RothicusRex
Lord Zee
Candy Cane Elf
DioxideThe Scaveni KingdomGovernment
There are two parts to the Scaveni government, at least traditionally in the old lands. One part is the royals and nobility; they own the lands, set the laws of the lands, and are in charge of the military. But governance on a day to day basis largely lies in the hands of the Scaven, the namesake of the kingdom. The Scaven are a democratically elected force layered from the smallest family unit. Every family in the Kingdom chooses one representative to represent them in the local village's branch of the Scaven. The village then selects a representative to elect them in the region, region to province, province to Kingdom, led by the High Judge, who also acted as a direct link to the king. At least, that's how it was before the Invasion. Now, the nobles have taken on a much larger role in governance, and the power of the Scaven has been largely reduced, though the power of the High Judge is largely retained, mostly in a capability as an advisor. The current king is Vorin II, and the High Judge is Rudik Greentree. All members of the Scaven have a special knot in their hair to signify their rankGeography
Their kingdom was once made of forests and fertile plains. Now, they are landless, and are at the southeastern border of Mycae.Culture
Though they are now seen in Askor as a warrior people, historically, the Scaveni were wise and cultured, far from the barbarian stereotype they now embody. They are largely one human ethnicity, again known as Scaveni, usually with fairer skin and brown hair, however, around three percent of their population is now Dwarven. Previously, the Dwarves lived in independent settlements within the Kingdom, but during the invasion, the vast majority of the Dwarves died in battle, refusing to uproot themselves from their home and their lands like the Humans. A few thousand of the dwarves lived on, and now live among the Scaveni in the camps, largely working as blacksmiths and pig farmers. Religion is also very important to the Scaveni, and all Scaveni schools of magic are based on what god that magic derives from. Below are some of the more important gods of the Scaveni.
Vascun is the wolf god. What is the god of is a somewhat foreign concept known as Visi, which has no direct translation, but is somewhere between 'power', 'survival', and 'darkness'. Visi is basically the quantity to which someone has a capability of surviving, as well as exerting their power on others. Followers of Vascun believe that to raise one's Visi, they must forsake morality, and instead view the world through a primal and survivalistic view of it. Priests of Vascun have the ability to transform into wolves, as well as the more devoted followers of Vascun. In the days of the Settled Kingdom, worship of Vascun was prohibited, but since the uprooting, the king declared Vascun worship to be legal, and werewolves now fight alongside the other Scaveni. Worship of Vascun often involves sacrifice of animals. While Vascun worship is getting increasingly more popular, enmity towards Vascun worshippers is also high, due to a chunk of them joining the Einherjar. His pendant is a wolf head.
Aea is the goddess of the family, of farming, and of fertility. She is easily one of the most popular goddesses in the Scaveni pantheon, with a huge number of people, especially women, wearing her pendants. Priestesses of Aea have to be female, and are expert healers and physicians. It's largely because of the priestesses of Aea that Scaveni casualties as a result of the Einherjar are much lower than they could be. The Scaveni believe that Aea breathed life into humanity, and it's because of this that her Priestesses are tasked to sustain it. The Temple of Aea once contained large quantities of scrolls about medicine and healing, and while the Temple was lost, its collection was brought with the Kingdom. Her pendant is a figurine of her.
Lodd is the Scaveni god of war, duty, and the forest. He was once a powerful beastman in the forest that surrounded the Kingdom of the Gods. When hunters and loggers reported being attacked by a beastman, the King of the Gods sent a warband to capture him, but he instead captured them and had them guarded by a pack of wolves. The king of the Gods then sent a second warband, which was again captured and guarded by a pack of wild boars. A third warband was sent, which was captured and guarded by a group of panthers. The king of the gods then went into the forest himself and wrestled Lodd into submission. Lodd, amazed to find a being more powerful than himself, swore his undying loyalty to the King of the Gods, who in turn made Lodd a god. The animals also swore loyalty to the King of the Gods, and the wolves were turned into dogs, the panthers into cats, and the boars into pigs. The King asked Lodd why he attacked the men, and Lodd answered that he saw the humans cutting down trees, and were afraid they would cut down what he was guarding, the World Tree. Lodd led the King to the World Tree, and the king climbed it, and found a greater realm higher up the tree. He and the rest of the gods then ascended to rule the whole of the universe, with the humans left to govern our realm. This event is known as the 'Taming of Lodd'. This is also believed to be the origin of Vascun, who, when Lodd was tamed, escaped from him, the embodiment of Lodd's wild spirit.
