Lupercals

The Lupercal tribe is one of the two major surviving tribal divisions of the Holmgardian people, with the Graelings being the other, and the remainder either being subsumed into the two, fading into obscurity or just considering themselves "Holmgardians".
Inhabiting the vast and rugged cedar forests of the Western Empire, the Lupercals make up the vast majority of the population in Lupenheim and a plurality in the Westmark and Greatwood. The Lupercals are known for the historic emnity towards House Graelingard, their strong affiliation with nature, martial prowess, and utter devotion to their own interpretation of Orthodox Tyrian which emphasizes kinship with wolves.

Culture

Lupercal traditions have been preserved for millenia and changed relatively little over the years, even as the Graelings and other Holmgardian peoples abandoned their tribal identity and became "civilized". Their culture could be considered "ultraconservative" or "fundamentalist", based around a strict interpretation of Tyrian Orthodoxy that venerates all nature above all else. 
First and foremost, the Lupercal believe that the strong survive and the weak perish; every human only deserves what they can wrest from nature, without the aid of "soft" tools like money, trading, and politicking. It is Tyr's gift that a harsh land creates a harsh people. Wolf packs are considered sacred and a model for society endorsed by Tyr; all cooperating to the same goal, yet led by the strongest alpha. In the same way, there is little hereditary hierarchy in Lupercal lands. The chieftain of the Lupercal is simply the strongest warrior who wins a duel to the death - a Svalblottir. Though in recent times the Sigurdr clan has been prominent, they hold no hereditary title. 
In addition, Tyr's three forms must be sated by Blotr - blood sacrifice. Sending souls to Tyr to be judged vis a vis human sacrifice is the most honoured ritual of all. The priests (worgir) of the Lupercal tribe, the Wolf Cult, are shapechangers and druids, who are versed in the rites of sacrifice needed to appease Tyr. 
In general Lupercal disdain intensive agriculture, trade, merchants, and anything "unnatural" - or "un-Tyrian". Yet this does not mean they disdain creation and things of beauty. Lupercal craftsmen are some of the finest woodworkers in Erden, producing beautiful totems and wood-carvings depicting the natural world. 
Somewhat surprisingly, the Lupercal are not overtly xenophobic. Many of them acknowledge that there is room in the world for other gods and people, as long as their own lands and traditions are left alone. Furthermore, the Lupercal are not a monolithic entity. Within the Lupercal lands there are numerous clannish divisions with different language variants, traditions, and rivalries. For example the Sigurdr clan is among the most "civilized" of all the Lupercal clans, with holdings near Aldberg and extensive connections with the Holmgardian government. 
Lupercals speak Lupensprakt, a type of Holmgardian language mutually intelligable with Nordsprakt.

Assets

The population of the Lupercals is difficult to assess, but likely numbers at least 500,000 spread across a vast and sparsely populated region of the Empire. The population is predominantly rural and lives in innumerable small villages scattered within rugged forests and highlands. 
The two largest cities of the Lupercal are Aldberg and Wolfhalen. Aldberg, one of the ten largest cities in the Empire, boasted a population of about 30,000 until recently, but has since fallen on hard times. 
Wolfhalen is the center of Lupercal culture and consists of a vast network of caves situated on a sheer cliff near a waterfall and a roaring series of broad rapids in the highlands of Lupenheim. Home to a few thousand folk, the population swells to tens of thousands when tribesman from all around congregate once a year on the day of the Great Blot to trade, swap stories, and celebrate.

History

Lupercals are proud of their ancient past. The ancient skaldic poem Sigfridr details the founding of the tribe by Sigfried Wolfkin, a bastard human son of Tyr Incarnate. Having been borne of a woman in a tribe of humans out of wedlock, he was abandoned to the forest two thousand years ago and raised by wolves. After reaching adolescence under the tutelage of Father Wolf, Sigfried roams the woods, following the tribe of his mother from afar as they dwindled to harsh winters and vampire predation. From observation, he learned the tongue of humans once more and would hunt deer with his bare hands and teeth, bringing carcasses outside their camps in the dead of night and driving away the predators of the night. Eventually, his forlorn tribe began leaving offerings in the night, worshipping their mysterious protector as the "Wolf Watcher". One day, he witnessed his mother being chastised by her father and husband for her long-past infidelity, and Sigfried's blood boiled. He materialized from the woods and challenged his erstwhile step-father to a duel in a gutteral tongue, ripping his throat out with his bare hands. This individual happened to be the chief of the dwindling tribe; and with his victory Sigfried declared himself the Wolf Watcher and the chieftain of his people, naming his kin "Lupercal" - Wolfkin.
Whatever the truth of these ancient legends, the Lupercal have played a crucial role in the history of the Empire. Historically rivals of the Graelings, they nonetheless answered the call as allies of Holm Graelingard, battling bravely at Frostfang. Yet they opposed the crowning of Holm as High King, considering themselves as equals. Brought into the fold by an alliance of marriage, Siegfried Lupercal (unrelated to Sigfried Wolfkin) usurped the throne and established a fifty year dynasty of Lupercal Emperors in an era where the dominance of House Graelingard was far from certain. Having moved the capital to Aldberg, his grandon was then overthrown and only two Lupercal Emperors would ever be crowned again in Holmgardian history.
In contemporary times, the Lupercals have been far more conservative than the rest of the Empire, still retaining a tribal existence in tune with nature. Many Lupercals live a semi-nomadic existence as hunter-gatherers and itinerant farmers, and they are overrepresented among the ranks of the Imperial military. Most Skin Wolves in the Empire are Lupercal, and recently an ultraconservative sect called the Wolf Cult has risen to prominence across the land, endorsed by the Hand of Tyr. In spite of this, Lupercal regions have been heavily ravaged by recent events; much of their territory was devastated in the War of the Broken Crypt, the Ashen Crusade, and Mordekainen's rebellion; Aldberg remains a depopulated ruin to this day.