Strigany
Refugees of Strygos
The people of Strygos were scattered to the winds when their lands were destroyed and have since taken up a nomadic life – calling themselves Strigany (“people of no King” or “Kingless”). They roam the Borderlands\Badlands region predominantly but can also be found further afield such as the Capelli city-state of Tilea (not to be confused with the ‘Cigano’ people found in other parts of Tilea and Estalia who are also Rroma – but from the original migratory peoples of Indhya and who did not accompany the splinter group into the Badlands) or Cathay in the East. The Strigany travel on foot or on horseback, in their easily recognisable wagon trains or river barges – sometimes a dozen wagons in a row, occasionally a hundred or more, they make money labouring wherever the locals are willing to pay them, bartering rare artefacts and trading or stealing when they can’t. The men are skilled horsemen and tradesmen with tough exteriors and gruff voices that are active and strong well into their twilight years, the women are bronze skinned alluring beauties with long dark hair, glittering bangles and golden loops from their ear-lobes with mysterious dark eyes and long black eye-lashes, the children seek to emulate the elders from a surprisingly early age and the old women are the true leaders of their culture – particularly the Mystics.Stragany Today
They are a desperate people, often clinging to the half-forgotten legends that say that their ancient Vampiric masters will someday return to lift them from their pathetic lives. As rumours of these throwback beliefs ripple outward and are heard by outsiders, the continued Vampire worship doesn’t help those Strigany who are trying to move on from their past. Rather, it ensures that their persecution at the hands of outsiders continues. The Strigany are quickly blamed for any local problem without a more obvious culprit, and over-zealous Witch Hunters are all too eager to accuse them transporting diseased Undead in their rotten barges. By the time their innocence is proven in these cases, their boats are already burnt to the waterline.Naming Traditions
Feminine names
First Names tend to vary enormously and many are chosen from local cultures just because they sound pretty.
Sultana; Jameela; Victoria; Tenrebile; Fatima;
Masculine names
First Names tend to vary enormously and many are chosen from local cultures just because they sound noble.
Andreyus; Kokuzog; Lazari; Solak
Family names
Strigany family names tend to date back to their original time in Araby and have been passed down through the centuries.
For example:
Beg: provincial governor (Çavus, Heyreddin Beg)
BostancI: official gardener of the Sultan (BostancI Yusuf bin Abdullah
Çavus: Sergeant, guard, officer (Çavus, Heyreddin Beg or ilyas Çavus,)
Etci: Butcher (Etci Mehmed)
HacI Hadji : Pilgrim (El-Haci KasIm; HacI Ali bin Mustafa)
Hatun : Lady, Ms. (feminine) (Emine Hatun bint Mehmed)
Hâkim : Ruler, judge, physician (Hâkim Sinan Yahudi)
Halife : Caliph (Suleiman Halife)
Hoca : Teacher; (Hoca Mehmed)
Kara : Black; unlucky, gloomy (Kara Mustafa)
Mevlana: Mawlana, teacher, religious teacher (Mevlana Mustafa bin Yusuf)
Saatçi: Watchmaker; seller of watches (Saatçi Yani bin Demurcu)
Culture
Major language groups and dialects
The Strigos people originate from Araby, but most have lived for long periods in areas on the borders of the Badlands and The Border Princes where their accents have been influenced by various local dialects.
General affectations of a Strigany Accent.
- Long 'A' becomes Short 'E': Take/Tek; Lady/Ledy; Awake/Awek; Basement/Besment; Today/Todey; state/stet
- Short 'I' becomes Long 'E': Spit/Speet; Did/Deed; Liquor/Leekor; If/Eef; Live/Leeve
- Consonant Clusters become multi-syllables : Clear/Culear; Strumming/Starumming ; Sleeping/Suleeping
Culture and cultural heritage
Strigany tends to share a number of common cultural traits that are part of their heritage.
Skills:
- Consume Alcohol,
- Common Knowledge (the Empire or the Strigany),
- Row or Sail,
- Speak Language (Reikspiel or Strigany),
- Swim
Reputation
-10 modifier to all Fellowship Tests with other humans because they bear the stigma of their Vampiric past,Common Myths and Legends
The Strigany Curse
The Strigany have a cursed history from the time when their ancestors were ruled by Strigoi Vampire overlords. This ensures that they are never particularly welcome wherever they set up camp – as most villagers assume they are in league with all manner of foul undead creatures. At the very least they endure taunts of thieves, prostitutes and cutthroats or servants of darkness as they pass by the villagers. In truth, most of them are highly skilled craftsmen, fighters (bare-knuckle pugilism a speciality) and entertainers, although many do know something of the winds of magic this is generally an area reserved for the Mystics, others are able to extract few coins from the gullible townsfolk fortune telling, and most (for the price of a drink or two) can accurately recount chilling stories of evil Necromancers and Vampire tyrants.Vampire Worship
The human empire of Strigos worshipped Vampires as Gods, but their Undead deities couldn’t save them from the might of butchering Greenskins. When the few escapees staggered north into the Old World, the stricken people met a wall of hatred from the other human tribes, but they had nowhere else to turn.History and Tradition
They wander there still, now calling themselves the Strigany, and are hated no less, even though the centuries have erased the memories of their blood-soaked empire from the minds of their countrymen. Mirroring the rootless land caravans of their people, the Strigany meander up and down the Reik in small boat communities, moving from one persecution to the next. Their dreary, poorly maintained vessels are often moored far from civilisation, where they prey on the superstitions of passing riverfolk by selling charms and wards for whatever coin they can.“Finally we come to the most degenerate of all the Vampire bloodlines, the Strigoi. Outcast from their more civilised brethren, these slavering creatures more closely resemble Ghouls or Daemons than the idealised Human forms of the von Carsteins, Blood Dragons and Lahmias. They are consumed by hatred for almost all living things, but particularly for the other Vampire bloodlines. Interestingly
the name Strigoi hints at an association with the travelling caravans of the Strigany, wandering hither and yon throughout the Empire and beyond with no kingdom to call their own. The Strigany have long since been rumoured to harbour the evil Strigoi within their ranks, but nothing has ever been proven. Yet still the Witch Hunters and vengeful mobs attack Strigany wherever they go, solely out of this confusing similarity of names."
Ludolf Traugott , Priest of Verena, Altdorf
Ludolf Traugott , Priest of Verena, Altdorf
"We walk ragged amongst many peoples of many lands
So that their scorn will make us harder
We thrive on the speed of our wits and the sleight of our hands
And on skill and luck and murder
We face the depths and the darkness of the world alone
So that we may become ever brighter
We live hunted and hated by all but our own
So that the bonds that bind draw ever tighter
We wait for the time of the storm that will call us home
To the birthright of our once and future lands
We pray for our rebirth in that fresh crimson dawn
But until then we trust ourselves to Ushoran's hands."
—Strigany saying
So that their scorn will make us harder
We thrive on the speed of our wits and the sleight of our hands
And on skill and luck and murder
We face the depths and the darkness of the world alone
So that we may become ever brighter
We live hunted and hated by all but our own
So that the bonds that bind draw ever tighter
We wait for the time of the storm that will call us home
To the birthright of our once and future lands
We pray for our rebirth in that fresh crimson dawn
But until then we trust ourselves to Ushoran's hands."
—Strigany saying
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