Telmori and Sartar

Charlie Domino (cdomino@ICSI.Net)
Wed, 8 Feb 1995 22:57:41 -0600 (CST) 

Well, being tired of YT debates, I thought I'd throw in a completely 
different subject.  Recently, owing to the situation in my campaign, it 
became necessary to devote some thought to the Telmori of Sartar.  I have 
not seen any new work done on them since Heroes, so I was pretty much 
extrapolating (neat term for making it up as I went along) when I wrote 
this.  I was trying to prepare a player to handle a Telmori NPC, and the 
issues of the Telmori vs. the other tribes would be key to the play.  
Two events needed to be explained: the slaughter of the Mabroder 
tribe, and the "betrayal" of the heir when the Lunars invaded.  Following 
is the portion of a character write-up which deals with those issues in 
my campaign. 
________________________________________

Karalor Wolf-runner:  You are the commander of the Royal Bodyguard.  It's a
fancy name humans use, but it's not yours.  To your thinking, you are the
Eye of the Warband of Sartar's Word.  By treaty, the Telmori tribe sends 40
warriors (and their wolves) to act as the personal bodyguard of House of
Sartar.  Of course, it's a pretty cush job these days, since the Lunars
wiped out the House eleven years ago.   Well, maybe "cush" isn't the word. 
Remember, though your people have dealt with the humans, they have never
been loved by them, or vice versa.  They fear your Curse, and call you
Krjalki; they revile your kind, they shun and hate you, and sometimes their
fanatics even try to hunt and kill you.  Being a Telmori in Sartar is not
an easy thing.  It is never an easy thing; you have always been outcast,
hated and hunted through the centuries.  Only King Sartar was honorable
enough to deal with your people in trust, and he gave your people lands, so
long as you would fight for his Heirs and his People.  

     Recent Historical Background: In more recent years, old hatreds and
rivalries have made this difficult.  Your tribe has spent more time
fighting with the Sartarites than for them.  When Sartar's decendants
involved themselves in the Tarsh civil war, your people fought alongside
them.  Three times did Kostajor Wolf-Champion personally save the Heir. 
But as the Lunar menace approached, more humans muttered about how your
Curse reflected the Lunar cycle, and mistrust grew.  When the House of
Death took its geases and oaths, they swore to be the SOLE defenders of the
new Prince, though your people objected that their oaths usurped your
obligations by treaty.  Forced to challenge a god of death to keep your
word, your people withdrew from the kingdom's defense.  The humans answered
with insult and accusations of cowardence, as was their way.  

     After the conquest, relations with your neighbors worsened.  The
Mabroder tribe began a series of raids and counter-raids that were worse
than anything your people had known before.  One particular clan often
fought without honor and even harmed old women and pups, which is not the
way of your people, nor, they claim, theirs.  Though your people told of
their dishonor, and spoke law with the humans in their fashion, your
complaints were unheard or mocked, and the bloody warfare between your
people continued.  Honorless bandits; they finally committed a terrible
atrocity by killing one of your far-hunting clans, down to the last wolf
pup, the elders and older children.  Only six children and one eldar to
shepherd them were permitted to return and tell how the humans defiled
their shrine by slaughtering a pregnant wolf bitch over it.  There was no
more talk of doing things the human way after that.  Your people gathered
into their warbands and struck suddenly across all the Mabroder lands; you
returned to them by fire and blood what they had done to you.  By the time
your people finished, barely a quarter of their tribe was still alive, and
those who survived did so by fleeing.  The Lunars, so-called overlords,
mounted a punative expedition the next year, but it was foolish.  Your
people shadowed it constantly, harried it occasionally, and fought with it
sometimes, so it would claim victory and go away, which it did.

<end>
=====================================================================
  "What are we going to do tonight, Brain?"   "The same thing we do
every night, Pinky. Try and take over the world"
=========================cdomino@icsi.net===========================



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