The magic used by followers of Lodd tends to be focused on the manipulation of nature, such as elemental magic, animal control, and the control of plant growth. Lodd's pendant is a horn.
Wanous is the Scaveni King of the Gods, as well as the god of lighting. It is believed that our realm was once inhabited by a dying race, who, to prevent the realm from being taken over by the Trolls, created four things; Wanous, the perfect warrior and leader, Fasdan, his axe, with which he could control the storms, Taessa, the queen goddess, and the Goddess of fire and wisdom, with whom he could create new life, and the Dragon, to keep the power of Wanous in check. After creating these four creations, the Ancient Race disappeared, but Wanous killed the Trolls with Fasdan. He tried to expand from the realm, but found himself battling with the Dragon, and grew weary of fighting, neither winning nor losing, and withdrew back to the realm, where he fell in love with Taessa, and the two of them birthed Aea and the first generation of gods. Priests of Wanous channel the power of lightning for their form of magic, but also study the stars. His pendant is his axe, Fasdan.
Taessa is the queen of the gods, and the goddess of fire. After she mothered the first gods with Wanous, she grew lonely, and began creating sculptures of figures similar in appearance to the gods. Her daughter, Aea, felt sorry for her mother, and breathed life into the sculptures. Overwhelmed with joy at the humans coming to life, Taessa gave them fire to keep them warm at night, and to cook their food, ensuring that the humans were set apart from beasts. Wanous also found joy in the creation of humans, and became their king. Priests and priestesses of Taessa use fire for the purpose of divination. Whether or not this works is unknown; when a prediction is proven false, the skill of the practitioner is usually blamed, rather than the credibility of the magic itself. Her pendant is a burning fire.
Though not technically a god of any sort, The Dragon is somewhat revered by the Scaveni. One of the four initial creations, The Dragon was made to keep the power of Wanous in check. In the meanwhile, were it not for Wanous, The Dragon would destroy the world tree. Because of this, The Dragon is often seen as a metaphor for the Scaven; making sure the King is never too powerful, while the king maintains order in the land. Many members of the Scaven wear dragon pendants.Military
Once upon a time, the military of the Scaveni was well organized and disciplined. Now, things have change. It used to be that the nobility would raise an elite warrior class, while the Scaven would raise up a levy to support these warriors. Now, in the hordes, the Scaveni pretty much just fight from battle to battle. The majority of men fight, and the Scaveni military has become extremely adaptable, changing weapons that each individual men fight with battle to battle, depending on the situation. Of course, certain men have specialties, such as archery or horsemanship, but largely, if you're fighting with a pike one day, you might be fighting with a sword or axe the next. Armor wise, the wealthier, more noble warriors wear a heavy scale armor, while the lighter, non-noble troops will wear light mail or leather. Additionally, the various priests of the gods may or may not take part in battle, of course using their magical skills to suit the needs of the army. The Scaveni also have a decent knowledge of military engineering, and even more now with the companionship of the Dwarves, and will build siege engines and equipment to fit what would work best for the battle. Additionally, due to their status as a horde, while Scaveni warriors may be a little weary of battle, they are also extremely battle-hardened and experienced in war.
As far as organization goes, while military procedures were once very well organized, now there's sort of military despotism in the hordes-each horde has a commander who commands the entire horde's military, and all the hordes are commanded by the king. There are four Scaveni hordes, each numbering in a range from the tens to the hundreds of thousands.
