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3rd Movement - Vulfland

Adapted from forum discussions with Josh. Onomastics are original.

Far south of Near, beyond the Southern Sea, beyond the fjords of Jošland, lie the continental steppes of the southern continent. The maritime climate gives way to dry steppe that remains frozen three fourths of the year, and to southern tundra that thaws not at all. Finally, to the extreme south, there come the glaciers that grow and splinter in turn as the weather patterns slowly seek a new equilibrium.

To the Jošlanders this whole frigid desert is known as Vulfland, the land of the Vulfen. The predatory beastkin rule a land unsuited to humanity: even in summer it’s too cold for a man unclothed, and there is little in the way of wood or stone to build from. The Vulfen do not mind, and they make sure that civilization does not creep any farther than it may.

Still, Vulfland does harbor humans: caribou herders and fishers, and pickers of moss and berries that grow up through summer. The Vulfen consider hunting big game their own prerogative, and enforce this law harshly, but they do not care for the bounty of the sea that remains outside their reach.

Impossible Survival

The southern continent is an extensive landmass that has always been inhospitable to habitation according to Maldorian records. The polar shift during the Year of Shadow did little to change this; the continent has moved farther north alongside the rest of Near, but the weakening of the sun has only extended the tundra to areas where once dense boreal forests held sway. Rainfall has increased considerably, however, and now great rivers flow south towards the great depression of the renewed southern glacier, slowly building up into a reservoir that will become a great arctic sea in time.

Human people of Vulfland were there before the Vulfen came, or so they say; they call themselves the people, “Inuk”, despite what others say of them. Outsiders often ignore these natives in favor of the Vulfen packs in their tales, even while they trade with the humans for beautiful bone and thick furs of arctic beasts.

Most of the Inuk live either in small lakeside fishing villages or stay on the move, following the half-wild caribou herds as they track the sun north and south over the year. Some few are hunters and fishers far in the glacier, out of the reach of Vulfen. There is ample trade between these population groups: the herders carry surplus production from village to village on their travels, while exchanging their bounty of bone and skins for pottery, fish, oils and other products of the sedentary villagers. Glacier-walkers trade with yeti and come annually or biannually to villages to gain the few supplies they can’t make on their own. Marriage customs reflect this interdependence: Vulflanders consider a marriage from a village into a herding family or vice versa a particularly conspicuous one, as the new family members make for trustworthy partners in barter.

The humans of Vulfland are submissive towards the Vulfen packs that roam the wastes, moving over considerable distances in search of prey. Most packs disdain the weak humans, perceived as such because of their dependence on a multitude of tools, clothing and foodstuffs scraped from the ground. Through the Shadow Night the numbers of humans plummeted and Vulfen even ate human flesh, but since then the power relationship has been turning around.

Woodcraft on the wastes

Characters coming to the tundra for the first time will probably suffer severe circumstance penalties if they try to survive on the sparse natural plant life and travel long distances. The glacier is even worse: WOODCRAFT (R) does not help out there at all, survival basically depends on expert LOCAL (R) knowledge and careful preparations made in advance.

Spirits of Aether

Vulfen are irreligious, but the Vulfland humans have an intense spiritual relationship with TOTEM animals, powerful dream spirits that watch over the people and regulate their relationship with the natural world; as one story has it, the Vulfen themselves are children of the Wolf totem, sent to punish people for over-exploitation of their environment.

Totems are usually community-specific: herders bring their totem with them as they travel, while villages abandon theirs if they are forced to move to a new place. Sometimes different genders or occupational groups within the same settlement have separate totems. A mystically potent family or even a person might also have a totem of their own: in these cases people usually consider the person to have some blood of the totem animal in them, explaining the close relationship.

Some people, called SHAMANS, specialize in communing with the totems and recognizing their signs. Most shamans are also expert dreamers; the next chapter discusses this facet of their power. The most important duty of a shaman in inuk society concerns negotiating with spirits that visit the community by possessing its members; some spirits have important tasks they need help with, while others just want to have fun and feel the experiences the body has to offer. The shaman sorts these out and makes sure the spirit gets what it wants, and blesses the community in return.

Typical totems include bear, reindeer, seal, walrus, whale, various fish, arctic birds, fox, squirrel, wolverine and other common Vulfland animals. Wolf totems are not unheard of, but they usually denote a settlement under Vulfen control and are not actually active spirits. Communities honor their animal totems through special feasts, dances and ceremonies, vision quests, carved jewelry, fetishes, and totem-poles.

Wendigo

Not all spirits are totemic; some are malicious and not of animal origin, with unnatural desires ravaging them at unexpected moments. Some are animal spirits driven insane by pain and grief. The general name for these malicious spirits is WENDIGO.

