The Levics

Though under the dominion of Kvesland, the native peoples of the Levic Marches are a group all their own, with a distinct culture and heritage unlike that of their Togarmic and Northern neighbors. With the rise of the League of Three Crowns and the development of great cities, many Levics have assimilated into the settled life of the Kvessians, Vardessians, and Togarmans that make up the League. However, the Levics are a reclusive and insular people, and deep in the woods and wilds of the Marches, there are still many villages where they hold true to the traditions of their ancestors.

The Levics are a rustic people, fair of skin and eyes, living primarily as hunters and subsistence farmers in small villages and homesteads on the cold and windswept moors. Visitors to these villages often describe them as austere in character, for the Levics are not artistic sorts, preferring simple, functional goods with little in the way of ornamentation. Though they are known as great traders of amber - in fact, much of the amber in the Lunar Lands comes from the Levic Marches - they do not make much use of it themselves; they do not even know where it comes from, only that it washes up on their shores and rivers.

However, they are known for finding whatever excuses they can to celebrate, and often times an entire village will come together to drink and sing long into the night. Among the common people, the drink of choice is mead, while Levic nobility traditionally prefer kumis - fermented mare's milk; a delicacy among the tribes, and one that is held as a mark of high status. They will even consume an entire roast horse at their feasts. Some suggest that this may point to a common origin with the Zelskys of Togarmah, but the two cultures are otherwise very different - indeed, the Levics are far more sedentary than the well-traveled Zelskys, and it is rare for them to leave their homes, fearing the night as a time of darkness and danger.

There may be some truth to this - the Levics are close neighbors of the Northmen, and long have they found the need to defend themselves against their raids. Though the western Levics, most notably the Rogdii tribe, are a warlike people, honoring warriors and conducting raids of their own (in no small part due to both influence from the nearby Northmen and by necessity to defend themselves against them), the more populous eastern tribes are more defensive, preferring to be left alone and keep to themselves. They will, however, fight fiercely if they feel they are threatened. In battle, they wear armor of leather and iron chain, and prefer sturdy wooden clubs and axes to swords. Since the coming of settlers from Vardessy, Togarmah, and Kvesland, such a stalwart way of life has only been bolstered by the periodic clashes between settlers and natives. The Levic tribes have fought many a war against the Order of the Hammer and other armies from the south, trading territory back and forth, and while the Levics are largely open to trade with League merchants, many elders fear that their way of life may be threatened by such outsiders.

In fact, the Levic need for defense has shaped their political structure. Although they are considered by southerners to be a barbarian people, the unique needs of the Levics has forced them to independently come up with something very similar to feudalism. The basic unit of Levic life is the village, often built on a hill with embankments and guard towers to watch for threats. Within a single village, decisions are made by a vote from a body of the housefathers - that is, the male heads of every household. To sit on such a council, and to enjoy other privileges such as the right to have multiple wives, a man must have his own home and his immediate family must be self-sufficient, without needing to rely on parents or in-laws. Groups of allied villages and their surrounding homesteads often band together, and these confederations are governed by both a king (who deals with all domestic business, including the maintenance of roads and ensuring production from the fields) and a warchief (who oversees defenses and is in charge of arming and directing the soldiers).

Art by Cao Viet

But no Levic council would be complete without the oversight of a druid. The Levics are Old Faith believers. Instead of discrete and personified gods, they worship their ancestors and the land itself. The druids tend to sacred groves and offer sacrifices (usually of crops, but sometimes of prisoners captured in battle) to the ancestors through immolation to ensure good fortune and rightful guidance; these groves are never to be set foot in by anyone other than a druid, or disaster will befall the people. Druids assist in governance by ensuring that policies are in accordance with the wants of the spirits, serving as judges in disputes, and attending to the Levic funerary rites, in which the body of the deceased is burned and their ashes placed in an urn, which is then buried in the ground.

