Best hillbillies : tarsh exiles or alda-churi ?

From: hcarteau_at_CrmMvlkl8epGCcVdIMkT_AMeW4M3mJUplRa0WGWgb-B4sqmQKPF0musCpjw9wNebqBS
Date: Sun, 24 Jan 2010 14:27:13 +0100

> The Tarsh Exiles are certainly violent and dangerous, but they are
> not removed from contact with the outside world, having strong kinship
> connections with much of Tarsh (they do claim to be the rightful rulers of
> Tarsh). The reign of Palashee is about as long ago for them as the end of WW2
> is for us - there are elders that remember King Longaxe and the time when
> they were the rulers of Tarsh. Moreover, they live at the base of great
> Kerofin the most sacred mountain in the world. Pilgrims and merchants often
> cross through their lands. In short, the Exiles they are hardly removed from
> the rest of the world.

/// That's the way your exiles are. Mine are cut off from civilization in their grubby little valleys in the shadows of Kero Fin, whose very presence also mucks up magical communications. Even the lunar army keeps a wide berth, content with containing these ferocious hillbillies. Traders to hesitate to visit such ferocious, backward fellows. Their kin back in Tarsh is mostly embarassed about such throwbacks. They might honor ritual obligations to them but see them as little as possible.

The exiles honor rituals that are completely out of date in Tarsh and that are not applied in Sartar. They are a living anachronism. They worship Maran Gor the shaker, practise scalp-taking and eat babies (sorry, it came out naturally ;-). Not to mention inbreeding... In short, their practises make them very alien to everybody else.

I like my exiles to look and feel truly dangerous and weird, best avoided by anybody sensible. I liked the way they were presented in "In Wintertop's Shadow", which gave me and my players lots of fun in our now-stopped Tarsh Campaign.

As for the WW2 analogy, think about people who still live in the past and are not very much interesting in present-day news. What doesn't fit their worldview is ignored, or bashed in (cut off) when they can't ignore it. How's that for hillibillism ?

> Alone, on the other hand, is exactly what the name says: Alone. Few
> Sartarites even know where the place is and almost nobody comes there to
> trade.

/// Alone and the Far Place in general are also super-background for hicks. The bluefoot clans are very backwards. There is great background material about them : QUESTLINES (from 1996) and the latest ZIN LETTERS (issue 3) both make the alda-churi look and feel alive in great details.

It'be testing to choose between the two, but I guess the alda-churi win, if only for the majesty of their landscape, the many spirits wandering about and their sheer isolation. You can meet all sort of weird stuff up there. Not to mention the ghost gors if you want to use nice lunar ghost slaves !