Thralls

The Tribes of Ruin do not live as the Tribes of Valor or even the Tribes of Omen. Where the Valar Tribes tend to live by a code of honor, even if only known and kept amongst themselves, the Tribes of Ruin are ruthless, maliciously violent, and spiteful to most living things that aren’t their Totem gods.
Most of the Faelers, Varkraalans, and Kuzaarik that find themselves the targets of their frequent raids and violence would say it is because of the dark creatures that they worship and the gods they represent. Some others say they are a product of the cold and unforgiving environment they live in.
Whatever the truth, Ruin Tribes don’t fight in a civilized manner nor treat their enemies with any code of honor or humanity that the Faelers or the Varkraalan would easily recognize.
The Ruin Tribes have no problem taking prisoners of war and turning them into slaves, a practice decried by most of the peoples of Isarshael. These slaves are used in several ways, almost all hideous and violent, and usually ending in the early demise of the prisoner-turned-slave.
These prisoners are taken in the constant raids the Tribes of Ruin launch on each other and the people in kingdoms around them. The lightning-fast attacks often fall without warning as small, fast-moving bands of Ruin warriors travel the countryside attacking, destroying, and pillaging.
Victims of these raids are killed on the spot or taken as spoils. Often it is captives that the attacks are after.
These captives are hauled back to Ruin territory, and what awaits them is often worse than death.
Some are sacrificed unusually to the Totem gods of the Ruin Tribes. Many of the Jackal Clans will not take prisoners but will offer their captives on the spot to Ta’an. After all, prisoners only slow them down, and the War Jackals can eat their fill while on campaign. The Shark Tribe will always sacrifice half of their captives back to the water after calling the sharks in with their magics. The rest are ported off to their seaside villages to be used for trade or further sacrifice.
Captives of the Spider Clan are ritually fed to the horrific War Spiders that the Tribe keeps and rides. They are drugged with a spider poison that paralyzes them and given to the War Spiders to spin into their web cocoons and be allowed to feast at their leisure.
It is whispered that the Bat Tribes keep their prisoners chained in their caves and use them as unwitting participants in their vile blood magics. The stories of their atrocities haunt the people of northern Haradel, and warriors have been known to fall on their swords rather than be taken by a Bat Tribe raid.
Sometimes prisoners are made to work continuously at jobs that the tribespeople will not do. The Mammoth Tribe keeps large amounts of slaves to mine, do menial jobs around the Clans’ camps, and be herded into battle.
Those that do not suffer a cruel fate at the hands of a Totem god are often mistreated, malnourished, and tortured until they agree to fight for the Urdaggar, or are the victims of magics and concoctions that rob them of their mind and free thought, forcing them to fight for the Tribe against and unable to protest.
These poor creatures that do fight for their captors are called Thralls. They are chained and goaded into combat with minimal weaponry or armor. Often, these Thralls are just enough to slow down the first wave of an enemy attack or throw it into confusion and allow the wild and violent Ruin warriors to make their assault.
Depending on the tribe that is using the Thralls, their death may be exactly what they want.  Vulture Mystics and Jackal Mystics both use the spirits of the dead to make their spells more powerful or twisted.  
Often before the Ruin Tribes commit to a battle, they will give a weapon to one of their Thralls and force them to fight against a champion of the Ruin Clan that holds them. From the outcome of this individual fight, the Clan’s Vola - Mystic - will determine what the fate of the struggle will be for the Clan.
If the fight goes the way of the Clan’s warrior, and it almost always does, the battle will be joined. If the Thrall wins the conflict, the Clan will slip away to fight another day. Ritual combat is just one divinatory method that the Ruin Tribespeople use.
If the Thralls fight well and live, they are given just enough food to make it worthwhile to fight again. They will most certainly perish, but maybe, just maybe, it won’t be to the jaws or mandibles of a sacred animal or horrifically sacrificed to appease a Totem god.
Some of these Thralls have even been known to escape or to be captured by one of the more “civilized” kingdoms before being returned to their home. It’s from the stories of these few that escaped or were re-captured that the horrific tales of the treatment of Ruin Thralls come from.