Where the Levic Old Faith differs from other, similar customs practiced among hillfolk and Sonderlundings is in its degree of organization. The Levic tribes have a complex and codified priesthood, as formal as that seen among the Pantheonist cults. Each village has its own druid, and these druids all report to the Archdruid - a man who dwells in a sacred grove on an island in the Semna River in a state of permanent communion with the spirits, half-in and half-out of the Land of the Dead, in council with the ancestors. His entranced mumblings are interpreted by his apprentice, a powerful druid chosen to replace the Archdruid when his ancestors call to him and he leaves this mortal coil by burning himself alive. The current Archdruid is Segeband, and his apprentice is Rameka - a druid who has begun to fear his own mortality, believing that he is growing old with no sign of his master slowing down, and secretly plots to ensure he will become Archdruid before he dies one way or another...

Sonderlunding Ancestor Worship

Although Sonderlund practices the Old Faith, its Old Faith is a different kind than that observed by the elves or the hillfolk of Vardessy, Kvesland, and Togarmah. Although there is obviously overlap between all these groups, what characterizes Sonderlunding religion is a belief in ancestral spirits as the chief forces that must be obeyed and appeased, and that allegiances are sworn to.

Many Sonderlundings can trace their lineage back to ancient times, and they maintain extensive genealogies, often recounted through a long and unbroken oral tradition. They do this to recount the heroic deeds of great ancestors, reiterating their glories and attesting to the reasons as to why they must be honored. Though Sonderlunding religion does not deny the existence of gods, demons, and other spirits, it asserts that their intentions are not as important as those of the ancestors - after all, they are distant creatures, existing on a level beyond mortal comprehension, whereas the ancestors were once men and know of earthly concerns. Surely, then, they would have the intentions of their descendants closer at hand.

Sonderlundings believe that one must respect the word of their ancestors and live by it. This reinforces the stratification of societal roles; if one had an ancestor renowned for great deeds in a particular field, it is held that their descendants must follow in their footsteps to honor their ancestor's contributions, and thus, Sonderlunding traditions tend to be a family affair - warriors beget warriors, artisans beget artisans, druids beget druids. Even more important, of course, is the ancestral oath. A Sonderlunding may make an official declaration that is to be recorded in history, and their descendants are expected to live by it and honor it throughout the generations. Much of Sonderlunding law is codified through the ancestral oaths of past thanes and kings, which are held to be permanent and binding, and a not insignificant task of the druids is to interpret these oaths, the situations in which they apply, and when, if ever, it is acceptable to act against them. To a Sonderlunding, defying the word of an ancestor is seen as the ultimate form of disrespect and dishonor, and is never taken lightly.

Sonderlunding tradition holds that the ancestors build great palaces in the Land of the Dead, and that when Death takes one's soul, they join the ranks of their forefathers, where they feast and rejoice together. However, the spirits of the ancestors may be called upon to affect some change, however limited, upon the mortal realm. Many villages in Sonderlund have a shrine devoted to a past ancestor that the people make offerings to so that their spirit is appeased and grants them guidance in their particular field, and Sonderlunding druids often invoke their ancestors to grant them power while casting spells. This means that one's ancestry is important in determining what prayers may be made - it is considered rude to call on someone else's ancestors, so ideally, ones' own lineage should have ancestors suitable for a given prayer. For instance, if one's great-great-grandmother was a forester, her spirit will be a better one to call upon for aid in tracking game than one's great-grand-uncle who was a shipwright. If all else fails, however, it is considered acceptable to make a general invocation to the ancestors for aid in a given task, if one does not know of a particular ancestor that applies.

All this carries a particular implication. Unlike in Pantheonism or Elementalism, where the most honorable cosmic forces are beyond mortals, it is possible - rather, inevitable - for mortals to become ancestors. Thus, Sonderlunding culture places a great deal of importance on achieving glory in one's field to ensure that one may become an ancestor worth praising and invoking, and to ensure one's deeds live on in history. One who dies without accomplishing anything particularly impressive is doomed to be forgotten - but a great hero is remembered. It is not uncommon for old Sonderlundings who believe they have not accomplished anything in life to go out and seek one last glorious deed to accomplish (or die trying) before their time is up, in order to ensure they may be venerated by future generations.

