Imberdins

History

Coming of Imber

In the time before kingdoms and empires, before even the elder races began recording their history, humans wandered the land in small tribes. By some quirk of fate, the humans had no guardian deity to guide them, and many fell victim to the whispering of dark powers.

Several of the tribes settled on the northern shore of the sheltered sea having found it well supplied with caves for shelter and ample fish. Into one of these tribes was born a child named Imber who was blessed with foresight. Imber credited this ability to spirit like beings that would answer questions when asked. Most just laughed at this explanation until Imber demonstrated the ability to heal a wound with magic, something no other human was capable of. Word of Imber’s miraculous healing powers spread and more tribes gathered by the banks of the sheltered sea.

Map of north coast of the sheltered sea

Open full size

The caves used by Imber’s tribe didn’t have capacity for these new arrivals, and foraging by the tribes was depleting limited amount of edible plants and animals. Fortunately the gathering of the tribes also brought together new ideas. The tribes had long been used to bartering goods with each other, but here they began trading in ideas. One tribe brought with them knowledge of planting and harvesting crops that they had gained from a community of halflings. Another tribe had learned about making bricks from the gnomes. With Imber acting as a mediator for any disputes the once nomadic tribes traded their knowledge to construct permanent settlements for the first time.

Expansion

As the tribes worked on their new villages Imber told them about the beings that granted the power of healing, explaining that only those in tune with the values of these beings could be granted power. Imber guided the tribes in finding which of these beings best suited them and the tribes named their villages after their preferred guardian spirit. The villages expanded into towns as those who shared the same faith moved to these settlements.

Map of north coast of the sheltered sea

Open full size

First Conflicts

After Imber’s death tensions began to develop between the villages. Disputes over which was the superior deity (as they were now calling the spirits) and the correct method of worship became common place. Decades of conflict followed, with the villages developing into fortified towns. Along with this came advances in building and metal working.
The conflicts were ended when the leaders of several of the more powerful towns agreed to a treaty of mutually recognised influence which set the area they were considered to control beyond their town’s walls. This forced several smaller settlements to accept one of the larger towns as their overlord. With boundaries established the towns were able to settle into a period of tranquility and there was an explosion of art and music, along with an early incarnation of the theatre.

Tagarian War

The peace was shattered when one of the towns, Tagared, felt they had amassed enough military strength to expand their influence. In line with their deity's teachings the Tagarians attempted to conquer the other towns but were thwarted by an alliance between Peridia and Herian.
The war dragged on for 10 years and in the end the Tagarians were forced to surrender. The other Imberdins were then faced with a dilemma as the teachings of Tagar meant that the Tagarians would surely try again, but the teachings of Perial and Herin prohibited just killing them. After weeks of debate a decision was made to exile the Tagarians, sending them far to the north.

A return to worship and construction

Following the war the Imberdins returned to more peaceful lives. Joyful celebration of deities once again became the norm with art and buildings created in their honour. The imberdins were helped in their construction efforts by the invention of solidifying rock, which reduced the need to quarry and transport large stone blocks. Music also flourished during this period and several of the tunes composed during this period are still used in modern religious ceremonies.
This period of tranquility was interrupted by the eruption of Neltar Firemount which nearly wiped out Herian. Following the eruption a new faith, the Followers of the Flame, started to become popular in Herian as people grew disillusioned with their previous deity and the lack of help from their fellow imberdins. This new faith was later revealed to be worshipping a fiend and the group was purged from the imberdin towns.

The thing beneath the waves

Imberdin society was brought down by a threat known as the thing beneath the waves. The first sign of trouble was when several fishing vessels failed to return despite there being no adverse weather. This was followed by reports of strange lights in the islands south of Carimber and the disappearance of everyone in several small coastal villages. Soldiers sent to investigate reported being attacked by giant crustaceans whose thick shells could deflected even the finest weapons. People fled to the perceived safety of the towns, but this proved to be in vain.
At night a giant shape would appear by one of the coastal towns and let out a roar which would drive people mad. Neighbours turned on each other. Soldiers fled, or opened the gates to let in the giant crustaceans which would rampage through a town until dawn. While the clerics in each town were able to resist these effects they were unable to stem the tide of chaos on their own. It was during this time that a soldier named Cethburn rose to prominence. Cethburn was able to withstand the roar and took charge of both defence and relief efforts.
Gathering the leaders of the towns he proposed a simple plan for saving the people - leave the sheltered sea. There were many objections but in the end Cethburn's simple practicality won out. The imberdin people began a mass migration to the north, with each town heading to a different region. This migration marked the end of the imberdins as a people as their traditions and even language began to diverge.

Culture

Art & Architecture

The Imberdins were highly creative during periods of peace. While it is assumed they had painters and drawers, there is little evidence of such. What have survived the millennia are statues and mosaics, along with the remains of some buildings. Most of the surviving art has been found in caves which have fitted with worked stone blocks.
Some of the Imberdins buildings have survived the test of time and are still used today, though they have had to be repaired following the two periods of demon invasions. Several of these buildings were constructed from an exceptionally durable Solidifying Rock which seems to surpass modern recipies. Despite this advanced building material it appears the Imberdins were limited in their architecture by a lack of knowledge the use of arches.

Foods & Cuisine

The original imberdins brought together a variety of different cooking styles from different tribes and each town developed it's own signature dishes. Food in Herian, Tagared and Carimber tended to focus on fish from the sheltered sea, supplemented by grains imported from the inland towns. Towns like Peridia and Berteer tended to favour spiced goat and mutton in their dishes.

Funerary and Memorial customs

Unlike modern civilisations the Imberdins buried their dead in the ground or in chambers beneath their temples. They went to some efforts to prevent animals digging up the bodies, sometimes burying the bodies in holes up to 7ft deep. The burying of a body was a long drawn out affair as relatives and friends took turns to make offerings and prayers to their favoured deity to accept the departed's soul.

Building Materials

While the assorted churches and temples recognise the Imberdins as the founders of organised human religion it is perhaps not the Imberdins most signficiant impact. While the methods for firing bricks may have improved the underlying princple behind using consistently sized building blocks has remained the same since it was introduced. In addition there have been few, if any improvements over the recipe used in the Imberdin's other building material - Solidifying Rock.

Religion

The Imberdins did not use the same names as are used today for the deities, and it appears some of the deities' aspects may have changed over time. The primary deities acknowledged by the Imberdins were:

• Tagar - Warfare and Domination.
• Herin - Justice and Defence.
• Perial - Farming and Light.
• Orad - Sea and Weather.
• Argar - Death and Disease.

While several others appear to have been worshipped these five are the ones most commonly depicted in statues and mosaics.

What little we know

There is little to nothing recorded on the imberdins and what little we know is based on stories handed down through the ages. That the imberdins existed is not in doubt, both the elves and dwarves have confirmed their existence, though they didn't record many details themselves. Some of evidence of their culture has been found by the edge of the sheltered sea, and mages have managed to catch brief glimpses through powerful divination spells.