Dendorian

The Northmen

The Dendorians are a warrior people. They live in harsh climates in the north, and they are frequently forced to compete over food. They respect strength and authority above all else. Due to their lifestyle, they are forced to rely heavily on each other—the family and the tribe—which has led them to form strong bonds of loyalty towards their ruling chief, and one’s family.

In their culture, there is no nobility. There is only the strong and the weak, and the weak perish. Following someone just because their dad was a big deal seems like a silly tradition to them.

They value the importance of each member of the clan getting a say in things, since they are all free men and women who are not ruled by some bureaucrat. They value self-determination and the independence of the individual to make their own decisions. Loyalty is earned, not demanded.

The Dendorian people are taught how to fight from an early age, both boys and girls, which has given the Dendorian women a reputation of being as fierce and stubborn as the men, if not more so.

Society and Values

Dendorian society is highly decentralized and egalitarian within the tribe. While chiefs may lead, their authority is grounded in merit, not bloodline. Respect must be earned through deeds, strength, or wisdom. Tribe members are outspoken and involved in group decisions, often participating in long debates during gatherings around the fire.
Each tribe is a sovereign unit, with shifting alliances and rivalries. While raids and wars are not uncommon, Dendorians generally refrain from full-scale civil wars, valuing internal unity when facing foreign threats.
Tribes are further divided into chiefdoms. The chiefs rule locally, and all answer to the high chief, who rules the tribe. Still, these chiefdoms are very independent.

Hospitality is a sacred duty. A guest—especially one from another tribe—must be fed and sheltered, even if they are an enemy. However, once the guest leaves the hearth, all debts are reset.

Subcultures

Dendorian culture can be divided into four subgroups based on home region and lifestyle.

Middle Dendorians

Tribes: Varg, Boda, Kruzh, Rod, Krai, Bjorn, Dubra, and Zora
They are the main of these groups, they represent the majority of the Dendorian population and tribes. They live in the richest lands, with rivers full of fish, and plenty of huntable game, and the longest harvest season.
Their settlements are often ring-fort villages, centered around longhouses where multiple generations live together. They also maintain seasonal camps for hunting and gathering. The middle Dendorians are known for the brewing of fermented berry mead.

Eastern Dendorians

Tribes: Skear
They are those who live east of the northern Yavin River, namely the Skaer tribe. Their lands are not as connected to the rest by rivers, and therefore they are more focused on the Sea of a Thousand Isles, and its saltwater fish, and many shellfish. They have developed their subculture around navigating the wild waters of the northern seas. This is reflected in the way they handle coming-of-age rituals and the way they dress, preferring sturdy, warm, and wind-resistant clothing, often made from seal skins.
Eastern Dendorians are expert boatbuilders and navigators. Their longships are smaller and more agile than those of other tribes, adapted for threading the tight archipelagos and rapid storms of their homeland. There isn't much to trade or raid on their coastlines, so they focus more on fishing.

The Northmen

Tribes: Volsung and Frost
The ones who live on the frost plains. They are the ones who herd musk oxen, they live in caves and houses made from ice, they live in some of the coldest and most inhospitable parts of the world, and there they strive. They only represent a small part of the Dendorian population, but they have produced some of the most legendary warriors in history. They don't have any soil worth farming, so they largely rely on various milk products, many of them fermented, a tradition that has since spread across Dendor. Still, nowhere else is it as much of a lifestyle as here. They also rely heavily on the hunt of wild animals and ice fishing for food.
The Northmen have a rich oral tradition, passing down sagas of ancient ancestors, frost beasts, and spirits that live beneath the ice. They mark their deeds with carved ivory tokens, worn on necklaces or braided into their beards.

The Mountaineers

Tribes: Fell
These are the Dendorians who live in and around the mountains. The only tribe of this subculture is the Fell. There they have goblins to tend with, who are said to outnumber the Dendorian population there ten to one. The Fell have developed a culture of harsh discipline and a strong sense of honor and bravery. They are also known to eat pretty much anything they can get their hands on, due to the lack of food in their territory, even their own dead. They don't consider it a bad thing, but rather, an honorable ritual, letting the dead strengthen their loved ones one last time.
Still, this has made them something of a pariah among Dendorian tribes, as the others don't like being associated with them. They are also known to eat the goblins they kill.
Fell warriors wear scavenged goblin armor, and their weapons are often crude but effective. Their songs are rough and simple, meant for hacking and slashing.

Western Dendorians

This culture no longer exists, as their homeland was conquered a long time ago by the nation of Cordyan. They are now thought to have gone extinct, being fully integrated into the dwarven population that now lives there.
Some historians believe fragments of Western Dendorian language and custom still survive among the border dwarf clans, as their language has been mixed extensively, and even culture and customs are partially recognized by both Dwarves and Dendorian.