As a material consequence of ancestor worship, Sonderlund's landscape is dotted by graves, barrows, and runestones commemorating historic deeds. As much of the populace is illiterate, these markers serve as a means to record the stories of their ancestors, and they are deeply woven into oral tradition, to the point where directions in Sonderlund often make mention of a particular barrow or shrine as a point of reference (because of course everyone knows which barrow Colum mac Dubh the Slayer of Men is buried in).

It also means that in Sonderlunding culture, it is important to respect the dead. In most lands, necromancy is not strictly illegal in and of itself, but it does carry the unsavory connotations that go hand in hand with grave robbery and meddling with corpses. In Sonderlund, however, to defile a tomb is a grave sin, and one that will bring down the anger of the ancestors. Necromancy is almost always punished by death, though some have gotten around this by issuing an ancestral oath that their bodies may be reanimated after death if any descendants should wish to perform such experiments.

Lastly, it is a consequence of ancestor worship that progress in Sonderlund - particularly in the isolated Highlands - moves slowly. Technologies like plate armor and gunpowder, as rare and expensive as they are elsewhere, are practically unheard of in parts of Sonderlund, as people are wary of new and unfamiliar things that their ancestors did not know of. Sonderlunding culture has remained largely the same for centuries, in no small part due to the traditions of ancestor worship and ancestral oaths.

The Old Faith

In ancient times - before the times of great kingdoms - much of the western part of the continent was settled by small and secluded tribal villages, and these people followed what is now known as the Old Faith. Over the centuries, owing to migrations from the east and chieftains realizing that claiming the favor of divine beings was good for politics, the traditions of Pantheonism steadily took hold. Yet, the Old Faith still persists, in lonely villages, distant islands, and among the rough hillfolk who maintain their old existence in the deep valleys where the trade routes do not reach. The Sonderlundings, too, honor the Old Faith, bound as they are to follow the wishes of their ancestors, though the closer one gets to Vardessy the more influence there can be found from their Pantheonist neighbors. In the Highlands, however, the Old Faith is at its strongest. Many a Highlander will scoff at the Pantheonist's ways as those of soft and cowardly folk who must rely on foreign gods to protect them - though Pantheonists, in turn, often regard those of the Old Faith as backwards, superstitious barbarians, if not outright demon worshipers.

To consider the Old Faith as its own religion is a bit of a misnomer. While the cults of the gods have defined holy texts and formal officials, the Old Faith does not. It is rather a collection of various folk traditions, and no two communities share exactly the same beliefs. There are, however, a few common features among Old Faith cults that define them as belonging to such traditions, often by means of setting them apart from Pantheonist customs.

While Pantheonist temples are staffed by priests, monks, and nuns, followers of the Old Faith look to druids as their spiritual leaders - those who can commune with the natural world; who know secrets that other mortals do not, and who can serve as a go-between to bridge the gap between the worldly concerns of mortals and the machinations of higher beings. Rather than belonging to a specific order or creed, druids are often those with particular skills to make them well-suited for the job, and they may be mentored by elder druids to prepare them to step into the role when their time comes. They know many spells and rituals passed down from one generation to the next, ones that help them communicate with the spirits of all things, or to call upon their aid in times of need. As a part of their initiation, an apprentice druid may be sent out into the world on a journey, such that they may come to know and understand the land and accept their place in life.

Followers of the Old Faith do not have temples in the way Pantheonists do. They recognize the concept of holy ground, but often this is not land that is so sanctified through rituals or divine acts; rather, sacredness is something inherent to the land itself. A given hill or lake or tree may house a particularly powerful spirit, for instance, and the power of that spirit becomes the subject of reverence. Rather than building structures to gather and perform rituals, those of the Old Faith tend to perform much of their worship in the open air at these sacred places. To build a temple there, it is said, would be an act of disrespect to the spirits, as it would be to attribute importance to the works of mortal hands rather than to the sacred place itself. They do, however, mark sacred places with altars, cairns, and stone circles, many of which have stood for millennia.

