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3rd Movement - Goren

The lands of Near are akin to a tilted plane running from the Roof of the World to the Eastern Sea. The highlands west of Maldor have always been a source of metals and men for the Empire. It never was easy, for the hills are not deserted: the Gorenite clans have resisted the western lords for as long as they can remember.

Today the hill folk are a taciturn and confident bunch; the Empire has finally receded like a wave from the beach, leaving the forts and guild-towns of Goren behind. A renewed sense of purpose runs through a populace gripped by faith, inspiring them to greatness.

The people of Goren after the Darkness are split in two by a cultural revolution: the Gorenite highlands have gone through a bloody war with inhuman trolls, resulting in the Sky God religion gaining an unprecedented influence among the disordered Gorenites. Meanwhile the Jošland Gorenites in the lands beyond the sea remain united to their old ways of life and worship of the Goddess and her multiple husbands.

Blooded in Honor

The society of Goren is focused on clan holds, fortresses built on sparse hilltops before the Year of Darkness. A Gorenite CLAN consists of the people loyal to the clan chief holding the fort, often of people descended from the survivors of Darkness who sheltered in that particular fort. No land ownership is implied; land is only owned insofar as a family has an ancestral, established right to its use, a right that lapses when the family abandons the farming, grazing, fishing, mining or other occupation they have on the land. Because clan membership is often hereditary while people are transient, it is not uncommon to have members of different clans live as neighbors all mixed together in the more fertile (and troubled) areas.

As the movement of people makes all the more successful clans increasingly fragmented, the nature of the clans starts to resemble that of farming cooperatives or outright gangs: the common form of justice in Goren is to ask for your clansmen to aid you in extracting whatever refurbishment is possible when somebody has wronged you. Stories tell of the time of the JARLS who united the land against the Empire in the past and ruled with justice, but those days are long gone.

When somebody is a member of a clan, it is said that he is BLOODED to that clan. In Goren, you can only have justice if you are blooded, or have a blooded clansman speak for yourself: STRANGERS have no credibility to their demands, unless they come armed and ready to fight like the Maldorites did. In towns this makes for an increasingly large underclass of people forced to desperate poverty; the more urbanized clansmen realize the advantage they have, and are resistant to change. In towns three fourths of the population might be “strangers”; in the hill country, only one in five or ten.

In olden times newcomers were eased into the clans through the institution of THRALLHOOD, a sort of contract slavery that could end in initiation; the children of thralls would in any case be free clansmen without exception. Thrallhood could come about as an alternative to killing an enemy in combat or because an unblooded Gorenite had no other choice but to submit himself as thrall to another. Today the Sky God Faith forbids keeping thralls, however, which means that admittance to clans is all but impossible for those with no desirable skills or considerable wealth.

Divided by Waves

In the pre-Skyfire era Gorenites were accomplished sailors and explorers who colonized much of the long coastline of the southern continent. It is unknown how long ago all this happened, but the Gorenite people on both coasts of the Southern Sea share modes of speech and dress, as well as means of living.

The close connection between “Old Goren” and the colonies was severed by the Year of Shadow, and has been slow in being re-established. Some clans on both continents share mottos and insignia, but there are no chiefs wielding influence in both lands. The south continent Goren often refer to their land simply as “Goren” just like the northerners do, but the land has a separate name as well: the first colonists called it JOŠLAND.

The environment and conditions of life are in many ways similar in Goren and Jošland: herding and farming are important to both, while Jošlanders are also accomplished fishermen. Trade is much more important for Old Goren, which produces much of the metals consumed by all of Near. Jošlanders trade as well, but they have a fierce reputation as pirates among the northern peoples. An Ammeni trader who didn’t stay to experience the savage skirmishes in Maldorian border marches would consider the Gorenites almost civilized in comparison.

However, what really separates Jošland from Goren is how they experienced the Year of Shadow: while Jošland was sustained by its belief in the Goddess through the dark, and sustained its witchfolk in turn, Old Goren was decimated by trolls, underground-dwelling goblins that conquered the highlands during the darkness. The fate of Goren was changed when the cenobitic actions of the Sky God religion brought a new destiny to the people.

The religious schism is not a large issue for common Gorenites on either side of the Ocean, especially as the two have been long separated, but as contact increases, the issue grows like a boil in between them. Witches from the old country have fled to Jošland, speaking of persecution; highlands saints of the Sky God faith have been attacked when they’ve traveled overseas.

Under the Earth

Old Goren is not a land of humans only: when the Year of Shadow receded and clans started out of their fortresses, the TROLLS were already there: goblins adapted to darkness, living in old mines from the times of the Empire, proliferated through the Shadow, laying claim to much of the lands people had felt their own.

Goblins had always been rare in aboveground Goren, mostly stories of changelings and humaneating. The trolls were predatory and strong-willed, unwilling to relinquish their herds and heaths to humans hungry for land. Although solitary creatures, the trolls were strong; humans long secluded into their fortresses were weak.

