Keld
History
During the Bloom Age, the Powrie existed as disparate, nomadic clans scattered across the lands that would eventually be known as Keld. Their societies were decentralized, with each clan adhering to its own local traditions and deities. Living in a state of self-sufficiency, they had minimal contact with the developing city-states to their south and remained largely absent from the historical records of other nations.
Throughout much of the Blood Age, they maintained this isolation, coming into brief conflict with the pre-imperial human city-states of Ibunor as they expanded. However, the Ibunese campaign of deicide drove a grievously wounded deity north into Keld. The entity's arrival wreaked havoc among the Powrie clans. One clan offered the refugee god sanctuary, building a new, fanatical faith around its pain and rage. Meanwhile, other clans rejected the entity, viewing it as a corrupting influence that would bring ruin upon their people. A remarkably brief and bloody civil war ensued, in which the followers of the new god systematically exterminated or subjugated non-believers. Throughout the rest of the Blood Age, driven by the rage of their adopted Tatarigami God, the Powries waged war to the south on Ibunese and Ellyllon alike.
Throughout the Blight Age, the Keld was forged from the victorious faction's faith. Society was rebuilt around the duty of enacting their god's vengeance against the outside world. This divine mandate institutionalized a culture of ritualized trauma, as generations were raised to carry out savage raids demanded by their deity. This new identity codified their isolation and unintentionally cemented their technological stagnation, as they developed a reputation for being barbaric and cruel.
Most recently, the Ibunese waged an extended campaign against Keld known as The Long March, in which they fielded their Ogre slave-soldiers. However, the Powries repelled them, despite their technological superiority and powerful allies. Today, Keld remains in a state of perpetual conflict with Ibunor, Tytherin's borders having been superseded by the powerful empire and largely inaccessible. The Powries of Keld are driven by religious obligation, their culture defined by the atrocities their faith requires, and their own actions as much a terror for themselves, as for their enemies. They are a nation of traumatized zealots fighting a holy war against a world they believe has wronged their god.
Government
The government of Keld, and more specifically Gwerin Mowes Kas, is a rigid, three-caste theocracy organized for the sole purpose of waging their holy war. Absolute authority rests with the goddess Mowes Kas, whose spoken commands are the nation's only law. The priestly caste, the Medhygyon, function as the administrative and leadership body who receive the goddess's edicts and manage societal logistics by directing the labor and military actions of the other two castes.
The rest of Gwerin Mowes Kas is divided between An Cador [an KA-dor], the warrior caste who carry out the raids, and An Goberi [an go-BEAR-ee], the support caste of non-combatants who arm and feed the war effort. Any political maneuvering generally exists for personal rank or status rather than manipulation of the system as a whole. The entire society operates as a direct chain of command flowing from the goddess to her priests, and from the priests to the people.
Interesting Facts
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The practice of ritual cannibalism originated during a great famine in the clan's early history and was later codified by the Medhygyon. Now, when any warrior of An Cador dies with honor, their bodies are consumed by the members of their warband. They believe this rite allows the fallen's strength and pious rage to be preserved within the clan, ensuring their devotion to the goddess continues after death.
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Due to their goddess's form as a Swan Maiden, all swans are considered sacred creatures by the Gwerin Mowes Kas. Harming a swan is blasphemous, an act punishable by a slow, ritual execution.
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The Gwerin Mowes Kas do not view symptoms of trauma as weakness; instead, they are revered as the highest signs of piety. There are three primary marks of the goddess's favor: spontaneous weeping; prolonged sleeplessness; and the vacant, sightless stare of a warrior. A Powrie displaying these signs is considered to be "touched" by the unending sorrow of Mowes Kas.
Current Challenges
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The Southern War. The war against the Ibunese Empire has become a crisis of attrition for Keld. While the guerrilla tactics of the Powrie inflict heavy casualties, the Ibunese Empire is a vast nation capable of replacing its losses. Keld, in contrast, is a small, isolated nation where every warrior's death is a permanent and irreplaceable loss. This constant drain on their population is a threat that tactical victories on the battlefield cannot solve. The reality of physical death coupled with the psychological strain of their bloody crusade has left their armies in a diminished state, even as their goddess demands another campaign.
