Middenlander

Middenlanders are descendants of the warlike Teutogen tribe. Fierce and unrelenting in their ways, they quickly carved out a kingdom from the harsh lands of the Howling Hills, driving the native Jutone tribe into the fog-shrouded depths of the Wasteland. When Sigmar came to them, he found a tribe with an unbending will, and strong sense of honour. Though other tribes had joined under his banner, the Teutogens refused to submit to the future God. Eventually Sigmar was forced to kill their tribal chieftain, Artur, in single combat to prove his strength and worth to the Teutogen peoples.
Like all Northerners, Middenlanders are famed for their stubborn ways. This, their Teutogen blood and their “firebrand” tempers has given them a reputation as uncontrollable traditionalists. They hate change of all types, and defend what they see as “tradition” at all cost. They are the last to admit that they are wrong, and the first to challenge an unworthy leader. Whilst those of southern Middenland are less strident than their Drakwald cousins, even they are considered coarse, arrogant, and controlling by the rest of the Empire. At their best, Middenlanders are staunch defenders of pride, property and traditions. Should an unjust tax be levied, Middenlanders will march in protest, torches flaming and pitchforks raised. They can sometimes rally behind a single person’s case, particularly those of destitute war widows, orphans and put upon guild members.
This has caused Middenland politics to have a crude, rabble-rousing element that does not exist so much in other provinces. At their worst, Middenlanders are a fractious, intolerant group of individuals. Not only are they quick to mock those they see as foppish, dandified folk, they are also exceedingly suspicious of foreign influence upon their province. They refuse to use the occasional Bretonnian, Tilean, or Estalian words that have been absorbed into Reikspiel. Ordering a Bretonnian brandy in a Middenland Tavern will cause a yawning silence as all the folk look round at the fool who has just signed his own death warrant.
Middenlanders are divided along what were once boundaries of ancient Teutogen Clans, but have now been divided into geographical prejudices. At one time the Drakwald region had a distinct identity from the rest of Middenland, producing a line of notoriously corrupt Emperors. With the collapse of their dynasty and the devastation of the Great Plague of 1111 IC, the power of the Drakwald was decimated. It ceased to exist as a separate entity when the Emperor Mandred gave it to Middenheim, creating the province as it stands today. Its people are still known as mean-spirited and grasping but seem to be softening over time and incorporated into the Middenlander people.

Related Organizations

• The Empire of Man