Linowan

The Linowan are a people in the northeast of Creation who have been at war with Halta for generations.

Overview

Geography

The Linowan inhabit the plains and deciduous forests of the northeast, along the Silver River. They live off the bounty of the forest and rivers, regarding most agriculture as an insult to the gods and spirits of nature.While their nominal territory is vast, most Linowans stick close to the river and its tributaries; the territory in between may be home to many other tribes and cultures, who tolerate some level of Linowan rule. The only clear borders on their territory are Halta to the east and the Black Chase to the southwest.

Society

Linowans have few real cities; their capital, Rubylak, has only 50,000 residents at the most, and many settlements fluctuate in size as residents leave to go fishing, raiding or foraging for months at a time. They often have more attachment to their boats than to their houses, and it is not unusual for a clan to rotate seasonally among several different settlements.

Linowan are at home on the ocean as well as on rivers, and regularly travel as far as the Blessed Isle to trade for metal, spices, and manufactured goods. They have been known to engage in piracy, which they regard as the bounty of the gods just like the fruit and fish of the forests. Captains with a history of fair dealing may be gifted a special flag that ensures them safe passage. They also hunt occasionally hunt whale and kraken.

Linowan boat clans are matriarchal and matrilineal, and they form the defining unit of Linowan society. Children belong to the clan, not to their parents, and men who father children with women of other clans have no rights of paternity. Someone exiled from their boat clan can no longer call themself Linowan, unless they are adopted into another clan. Within each clan, or among a group of allied boat clans, individual war leaders form war bands for raiding or defensive purposes. The matriarch of the royal clan is the queen of Linowan. In all other respects, Linowan society is highly egalitarian with regards to gender, except for a strong taboo on pregnant women traveling.

There is a noble class among the Linowan, reserved for those who show feats of exceptional skill or valor. They wear gold or silver jewelry, and are allowed to own slaves. They also receive masks enchanted by tribal shamans to enhance a specific ability. Only the owner can properly use a mask, and stealing or mishandling one is punishable by death. Nobles play an important role in upholding and interpreting the law, as any noble may be called on to mediate a dispute or assign punishment for a crime.

Raiding and Warfare

The Linowan are a warrior culture to the core. They raid non-Linowans the same way they hunt and forage, harvesting the bounty the gods provide. They raid each other, often for fun (though non-Linowans may not be able to tell when a raid is serious business or "just" an attempt at friendly one-upsmanship). The boat clans usually don't raid their near neighbors, but roving war bands from other clans might. Only on the Haltan border is warfare deadly serious.

As allies of the Realm, Linowan warbands sometimes serve as auxiliaries to the Imperial legions, but they lack the discipline and organization to work in large units. (The dominant Linowan battle tactics all boil down to "Run straight at the enemy, screaming like demons.") They are, however, outstanding scouts and skirmishers, especially in forested terrain, and may be deployed by legions as ambush forces, commandos, or other small-unit maneuvers that require stealth and speed.

Gods and Spirits

Linowans reject the Immaculate Philosophy and instead worship the Celestial Incarnae and the nature spirits of their territory, including Golden-Eyed Jorst. From Jorst, the Linowan have learned of sacred hospitality: guests must be fed and protected for at least three days. However, a guest who rejects any gesture of hospitality from their host forfeits all rights to further protection. Many Linowan folk tales revolve around ungrateful guests, stingy hosts, and finding a clever way around the burden of hospitality.

Shamans are responsible for most of the contact between the Linowan and the gods, not out of any taboo, but from an attitude that such things are best handled by professionals. Shamans make masks, contact spirits and elementals, and perform exorcisms. Linowans do not worship their ancestors, and so if they are troubled by ghosts, shamans generally call for help from outsiders such as the morticians of Sijan.

Madness

Linowans are susceptible to an illness called Hal Fever, which manifests as an irrational obsession with the redwood forests. While it can be cured, many of those affected end up defecting to Halta or dying in the attempt. This disease was created in RY 417 by a God-blooded daughter of Caltia, and thus does not affect anyone who is not of Linowan descent and does not spend time in Haltan territory.

Linowans also may be touched by a cannibal spirit called Vata, becoming Vatal. The Vatal live in isolation deep in the woods, though some are kidnapped by the Fair Folk and used as hunting hounds. Their teeth and nails become long and sharp to facilitate their terrible hungers, and any Linowan who successfully kills a Vatal is made noble.

Relations with Halta

The Linowan constantly attempt to expand their territory of mixed meadows and deciduous trees into the redwood forests of Halta. Raids for redwood trunks are a change for young warriors to prove their worth, though they have a high casualty rate. When they capture a Haltan, Linowans will torment their victim for hours before burning them alive; Haltans, in turn, kidnap Linowans as offerings to the Fair Folk. Linowans despite the beast men and intelligent animals of Halta, and regard any animal acting strangely or showing a bit too much intelligence as a possible spy.

History

Linowans are aggressively uncurious about their own past, arguing that the time before the Great Contagion does not belong to them and is not good to know about. The history they do wish to preserve is passed down orally or embodied in their masks.

The present Linowan state was founded after the Great Contagion by Bendaris, an outcaste Terrestrial who tried to organize the river people of the region. She founded the capital, Rubylak, and institutionalized the worship of Golden-Eyed Jorst, which first brought the Linowan into conflict with the Haltans (who worship Jorst's rival, Caltia). The war against Halta brought the river tribes together and gave them a common purpose and identity, which Bendaris encouraged.

The Linowan attempted to invade Halta in RY 279. The casualties of that conflict were so great that they spawned a shadowland called the Field of Woe. In RY 318, a charismatic Terrestrial outcaste named Summer Conflagration attempted another invasion, but the Haltan's Fair Folk allies slaughtered her entire army. They have frequently beseeched the Realm for aid in conquering Halta, but the Scarlet Empress cares little about barbarian wars, and values the trade Halta brings from the Far East too much to actually oppose them.

In 761, the Bull of the North brought his army into the East. He instigated a war between the minor kingdoms to the Linowan's south and southeast, persuading Ardaleth and Bloody River to attack Talinin and Rokan-Jin. Meanwhile, the bulk of his forces menaced Linowan from the northwest. When he entered into an alliance with Halta, the Linowan begged the Realm for help. The legions of House Tepet were dispatched under the famous general Tepet Arada in 763, but they were undermined from afar after the disappearance of the Scarlet Empress. In 764, at the Battle of Futile Blood, the Bull's army slaughtered the retreating Tepet forces.

Since then, Linowan has remained surrounded by hostile forces on all sides, though the Bull seems to be consolidating his victories for now. The survivors of Rokan-Jin and Talinin hope to avoid being swallowed up by the Linowan, but the Linowan need to prepare to defend themselves, and fast, and can no longer rely on the Realm for aid.