Lastly, not all followers of the Old Faith worship gods as discrete entities. All things in the Lunar Lands have some degree of life force to them - even rocks and plants down to the last blade of grass or grain of sand - and many Old Faith traditions direct their worship to these spirits of the land. Others, particularly in Sonderlund, worship their ancestors, and some cults recognize deities of their own, though these tend to be strange gods specific to a given locality, many taking the form of animals, that are regarded as belonging to the community, if with much greater powers. Pantheonist theologians argue that these are in fact manifestations of their own gods, but many Old Faith believers scoff at such allegations, insisting that their gods are closer than the distant gods of foreigners, who must surely have greater problems to concern themselves with and would never heed the word of a mortal. Other Old Faith traditions direct their veneration to the Fair Folk, though less out of admiration, and more to appease these capricious spirits with offerings and placatory rituals so that their mischief does not bring ruin upon them. And others still worship the elves, who are seen as being closer to nature and to their fey forebears - in fact, many Old Faith traditions grew out of elvish customs, and almost all elven communities practice some form of the Old Faith, though they regard the traditions of humans as embarrassing corruptions of the true way.

Though largely supplanted by Pantheonism in more settled lands, the relationship the Old Faith has with the Pantheonists is not one of adversity or persecution. Worship of the Old Faith is not considered immoral, and it is not as a whole held as a ruse by demons (though some individual cults may be demonic in nature) except by the most fanatical of Pantheonists; as Hell is the domain of demons, mortal souls can only be sent there by directly selling their souls, not by following the wrong creed. Most Pantheonists simply regard followers of the Old Faith as backwards and parochial, whereas the worship of the gods is the path of modernity and embracing the brotherhood of one's fellow man instead of clinging to insularism and tradition - their worship is something to be laughed at rather than hated and feared. Though many Pantheonist saints are celebrated for introducing worship of the gods to lands once held by the Old Faith, this is not a victory over evil, but merely an advancement of the divine plan.

Ironically, in many regions that have long since embraced Pantheonism, the legacy of the Old Faith is not forgotten. There are many local rituals that can be traced back to origins in the Old Faith, and many folk saints may well be ancestral or nature spirits that were subsumed into Pantheonist traditions. If one is used to practicing the rituals of the Old Faith, after all, it is easier to simply claim that one's god was in fact an aspect of one of the Pantheon or one of their saints than it is to adopt an entirely new philosophy and traditions. There are many small villages where the local shrine is built over or nearby a sacred place of the Old Faith, and the ways in which locals conduct worship there are hardly any different from those of their ancestors.

Old Faith Cult Generator

This cult worships... (d6)

1. a local god

2. the spirit of a long-dead leader

3. the land itself

4. the fairies

5. a nearby clan of elves

6. a demon in disguise; roll again to determine what it masquerades as

...and meets at... (d6)

1. a sacred tree

2. an ancient stone circle

3. the summit of a holy mountain

4. the shore of a sacred lake

5. the homes of the faithful

6. a sacred cave

...to practice rites involving... (d10)

1. dancing and chanting

2. the sacrifice of crops

3. the sacrifice of animals

4. the sacrifice of humans

5. offering libations

6. designating a member of the congregation to marry the spirit and live as a hermit

7. ritual combat

8. assuming the forms of animals

9. hunting game to offer to the spirits

10. entering trances to consult with the spirits

...in order to... (d8)

1. obtain good harvests

2. ensure favorable weather

3. have victory in battle

4. placate otherwise harmful spirits

5. be blessed with prophetic visions

6. heal the sick and wounded

7. inflict curses upon one's enemies

8. come closer to understanding their cosmic purpose

Mystics of the Forest

The thick woodlands of southern Togarmah are known to be confounding and impenetrable. Deep in the forest, the brush and the tree trunks form obstructive hedges, while roots and moss make for rocky and uneven ground. The trails are narrow and twisting, and many a traveler has gotten lost there. In the furthest depths of the forest, when foliage is in full bloom, the sun's light never reaches the ground, and the canopies above shroud the forest floor in darkness. Whispered stories tell of wild beasts, elves, and things even worse. But there are still people who make these woods their home.

