Skamog Tribe

Description

Once among the mightiest of Ogria, the Skamog Tribe are now a wandering plague upon the north. Driven from their homeland after a failed bid for dominance, they now roam the northern fringes of Arboria, pillaging border towns, lurking in the deep woods, or camping like frostbitten carrion around the ruins of long-forgotten wars. Their presence is a constant irritation to settled realms, for Skamog Ogres are as stubborn as they are savage, surviving off what they kill, steal, or subjugate.

Their exile is no accident of migration or hunger, it was punishment. A little more than a decade past, the Skamog warlord known only as Grum the Boundless forged a forbidden pact with ancient, whispering things beneath the ice. He promised them glory, he brought them ruin. When the truth surfaced, an unlikely alliance of Ogria's clans banded together and shattered the Skamog in a rare united war. Grum was slaughtered, his body cast into a chasm and his name declared cursed. Those who survived were driven out of Ogria and forbidden to ever return.

Traits

• Nomadic & Resilient - These Ogres survive where other races freeze or starve. They travel light, live rough, and adapt with brutish tenacity.
• Superstitious - Unlike other Ogre tribes who barely give thought to gods, the Skamog fear the spirits that haunt the wilds. Their rituals are crude, but they are serious. Bone charms, frost-blood runes, and whispered chants mark every campsite.
• Chaotic Leadership - With no home and no throne, leadership is unstable. Whoever slays the current chieftain or rallies enough might becomes "Da Chief".

Reputation

• Lumbering Raiders - Known for sudden raids on border villages, cart convoys, or even isolated fortresses. Their presence is a blight on northern trade and patrol routes.
• Unclean Bloodline - Even other Ogres regard them with suspicion. "Skamog" has become an insult, meaning "mad ogre" or "spawn of shadow" in their old homeland.
• Servants of Something - Whispers persist that some among the Skamog still serve the dark powers Grum once spoke to.

Culture

The Skamog have no caves, no sacred mountain. They have wagons of stitched bone and hides, crude effigies dragged on sleds, and pit fires ringed with skulls. Wherever they stop becomes a temporary camp-village, an Ogre "pit", and wherever they leave behind becomes ash and ruin.

Slaves, or "small hands", are essential to their way of life, used to haul supplies, cook, repair, and worship. These poor creatures are typically broken in spirit but quick to die, but the Skamog never seem to run short on replacements.

Despite their brutality, they hold to one tradition: The Mourning Howl. When one of their number dies, the tribe howls into the wind, believing the noise helps drive the soul onward to "the Endless Feast" beyond the snows. For enemies, the howl is a warning, for allies, a promise.