Gholori

The **Gholori**, also known as the **glacier-barbarians**, are a loose association of tribal clans, kingdoms and khasarates that live in the vast glacial shelves located north and south of the Hepsian rim. While the stark majority of groups considered to be among the Gholori are predominantly Tesar, a number of other races are known to make up a small part of their populations. They are often well-accompanied by a number of companion-beasts, such as wolves or even esoteric wraith-things.

Although they are known for being a crude and astonishingly primitive group of cultures— with most Gholori peoples using either bronze-age weapons/tools or those few weapons stolen from non-glacier communities— the tribes of the Gholori are often considered to be among the most dangerous threats to those who live close to the glacial boundaries, with entire nations having been wiped out or forced to migrate due to great invasions of glacier-barbarian hordes. They are considered such great threats due to both their disturbingly large populations- with estimates often believed to be within near-parity with those living in the habitable zone of the Rim- as well as their unyielding fervor and rage against opponents, showing savagery in both combat and beyond that is usually unmatched by any Hepsian denizens.

Historically, there have always been surges of their strength and ferocity about once every fifty years or so, leading to most generations of Hepsians knowing the importance of defending the borders against the glacier-barbarians. However, since the rise of the Tantric Reign and the subsequent bombardment by Serunukosi warships on vital hives in the aftermath of their collapse, no Gholori hordes have massed in the strength of previous historical significance for nearly a century. It has led many to wonder whether the Tesar and savage barbarians of Hepsia have finally lost their way.

## Society

Gholori societies are inherently similar to Tesari societies in that they are usually a clan-based system built upon the foundation that might makes right and hard-earned merit. While some higher members of their societies may find some advantage in gaining rank and influence due to familial ties, most Gholori warriors start from nothing and must claw their way up the social/political hierarchy. Oftentimes, this is achieved through aggressive tactics or outright assault on their ranking opponents and superiors, with challenges against one another either seen as honorable or unworthy based upon their ranking.

### Mercenaries

While most Gholori tend to prefer the comfort of the glacier fields and remain there save for when in temporary raiding parties, some of the glacier-barbarians occasionally leave the polar fields and come to the Rim for permanent work. Though some may find themselves working as hard laborers or other menial workers for local polities, the vast majority of Gholori who come to settle the land come in the form of mercenary bands, usually composed of a single or familial group which strikes out for their own influence and power.

Many of these mercenary bands are temporary affairs, working for local governments, private interests or even other Gholori in return for hefty payment or the weaponry and equipment they most likely would have purchased with their pay. With these gathered, the mercenary bands then often return to the glaciers to create their own fiefdoms among the rest or supplant another. Some remain in Hepsia’s rim, however, and form new raider clans in the frontier regions, becoming a minor threat to trade in the polar regions that accompanies a number of other threats posed by the Gholori themselves.

### Psionics

Psions, while rare among the glacier-barbarians, are considered some sort of divine entity in the eyes of the average Gholori warrior or band leader, with reputable psions among their population often earning a noteworthy gathering of tribes or clans following them and obeying their every word. While ostracized by most major Gholori warlords, these *mage-kings* may sometimes use their divine presence as leverage towards conquering their enemies, showing displays of psionic might as they lead their armies in conquering settlements.

Oftentimes, the most eldest and influential Gholori psion-kings seclude themselves in massive spires- large vertical structures either wrought from hive materials or custom-built into the glacial ice from local resources. With their fiefdoms usually surrounding and protecting their domain, these mages will spend dozens of years secluded alone, learning and practicing the ancient arcane techniques and rituals of the Tesari. These are only known from second-hand or third-hand sources, as no outsider has ever seen the interior of a mage-king's spire and lived to tell the tale.

### Hives

One of the most populous forms of habitation that Gholori are found within, hives are massive subglacial/subterranean fortresses. They are composed of hundreds of layers of labyrinthine halls and chambers, often wrought through glacial ice, rock, and heavily-reinforced hypersteel and ancient stoneworks. They are among the largest structures on Hepsia, with seismographic readings detailing the average hive being around fifty cubic kilometers in volume— though even this statistic is often believed to be inaccurate or simply reading the upper layers of the hives, which are said to extend deep into the crust in many cases.

While the origins of these structures is unclear, it is generally understood that they are relics from the fall of the Abzuan Empire, when the Tesar originally came to Hepsia. They are believed to have been constructed as an effort to produce fortifications and industrial sites across the ice sheets of the planet, using the glaciers as a thick shielding against orbital bombardment. While they are now only active in the polar regions, it is believed that hives were active across the entirety of Hepsia, as ruins of ancient Tesari structures are commonly found in the rural areas of the Rim, believed to have been destroyed during the terraforming of the planet.

In the modern day, the hives have been inherited by the Gholori. With as massive as structures as they are, it is inevitable that the pre-industrial power structures of the Gholori fracture, and thus most hives are split between up to dozens of clans or khasars, trapped in internecine conflicts that rarely conclude with a successful ruler of the whole hive. If one is successful in unifying a hive, the resulting Khasarate is often fragile and short lived.

The internal workings of a Gholori hive are complicated and scantly understood, as the psionic presences within and the maze-like construction of the hive itself makes constant traversal through it nigh impossible to outsiders and even difficult for the Gholori who live within them. Gholori folk legends are often rife with tales of spirits of wandering warriors and explorers who could never find their way out of the tunnels to reach their destination, finding themselves forever left to haunt the dark recesses of the lower hive.

Most of what is known about hive infrastructure and construction plans is known from the Magvech Hive, the most equatorial hive that is still in operation by its Gholori owners. Breaching the northern ice walls, it is a constant site of conflict and repellence by the locals. The defense of the region is headed by the knightly order known as the Wardens of the Black Gate, and is often seen to plunge counteroffensives deep into the hive, gathering intelligence and researching what they are able to gather from their temporary conquests.