The 'capital' horde is lead by King Vorin II. This horde is extremely well guarded, and mostly made up of heavier, defensive troops, and most of the treasures and relics taken with them from their homeland is in this horde. Most of the nobility follows this horde, and their tents are much larger and well insulated.
The largest horde population wise that contains the most civilians is led by the High Judge, Rudik Greentree. This horde has a large number of peasant troops, and is usually kept out of fighting, and instead fortifies near the other hordes during major battles, allowing a place for the main armies to retreat to, and to send their dead and wounded. This horde also has an extremely efficient group of scouts, which allows for it to avoid attacks on Scaveni civilians.
The third horde is commanded by Vorin's brother, Sudd Jorgenson. This is almost exclusively a military horde, with only some healers and other camp followers to account for a civilian population. Sudd largely has vengeance on his mind, the population of the hold he once led, as well as his family, having been massacred. It is also rumored that he is a worshiper of Vascun, and most of the followers of Vascun, including the werewolves, follow his horde.
The fourth and final horde is another military horde, commanded by Wunal Luddsman. Wunal is far less aggressive than Sudd, and rather is a romantic, holding an opinion that most of the other Scaveni don't share; that this is not the end-times. Luddsman is a noble, though not a royal, and is one of the few nobles to also have family connections with members of the Scaven. Most of the dwarves also follow this horde, which is why the fighters in this horde tend to be extremely well equipped, and well fed from the dwarves' extensive knowledge on pig farming. Another portion of this horde's civilian population is made up of writers, poets, and bards, chronicling the current times.Heroes
Drago Windwalker: Main hero. Drago was in his late teens when the Einherjar invaded, and was the youngest man ever to be elected to the regional Scaven. His family were farmers and military veterans, though Drago preferred to spend his time out in the forest, and became extremely adept at traversing the land, and from a young age was also an adept warrior. His family lived at the eastern edge of the kingdom, and when the Einherjar invaded, his family's land was one of the first to be attacked. He had recently been married, and his wife was pregnant, so rather than stay and fight, he and his family headed west to find refuge in the capital, along the way becoming more and more skilled as a warrior. Eventually the capital wasn't good enough, and the whole of the kingdom took off to the northwest. Now, Drago is one of the most skilled warriors in the Scaveni military, being given the name 'Windwalker' for his swiftness, agility, and stealth. He follows the High Judge's horde, and commands that horde's scouts. His weapon of choice is a hand axe, which he carries with him wherever he goes, and forsakes armor for better speed. He is also a skilled archer, though rarely fights with bows, only using them when hunting or in a guerilla assault. He wears a dragon pendant, partially for his namesake, and partially because he longs for the days when the true power of the Scaven is restored. Due to his skill, as well as the daring guerilla assaults and rescue missions he's performed with his scouts, he's become extremely popular with the Scaveni populous. He also bears the knot of the Scaven, like all members of the Scaven.
Lessik: Lessik is the high priest of Vascun, and follows Sudd's horde. He has little to no moral fiber, but is still for some reason loyal to the Scaveni. Like all priests of Vascun, he is a werewolf, and a powerful one at that. Like all priests of Vascun, he also shaves his head, sharpens his teeth, and puts black face paint around his eyes. He's all around a really scary guy, and wears a wolf head pendant.
Eosia Jorgenson: Eosia is the only daughter of King Vorin, who also has four brothers. Despite reluctance on part of her father, when the Einherjar invaded, she insisted that she fight the enemy when she grew old enough, being around ten years old at the time. To help insure his daughter's safety, he paid for the best warriors in the country to teach her how to fight, and when she turned seventeen, she took to the battlefield, and is now one of the most skilled warriors of all the Scaveni. She is well liked among the populous for her fair and compassionate attitude, while her brothers are seen as corrupt and spoiled. Though she isn't the oldest of the children, many in the hordes wish to see her become the Queen. She travels in her father's horde, and fights with a full set of armor, a sword, and a shield, and leads a group of female fighters known as the Shieldmaidens, much to the dismay of the more traditional nobility. She also is constantly followed by two large war dogs named Hafni and Sam; when the Scaveni first set out from their land, she found two puppies on the side of the road. Her father told her to leave them, but she insisted that she save them. As they grew older, they were found to both be extremely powerful, and it's often thought that the wardogs are servants of the gods. Like most of the royal family, she wears an Axe pendant.
