Tribes of Sartar, Chalk Man Valley

From: Greybeard <Greybeard_at_nochet.demon.co.uk>
Date: Thu, 8 Jun 1995 09:28:53 GMT


Tribes of Sartar

RQA 5 has good detail on Northern Sartar. It may or may not fit with your game but most refs and particularly neo-Sartarites will find it very useful.

I have a game running in the Chalk Man Valley, it doesn't agree with John Hughes version of AldaChuri tribes, but hey ho, if you like it you can use it..

The Valley of the Chalk Man

The Valley of the Chalk Man lies east of Aldachur, some 30-40km. It is named after the spirit god whose outline is cut from the chalk hill overlooking the valley. It is said that the Chalk Man is an Earth god who fought in the Gods Wars and that in times of great trouble the Chalk Man can be summoned by a priest to defend the lands. The Valley is the home of the Cirros Clan, a small clan of some 275 people living in and around the Valley of the Chalk Man.

The Cirros are Tarshites who have dwelt here since the 1550s when they migrated to the Aldachuri region. In the Valley they met a small group of people worshipping the Chalk Man, under the tutelage of a shaman. Cirros means chalk in Tarshite and intrigued the shaman and Tarshite priests explored lineages and the spirit plane and showed that both peoples were kin. From then on the primitive farmers were integrated into the Cirros clan.

The shaman of the Chalk Man leads the worship ceremonies to the Chalk Man in Gods Week, Earth Season. The Chalk Man fought in the Gods Wars, and was armoured in chalk, to deflect the damage of his foes. At last the Chalk Man took so much pain that he laid down on the hill, and slept. Each Sea Season the clan cut his outline from the hillside, and each Earth Season the shaman is granted the use of the Enchant Chalk spell. The Chalk Man shaman is known for enchantments and magics of defence, and the Cirros are known for their enchanted skins and Earth-Man tattoos.

Enchant Chalk is a spell which for each point of use converts 1 enc of chalk into magical armour enhancing chalk. This chalk mau be smeared on a person yielding 1-3 AP protection. It lasts one day, may be washed off by rain and may be smeared onto armour. 1 enc will coat about 20 men, or one man for 20 days.

Due to a disagreement over lands between the Cirros and Mantos clans, Erik Cariksson of the Cirros slew Thur Maniksson of the Mantos ten years ago. The two families fought and raided each other, several men were killed. Two years ago at a tribal moot this matter was ended with the paying of weregeld to the Mantos clans for the death of Thur. Since then all has been calm.

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