Reachmen

My family has been the backbone of Northwood since its founding. If you're implying I'm going to abandon our town or our Grove to the exploitive greedmongering of those Heathen swindlers, let me introduce that empty skull of yours to my fist!
  Reachmen are a proud people, loyal to their own and distrustful of outsiders due to their prosecution and exploitation by the Church of the Heathen Prophet. The trust of a Reachman is the greatest compliment they can give, and an individual will be hard pressed to find a better ally than a Reachman who considers them a friend.   Due to attempts of the Church of the Heathen Prophet to oppress and exploit the Reachmen they have developed their own close-knit communities of defiance against the religious oligarchy that claims their lands as its own. The Heathen government prefers to deal with this defiance quietly when possible to maintain the support of their more local citizens but will not hesitate to utilize brutal force as long as they can add a politically advantageous spin to the story, requiring the Reachmen to tread carefully while gathering strength. Moving too soon or too quickly would have disastrous consequences, both for themselves and the creatures and secrets they strive to protect.

Naming Traditions

Feminine names

Cynthia, Fiona, Gale, Halienne, Jesse, Laura, Melissa, Nicole, Nalia, Rebecca, Soria, Susan, Tala, Vinna

Masculine names

Boris, Butch, Francis, Herbert, Howard, Leonard, Paul, Ronald, Rudy, Stev, Talik, Vorik

Unisex names

Balion, Drikar, Finn, Illki, Lon, Naro, Sam, Talo, Zarin

Family names

Carver, Chaldonay, Darvin, Forrester, Joh, Lorkin, Nurkul, Smithy, Staghorn

Culture

Shared customary codes and values

Come inside dear. Rest your feet and tell Mama Staghorn all about those troubles of yours.
  The Reachmen have built strong interpersonal relationships and communities in their efforts to stand against the Heathens. Originally this was mainly due to their solidarity in their efforts against the Church of the Heathen Prophet, but over time this sense of comraderie expanded to incorporate other aspects of the lives of the Reachmen. Today they form tight-knit communities, banding together to assist their fellow Reachmen and allies in all matters, even those unrelated to the Heathen Church.

Average technological level

But it's so obvious! Anyone with even a rudimentary understanding of Alchemy has to admit that the power of magic by itself pales in comparison to magic augmented with alchemy! So why is Northwood the only town that is willing to accept Herbology's role in augmenting Curative Magic?
  The Reachmen maintain a similar technological level to the Heathens, due to the shared goverenment and trade agreements within Nomura. As a result of their lower wealth and desire for self-sufficiency, however, most Reachmen focus on technologies that do not require external resources. Technologies revolving around Nature Magic are particularly important to the Reachmen, as are skills and techniques such as Herbology and Carpentry that rely mostly upon locally sourced ingredients or materials.   Reachmen are also quicker than most to evaluate and adopt new technologies, and remain largely open minded when considering technological advancements provided the implementation requirements of those technologies remain compatible with their morals. As an example, the Giftwood Loggers were the first major logging company in Fillimet to freely embrace the use of Woodspell Diviners to improve both efficiency and safety, with most Lumberjacks at Giftwood recognizing the resources provided by a Woodspell could sustainably increase their output. While the Woodspell are slowly gaining popularity most lumberjacks still view them with distrust and unease, believing the Woodspells will eventually eliminate their jobs.   As another example, the Staghorn Brewery pioneered a method of brewing small batches of Mage's Mold Beer, which they make available to allied mages for use to strengthen their astral projections. This is most commonly used to assist search parties into Giftwood Grove in search of missing people, or to help the Giftwood Loggers quickly search for new logging opportunities. It has also proven useful in efforts to obtain intelligence about the Church of the Heathen Prophet and their movements, allowing the Reachmen to proactively defend themselves against further financial manipulation and abuse at the hands of the Heathen Church and its leadership.
Encompassed species
Languages spoken
Related Locations
Northwood
Settlement | Mar 30, 2021

A small village in the Northern Reach, locally Northwood is best known as a pilgrimage site, the birthplace of the Heathen Prophet. The Northwood Loggers have orders worldwide for their high quality lumber, especially the magical Giftwood.

Giftwood Loggers
Organization | Oct 4, 2020

The Giftwood Loggers were founded to cut and sell wood from the Giftwood Grove, particularly the magical Giftwood Tree found only in the Grove.

Staghorn Brewery
Building / Landmark | Mar 4, 2020

The Staghorn Brewery is an integral part of Northwood, partially for its selection of quality beverages but mostly due to Cynthia Staghorn's boisterous support for the town's inhabitants.



Comments

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Jul 2, 2020 20:19

A close-knit community against some religious zealots who are into herbs? Yes, please!   In all seriousness, I loved the writing. You present these people in such a nice way, everything flows into the next bits of information.

Jul 2, 2020 22:40 by William Belley

I like the dilemma about jobs you mentionned with the loggers, it adds logical imperfection to solutions, which makes it more believable. a nice read overall.   Happy summercamp !

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