Reimlyk the Younger: When Lodd was tamed by Wanous, he had been fighting with a simple wooden club his whole life. As a gift, the gods made him a mighty and powerful sword. Lodd accepted the gift happily, and went to practice with it, but found that he wasn't used to the weight and balance of it. The rest of the gods gathered around to try and teach Lodd how to use the sword, but he couldn't learn, and in frustration, he threw the sword with such a force that it fell from the realm of the gods to the realm of man, becoming stuck in a large tree stump. The locals of the area, savage, simple-minded gnomes, surrounded the sword. Realizing how powerful it was, the gods put a spell on it, so that only one as dutiful and pure of heart as Lodd could remove it from the stump. While the gnomes were unable to remove it, they looked at the runes on it, studied the craftsmanship and became civilized, turning from gnomes into dwarves. The dwarves, now realizing their savagery, built houses around the stump, and from there built a village, which became a town, which became a city, the dwarf city of Kufnar. When the Einherjar invaded, they besieged Kufnar, which by then had been filled by Dwarven refugees from around the country. They knew they couldn't hold out, and managed to make an escape route for a few thousand to carry on the Dwarves as a species, and they knew that the Sword of Lodd had to go with them, so they gathered every dwarven warrior in the city to try and pull out the sword, but nobody could. Then they gathered the blacksmiths, and none of them could either. Then they tried every single dwarf in the city, but still none of them could pull out the sword. All but one; the son of a pig farmer named Reimlyk, also named Reimlyk. He promised to protect his father's pigs, and when one of them ran off, he went after it, following it far outside the city until he caught it. When he came back to the city, he was ushered to the sword, and, despite having never fought in a war before, miraculously pulled the sword out of the stump, which, while in Lodd's hand was a regular sword, in his was a massive greatsword. While he had no real muscle, he found the sword to be weightless, and he and a few thousand other dwarves escaped through the mines. He was also given a suit of armor made specifically for the bearer of the sword. Now, travelling in Wunal's horde, the hopes of the dwarves are put into him, and by now he's grown skilled as a fighter, and has the looks of one too. The sword itself is indestructible, weightless to Reimlyk, and can easily cleave through the most armored of enemies. He wears a horn pendant, being the bearer of the Sword of Lodd.History
The Scaveni lived in their lands for at least a millennia. About twenty years ago, a strange and horrific army, the Einherjar, invaded their lands, and the Scaveni were sent to the northwest. Within those years, their reputation as a wise and learned people began to degrade, and a new reputation of hardened warriors started to take over. Now they are finding themselves in a new continent, Askor, in search of a new home.Relations
The only established relations in Askor at the moment are the Einherjar, which, of course, are the Scaveni's mortal enemies, though, now pouring into Mycaean lands, Mycae is unlikely to be happy about the arrival of the Scaveni hordes.Characters
King Vorin II is the current King of the Scaveni, and was king when the Einherjar invaded. While some see his current regime as corrupt and dictatorial, his supporters say it is necessary for their people's survival, and that Vorin will give back the power to the Scaven when a new homeland is found. The only member of the Scaven with any real power currently is Rudik Greentree, the High Judge, who leads one of the hordes. Rudik is a good man, if not a little weak. The rest of the scaven resides in his horde, where they have nominally more power. Most people hate Vorin's sons, who have strangely taken advantage of the new situation. Vorin is often seen as emotionless, his queen being brutally killed by the Einherjar, and since then has only really cared about his role as King. His brother, Sudd, leads another horde and may be a sociopath. Wunal was Vorin's friend from childhood, and is probably the most universally liked of the leaders of the hordes. There is also Drago's wife, Vila, who worries for her husband safety, despite her pride in him.
Good to add to the character section and post ICly.