Of the many Togarman peoples, the Leshes are the most at home in the dense forests. They make their villages in the clearings, trails, and glades where there is enough space for men to thrive. Like the other tribes, their lives are influenced by the geography - obviously, wood plays an important role in their material culture, and many of them make a living as woodcutters. They export many finely made wooden crafts, which are known throughout Togarmah, and their halls and temples - intricately carved and often brightly painted - boast some of the finest wooden construction, achieving feats rivaling even those of the greatest masons. Due to the limited amount of space, they do not farm as much as their neighbors, though whatever land is available for grazing and planting is fertile, and they are fiercely defensive of it against invaders. Instead, they sustain themselves through hunting game and gathering roots, berries, and mushrooms in the forest - the latter of which plays an important role in their spiritual traditions.

Mushrooms form a key part of Lesh cuisine. They have mastered many ways of preparing them - roasting them, stewing them, and even brewing them into tea. But they also harvest certain kinds of mushrooms for their hallucinogenic properties, which are highly prized and allowed to be handled only by the priestly class, who consume them to inspire visions. For some villages, the mere harvest of these mushrooms is an undertaking of great importance, involving making journeys to far-flung places and braving all the dangers that entails.

Many Leshes adhere to the Old Faith, worshiping nature, fey spirits, and the ancestors; like the Zelskys, even those who practice Pantheonism do so with the same rites and rituals. To this end, those in search of guidance often turn to druids. Some of these mystics live alongside huntsmen and woodcutters in the villages, but others live solitary existences as hermits, needing to be sought out by those who need their aid for interpreting omens or conferring blessings. Often times, a Lesh noble court will have a druid or two close at hand to confer with for matters beyond the reach of worldly authority.

The Leshes largely live in isolation from the rest of Togarmah, owing to the inhospitable woodlands and their strange traditions; it is said that not even the King knows how many Leshic villages there are. Before the conquests of Ghammorz, they were never united under a single crown. Nevertheless, they rarely attack outsiders and are content to follow their own path as long as they aren't bothered. Under the Golden Peace, they are legally not considered barbarians, and their clan leaders (traditionally, a role filled by women) are considered nobles with all the rights and privileges as a Polavian lord or a Myrov count. The Myrovs to the west and the Stalozi mountaineers to the east maintain relations with the Leshes for trade, and the Leshes benefit from the access this brings them to metal tools, grains, and other goods hard to come by in the woods. Furthermore, the Leshes are known for their archery, a skill in which every man trains in from a young age, and this has led to their bowmen being hired into many a general's warband. The neighboring nobles also value maintaining good relations with the Leshes because they make for good scouts and guides, knowing the right trails to get through forests that baffle outsiders. For those who need to cross such woodlands, be it for trade or diplomatic endeavors to the court assemblies, or even simply on hunting expeditions, one is often completely lost without a Lesh guide - though many mark their trails with different colored ribbons tied to trees or stripes of paint on their bark, the meanings behind this system of signals is often comprehensible only to those raised in the forest.

Overall, the ways of the Leshes might seem inscrutable to outsiders, and perhaps even intimidating. But every Togarman who knows the Leshes knows they can be counted on in times of need - and they have no interests in disturbing that peace.

Friday Encounter: The Ankheg Nest

This encounter should take place while the party is traveling through a modestly settled area, albeit it is best if it is one on the margins of society. As always, feel free to adjust NPC names and other details to fit the setting you're using it in.

Background

If traveling along a road, the PCs cross paths with a horse-drawn carriage headed in the other direction, driven by a haggard-looking farmer; seated in the back is his wife and infant son. This man is Gunther Fleischmann, a free peasant who has fled his homestead not far from here and is seeking shelter with his relatives. If questioned by the PCs, or if he sees any look strong or are carrying weapons, he will explain his situation.

For the past few days, Gunter's farm has been plagued by a strange infestation. It started with deep furrows appearing haphazardly through his fields, like the tracks of something large tunneling beneath the surface. Then his crops began to go missing, and then a few sheep vanished from the flock. Yesterday, though, when turning one of his horses out to pasture, he saw a great set of jaws erupt from the earth and pull the beast beneath the surface as soon as its hooves beat the ground at a gallop. Fearing for his safety, he decided to desert the farm.

Should the PCs decide to deal with the source of his trouble, Gunther promises to reward them with a pouch of 60 SP, and they will be welcome in his home forevermore. The farm is a journey of two hours along the road from where the cart was encountered.

