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Lore of the
Taelda
Occupying the region of northern Kaldor
and southern Nuthela, the Taelda are a closely allied group numbering
15(?) tribes, each with approximatly a hundred members. Due to the common threat from the
surrounding orcish nations, the Taelda have little intertribal
conflict. The Taelda are semi-nomadic, moving to a new
range annually. Once a year, a moot is held at the
Barsothe Falls, where secret rituals are performed under
the moonlight.
Way of Life
The Taelda, unlike most of the barbarian peoples
of Harn, have a written language, a surviving remnant
of ancient Khuzdul teachings. Because
of their ancestry, the Taelda speak in an unusal dialect;
the select few who are taught to write, use a very
crude form of runic-form that is supplemented by pictographs.
As a result, the Taelda have extensive, if vague
and semi-mythical records of their history. The Clay tablets
used to record Taeldean histories are considered sacred;
one tribe is selected annually to protect the
tablets and to record the events of that
year. This is considered a high honor. Each
tribe also keeps similar tablets that record
their own history, as opposed to that of the Taelda
nation.
The Taelda commonly wear a comfortable and
rather attractive arrangement of furs and hides. Taeldian
males are either hunters or woodcrafters. Women are usually
delegated the tasks of gathering and cooking; very few are
warriors. Both sexes are elgible to become Tuathaich, the priests
and priestesses of Taelda nation. A Tuathar is trained
from puberty to perform the various duties that
make up their role in the tribe. These include leading
and healing the sick and wounded, and prducing
and guarding the clay tablets which hold the tribal
and national histories.
Because of the close affiliation the Taelda have with their
environment, they are accomplished woodsmen; they are very quiet
when travelling through the underbursh, and are expert tree climbers.
The Taelda also practice herblore and know a
great deal about the plants and roots of their
region. Taeldan warriors have been known to apply Gaethipa
, a deadly poison, to their arrowheads. The proficiency of
Taeldan healers is well known among those who
traverse the Fur Road; many civilized physicians cannot
match the medical skills of the people
of Nuthela.
Present Relations
The Taelda bear no particular malice toward strangers, and will
occasionally assist those in need. Travellers on the Fur Rad are
watched carefully, but are not usually interfered with. On infrequent
occasions a caravan on the Fur Road will be unexpectedly attacked
by Taeldan raiders. These attacks often seem to occur without
provocation or motive, and although they are not usually
massacres, the caravan will likely be looted. The Taelda do
not approve of others hunting on what they regard as
their land, and will sometimes give killed game
to travellers in an attempt to forstall conflicts.
Most travellers know that politeness and
consideration will usually be met with similar behavior.
However, few have been able to gain the trust of the Taelda, and
the workings of day to day Taeldian life are yet a mystery and the subject of dire whispers. |
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