Backgrounds: Tribe Member

Though you might have only recently arrived in civilized lands, you are no stranger to the values of cooperation and group effort when striving for supremacy. You learned these principles, and much more, as a member of a tribe.

Your people have always tried to hold to the old ways. Tradition and taboo have kept your tribe strong while the kingdoms of others have collapsed into chaos and ruin. But for the last few generations, some bands among the tribes were tempted to settle, make peace, trade, and even to build towns. Perhaps this is why your leader chose an ancestral symbol as a reminder of who they were and from whence they came. Bands of tribe members led back to the old ways, and most of your people abandoned the soft ways of civilization.

You might have grown up in one of the tribes that had decided to settle down, and now that they have abandoned that path, you find yourself adrift. Or you might come from a segment of your tribe that adheres to tradition, but you seek to bring glory to your tribe by achieving great things as a formidable adventurer.

See the "Tribes and Their Territories" section below for details on each tribe's territory and its activities that will help you choose your affiliation.

###### Tool Proficiencies

One type of musical instrument or artisan's tools

###### Equipment

A hunting trap, a totemic token or set of tattoos marking your loyalty to your tribe, a set of traveler's clothes, and a pouch containing 10 gp

### Feature: Tribes and Their Territories

For most tribes, the only stability in their history is the site of their ancestral symbol. Most of the holy sites have existed since antiquity, but the fortunes of the tribes that revere them have hardly been static. Following are brief descriptions of the tribes today.

***Bronze Leaf.*** One of the western tribes of Ursine in Huldain are the Bronze Leaf – thought destroyed more than a century ago – who have recently emerged from inside the woods of Farltiff and reclaimed their ancestral symbol named Ragged Boulder. The Bronze Leafs have reoccupied much of their old territory in the time since they returned to prominence, though they don't venture outside the forest, considering it a taboo place.

***Lost Owl and Dead Crow.*** North of Crimson Root territory, in Storda Forest, is Ushug's Well, a settlement of Orcs lives near this ancient ancestral symbol of the Dead Crow tribe. The settlement was founded some time ago by members of the Lost Owl tribe, who put down roots here rather than continuing to live as travelling raiders. Though the Dead Crows are less than comfortable with the present situation, they consider Ushug's Well their holy site, so they make the best of things. Bands of Dead Crow tribes-people, often in winter at Ushug's Well, use the settlement as a place to sell the leather and furs they acquired in nearby forests.

***Kargere.*** On top of a mountain in Norfvice called Erofjun Rise in the Banfjell Range, stands the True Stone, the ancestral symbol of the Kargere tribe. These are a people divided; half of the tribe has settled and built a sizable steading around the True Stone, similar to what Lost Owl has done at Ushug's Well. The other half of the tribe considers this act an insult to their totem, so they launch raids on the settlement, burning as much of it as they can and then escaping, often on giant goat-back.

***Crimson Root.*** In the depths of Farltiff's woods lies the Catardel Creek, the ancestral symbol of the Crimson Root tribe. The Crimson Roots split off from the Bronze Leafs long ago and all but disappeared into the forest, although occasional reports reach civilization that they are still alive and can sometimes be seen clustered around the Catardel Creek. Some sages postulate that the newly reborn Bronze Leaf tribe might well be Crimson Root tribe members who are following a call from a revived Bronze Leaf ancestral symbol.

***Tihul.*** The Burnt Hills, a small southern spike of the Kygan Mountains just south of Mount Solberk, is the site of Tihul Cove, the ancestral symbol of the Tihul tribe. These Coyouins are notoriously reclusive; it has been several years since the tribe has sent raiding parties out anywhere but against a few incoming ships to Kygan, for supplies.

***Crabclaw.*** The Crab Claws are a group of fanatical goblins that stick to the traditional goblin ways. They roam the Farltiff Mountains, ranging out from Crab Crystal, their ancestral symbol deep inside Raggnon Hollow. They have been known to send raiding parties as far east as Lombar Mountains, but their most frequent targets are the caravans that go back and forth between Essapin and Farltiff.

***Buck.*** Smoldering Ash tree in the midst of the Junesse Woodland is the ancestral symbol of the Buck tribe. The Buck were once a prolific group of centaur raiders, extending their reach even into Norfvice and Farltiff, but the tribe was shattered a handful of decades ago by the forces of those countries. Though their numbers have replenished, the Buck remain mostly hunters and foragers. They are masters at avoiding or repulsing the threats of the Junesse Woodland, and often hire themselves out as guides for outsiders.

***Weaning Calf.*** The Weaning Calf tribe has not been heard from in several years. When the Weaning Calfs made their annual pilgrimage to Gorruk's Mound in Vadare Woods, they found their holy site desecrated. Soon thereafter, their chieftain took them back into the depths of the Lombar Mountains, and they have not emerged since.

***Timber Wolves.*** The Timber Wolves tribe, made up of lycanthropes, was destroyed by a crusade from Candon Cornellius because of the tribe's curse. Some of the surviving Timber Wolves took shelter among other tribes.

***Lamassu.*** The Lamassu tribe came to an untimely end when it rose up against the forces of Candon Cornellius.

***Yirn's Hawks.*** The Yirn's Hawks tribe vanished centuries ago. They were last seen in the vicinity of the True Stone, the ancestral symbol that tribe shared with the Kargere Tribe.

### Feature: Heritage

You have an excellent knowledge of not only your tribe's territory, but also the terrain and natural resources of the rest of your tribe's country. You are familiar enough with any wilderness area that you find twice as much food and water as you normally would when you forage there.

Additionally, you can call upon the hospitality of your people, and those folk allied with your tribe.

### Suggested Characteristics

Use the tables for the outlander background as the basis for your traits and motivations, modifying the entries when appropriate to suit your identity.

Even if you have left your tribe behind (at least for now), you hold to the traditions of your people. The ancestral symbols are sacred to you.

Your bond is undoubtedly associated with your tribe or some aspect of your tribe's philosophy or culture. Your ideal is a personal choice that probably hews closely to the ethos of your people and certainly doesn't contradict or compromise what your tribe stands for.

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