Balbanos

25 years ago Thunish High King Harkin Halfspear began a war to unite the disparate tribes of semi nomadic barbarians who lives along the Trinn River and in the foothills of the Ironwall mountains. 15 years ago, he succeeded. He claimed the fertile lands north of the Trinn River Basin for his people and has fortified and expanded the hill fort city of Balbanos as his capital. The united Thuunish tribes are a formidable force and King Harkin is a cunning ruler. The Thuns currently struggle with an influx of Gnolls coming in from the Stone Barrens and with undead from the Black Dunes.

## Demographics

Population: 225,000

10,000 at Balbanos, 215,000 in the tribes.

Government: Feudal Monarchy

Imports: Forged steel, tools, armor, arms, wine, ale, spirits, textiles

Exports: Furs, leatherwork, hides, ivory, woodwork, dried fish, fruit, meade, exotic lumber from the banks of the Trinn, exotic animals

## Society

The Thunns are descended from the Iquot, the ice barbarians who inhabit the frozen land of Caledonia in the northwest. The Thunns left there in a time past memory and migrated to the banks of the river Trinn and beyond.

The Thunns are a tribal society with close families making up clans ruled by elected chieftains. Harkin Halfspear was the first Thunn Chief to unite the clans. Some joined willingly but others had to be subdued through a series of brutal wars that lasted a decade. For 15 years the Thunn have been united as one people and thus far they have shown themselves to be a force to be reckoned with.

Traditionally semi nomadic, the Thuunish clans have summer lodgings in the hills and valleys around Balbanos and the Iron Mountains and spend winters traveling up the River Trinn. Many Thunns have recently adopted permanent lodgings in and around Balbanos. Every spring more Thunns come to join the growing city.

The Thunns are a warrior people, where honor and courage count for everything. Chiefs of the clans are usually either the strongest or most cunning tribesmen and remain in power for as long as they can hold off challengers. All of the chiefs of the Thunnish tribes have sworn fealty to King Harkin. So far there has only been one challenge to the king’s authority and it was swiftly and brutally crushed. The skull of the treacherous chieftain Grenkalik Giantkin of the Ralzar is now King Harkin’s wine goblet

The Thunns are expert hunters and trackers, proficient with bows and favor heavy maces or battle axes for hand to hand combat. Swordplay is usually only practiced by nobility or the very wealthy as blades and instruction in their use is costly.

## Thuunish Tribes

Neidar - Led by their new Chief Korsik the Quick, a friend of Wu Xen, the Neidar seek a new place to dwell.

Agar - The tribe of Harkin Halfspear and Gunnar. Once semi nomadic like the Kolar, they followed a massive herd of Buffalelk. They settled in the hills of Balbanos following Harkin Hlafspear’s victory.

Aidar - Basically wiped out. Torr Nine-Fingers leads a small band of warriors who survived the onslaught of Gnolls.

Kolar - Nomads who follow a herd of giant buffalelk. Silent hunters and expert trackers.

Vundar - Led by Tomar Farsight. From the southern foothills of the Ironwall Mountains in the summer and the edge of the plains of dust in the winter, this tribe is semi nomadic and has interactions with the desert nomads to the northwest. Hard bargainers and desert survival experts

Mersar - The tribe that originally inhabited the hills around Balbanos. They built the trade town and have had contact with the elves more than the other Thunnish tribes

Urgar - Warriors and horsemen, the Urgar inhabit the flatlands between the hills of Balbanos and the Plains of Dust

Ernar - The Ernar live in and around the series of tributaries and outlets of the Trinn just south of the hills of Balbanos

Ralzar - The wildest and furthest removed from civilization of the tribes, the Ralzar live in the rocky valleys and windswept plateaus near the Shadow Gap

Folvar - The Folvar are herders from the the hills west of Balbanos across the Trinn River.

Tornar - This tribe lives on the banks of the river Trinn and has had some contact with Araxis, though not recently.

## Military

In times of war, each tribe assembles it’s warriors individually. The units of the army are the tribes. Each Chieftain leads his own people in battle under the direction of King Harkin or his appointed representative.

The Thunns can field an army of 30,000 warriors if all of the tribes respond to a call to assembly.

In Balbanos, a company of 500 elite warriors guards the city and the king. The local tribes, the Agar and Mersar, can assemble their warriors to aid in the city’s defense if necessary.