Rams

A Ram village in the Black Eel Valley

The Rams are followers of Orlanth, the Storm God, who began the Storm Age by slaying Yelm, the Bright Emperor. They are named after their practice of keeping sheep as livestock. Rams are also called Vingkotlings after their heroic founder, Vingkot, or Orlanthi, for worshipping Orlanth as their main god.

As Orlanth is an enemy of Yelm’s son, Elmal, the chief god of both the Riders and the Wheels, the Rams see the Riders and Wheels as religious enemies, and vice versa. Rams are forbidden from marrying Riders due to a belief that the production of such unions always become evil sorcerers.

Most Rams are found south of the Black Eel River. Those who live on its left banks, in the southern half of the Black Eel Valley, are called the Kestaytelli by other Rams. Further south you find the four Southern Ram Kingdoms, the tribes of Infithtelli, Forosilvuli, Vestantes and Penentelli. The Orgovaltes tribe live yet further south.

## Ride Like the Wind

Rams are one of the three major cultures in *Ride Like The Wind*, alongside the Riders and the Wheels. The game always starts with seven Ram clans, all of whom live south of the Black Eel River, the opposite of yours. Some live on the opposite side of the Oslira River as well.

Rams are a potential ancestral enemy of your clan.

### Lore

Your clan circle says:

* "Vingkot, a demigod whose father is Orlanth the Rebel, is to them what Hyalor is to us—founder and lawgiver."
* "The Rams gained power after their god Orlanth murdered Yelm."

### Events

The following events are those in *Ride Like The Wind* wherein you are likely to meet the various groups of Rams in or around the Black Eel valley for the first time:

* Meeting the Ram People
* Infithtelli Encounter
* Forosilvuli Encounter
* Vestantes Encounter
* Penentelli Encounter

### In Battle

The Ram People don't know your horse-riding magic, so even their elite fighters must fight on foot (unless they take to the sky, at least). However, they're still tougher on average than Riders! This is, after all, the Age of Storms, and their gods are ascendant.

They have two unique battle rituals, **Wind** and **Rain**. Both of these can basically disable your archery, so using your Firearrow ritual against them may not be a good idea. (Vestantes raiders may be especially likely to perform rituals before closing.)

You can see many different Heroic Combat events when fighting Rams. See Heroic Combat: Rams and Heroic Combat: General for details.

## Lights Going Out

By the time of *Lights Going Out*, your Rider clan from *Ride Like the Wind* has converted into a Ram one, namely the royal clan of the Berenethtelli tribe. This means that your clan is on much better terms with other Ram clans in the valley, since they all—except for the Deleskarings—nominally belong to the same tribe. Still, two other Ram tribes—the Forosilvuli and Vestantes—are some of the possible targets of Brolarulf's Great Raid in the game's prologue. If chosen, this will establish a special enmity between them and the player clan for the rest of the game. Also, it is possible to ward Berenstead against rival Rams during clan creation, giving you an advantage when defending against their raids.

## Images

Ram traders.Ram emissaries, asking a favor.Ram emissaries, aggrieved at some slight.Pushy Ram emissaries.Ram holy women.A Ram chieftain, along with his clan's lawspeaker and several powerful priestesses, meet with envoys on an important matter.An impressive fort built by the Rams—in the shape of a Storm rune!A Chaos Age Ram village.