Kesselbroni Clans
The Kesselbron Mountains in the east of Kordania are a harsh, unforgiving environment, and so too are those who call it home. Each clan is a collection of extended families that roam vast reaches of territory, hunting and fighting for survival every day. To civilized folk, it beggars belief that any could survive, let alone thrive, in a land as hostile as the Kesselbron Mountains. Yet the Clans have existed for at least a thousand years, if not longer.
Every clan is dominated by a warrior culture, and their warriors can be counted among the greatest, and most ferocious, in the world. The clans are not a unified people. Alliances and conflicts shift and flow like the tide; yesterdays friend could well be tomorrows enemy. Every clan is instinctively proud and protective of their kith and kin, and an insult to one is an insult to all. While there are dozens of clans that vary in size from only a handful of families to more than three dozen, currently there are five clans who have risen to prominence; the Wyndrekkr, the Wyrmyr, the Ulfrinnger, the Tonraud and the Bronsvauden.
The Wyndrekkr are one of the most numerous clans in the Kesselbron. Comprising mostly of goliaths, humans and goblins, the Wyndrekkr are exceptional rangers and are renowned for their endurance and their worship of storms. The Wyndrekkr hold a great reverence for the sky and the wind, and Pyrmora is their patron god. One of their most important cultural events involves climbing to a tall precipice or peak during a violent storm, and bellowing at the sky in both praise and challenge. It is the desire of many Wyndrekkr youths to join the Storm Striders, a group of elite and eldritch warriors who can command the power of wind and lightning in battle.
The Wyrmyr are unique among the clans. They are the outsiders of the Kesselbroni; a dragonborn clan descended from the lost civilisation of Drakilvas. They are the only clan who have built a permanent, fortified settlement in the mountains, which is where their name derives. The Wyrmyr are the only dragonborn culture who reside anywhere in Kordania, and though young, they have already forged a legacy here. They are expert miners, metallurgists and alchemists, and it was they who made the discovery of the unique and magical mineral drakon dvasi. The Wyrmyrans are among the most magically gifted of the clans, and their expertise in forging arcane works and instruments is almost unparalleled.
The Ulfrinnger are viewed with a great deal of superstition and mistrust by many clans. Numerous myths and folk tales float around them, whispers that they are skin-changers and beast-speakers who consort with lycans. While highly exaggerated, these rumours are founded in truth, for the Ulfrinnger are reverential of wild animals and nature. There are many druids among them, and every Ulfrinnger child is believed to be tied to an animal-spirt. The Ulfrinnger are fiercely protective of the natural world and its cycles, and fiercely pursues grudges against those they believe have sinned against the worldly-spirit.
On the northern slopes, the Tonraud have one of the most fearsome and unnerving reputations of all the clans. So fierce and belligerent are they as fighters, that there territory is given a wide berth by nearly all others. They have few friends, but they believe they need none. The Tonraud carry an ancestral hatred towards the creatures and fiends of the Shattered Plateau to the north of their land. They often launch hunting parties into that cursed land to capture live monstrosities and demons, to be dragged back to their samling for ritualized slaughter. Other clans whisper that the Tonraud utilize fiendish components and substances to enhance their fighting prowess. A coming-of-age ceremony of the Tonraud involves sending Tonraud youths out into the wilderness, to return home only if they bear the corpse of some terrible creature behind them. The fact that most eventually return speaks volumes to the skill and ferocity of the Tonraud.
The Bronsvauden are regarded as peculiar by the other clans. They are the most hospitable and open of the clans, and they commonly hire themselves out to others as mercenaries. Bronsvauden are famed throughout the Kesselbron for riding great, shaggy, horned beasts known as orroxen through the vales and gulleys of their home territories. They are great lovers of music and song, and they craft the most splendid instruments, especially horns, trumpets and bagpipes. To the Bronsvauden, battles are akin to an orchestra or choir. Songs and hymns are shouted above the clash of swords, and horn-blowers and drummers drown out the shouts and screams of the combatants.
Goals
The power balance of the clans are in constant flux, ebbing and flowing like the tides as each clan conducts raids and skirmishes against their neighbors. Loyalty to ones clan is paramount, but loyalties between the clans is looser than quicksand. Each clan is concerned principally with its own survival, its cultural practices and the honor of their ancestors. Heroism and the forging of sagas occupy the dreams of all the clans, and the forging of personal legends worthy of immortalization is the greatest ambition of all.Relationships
For centuries beyond count, the dwarves and gnomes of Blodhalle regarded the clans as little more than savages; uncouth barbarians that were not worth conversing with or understanding. Yet, when their hour was darkest, the Blodhallens learned that the clans were friends worth having. In the present age, a number of southern clans are permitted to travel and trade freely in ‘Blodhallen’ territory. Wyrmyr especially are close allies with Blodhalle, and the alliance has allowed both sides to make great strides in industry, alchemy and artifice. Every clan views the neighboring Callair Forest and its denizens with a great deal of fearful superstition. Countless tales are told to young Kesselbroni children to stay well away from the trees, telling of those who venture within never returning. The Children of the Callair work actively to perpetuate these superstitions, but on occasion some among them find they have a need for the clans particular skills. When a Callair elf, satyr or gnome ambassador arrives at a clan encampment, it is treated as some portentous moment, as though they were visitors from another world.Symbol
A spear, flanked by an array of hunting horns, engraved with the names of the clansNotable Clans
- Wyndrekkr
- Wyrmyr
- Ulfrinnger
- Tonraud
- Bronsvauden
- Hundrveeren
- Grorfuut
- Askeskydde
Neighboring Nations
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