainly with foot soldiers in a phalanx right?

I like that Kase sent he centaurs to help, but I still believe that the Pellmen should be from a different country. Maybe they (the Landadel Baronies people) mixed with the clansmen and descendants of Evinel. Need to think on this.

Recent History and Politics:
The nomadic bands of Goti roaming the Pell are numerous and range from small family units to large clans. Though similar culturally there are significant differences between bands over governing style, clothing, traditions and totemic gods.

The more settled Pellmen tend to make their homes along the borders of the great grass sea: along rivers tributary to the Evinal Sea, the foothills of the Seithr and in the gap of the Seithr that leads to Martna.

A new faction has arisen in past decades, purportedly in response to increasing isolation of the Kholani and clashes with the Harran and Rorn. The Rundaine, followers of Rasuim, the Gatherer, espouse freedom, trade, and acceptance. Like their god, they gather all manner of people and beliefs to their wagons crossing cultural lines and adopting like-minded individuals from every place they pass through into their bands. These bands have begun traveling beyond the Pell and have been found far into Rhat’matanis and the Landadel Baronies.

I think I remember the Rundaine from some stuff AFg posted way back. So are you saying that these Rundaine were Goti but have taken their nomadic life a step further? I like this add in.

The Horsemen of the Pell and Rorn have always clashed in numerous skirmishes and incidents of low-level warfare. Within recent centuries, however, the Rorn have made an effort to co-opt several Goti tribes as auxiliary units in the Rornish war-machine and push their borders across a large swathe of the southern Pell to the Evinel Sea.

While the Rorn have increased pressure from the south, the Harran have pushed at the Pell’s northern boundaries. At least one tribe of Kholani have thrown in their lot with the Harran and directly caused a loss of territory along the coast of the Evinel.

Within the Pell itself politics and the government that spurs it is conflicted between the feudal style government of the Pellmen who believe the Goti are somehow less significant and the Goti who make up scores or more independent tribes that adhere only to their own rule and the horse herds that they follow. The Goti seem to ignore any tax collectors and other officials while the Pellman ignore the fact they are being ignored.

Sounds like poor King Everstar III is having troubles keeping his newly formed kingdom together. Hmmmm I smells an adventure a brewing.

Pellmen- Feudal; Ruled by King Draken Everstar III who holds court at Hammerhall, the largest castle in the realm. Legend has it that the Everstar line is descended from the Goti shaman, Shera, and a knight of the Landadel Baronies. It is customary for the King to marry a Goti priestess as was first done long ago; as of yet Draken is unmarried.

Goti- Tribal; Each tribe must have a ka'tasis or shaman to be considered independent and is nomadic, following the herds across the great grass sea and sometimes into the lands of Rorn and the border of the Zeire and the jungle of Heth. Only once a year at a festival held near Hammerhall do all the tribes forgo feuds and blood-debt to trade and compete .

This is the only mention of the Landadel Baronies in your write up. My thinking was the way to make the whole "king" over a country of two different peoples was for him to be the blood of both. Works in the stories.

Thanks for the look over GE this will be great fun to get all hashed out.

HM
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[GlassEye]

HM, thanks for taking my nit-picking so well! I appreciate your openness.

My main confusion was the timeline of events. You made reference to mad kings which I took to mean the corrupted ones by Yeenu-Thet, a relatively current event. I realize now that's not necessarily the case but that's why I broke things into Pre-History, Early History, & Recent History. The portion that seemed most confused to me was the part of Shera and the knights. That's part of why I left it out of the history and suggested it as a legend. Doesn't mean it isn't true but the detail (much more than the rest of the history) and style reads like a legend to me. I added the 'defeated tribes' in the Early History because of that but thinking on it now I feel it works out ok in conjunction with your tale of Shera: those tribes didn't fully embrace the nomadic lifestyle and when the refugee knights from the Landadel arrived, guided by Shera and the Goti, they felt most at home with the lifestyle of the settled tribes and settled in those villages influencing them the most and giving birth to the true Pellmen while the Goti remained mostly the same as before.

Yeah, the Rundaine were originally posted by AFg way back. I loved the concept but we argued over the details and they were never worked into the setting. I imagine the Rundaine as animists who are taking the Goti lifestyle to the world. Except they adopt anyone of like minds into their clans and are therefore rapidly diverging from the Goti (by picking up foreign ideas) into a gypsy-like sub-group.