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The Divided Vengeance. The Gwerin Mowes Kas are driven by two competing duties: their goddess's command to destroy the Ibunese, and their own centuries-old grudge to purge the heretical old god Gwerin from Keld. Mowes Kas's divine rage is focused solely on the external enemy who wounded her and has no interest in the fate of the dissenting clans. The Medhygyon struggle to balance the imperative of the goddess's divine mandate with their people's own festering hatred for their internal rivals.
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The Enemy's Weapon. The effectiveness of Ibunese firearms has created a schism within the Gwerin Mowes Kas. Warriors facing the power of the black powder weaponry employed by Ibunor, have begun to scavenge and use the enemy's weapons in battle. The Medhygyon, however, preach that these tools are heretical, and that victory must be achieved through the pure, divine rage granted by Mowes Kas, not through the tools of the enemy. Meanwhile, the warriors see their use as a form of justice in which the Ibunese must experience the pain of their own devices.
Gwerin
The Gwerin of Keld are the disparate clans of Powrie who rejected the faith of Mowes Kas during the civil war. Having survived the initial purge, these groups have persisted for centuries in the most remote and inhospitable parts of the nation, each clan bound to the worship of an old god. They are not a unified opposition, but a collection of isolated heresies. Their continued existence is a direct affront to the authority of the Medhygyon, who view them as a festering sickness that must one day be cleansed from the land.
Gwerin Argant
Gwerin Argant are not a true clan, but a loose band of Powrie outcasts and scavengers drawn to the shores of Wyrkmeer Lake. The focus of their opportunism is the Tatarigami Argant, a Griffon deity whose mind was shattered by the annihilation of his followers in the civil war. The god is trapped in a perpetual loop of his final moments, his actions disconnected from present reality. The scavengers risk his violent, unpredictable episodes to loot the tangible results of his looping trauma: ancient weapons churned up from the lakebed battlefield and fresh kills he leaves as offerings to his phantom clan.
Gwerin Arlothanoth
Gwerin Arlothanoth is a clan of Powrie who inhabit a network of geothermally-active caverns deep beneath The Klyfts. They live alongside the Lindwyrm god, Arlothanoth, whom they revere as a fundamental force of the deep earth. Their perception of time has untethered from celestial cycles; they measure the passage of years by seasonal thaws and shorter periods through the rhythmic cycles of geysers, subterranean tides, and the natural breath of the caverns they inhabit. Their prolonged habitation with Arlothanoth has made their clan methodical, patient, and emotionally detached.
Gwerin Dansdrew
Gwerin Dansdrew is a clan of Powrie hunters who inhabit a frozen peninsula on the coast of the Nordhavet Sea. They are the followers of Dansdrew, a Saber-Toothed Cat who was corrupted into a Tatarigami after his defeat in the Powrie civil war. The clan's primary duty is to provide a constant stream of fresh meat to their god to temporarily quiet his agonizing hunger and prevent him from consuming them. Having hunted their own territory to the point of collapse, their parties now stalk the nomadic tundra clans for offerings and, if there are none to be had, they turn to hunting each other to provide the required sacrifice.
Gwerin Lowenna
Gwerin Lowenna is a clan of Powrie who rejected Mowes Kas when she first arrived in their lands. For centuries, they have remained loyal to their chosen goddess, the Nymph Lowenna, and have retreated into her sanctum, the vast peat bogs of the Wetterwyld, to protect her from Gwerin Mowes Kas. The clan lives as survivalists, using their knowledge of the bog to maintain their isolation and protect Lowenna. Their close proximity to their fey goddess has seeped into their minds, making them capricious, wild, and aggressive when their home is threatened.
Gwerin Lymgolok
Gwerin Lymgolok is a clan of Powrie who inhabit the islands of the Mor Draigwen Sea. Among others, they follow Lymgolok, a Great Horned Owl whom they worship as a master of the hunt. Their society is organized around hunting whales and other large sea creatures with harpoons and specialized skin boats. Their isolation is a function of their maritime skill, which the land-bound Gwerin Mowes Kas lack. Their ability to navigate the icy northern waters protects them from the dangers of the wider world and has given them a peace of mind which the other Gwerin cannot hope to find.