Fjernhjem (fyǝrn hyĕm)

The southernmost of the Skogfolk tribes are the Fjernhjem who dwell in the forested expanse north of Hirschtal and north-east of Sternenhellwolf where they have lived since the fall of Iliosgy empire. The southernmost of the Manneskor they have the most encounters with the “civilized” peoples of the Frontier Lands and so are what most Mangen think of when they hear the term barbarian. A relatively peaceful people they dwell in villages of longhouses crafted from timber and bark shared by several families of the same clan. They live by hunting and gathering and limited farming of certain foods.

Structure

The Fjermhjem are divided into villages which in turn are divided into clans and families. The eldest male or far heads the family while the eldest clan member or høy far heads the clan in each village. Each village is headed by a sjef chosen by the høy far of that village. Each village is an independent entity with the sjef answering to no one but the høy far of that village.

Culture

The Fjernhjem are a peaceful people who live light on the land. Divided into villages of several hundred people, each village consists of 20 or 30 longhouses surrounded by a log palisade. Villages are moved every five to twenty years as resources in an area are depleted. The Fjernhjem longhouses are 15 to 25 feet wide and 15 to 150 feet long, and each is home to from 2 to 20 families all from the same clan. In addition to their villages the Fjernhjem have smaller ettlements which are occupied seasonally such as for hunting and fishing.

War is seldom practiced amongst the Fjernhjem. If a council of høy far cannot settle an issue between villages then a sports competition is usually used to settle things. In rare cases villages would be unable to settle an issue and would go to war. These wars are fought more to take captives than to kill so casualties are rare though injuries are common. When it comes to outsiders, war is much the same, though rarer. Captives taken from other villages, or other peoples, are generally adopted into the village if they are young or women or tortured and killed if they were older men.

During the warmer months dress is very simple, usually consisting of a loincloth in the case of men or a short dress in the case of women. During the summer children are as apt to go unclothed as to wear anything. During the winter they dress in furs, consisting of pants and tunics with a cloak or coat over it. Footwear consists of moccasins usually made from thick hide, wrapped in additional hides and furs during the winter.

Despite the leaders of clans and villages being males, much power is held in the hands of women. No wone can ascend to the rank of høy far without the approval of the women of the clan. Inheritance is matrilineal with children being counted as part of their mother’s clan. Women and men have different roles, but neither is considered higher or lower. Generally, men hunt and fish, while the women gather and farm. While land believed to be unownable, houses are considered the property of the women.

While many of the people follow the traditional religious practices of their forebearers some have adopted the practices of the Mangen of worshipping specific deities. The traditional practice of the Manneskor is shamanism and animism, the belief that everything has a spirit. Those who adopt the Mangen practice of worshipping specific deities generally follow Voimakas, Eresu, Metsäst, Arammu, Emku, Kello, Mu, Mudutu, Narum, Vaalea, and Vuori. Many of the Fjernhjem choose to hedge their bets, so to speak, and practice both shamanism and polytheism.

As with all the Manneskor athletic competitions and games are an important part of the social life. Gambling is an integral part of these games and competitions, with wagers consisting of crafts or future promises. Sports consist of archery and spear throwing competitions (the latter often for distance as well as accuracy) swimming competitions, wrestling, weightlifting competitions, tug-of-wars, and various ball games. Of the ball games the favorite is pinne ball which is played with a fist sized wooden balls and sticks of three to four feet in length.

History

The Skogfolk had come to this forest for centuries to hunt but didn’t begin settling the area until roughly 2300 years ago. Mostly tribesmen from Våtplas who travelled down the Rozux River seeking new areas to hunt. Finding plenty of unsettled land they eventually began migrating to the forest and settling permanently.

Prior to their settling the forest was haunted by goblinoids and various fiends that had survived The Year of Ruin. They were gradually driven out by the expanding Skogfolk settlements. Now the entirety of the forest is settled by the Skogfolk who erect semipermanent settlements.