The wendigo can possess a person in his sleep, but the more common cause for spirit possession is the breaking of a spirit taboo, the most prominent of which is cannibalism: eating human flesh is cause for spirit possession because the flesh entering the body also possesses part of the spirit, which is then allowed to enter as well. Animal flesh is safe due to totemic pacts made by the ancestors, allowing the animal to give its body willingly while the spirit escapes. Humans do not have a totem, and thus their flesh is poisonous with spirit.

(In case it matters: Vulfen technically do have a totem spirit in Agarim the Wolf Father, but as Agarim does not negotiate with people, there is no pact; thus Vulfen is also a bad meat.)

A being who succumbs to a wendigo finds that he cannot help but think of other beings close to him as his prey. They find themselves become withdrawn, solitary, but also desperate for the taste of the flesh of other sentient creatures. In most cases, an act which was taken for survival’s sake becomes an allconsuming desire; some wendigo survive for a time by gorging themselves on animal prey, but sooner or later, out of desperation or compulsion, they turn to others of their own kind. This delights the evil dream which inhabits its victim, allowing it to interact with the physical world in the most gruesome of ways, savoring the taste of flesh and blood. Some mortals go mad from this possession, and take their own lives rather than face their twisted desires.

Shamans are trained to battle these evil spirits, and can sometimes drive them away from a body. However, a once-wendigo has to be watched closely for the rest of his life, as he is now easy prey to evil spirits, without the normal protections that totemic pacts afford to the inuk.

Actual Play

In my playtesting the Inuk have been a remarkably passive subject people to which things are done and who do nothing in turn. I wonder what’s up with that? Hopefully others will play stories that center on these people who live on the border of the universe.

Specifically, consider the heroic potential of PERSONAL STORIES. I imagine that the Inuk heroes do crazy things for small reasons, like visiting other planets to get some wedding gifts for their sweetheart. They also do small things for small reasons, like stabbing each other to death for promiscuity. This zooming in to small things happens to outsiders as well: life in Vulfland is harsh, and sometimes just fighting for your own happiness is more than enough work.

Ideas

Ideas - Vulfland

The wendigo might or might not come with a personalized spirit. If the spirit is not personal, then it’s up to the player to play the subliminal urges and monstrosity of the character as he wishes.

The wendigo is powerful. If it could be controlled and corralled, perhaps it could even be a match for a pack of Vulfen: a weapon born of desperation.

Meetings between communities are a low-key event for heroic drama, but important for the Inuk, for whom new faces mean new marriage and trade opportunities. Consider enjoying this material at the pace it sets.

Spirit interactions can be interesting, as the smart community goes a long way in satisfying the spirit, whatever it wants. But there is a line at which the spirit becomes a liability; the good shaman knows where it lies.

I am personally convinced that the southern glaciers do not hold just doors into dreaming, but to other worlds. Perhaps the two are one and the same.

Inuk Names

Names - Vulfland

Let’s use Finnic names for the Inuk. The people usually only have one name and perhaps a patronymic, formed with the suffix -nen (male) or -tar (female) out of their parent’s name. A person might also be known by his totem (if he has one) or his village’s totem. “Gull-Jakko”, for instance.

Male

Gusto, Hentto, Eero, Iskko, Junte, Migal, Niba, Niila, Ola, Henri, Ovla, Spenidna, Kola, Vulle, Kari.

Female

Aillun, Bavval, Aira, Diinna, Karen, Mari, Leinna, Henna, Ravna, Riida, Sara, Sikka, Anne, Birre.

Places and Things

Use any of the above names with a suitable suffix: -järv, -jok, -suo, -nava, -kosk, -hank, -ves, -aapa. Use -i- as a connector where necessary.

Cultural Strengths

Cultural Strengths - Vulfland

Typical Ability SPECIALIZATIONS for the Inuk include skiing, trapping, fishing, tanning skins, working bone, protection from cold, submitting to dominant people.

Typical Pool CONDITIONING for the Inuk comes from harsh winters, braving the ocean, weird dreams.

Typical Ability ENHANCEMENTS for the Inuk originate in totem blessings, foreign blood, strange birth, spirit possession.

Typical Ability SYNERGY for the Inuk is hospitality with other social abilities

Typical EQUIPMENT for the Inuk are bone weapons, leather clothing, kayaks, tents, fetishes

Abilities - Vulfland

Hospitality (I)
Hospitality is a necessary skill for people who have to be able to band together regardless of familiarity. The Ability is used to encounter strangers, explain your customs and expectations to them and make sure you both feel richer by the interaction. It is also useful in support of other social abilities
Harpoon (V)
Inuk are not allowed to hunt by the Vulfen, but they’re not prevented from doing it on the glacier and in the water. Use this Ability to fell prey with the Inuk weapons.
Local (Glacier) (R)
Some Vulflanders outright live in the glaciers, hunting and fishing and setting up temporary camps on the coastlines. This Ability reflects their unique survival skills: building structures out of snow and ice, protecting their eyes from the glare of the sun, finding their prey through the long dark winter, avoiding crevasses and so on.
Carving (I)
Inuk have little in the way of material possessions, so practically everything they own is beautifully carved and decorated, from tent poles to shovels. Wood, bone, stone and even ice are used. This Ability is useful in making tools both beautiful and usable.