I also would like to look at the gods. I don't have time right now (vacation right around the corner!) to go into it in depth but the one thing that grated against me the most was VaSharn. You mention s/he is a Rhat'matanis deity and the prime Destroyer deity of that land is Sabok. Doesn't mean the god isn't a minor aspect of the Destroyer or perhaps a vanquished deity of one of the defeated tribes, I don't know. I would like to see the gods tailored to the experience of the grass sea: god of storms sweeping down from the Seithr & across the plains, god of grassland fires, numerous nature spirits, maybe starting with something like below:

Kase, the Great Stallion (Wanderer) – Sun, the Pell, the Kholani
Yelola, Opener of Ways (Counselor) – Magic, Moon, Wisdom
The War Host (Consort) – War, Protection; sort of like the Sword Saints of Rorn, but of the deities brought with the knights when they came from the Landadel.

Fumon, the Changewind, Breath of the Seithr (Storm)
Bekelle, Walker in the Grass (Stranger) - Malice; since their horse culture is built around groups & necessary to survival, a solitary walker would seem alien and dangerous.
VaSharn, the Devourer, the Ever-Burning (Destroyer) – Grass fires, Death

Rasuim, the Gatherer (Ruler) – the Rundaine, Trade & other peaceful pursuits of civilization.

Numerous Tal spirits and minor gods of all archetypes including:
Perria of the Waters – Healing, Water (Springs and Rivers)
Rianna, the White Mare – Fertility, Peace
Abyrtan, the East Wind – Air, Weather
Brandis Grassfoot – Youth, Grass
Maga, Queen of Crows – Crows, Death

Anyway, thanks for looking over my ideas and I'll be back in a week!

 

[HolyMan]

Just got my Bestiary 3 and have an idea for a hidden valley style area on E'n.

Wish to finish most of this first so will be going back over it and adding in some of GE's suggestions and reposting.

Will bump this again after the edit, look for that around WED.

HM

 

[HolyMan]

OK the re-post is done. And as I was looking at all of GE's add-ins I could not find anything I wanted to change really.

So all I did was add a little to what he added and re-posted in the OP.

Special thanks to GE for all his help, getting my thinking in line. Wish I could give you some XP to show my appreciation. But the system is down.

Enjoy the re-read everyone.

HM

 

[Qik]

Thanks again for all the work, HM. Will get around to the sucker ASAP.

 

[Satin Knights]

I'll throw a yes at it. *thunk*

 

[Maidhc O Casain]

Great work, HM! A YES from me as well. Good to have that part of the world fleshed out and ready to roll.

 

[jkason]

I think the division of horsemen is interesting, and I like the way a lot of different E'n cultures kind of intersect there. I will say I think a couple of elements seem backwards to me:

* I find it notable that the more 'free spirited' Goti are the ones who shave. It's always seemed more a social construct of 'civilization' to remove / style hair. That, and the logistics of nomads shaving puzzle me a bit: a village can afford specialization like a barber, and a mirror is much less difficult to manage when you can stick it on a wall rather than a saddlebag. I don't think it's some kind of showstopper, but it's worth considering.

* The area's name comes from a Goti word, but the 'Pellmen' (i.e. those who adopted the name of the region) are actually those descended from two different, non-Goti, ethnicities. How do the Goti feel about that? It would seem like it might rankle them, both in having their cultural past assimilated and (possibly more) because calling one's group 'Pellmen' would seem like an implicit claim that only that culture represents the 'true people' of the Pell (which was probably why, on first read, I thought Kase was the patron of the non-nomads, which seemed all sorts of wrong )

 

[HolyMan]

Good points jkason - I'll try and address them to clear up my thinking...

They shave because before they were not allowed to do so. I figure as a people first their leaders than others started to shave off "the old ways" to show they were slaves no more. Years (centuries??) later it became a little warped as things tend to do and they believed if they were bearded they could once more be enslaved.

And leaving room for things like rituals (when do they shave? Does some shave them or do they do it themselves), rites of manhood, and other things for people to add that would be different from clan to clan.

Also your right, no barbers or easy way to go about it and yet they still go through with shaving everyday shows there determination to stay free. Perhaps in other clans it adds to their pride/willfulness or leads them to be wary of strangers with facial hair.

Just trying to add something different and leave it to others to hammer out details as needed.

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I have been of two minds as to why the Landadel men became the Pellmen.

First my thinking was that it is what the Goti called them. But the Goti meant green as in newbie or rookie, when it came to how they didn't know much of living in the grasslands or of horses. Of course the Landadel men wouldn't know any of that.

Then with the re-write I came to think it is more of what the outside world calls them. And since traders and emissaries and the like would deal more with the Landadel/clan mixed people the Goti would of course not deal much with those outside the clans. Then the Goti would think this name fitting for the reasons above (since they are green when it comes to how to live free).

But again left this open to maybe have different reasons based on who you ask(Pellman, Goti, outsider) why the Landadel men became know as Pellmen.


Hope that explains a little.

HM