WENELIANS – Clans of Strife
Who are you? Kin or enemy? Speak quickly or die!
Wenelians are a disparate group of shattered tribes and forgotten peoples living in western Maniria. The clan forms the heart of their lifestyle as they seldom unify long enough to create stable kingdoms or tribes. Many clans descend from the Entruli or other beast-worshipping groups who turned to the Storm Pantheon long ago. Others were once hsunchen peoples. Most Wenelians are of Orlanthi extraction, distant cousins to the Esrolians and Heortlings or members of remnant peoples who were never rescued by Heort or Imarja and unified into a single people.
Dense forests and rugged terrain cover much of the land. This, combined with the heavy rainfall and poor soil, forces most Wenelians to rely on hunting, fishing, and herding rather than farming. Pastoral clans graze cattle, sheep and goats in high pastures during summer and return them to the valleys each winter. It is the pigs rooting amid the thick forests that are most cherished for their meat, hide, and tallow. More than a few clans base their wealth entirely on swine.
Wenelian clans are smaller, usually having about 300 to 800 adults. Only clans with good farmland are much larger – or powerful warrior clans extracting tribute from their neighbors. The “typical” clan occupies in a well-fortified village surrounded by fields, pastures, and patrols of suspicious warriors. Hospitality is grudging, only offered unstintingly to kin or those good as kin.
NEITHER KINGS NOR JUSTICE As a collection of disparate clans and peoples, Wenelians lack a continuity of culture like that enjoyed by the Esrolians or a common founder such as Heort. In some ways, they were more united during in the First Age than they are now. When the Lightbringer missionaries of the World Council of Friends came to Wenelia, the desperate survivors embraced their teachings and built new cities and kingdoms upon the wreckage of the Great Darkness After the Gabji Wars, they rebuilt kingdoms, tribes, and city-states under the control of the Stygian Autarchy established by the great hero-traitor Arkat.
During the Imperial Era, the Archduchy of Slontos became the region's greatest power but horrors that ended the age left the surviving Wenelians shattered. Out of fear, the clans purged themselves of any possible God Learner taint and returned to their "pure" ancestry. Often, the Lightbringer teachings were purged and many of the unifying cults and practices that supported tribes and kingdoms became shunned. As a result, the clans turned inward and both leadership and justice became rare. From time to time, a chieftain stumbles upon or revives ancient tribal magic and becomes a warlord but such practices seldom survive their founder long.
Many Wenelians view the Lightbringer cults of Issaries the Communicator and Lankor Mhy the Lawgiver with deep suspicion. Even peaceful Chalana Arroy, Goddess of Healing, has few adherents outside of the Temple of Peace. The roles of sage, lawgiver, and trader now belong to the outsider Trader Princes and the various Orders of the Ashara Church.
THE TRIBES Wenelian clans fall into four major groups: the Ditali tribe, Solanthi tribe, and Nimistor tribe all live in the interior, while the Maldros dwell along the New Coast. These tribes are loose confederations with geographic proximity and are often little more than tenuous alliances, for the clan is paramount in Wenelian politics. Only great danger compels the clans to unite under a warlord, but such leaders are rare and their kingdoms short-lived. Graymane of the Solanthi is the latest. Each group speaks its own dialect of Wenelian. With some effort, they are mutually intelligible but distinctive in accent and lexicon.
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