Secrets - Vulfland

Secret of Many Snows
The character is adept at recognizing and dealing with the dangers of the snow and ice, such as crevasses, avalanches and breaking ice. When he traps another with a LOCAL (GLACIER) (R) check, the target takes an additional Harm equal to the number of ‘ ‘ overflow dice in the check. When trying to avoid these dangers himself, the character gains a bonus die for each such overflow die.
Secret of the Scentless
Some Inuk are born without a natural scent; it is said that this is the fate of those given birth on the glacier under the aurora. Vulfen will usually try to slay such humans, but they (and other scent-dependent creatures) suffer a penalty die for each ‘-’ overflow die in their own check when interacting with the scentless. The scentless in turn suffers an additional penalty die to his ANIMAL KEN (I) due to this weird.
Requirements: be human, be born with it.
Secret of the Wendigo
Characters with the KEY OF THE CANNIBAL URGE or who have otherwise broken a spirit taboo do not pay an Advance for this Secret. The wendigo gains the SECRET OF ADDICTION (HUMAN FLESH, VIGOR) for free. Furthermore, this Secret does not disappear if the character is exorcised; it causes him to suffer penalty dice equal to his currently expended VIGOR to any attempts to resist spirit possession when he is currently not being possessed.
Secret of Scarification
Vulflanders do not write, but their scarmarks are very intricate and may be deciphered with CARVING (I) checks. A character with this Secret can transmit specific messages carved to materials, even flesh. Unlike writing, scar-marks are context-dependent, and the carver can decide who is supposed to be able to interpret the message. The carving check itself can be used as either bonus or penalty dice for anybody trying to decipher the message.
Secret of the Possessor
The character is possessed by a spirit with personality, name, specific motivations and powers. The Story Guide creates the possessor as a dream spirit, like the character was its SIDEKICK, except the spirit may choose which of the character’s Keys is left active, and the character can’t leave. When the possessor wants something, the character has to succeed in a Resist (R) check to not obey.
Secret of Waste-Walker
The character is immune to cold and can see heat signatures in total darkness. Whenever he would take Harm from cold, his body just gets more sunken and wasted.
Requirement: SECRET OF THE WENDIGO
Secret of Dream Exorcism
The character is experienced in dealing with hostile dream spirits, and can use PRAY (V) freely to support his dealings with them, and to exorcise their possession if need be. The target of possession regains any Advances they’ve been forced to spend on spiritual Secrets when the shaman frees him.
Secret of Predator
The character gains natural weapons akin to the SECRET OF VULFEN, except the player gets to pick the ratings freely. The character can also learn SCENT (I) and BESTIALITY (V).
Requirement: SECRET OF THE WENDIGO
Secret of the Swear
The character can use social Abilities to cause penalty dice to his enemies with his terrible language, provided they understand him. However, most other languages are not as facile in cursing as Vulfen, so circumstance penalties are suffered.
Cost: 1 INSTINCT
Secret of Spirit Boon (specify)
Spirit boons are blessings gained by pleasing spirits or mighty totems. They are exactly like witchcraft ARCANA, except they employ cultural Abilities and require the character to embody the totemic Aspect of the spirit animal the blessing comes from.
Requirement: a specific KEY OF THE TOTEM
Secret of Scar-Rune
A powerful scar-mark created by the master carver can affect the recipient in a drastic manner. The rune is an Effect created with CARVING (I); the carver determines the message and who is supposed to be able to read it. Whenever it is deciphered, the rune causes a dice pool equal to its value, used by the player of the carver to help or hinder the task the rune encourages or warns against. Cost: 1 REASON to create the Effect.
Requirements: SECRETS OF SCARIFICATION and SWEAR.

Keys - Vulfland

Key of the Totem (animal)
The character follows and emulates a totem, either because his community does or because the spirit chose him specifically.
1xp: Emulate the totem animal.
3xp: Serve the totem’s goals, general or specific.
Buyoff: Desecrate your totem’s fetish.
Key of the Cannibal Urge
The character has eaten of the flesh of a person and thus opened himself to the wendigo.
1xp: Eat meat.
2xp: Treat others like food.
5xp: You are suspected or accused of being wendigo.
Buyoff: Confess and get purified.
Key of the Shaman
The character is considered wise and able to protect the community from the supernatural.
1xp: Carve runes or fetishes.
2xp: Advice another.
5xp: Defeat or befriend a spirit threatening the community.
Buyoff: Abandon the community.
Key of Marriage
The character would like to get married, which can be far from easy in Vulfland.
1xp: Interact with suitable candidates.
2xp: Prepare marriage gifts.
5xp: Gain the agreement of a person involved, such as everybody’s parents, village elders and shamans, and possibly others.
Buyoff: Succeed, or leave Vulfland.