Haxmar
The Haxmar are one of the countless tribes that moved west from the Gagas, in the centuries before the beast, to forge a homeland in the West. The Haxmar are most famous for their warhounds which are measured the worth of 4 men in battle. Men and women have equal status within the community, although traditional divisions of labour occurs within society. Barter is the recognised form of trade with traditional Haxmar suspicious of the value of coin. Haxmar rarely specialise in any trades, most live in isolated homesteads and towns are uncommon. The language group is West Gagas and is known for the prolific use of swearing.
Haxmar are medium to short in statue with a typically rangy build. They have dark hair and males usually sport a beard with both sexes wearing shoulder length hair. They style their hair with a thick layer of goat’s butter. Haxmar tattoo their bodies with non-permanent plant dye for important occasions such as weddings, funerals and war. To better display their art they often forgo clothes on these occasions. Traditionally, Haxmar dress in goat skin loin cloth and goat skin leggings (fur inside) fastened with cord (gut). They wear shoes made of bear skin stuffed with grass for insulation. The top is typically a poncho style goat or bearskin. Woman and men wear the same clothes. Haxmar weapons include the staff, sling, looped cords (carrying game birds by the neck or for bringing them down in flight) and short daggers with the use of a stout “Bear killer” spear when hunting large game. Warriors use a “Haxa” in battle, a type of hooked and curved sword (60-90cm in length) used to negate opponent’s shields (d6). The Haxa is not carried around every day. Wearing one is a sign of intent and when drawn, somebody should be at least bleeding before it is stowed away. The first recorded document to mention the Haxmar was written late in the Empire’s glory days in 34BB. An odd-twenty years later the Haxmar had swept down from the Gagas mountains as far East as the present Middian capital of Ul, when the war of the Beast erupted, At that time the Haxmar were an annoying and persistence problem for Emperor Vugnell III. They had whittled away at the proud empire’s outer Eastern Territories while the Ornian's eyes were cast elsewhere with the threat of the Beast. Many scholars already felt the Haxmar were already in decline with pressures from other barbarian tribes and orcs from the Gagas Mountains when the world was remade with the fall the Beast. When Tugnor the reformer quarrelled with his brother over the rebuilding of a shattered world and founded the kingdom of Middia, the Haxmar quickly lost battle after battle and their territory contracted to what is now the traditional homeland for the past 300 years- bare foothills and tangled valleys in poor land between the Merja and Haxmarii rivers. The lands are plagued by goblins that infest the honeycombed hills, emerging at nightfall and terrorising the landscape. While goblins avoid the towns, the isolated nature of most Haxmar households means that farmhouses are fortified two storey structures made of dry stone. The upper level is the living space of the household, accessed by a retractable ladder while the lower level protected by stout wooden doors, shelter the hounds, livestock and supplies of the household.
Since the last acknowledged Great Cul (war leader) of the Haxmar was defeated in battle in 474 by the Middians at Racian they have remained a subjugated people. Many Haxmar have forgotten the old ways, integrating into wider Middian society and only a few still live in the traditional manner, rye and goat supplemented with hunting birds and larger game such as boar and bear. They do not have any recognised leadership structure other than that imposed by Middia. A number of resistance groups exist with the aim of regaining independence but they are poorly organised, preoccupied with infighting and ineffective.
Beliefs and customs. Haxmar are not strongly religious on a day to day basis, at best they worship the nature and spirits of the land as individuals or small family groups. Haxmar have spiritual leaders, "Clever Men" although they are uncommon. The Clever men use scapulomancy to guide their people and foresee the future. This involves examing the scapula of a goat after a feast. Lifted into the light of an open fire, shadowy bits on transparent parts of the bone tell the Clever Man of a possible futures. Stone circles, symbols of Haxmar community and places of power litter the landscape, easy to build in the rocky terrain. They have strong regard for their ancestors and build white-washed burial tunnels on the top of large hills. The tunnels contain the burnt remains of many generations along with treasure to help in the afterlife. The barrows are visible for miles around and are looked after fastidiously. A ruined or neglected tomb is usually the result of the demise of a lineage.
The funeral rites of the Haxmar involve a large feast and reflection on the life of the person by the whole community from the early morning. The body is laid out on a pyre and set alight at a time calculated to see the remains turned to ash before sunset. The closer this moment is to sunset the greater honour and prestige to the individual and family but it risks leaving the soul trapped on Earth if the ritual is not complete by sunset. The closest relative of the deceased gathers the still glowing ashes and places embers in a number of Bass (small smooth rocks that have a depression ground out to hold the ember). Young men then have the honour of racing with the embers to a nearby sacred area, a Soul Hill, while the closest relative interns the ashes in a niche within the long barrow. The winning runner, if they arrive on time and with the ember still alight, safely set the soul at rest under the hill. The ember and stone metamorphose into a small hard shiny black bead that the victorious runner wears proudly around their neck. Haxmar society venerates those that wear a number of Bass.
Music- Instruments include the bull roarer, used in ceremonies such as funerals and weddings. Clap sticks, drums made of goat skin and bone flutes are also played.
Weddings. To wed, one partner in the union must have a farmhouse and cultivated land to demonstrate they are able to be provide for themselves as a family. This leads to Half-Haxa relationships in towns being seen as not legitimate and is one of the strains on Haxmar society in urban settings. Marriage can be proposed equally by the man or the woman but is the sole decision of the couple involved and parents or elders have no influence or say in the matter. Property is inherited entirely by one of the offspring of a union, whoever the parent chooses although multigenerational or sibling households are common occurrences. Relatives inherit where there are no descendants, but Haxmar can only own what they reside in so extra properties are redistributed within the community.
