The Painted Kingdoms of Land's End

The "Painted Kingdoms" are the name given to the barbarian tribes inhabiting Land's End, a huge peninsula in Ur's northwest. These "Landsmen" mostly dwell in the wilds of the Oldgrowth forest, along the Pale Sea, and the northern range of the Dragonback Mountains. Land's End was named by the Tiberians after a disastrous battle in the Oldgrowth. Forever afterwards the Ecumene considered that forest to be the edge of the known world.

## **Geography & Climate**

Land's End's boundaries are the Pale Sea, the northern range of the Dragonback Mountains, and the lands of the Shield Marches to the south. The climate is cold and damp most of the year with cloudy skies and frequent rains. Snowmelt from the mountains feeds countless rivers and sounds like the Broken Tine and Many Branches, as well as many inlets to the pale Sea.

Most of the peninsula is covered in an impenetrable, weather-beaten forest called the "Oldgrowth". Here the trees grow monstrously tall, competing for sunlight that often never reaches the forest floor. Legend has it that at the black heart of the forest lies the "Root of the World", a tree so old and huge that its roots bind the whole world together.

## History

Land's End is sparsely populated by human tribes called Landsmen. In the Tiberian Ecumene these tribes were known as the "Painted Kingdoms" and were thought of as barbarians. Landsmen and Marchers have a common ancestry going back thousands of years. In ancient times the two people settled Land's End and the Marches - the Landsmen dwelling in the wilds and forests and mountains while the Marchers took to the open fields.

After the Kindred elves and Pan came to Land's End they enthralled the Landsmen tribes, who even sacrificed their own children to these new gods. The Marchers clung to the old ways, praying to their heroes and ancestors. Over time the two groups became estranged from one another, however, it was not until the Tiberians conquered the Marches that the two became enemies. They named the Marchers their "Shields" and trusted them with guarding the frontier.

When the Ecumene collapsed the Shields were briefly united by the legendary King-over-the-Marches.

### **People**

Landsmen are pale-skinned and light-eyed. Men and women braid their hair in elaborate knots and paint hypnotic whorls on their skin with crushed woad. They wear iron jewelry as totems against spirits. In foul weather they bundle into wool, leather, and furs but otherwise tend to go nude (even in battle).

#### **Cordele & the Riverine**

Known for their fierce and shameless warrior women, the Riverine are a matriarchal culture that sprang up in the drowned woods of Many-Branches in Land's End. According to legend they drown their firstborn sons as an offering to the gods-of-the-wood. They also practice blood-magic and worship a lunar goddess. They are one of the few tribes properly considered to be an actual "kingdom", although in reality Cordele has always been ruled by strong queens.

#### **Prydein**

Once great poets and kings, the Prydein ruled over the Marches and were considered the most cultured of all the Painted Kingdoms. Since being driven out of their lands by the Tiberians they lived as poachers along the Marches' borderlands. Their many "Princes" are more akin to warlords or outlaws. What remains of their language and history has been carefully preserved in epic songs and ballads by their Bards. Prydein are regarded as peerless archers and masters of concealment.

#### **Sealfolk**

The Tenneu - or "Sealfolk" as they are more widely known - dwell along the Pale Sea on broken headlands, glaciers, and clammy islands. They are vicious searaiders who dress in sealskins and fight with clubs, terrorizing the coasts and stealing women, children, and livestock. Although they are hard, often cruel nomads they are still human, a fact most people forget. They revere the natural world - the cold sea, the ghost fires that burn in the night sky, and above all else the Lord of the Waters- the "Blackfish".

#### **Lost Men**

Wild men raised like animals in the forest, they are believed to be descended from feral children who were abandoned to the gods-of-the-wood. Despite their savagery they are quite shy, avoiding other people and are known to adopt lost children.

#### **Morrigan**

Technically a province of the Shield Marches, Morrigan is a forbidding land of bogs and black lakes and endless pines that even the Oldgrowth cannot claim. Its people are descended from the Riverine - their ancestors were exiled for abusing blood-magic. Among the Morrigan are powerful blood-witches and seers famous for their ability to see terrible futures (though some claim these are not prophecies at all but curses).

#### **Cairnsmen**

Rugged mountain clans who just as often fight each other as other Landsmen or the Marches, the Cairnsmen dwell in remote villages high in the flinty hills and crags of the mountains. They are famous for their haunting epic ballads and powerful voices, able to bring down avalanches and unnerve even the hardest men with their blood curdling war cries. The poorest scratch a living in the mines, however, traditionally they have made their livelihood as hunters and trappers.

**"Bear Clans"**

* fisherfolk, depend on the yearly salmon runs
* skilled wrestlers
* migrated from over the mountains, bringing domesticated bears with them
* dwell in caves
* matriarchal

## **Infuences**

* Andraste was an Icenic war goddess invoked by Boudica during the Roman occupation of Britain, and was associated with victory.
* Woad is a plant that produces indigo dye, which ancient Celts used to paint and tattoo their bodies.
* The geography and climate of Land's End is very reminiscent of the Pacific Northwest, although the Dragonback is a cross between the Alps and the Appalachian Mountains.
* The Oldgrowth is inspired by the rainforests of the Cascades and the black forest of Germany.