Alternatively, the PCs may come upon Gunther's deserted farm themselves.

The Encounter

The ground all around Gunther's farm is covered with trails of raised earth, as if something very large was digging beneath the surface. A DC 15 Nature check will determine these are likely the tracks of ankhegs.

The homestead contains a large wheat field, a smaller turnip field, a barn that opens into a small pasture, and a modest farmhouse. All the areas have since been deserted of both people and livestock.

There are a total of 10 ankhegs that have made a nest of Gunther's farm. For each of the four areas the PCs explore, there are 1d6-1 ankhegs that may be found beneath the surface at that time (if you roll a number that would make the total more than 10, subtract the difference from your final result). The ankhegs are not immediately hostile, but they can sense the vibrations of passers-by through the ground. For each minute the PCs are walking through or around one of the areas, there is a 20% chance the nested ankhegs will erupt from the ground and attack, attempting to grapple their targets and pull them underground to eat them. PCs wearing heavy armor or creatures of Large size or greater have a 50% chance per minute of awakening the ankhegs instead.

Gunther has cleared most valuables from his house, but there is a carved drinking horn worth 30 GP (a family heirloom) located above his hearth, as well as 10 SP in coinage scattered throughout. The horn is important to Gunther, and if it goes missing he will implore the PCs to let him know if they have any knowledge of its whereabouts.

Buried beneath a corner of the barn are six ankheg eggs. Each of them weighs five pounds, and they are cumbersome to carry, requiring at least one free hand. A DC 15 Arcana check will tell a PC that these eggs are sought after by alchemists for their properties. If the PCs can transport the eggs safely to an alchemist without them breaking (or hatching!), they will fetch a price of 50 GP each. Alternatively, some dwarven holds breed ankhegs for their hides and to dig tunnels, and there they will fetch a price of 100 GP each.

Within one furrow of the wheat field is buried a strange totem - a DC 25 Perception or Investigation check, or a careful search of the area, will reveal this. It is made of a burlap sack wrapped around a crude frame of wooden sticks and topped with a carved wooden head of some sort of insect, and stuffed with live worms, ants, flies, and beetles, which send a wriggling motion beneath the cloth as they move around. A DC 15 Arcana or a DC 10 Religion check will identify this as a representation of a local god of the Old Faith, associated with pestilence and vermin.

Further Developments

If the PCs return to Gunther with proof they have cleared the area, he will pay them as promised and move back into the farm. He will also allow the PCs room and board at his house free of charge from then on. You may wish to mark the hex or point this encounter was obtained on, if using such mapping schemes, in case the players want to return to the homestead. However, as long as the totem remains buried on the property, another swarm of ankhegs will return in a month and the cycle will repeat.

As it turns out, Gunther's predicament is no accident. A few months ago, he sought the aid of Velika of the Woods, a green hag living in the forest north of his homestead, when his sheep were stricken with a coughing sickness. Velika cured the animals, but demanded the farmer's then-unborn son as payment. When the child was born, Gunther reneged on the deal, and Velika planted the totem in his field in the night as punishment. He does not know the nature of the curse, and is reluctant to talk about his dealings with the hag, but will confess if pressured or if presented with the totem.

If the totem is removed from the field, the ankhegs will not return to the homestead - but another 1d8+2 ankhegs will attack the PCs at the first new moon of every month the totem remains in their possession. If the totem is destroyed, it will reappear in the possession of a random PC in 1d4 days. If the totem is buried in the earth, a nest of ankhegs will materialize at the next new moon, centered on the spot it was buried. The only way to destroy the totem permanently is with a remove curse spell or by burning it in a consecrated fire and scattering its ashes at a crossroad (a DC 25 Arcana or a DC 20 Religion check can determine this).

Alternatively, if the PCs are willing to track Velika down themselves, she will agree to lift the curse on the totem in return for a powdered unicorn horn, which she needs for a potion she is brewing. She can point the PCs in the direction of a unicorn living deeper in the forest. But that unicorn is sacred to the tribe of wood elves living there, and they will seek vengeance if it is harmed...