Haxmar are medium to short in statue with a typically rangy build. They have dark hair and males usually sport a beard with both sexes wearing shoulder length hair. They style their hair with a thick layer of goat’s butter. Haxmar tattoo their bodies with non-permanent plant dye for important occasions such as weddings, funerals and war. To better display their art they often forgo clothes on these occasions. Traditionally, Haxmar dress in goat skin loin cloth and goat skin leggings (fur inside) fastened with cord (gut). They wear shoes made of bear skin stuffed with grass for insulation. The top is typically a poncho style goat or bearskin. Woman and men wear the same clothes. Haxmar weapons include the staff, sling, looped cords (carrying game birds by the neck or for bringing them down in flight) and short daggers with the use of a stout “Bear killer” spear when hunting large game. Warriors use a “Haxa” in battle, a type of hooked and curved sword (60-90cm in length) used to negate opponent’s shields (d6). The Haxa is not carried around every day. Wearing one is a sign of intent and when drawn, somebody should be at least bleeding before it is stowed away. The first recorded document to mention the Haxmar was written late in the Empire’s glory days in 34BB. An odd-twenty years later the Haxmar had swept down from the Gagas mountains as far East as the present Middian capital of Ul, when the war of the Beast erupted, At that time the Haxmar were an annoying and persistence problem for Emperor Vugnell III. They had whittled away at the proud empire’s outer Eastern Territories while the Ornian's eyes were cast elsewhere with the threat of the Beast. Many scholars already felt the Haxmar were already in decline with pressures from other barbarian tribes and orcs from the Gagas Mountains when the world was remade with the fall the Beast. When Tugnor the reformer quarrelled with his brother over the rebuilding of a shattered world and founded the kingdom of Middia, the Haxmar quickly lost battle after battle and their territory contracted to what is now the traditional homeland for the past 300 years- bare foothills and tangled valleys in poor land between the Merja and Haxmarii rivers. The lands are plagued by goblins that infest the honeycombed hills, emerging at nightfall and terrorising the landscape. While goblins avoid the towns, the isolated nature of most Haxmar households means that farmhouses are fortified two storey structures made of dry stone. The upper level is the living space of the household, accessed by a retractable ladder while the lower level protected by stout wooden doors, shelter the hounds, livestock and supplies of the household.
Since the last acknowledged Great Cul (war leader) of the Haxmar was defeated in battle in 474 by the Middians at Racian they have remained a subjugated people. Many Haxmar have forgotten the old ways, integrating into wider Middian society and only a few still live in the traditional manner, rye and goat supplemented with hunting birds and larger game such as boar and bear. They do not have any recognised leadership structure other than that imposed by Middia. A number of resistance groups exist with the aim of regaining independence but they are poorly organised, preoccupied with infighting and ineffective.
Beliefs and customs. Haxmar are not strongly religious on a day to day basis, at best they worship the nature and spirits of the land as individuals or small family groups. Haxmar have spiritual leaders, "Clever Men" although they are uncommon. The Clever men use scapulomancy to guide their people and foresee the future. This involves examing the scapula of a goat after a feast. Lifted into the light of an open fire, shadowy bits on transparent parts of the bone tell the Clever Man of a possible futures. Stone circles, symbols of Haxmar community and places of power litter the landscape, easy to build in the rocky terrain. They have strong regard for their ancestors and build white-washed burial tunnels on the top of large hills. The tunnels contain the burnt remains of many generations along with treasure to help in the afterlife. The barrows are visible for miles around and are looked after fastidiously. A ruined or neglected tomb is usually the result of the demise of a lineage.
The funeral rites of the Haxmar involve a large feast and reflection on the life of the person by the whole community from the early morning. The body is laid out on a pyre and set alight at a time calculated to see the remains turned to ash before sunset. The closer this moment is to sunset the greater honour and prestige to the individual and family but it risks leaving the soul trapped on Earth if the ritual is not complete by sunset. The closest relative of the deceased gathers the still glowing ashes and places embers in a number of Bass (small smooth rocks that have a depression ground out to hold the ember). Young men then have the honour of racing with the embers to a nearby sacred area, a Soul Hill, while the closest relative interns the ashes in a niche within the long barrow. The winning runner, if they arrive on time and with the ember still alight, safely set the soul at rest under the hill. The ember and stone metamorphose into a small hard shiny black bead that the victorious runner wears proudly around their neck. Haxmar society venerates those that wear a number of Bass.
Music- Instruments include the bull roarer, used in ceremonies such as funerals and weddings. Clap sticks, drums made of goat skin and bone flutes are also played.
Weddings. To wed, one partner in the union must have a farmhouse and cultivated land to demonstrate they are able to be provide for themselves as a family. This leads to Half-Haxa relationships in towns being seen as not legitimate and is one of the strains on Haxmar society in urban settings. Marriage can be proposed equally by the man or the woman but is the sole decision of the couple involved and parents or elders have no influence or say in the matter. Property is inherited entirely by one of the offspring of a union, whoever the parent chooses although multigenerational or sibling households are common occurrences. Relatives inherit where there are no descendants, but Haxmar can only own what they reside in so extra properties are redistributed within the community.
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