Stories of the troll age tell of great troll chiefs and their goblin courts. While clansmen are unwilling to discuss their ancient enemy in a neutral manner, many unblooded families of today descend from collaborators that worked with goblins through the early years and accepted their Trollish rulers.

Understandably goblins have a pretty bad reputation in Goren, considering the long struggle the clans underwent to reclaim their lands. Often a lone troll would keep an entire valley in terror for a generation before moving out or being slain by COISTRELS, professional troll slayers.

Today trolls are a receding phenomenon in the central parts of Goren. Skyclad trolls can still be encountered in the farther reaches, but most old trolls and the remains of their courts have withdrawn back below the earth, where they belong as far as coistrels are concerned.

Actual Play

Goren reflects my personal artistic vision a lot more than most of this book does. Specifically, the idea of Abrahamic religion and its relationship to the world at large and Nordic society in the specific, in both good and ill – I wanted to give it a proper treatment. It was a fortuitous coincidence that Josh’s vision of witchcraft fit well into my own plans.

I’ve played through many, many sessions of thinly veiled critiques of religion in my time, complete with inhuman inquisitors and fanatic mobs; it’s possible that you’ll get that sort of thing with this material, too, and it’s not the end of the world if you do. The way I’ve come to see it, the attitude Finnish roleplaying takes towards religion reflects rather directly on the fact that our whole society is working to secularize itself and find some reasonable balance in regard to the ideas of Lutheranism. It’s just something we need to play through to arrive at something new.

My immediate play with the Gorenite material has been more understanding and less black and white. The Story Guide is very much responsible for pushing against the preconceptions other players bring to the table: if a character concept is most comfortable with evil witches and faultless chaplains, play against that; if the player presumes that the witch hunts are brutal and unnecessary, perhaps there even aren’t any; whatever the characters think of the trolls, it just might happen that the specific individuals they encounter are completely contrary to those expectations, in good or bad.

Ideas

Ideas - Goren

Sky God Religion brings to the table two completely different character concepts: the Highland Saints are impossibly good people with impossibly high expectations, while the deacons of the fledgling church are responsible for actual people and their lives.

Witches of Goren can be wise or wicked, and their faith condones both as long as they come in harmonious forms. Witchcraft liberates women, but only by forcing them to express themselves through the feminine, not by freeing them as people.

Urbanization of Goren is ultimately going to be the future. What does this mean to the clans? Is religion going to rule the society in their stead?

Gorenite Names

Names - Goren

Gorenite names are Germanic, of course. First names in Goren are usually formed of two parts from separate lists. They used to carry a meaning and reflect the hopes of the parents, and often still do in Jošland. A second name is patronymic, although in towns they’ve started to develop into actual surnames.

Name beginning

Bryht, frit, grim, gund, her, hild, maer, ric, sig, wulf, wyn, elf, adel, blith, ceol, coen, cuth, cwic, ead, eald, earn, ecg, fri, gold, holm, heath, heah, hlud, hreth, hroth, hyg, iaru, ing, leof, liut, os, od, rath, seax, wig, theod.

Name ending

Bryht, frit, grim, gund, her, hild, maer, ric, sig, wulf, wyn, bald, beorn, beorg, brand, by, ferth, flaed, gard, gar, gifu, gyth, helm, heit, hun, lid, laf, mund, noth, raed, stan, swinth, trud, walh, weald, weard, wine.

Names for things and places can well be combined from these as well. I’ve been on a binge of making meaningful names like “Hildearn”, ‘war eagle’ with various dictionaries (and Wikipedia), but don’t let that trip you.

Cultural Strengths

Cultural Strengths - Goren

Typical Ability SPECIALIZATIONS for Gorenites involve sheepherding, knowing the hills, building of stone and wood, digging the earth, working a specific metal, cursing, intimidation, different vices and virtues, sermonizing, quoting the Book of Light, fighting trolls, recognizing goblins, suppressing women, elevating women.

Typical Pool CONDITIONING for Gorenites originates in mine work, hermitage, mortification of the flesh, integrating virtues.

Typical Ability ENHANCEMENTS for Gorenites come from Sky God blessings, Goddess blessings, trollish trickery, foreign magic.

Typical Ability SYNERGIES for Gorenites are virtues and aspects to practical abilities and craft abilities to each other.

Typical Ability RETRAINING for Gorenites involve esoteric religious practices and expanding craft abilities.

Typical EQUIPMENT for Gorenites is metal, the finest weapons and armor in Near. Also staffs, religious symbols, Book of Light, troll fetishes, Goddess fetishes, dwarven tools.

