Talabeclander

Most of the inhabitants of Talabecland are descendants of the Taleuten tribe, whom after years of wandering the Great Forest,found the Great Crater, a huge bowl in the earth surrounded by a natural wall. The wall itself was pierced by a tunnel. According to legend, Krugar, the chieftain of the Taleutens decided this was a sign from Taal himself and ordered the building of a great city within the crater. Known first as Taalahim, later to become Talabheim, it soon became the largest city within the Empire's eastern territories and is considered by many to be near impregnable.
A thickly forested place, Talabecland has a reputation for barbarism and ignorance amongst the other provinces.The folk of Talabecland ignore this nonsense, holding instead a private pride in their forestcraft and practical skills. At their best, Talabeclanders are patient woodsfolk, with a quiet intensity and honour. Reading, writing, and the scholastic arts are respected, but held in second place to the lore of the wilds. The men of Talabecland favour silence and deed over long speeches, but their womenfolk have a soft side for a honeyed word. As a consequence, rakish types, poets, and Reiklanders are viewed with firm suspicion throughout the province—though in general Talabeclanders are more welcoming than their rural Stirland cousins.
The role of the father is considered especially important to the folk of the Great Woods. Even town-born men take their sons to the woods during the summer and teach them how follow a trail, light a fire, and catch a meal. This is considered a matter of practicality, just like a Marienburger learning to swim. A lad without a father to patiently teach him the ways of the wood and the bow is considered unlucky.
Talabeclanders, even their nobility, are unusually self-effacing. Their histories tell tales of great deeds while downplaying the role of persons involved. At the tournaments held every two years at Küsel, Talabecland knights wear the provincial colours on their shields, the only indication of their families being a small badge on their shoulders. Tradition considers the glory won to belong to the people as a whole. The Talabeclanders are also a religious people, revering all the gods of the Empire, but holding special reverence for Taal and Rhya. Indeed, Taal’s greatest temple is found in the small woods outside Talabheim in the Great Crater.
Ulric is also popular, for although not braggarts, Talabeclanders are known for their warlike ways. Talabheim itself was the home of the cult for a while in the Second Millennium, when the Ar-Ulric left Middenheim for Talabheim after a dispute with the local Elector Count. At their worst, Talabeclanders can be argumentative, primitive, hard drinking, and mean. And though they do not wear leaves, as others accuse them of doing, Talabeclanders generally eschew elaborate clothes and prefer practical garb that can stand up to rough handling. Talabeclander speech is smooth with slurred-together words, though the cultured elites of Talabheim prefer to speak “proper” Reikspiel. The rest of the Empire puts this curious speech down to the well-known Talabec tradition of brewing “moonshine” liquor in the woods.

Related Organizations

• The Empire of Man