Demography and Population

The population of Fjernhjem is approximately 2.5 million people scattered in roughly 4 thousand villages throughout the forest. The population is mostly Manneskor though there is a sizable minority of those who are Mangen or partial Mangen descent, descendants of Mangen taken in raids from the northern most Mangen settlements. In addition, there is roughly 2 thousand who are of part elven decent. Finally, there are few hundred gnomes and halflings living in the forest in isolated settlements on the outskirts of the forest.

Territories

The Fjernhjem call the forest they inhabit Sørhjem, as do most other people who deal with the Fjernhjem. Sørhjem encompasses an are of just over 117 thousand square miles. All of it claimed by the Fjernhjem, a few attempts by Mangen people to settle in Sørhjem were met by violence as the settlements were raided and the inhabitants all killed or captured.

Technological Level

Technology is relatively primitive. Most transportation is by foot, though they make dugout canoes and use dog pulled sleds in winter. Most things are accomplished by muscle power alone, little use of simple machines. Medicine consists largely of herbal remedies backed with shamanistic magic. They practice some primitive agriculture planting small fields around their villages mostly by hand with simple usually stone or wooden tools. They have learned the rudiments of iron working from trade with dwarves and Mangen. There use of iron is still rare with iron tools and weapons being a sign of prestige, but almost every village has a small forge in it.

Religion

The traditional religion of the Fjernhjem in fact of all the Manneskor peoples is shamanism and animism. Animism is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence, while shamanism is a practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. Most of the Fjernhjem still practice this, while a few have adopted the polytheistic beliefs of the Mangen in particular venerating Voimakas, Eresu, Metsäst, Arammu, Emku, Kello, Mu, Mudutu, Narum, Vaalea, and Vuori. However even those that follow the deities of the Mangen still venerate the spirits of the world around them in essence practicing a mix of plytheism and animism.

Foreign Relations

The Fjernhjem are Skogfolk and relatives of the Våtplas sharing the same clans, and still trade with them on occasion. They trade and raid back and forth with the Ledigklar and Sydklar tribes of the plains north of them, and occasionally raid or trade with Sternenhellwolf and Hirschtal. Since the Fjernhjem are divided into independent villages, there is no unified diplomacy with the Fjernhjem, some villages trade, some raid, so there is no telling how a specific village will deal with outsiders.

Agriculture & Industry

The Fjernhjem don’t practice large scale agriculture. In small clearings in and around their villages they grow wheat, lentils, and cucumbers, along with a variety of other vegetables. However, most of the food they consume comes from hunting and gathering of the resources in the forest. In particular cranberries are popular and gathered in large quantities. In addition, they harvest great quantities of apples, cherries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, gooseberries, and currants. They also gather acorns, hazelnuts, and pine nuts.

Trade & Transport

Most trade occurs between different villages of Fjernhjem, though there is a little trade with outsiders, particularly with the Ledigklar and to a lesser extent the Sydklar of the plains. Such trade consists of bartering forest products mostly wood, and wooden items for products of the plains, Usually, dried meat and hides. They trade less frequently with their distant relatives the Våtplas to the north. This trade consists of trade of crafts. They on rare occasions trade with people in Sternenhellwolf and Hirschtal trading crafts and forest products for manufactured goods, particularly metal tools and weapons.

Since transportation is mostly on foot, there are no need for roads, just a maze of forest paths created by people and game walking. There are a few small roads created by Mangen traders and foresters that penetrate the edges of the forest. These roads are built and maintained with the permission of the Fjernhjem people who trade with the Mangen.

Education

The Fjernhjem, like all Manneskor don’t have a formal education system. Instead, children learn by doing, usually in conscious imitation of their elders. A child who expresses an interest in a particular craft might be taught by someone who excels in the craft, or someone who just dabbles. Young men learn to handle weapons for war and hunting in various games and contests that are routinely practiced. Since the Manneskor language, Språket, doesn’t have a written form, there is no need for a formal education.

Type

Geopolitical, Tribe

Government System

Tribalism

Economic System

Barter system

Location

Frontier Lands

Official Languages