Cumeria
Structure
Roaming Tribes
Huntable prey is scarce in the Titan Pines, so the Cumerians live in small tribes of around one hundred. Each clan defends their territory ferociously, because if even one hunt is stolen from their lands, many can go hungry. Most creatures in the Pines however, are too large or too dangerous to hunt, and must be avoided at all costs to ensure survival of everyone in the tribe. To evade these creatures, the Cumerians make their homes high in the trees. The trees in the Titan Pines are large enough to house entire tribes inside carved out burrows, which they sculpt artfully. Tribes often have between five to ten of these abodes so that they can stay on the move on their hunts. The leader of each tribe is usually a Chaneller with either Donum Denieth or Donum Vitae, who is titled the tribe Wisdom. In addition to a leadership role, the Wisdom is usually responsible for tending to the sick and injured as well. If a tribe has no Channeler to be their Wisdom, usually a Channeler from another tribe will come to fill that role until a child born of the tribe can succeed them.Hornblowers
The tale of the Horns of Life is sacred to the Cumerian peoples. To this day, only the greatest of hunters are capable of battling Gorynychs, and only the most esteemed whittlers are permitted to touch the largest rib from which the horns are made. Usually, several tribes band together on one of these hunts, traveling together to the nearest Life Duct with their bounty. But the greatest duty is on the Hornblower. Often trained from a young age, Hornblowers are responsible for sounding the Horn of Life with as pure and long of a note as they can. The greater the note, the more water that will flow from the Life Duct. When water flows from a Life Duct in the Titan Pines, it is a holiday the Cumerians celebrate to the fullest with dancing, drinking, feasting, and contests of skill. Any children who have not drank from the duct undergo the Ceremony of the Gift where it is determined if the water will grant them a Donum, and any couples together for more than a year will be married at the grand party. Where normally, Cumerians are territorial and suspicious, any and all are welcome to their Life Festivals, often bringing multiple tribes together for the few days the Duct will remain open.Public Agenda
Conserve and Defend
Despite war officially being over, the Cumerian tribes still fight vigorously to keep what territory they have left. Fenrir’s beasts to the south, and Anidine’s war hungry nobility to the north, Cumeria has been in a difficult position for a long time. But even with this, the tribal leaders have forever failed to form a meaningful alliance to fight their enemies on a united front. Conflicts between tribes, long blood feuds, and a general dispassion for the troubles of other tribes has lead. The very things that Asherah had taught them to overcome were the things bringing them to ruin. The people of the northern and southern tribes pray for the day a united Cumeria comes, so that they might know a life without war.Assets
- Prime Griffons
- Adamantine
- Titan Pine lumber
- Warriors
- Healers
History
Divided they Fell
After the Departure, most of the tribes of Cumeria no longer wished to live the Anidinian way. And in winning the Anidinian Civil War, Cumeria was independant once more. The tribes parted ways to go back to their traditional territories. But more war was yet to come. After the Anidinian Civil War, the tribes were weakened. Kingwulf of Fenrir knew this, and launched his invasion into the Titan Pines. Without strong leadership, the Cumerians fought a retreating war, eventually stemming the tide of ravenous wolves, but they had lost much. After the two wars, Cumeria had lost almost half of its territory.Territories
Over the centuries, the Cumerians have been
invaded countless times by the Gredorans,
Rathis, and Kilder for the forest’s greatest
resource: an abundance of Adamantine.
Few invasions into the Titan Pines have
yielded anything but death and defeat for the
aggressors. Armies struggle to adapt to the
perpetual darkness of the woods and the danger
of making camp on the forest floor. Even armies
that survive the punishing conditions rarely last
long against rampaging Cumerian warbands
attacking from the trees before vanishing into
the night.
Military
Legendary Warriors
The Cumerians are patient, calculated hunters, but on the battlefield, they are something else entirely. To hear the Cumerian war horns is a signal of swiftly approaching death as their berzerking warriors charge the front line with no regards to their own lives. Cumeria may be in a difficult spot, but it continues to persist because of the sheer strength of many of its fighters. As more Cumerians gained Donums, their ability to be reckless in battle grew. And with this recklessness came one of their ultimate weapons: Adamantine Paladins. The Cumerians on the south border discovered that if a child is fed powdered adamantine in their youth, they grow to excessive strength in adulthood. The only drawback is that these Paladins are short lived, as the metal poisons their body. But, this is no barrier for the most talented doctors in the world. As long as a Paladin has access to one of Donum Vitae, they will continue to live as long as they would have normallyUnlikely Friends
Early in Cumerian history, they learned to flee to the treetops to avoid the predators below, but they never knew why predators who could clearly climb wouldn’t follow them. It wasn’t until a few brave Scavengers climbed even higher into the trees that they discovered why. Roosting at the peaks of the Titan Pines are flocks of Gryffins, strangely unperturbed by humans, curious even. Over the course of years, these Scavengers built a relationship of friendship by bringing the Gryffins offerings of shiny baubles and fur to line their nests. Slowly but surely, the Gryffins allowed humans to approach closer and closer until peaceful first contact was made. In the generations to come, those Scavengers’ descendants grew up with the young of the Gryffins, eventually bonding enough to become the first Gryffin riders, a tradition now sacred to the Cumerians. To harm a Gryffin is to declare war on all of Cumeria, or to be executed for the crime. Astolfo, Ashera’s mythical steed, sired a line of griffons which grow to be even larger and stronger than most drakes. Fenrir and Anidinian generals fear that Cumeria has nearly recovered from its two-fronted war, and become far stronger than it ever was before.Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild
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