Susevar Clan

The Susevar Clan is a nomadic dwarven tribe that lives on packed-earth plateaus, called Susevar (literally "pig riders") due to their favored mount, the Susboarealis ("northern pig", a type of boar).

## Mining

The Susevar mine in a strange way, as they do not live in one place for very long and therefore must mine quickly. The method is called Tributhaj.

Several large trees are collected, usually by having a two-man longsaw hauled back and forth by two mounted men on boars. The trees are then dragged back through the camp, and are placed upright into large vats of boiling water and boar excrement. The smell at this point is awful.

They are boiled like this for two weeks, with their vats constantly replenished. By then, the trees have been petrified, and are removed after cooling. They are then carved into whatever shape necessary and traded with the nearest merchant. The Susevar particularly enjoy working with gnomes, who have the most ingenious ways of using the petrified wood, and each time they meet the Susevar show them a new contraption made from the wood. Handles made from susevar wood, as it is known at the elven markets, are very popular.

## Family Life

### Yurts

The yurt of a Susevar family is usually very similar across tribes and families. In the middle will be a fire, with a pot hanging over it, a hole above it in the ceiling of the yurt (so that the smoke doesn't kill everyone inside), and benches surrounding it. This is where a family will sit in the evenings, eating and talking. Around the edges of the yurt are enough bunks to fit the four to six people in one yurt, and the rest is storage, with barrels of mead, crates of Susboarealis bacon, sacks of rice, stacks of blankets, and axes and saws all in an upright stand called a pilderzh.

### Leadership

#### Vavrinich

The Susevar are led by a clan mother, known as a vavrinich, referred to in person as Mij Vavri ("my mother"). She lives in the largest yurt, and is given a fifth of any loot collected. Her yurt is also the only one that has a smaller yurt to go with it to house her prize boar, used for breeding Susboarealis. The vavrinich makes all judicial decisions, and the only choice to contest such a decision is to join another band of Susevar, typically a week's ride away.

#### Higher-level Command

A council of all of the vavriniches is united every two months, and it makes territorial decisions. The Susevar Nation has one member in the Domain Council and one elector. The reason that they have more electors than other, more populous clans is that the vavriniches are very hard to disagree with, and can argue for hours on end.

If two bands of Susevar are arguing, the Vavrinich Council will step in and vote. If they need a tiebreaker, the Susevar elector is brought in and he will vote. Otherwise, the elector's main job is to make sure that Susevar demands are met in the capitol.

### Food

The Susevar mainly eat susboarealis. They enjoy it as bacon in the mornings, and for dinner typically add the bacon to jultoush. On ceremonial occasions, they eat tonkh'a, a form of prosciutto made from susboarealis.

## Religion

### Worship

The Susevar worship the god of boars, known as Torch (not to be confused with a torch), with sacrifices in the form of wild boars. Those petrified trees that are natural are worshipped by them as holy gifts from Torch, and are used as gathering places.

Worship is every fourth day, early in the morning, and involves long recitals of the name and attributes of every hair on Torch's head, which typically lasts for several hours (he was an old boar god, and was beginning to go bald). Large festivals are held on New Year's Day (the birth date of the first mortal boars, daughters of Torch), and every fourth New Year's is New Kvar Day (a Kvar is a period of four years, and is the length of time before the birth of Torch's grandchildren). The festivals are large banquets, with music, jousting, and loud arguments between vavriniches about who is the most pious.

### Priests

#### Clothing

The priests of the religion are wandering monks, known as borgals. A borgal is almost always clothed in a burgundy tunic, brown pants, and black woolen cap. They also always wear a reddish leather belt, made from the first susboarealis that they killed. On the belt, they have two knives, from the tusks of this boar, and a club from his rear right leg bone. On ceremonial occasions, they will wear a golden wool cap, and on the belt they will carry a flask from boar hoof, full of boar's blood mixed with tree sap.

#### Activities

Borgals always wander the forest, leading two boars. Both carry the borgal's supplies, and it is unholy (essentially illegal) for the borgal to ride a susboarealis. They map the forests, study the holy books, and stop by every fourth day to lead a band of Susevar in the worship of Torch.

#### Temples

Borgal temples are a rare find, usually built to resemble a boar - the entrance will be through a stone snout, and the two tusks are large horns to call all borgals for monthly ceremonies, or to call all Susevar nearby for a festival. Inside of the temple are a mess hall, bedrooms for all of the monks, and a stables for susboarealii. The monks are not permitted to eat pork, as it is seen as a lesser form of susboarealis.

#### Leadership

The head monk always wears a burgundy woolen cap, with golden embroidery for special occasions, and does not travel, instead studying the holy book and leading monks in their ceremonies. If a monk is accused of committing a holy crime, then the head monk will preside at the trial and make the ultimate decision.