The Eternal Thunderland

Thunderlanders have developed in a harsh climate, and it shows.

File:Thunderland.png

## **Thunder and Battleaxes**

Writing is forbidden in the Eternal Thunderland. Eight centuries ago, it was settled by remnants
of the Inquisition, and their guiding philosophy very much lives on. The Eternal Thunderland is a
sparse, rocky island that is beset by constant storms.
And, as of recently, it has dragons too.

## Refugees from the War of Words

In the year 270 AS, the destruction of the kingdom of Grut (and the creation of the Milky Peninsula) brought the War of Words to a definitive end. The Thunderlanders' ancestors where
on the side of the Inquisition, the international movement to stamp out writing and magic that
tore the world in half. When the Inquisition collapsed, a ragtag group fled across the Leviathan
Ocean, beyond the reach of their enemies, and settled the uninhabited Thunderland.

In the eyes of the Thunderlanders, writing is a direct path to magic. Thunderlanders hate magic.
They enforce these ideals violently. Librarians are killed on sight. People from Lenore are killed
on sight. Mages are killed on sight. Writing anything results in terrible punishment. Between that
and the distance, the Eternal Thunderland does not receive a lot of visitors.

Beyond their violent tendencies, Thunderlanders tend to have a strong superiority complex over
the rest of the world. While many of the original settlers came from feudal nations, centuries of
isolation have seen Thunderland society shift into something very different. Thunderland
warriors dress in furs, indicate their status via a complex set of warpaints, and typically fight with
enourmous mauls and battle axes. They frequently go berserk. The society is organized into
clans, each led by a ritually scarred warchief. The clans meet once a year on the date of Grut’s
fall. This gathering is known as the Forgather, and each clan is required to swear their
opposition to magic. It also provides an opportunity for ambitious warriors to challenge their
warchief.

Thunderlanders do not usually leave their home, but it does happen, both voluntarily and
through exile. They frequently have incredible memories, and make for excellent bards.

## A Draconic Surprise

70 years ago, one of the mountains exploded. Out of the smoke came dragons. About a 100
dragons. No one was happy about this. The Thunderlanders, who had been more or less alone
on the island since founding, were confronted with the sight of dozens of shining, terrifying,
serpentine creatures flying out of a broken mountain. The dragons, who had apparently been
asleep in some deep underground hollow, woke up to terrified barbarians throwing axes at them
(mostly to no effect). Both parties scattered in all directions.

Up until this point, Kalarain didn’t have dragons. It had pictures of dragons found in a handful of
archaeological sites, and a whole lot of dragon folklore. Dragons were believed to be either an
ancient myth or an Escaran invention and so the discovery that dragons were in fact real came
as a shock to a lot of people. The dragons themselves don’t seem to know what they were doing down there.
They speak of fuzzy memories and distant ages they can’t quite recall.

As dragons are gigantic magical serpent creatures who fly around without wings, the typical
Thunderlander response has usually been to try and kill them. This doesn’t work very well, as
dragons are very hard to kill, and especially hard to kill without magic. As for the dragons, the
majority are not aggressive (though some have got into small wars with clans), and mostly seem
to either want to mediate on mountains or immerse themselves in a chosen element. Many of
the dragons have elemental powers, notably control over electricity, water and earth.

Their goals seem to be esoteric, and not especially concerned with humans, though many seem
willing to speak, and even dispense sage wisdom, if treated with due respect. A handful seem to
have stronger material concerns and moral leanings, with perhaps the potential to be great
heroes, or terrible tyrants.

The dragons appear to lack the capacity to cross the Leviathan Ocean under their own power,
so almost all of them are still in the Eternal Thunderland, having largely moved inland. A small
number have made it to other parts of the world, via various means.