Abilities - Goren

Skirmishing (V)
All Gorenite men are to some degree fighters, but the best are usually fighting carls in direct service to their chief, or members of a town guild that hires out to those who need protection. In either case the carls are expected to be ready for immediate bloodshed at a moment’s notice, and be quick to charge and retreat in serious combat, following their leader’s cue. Carls fight with swords and axes, or spears when defending a position.
Mining (V)
Most of Near’s metals come from Old Goren, either sold by clans or taken by force when Lords of Maldor come calling. Nowadays Gorenites despise mining work for religious reasons, preferring to leave it to the unblooded. Having goblins infest the mines does not help, either. The Ability itself is useful not only for mining, but also for understanding and utilizing mine architecture in moving in mines, or even siege warfare.
Smithing (V)
Gorenite smiths are the best in the world due to the mineral wealth of the land. The Ability can be used to work all metals, making and repairing various tools. Either this or MINING (V) can be used to smelt ores into usable form.
Troll-lore (R)
Most Gorenites have seen a goblin, or at least know someone who has. Few really know them, but some have made it their business to know and be prepared for them. This Ability is useful in figuring out a goblin’s adaptations and addictions, its likely mindset and habits. It’s psychic profiling for creatures Gorenites fear and hate.

Secrets - Goren

Secret of Vice-Troll
A goblin who revels in his moral turpitude might in Goren become a vice-troll, a softspoken creature that is able to entice others to share his vices with CHARM (I). Those who fail to resist purchase the KEY OF VICE appropriate to the troll.
Cost: 2 INSTINCT
Requirement: be a goblin
Secret of Filth-Troll
A goblin who lives in the soil drainages of the closely built, unhygienic Gorenite towns might become a filth-troll, a creature that mends its scaly hide and survives almost everything. He may use his ADAPTATION (V) to heal his own Harm.
Cost: 2 INSTINCT
Secret of Berserking
A berserk fighter fights without care for his own safety. Gorenite carls know how to encourage this mental state. A berserk warrior feels no pain, and thus treats all of his Harm as one class less serious insofar as penalties go. Berserking characters can use only SKIRMISHING (V), BRAWLING (V) and similar Abilities, and can’t spend Pools other than Vigor. Ending the state suddenly requires a RESIST (R) check.
Cost: 1 VIGOR
Secret of Troll-slaying
Gorenite coistrels have studied goblin anatomy and may cause them grievous injuries. When the character causes Harm to a goblin, that Harm is AGGRAVATED, marked accordingly on the Harm track. Such Harm does not shake down and cannot be healed naturally. Additionally, the goblin suffers penalty dice equal to the highest aggravated level of Harm to any use of his ADAPTATION (V) Ability until healed.
Cost: 2 VIGOR
Secret of the Forge
When the character is working on equipment at least partially SMITHED (V), he can choose to create the work (and pay the Pool costs for it) in several phases; each phase has to end with an Ability check made into an Effect; failure ruins the work so far. Additionally, the character can imbue any number of Secrets into the equipment he creates, not limited by quality.
Cost: 1 extra Vigor for imbuements over quality.
Requirement: ability to imbue equipment.
Secret of the Skald
Gorenite music is heavily based on poetry; the instruments and singing tend to be simple. A character with this Secret can learn and create LAYS, long poetic Effects that can be preserved for later and duplicated by teaching the lay to another. A skald performing a lay can either take bonus dice equal to the Effect (not expending it), or swap his Ability check result with the Effect value, depending on whether he wants to rest on the virtues of the original text as he remembers it or strive to impress with his account and improvised additions.
Cost: 1 INSTINCT to invoke, 1 REASON to swap.

Keys - Goren

Key of Vice (specify)
The character embraces a weakness of character as moral virtue, believing that it is of no consequence or even beneficial, contrary to societal expectations. Define the weakness.
1xp: The character indulges the vice.
3xp: Suffering is caused by the ways of the character.
Buyoff: Renounce the vice.
Key of Divided Kin
The character has moved over the Southern Sea and has to deal with the similar, but not quite the same people of the new land.
1xp: Small things are different.
2xp: Society is different, such as existence of guild-towns, or keeping thralls.
5xp: Fight over a religious disagreement.
Buyoff: Return home.
Key of Blood
The character believes in justice for his kin and the old values of fealty and honor.
1xp: Defend your kin.
2xp: Fight for your clan.
5xp: Choose to side with your clan instead of justice.
Buyoff: Work against your clan.
Key of Thrall
The character has become a thrall to a Gorenite clan. He is obligated to work for minimal reward and cannot quit, but he has personal liberty, and his children will be free clansmen.
1xp: Serve the clan.
2xp: Get rewarded for your work.
5xp: Get abused by your master.
Buyoff: Become free.
Key of Craft
The character is a great craftsman, passionate about his art.
1xp: Work on your craft.
3xp: Create something great.
Buyoff: Break your tools.
Key of the Coistrel
Coistrels are professional troll-hunters, often associated with the Sky God Religion.
1xp: Goblins come up in the scene.
2xp: Encounter goblins.
5xp: Fight with goblins.
Buyoff: Befriend a goblin.