Welcome back to the World of Astrom blog! Here I’m continuing my Races of Astrom series with a sequence of posts about the different Mortal people groups in Astrom. This follows on from previous posts about the elves, dwarves and armists.
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After the recent introduction to the Mortals in Astrom generally, and after this portrait of the Mortals of Aranar, this is the second in a series of posts looking at each race of Mortals in turn. Still to come are the Mortals of Hendar, Lurallan and Urunmar.
Ciricen was the first elven kingdom established outside of Kalimar, thousands of years ago, deep in the mists of time. Ciricen had a long history of antagonism with the Kalimari homeland before the Great Betrayal, but the coming of mortality estranged the two realms forever. At the beginning of the Third Chapter, when the elves of Ciricen were still coming to terms with their newly mortal nature, they were invaded and occupied by the armies of the vengeful High King. Yet the occupation did not last long, for once the ringleaders of the Great Betrayal, those leaders most hostile to the elves, had been dealt with, the forces of Kalimar withdrew. In their wake, Ciricen swiftly grew into a strong and confident mortal kingdom.
More united than either Hendar or Aranar at this stage, Ciricen enjoyed early success and was able to project its power across Dorzand and down into Aranar, but the era of its expansion was curtailed when black-sailed raiders began appearing off its eastern shores some centuries later. Withdrawing its strength from foreign lands, Ciricen had to become a maritime power, waging a long struggle against the pirates and raiders who swept down from Urunmar in the north. Scarcely was this effort concluded before Ciricen was drawn into the first great war against Kurundar, the renegade sorcerer who was the driving force behind the seaborne raiders, and all other evil in Astrom. This war united the Free Peoples of the south and ushered in a centuries-long period of friendship and cooperation between Ciricen and its neighbours.
But nothing lasts forever, and this peace was shattered by the quarrels between nations and the rise of the Dragon Princes in Ciricen. These warring siblings and their terrible fiery steeds tore Ciricen apart between them, destroying forever its old strength and unity. The nation that limped out from the shadow of those wars was a husk of its former self, and the most lasting legacy was one of bitter estrangement between two rival clans, the Lordai of the south and the Sordai of the north. These races fought over Ciricen for centuries, doomed to a never-ending series of civil wars until matters were decided by outside intervention. Aided by orcs from Dorzand in the south and Northmen fleets from Urunmar, the Sordai won a hollow victory. Ciricen was plunged into a nightmare dark age, centuries of oppression during which time its men and women were enslaved and terrorised by the minions and monsters of Kurundar.
Some escaped, with Lordai refugees finding sanctuary in Kalimar or in the Silver Empire. From these communities in exile came the long-awaited liberation of Ciricen. As the Second War of Kurundar was entering its savage final years, the Lordai launched the reconquest (Ciriašca) of their homeland. Through years of blood and toil they succeeded in restoring a free kingdom, but the Sordai were not exterminated, merely driven underground with their fell allies. In the late fourth century of the Fourth Chapter, the Sordai menace returned, even as Kurundar rose again in Urunmar. The battle-lines for Ciricen are being drawn, yet again.
The regions of Ciricen
Ciricen has ten main regions. Natiliri in the centre is its heartland and richest province, home to the royal capital of Rohandur and the king’s own estates. To the west are Veesmar, Turundamir and Sordaron, all facing Hendar across the Firth of Ciricen. Veesmar is dominated by a necklace of powerful merchant ports which thrive on trade with Hendar, but Turundamir’s own cities never recovered from the devastation of the Dragon Princes, and became a wild, sparsely populated region. Sordaron in the northwest is a wild and mountainous land, its coasts terribly exposed to raiders from Urunmar (the same is true of the Northern Plains, which occupies the central coastline of northern Ciricen). Ark is the north-eastern region, bleak and mountainous, the ancestral stronghold of the Sordai and home to their most forbidding fortresses. To the south of Ark are Arothir and Centaur along the eastern seaboard. These regions grew wealthy on trade with Maristonia and Lurallan, but they are also highly cultured, preserving a memory of elven heritage and influenced by the proximity of Kalimar. Between Arothir, Ark and Natiliri is the landlocked region of Thadelir. It is remote and wild, surrounded on all sides by mountains, but its strategic passes between east and west are perennially fought over. Finally, in the far south, Gilothiel is mountainous and heavily forested; it guards the high Dorzand Pass, a narrow rocky isthmus that connects Ciricen with the rest of Astrom.
Ciricen is the story of two races, the Lordai and Sordai, so what follows is a description of these two peoples who are forever locked in a blood-war.
The Lordai
What can we say of the Lordai? What follows is mainly a description of them in the Fourth Chapter, but the roots of this culture lie far back in the tragic events of the Third Chapter, which shaped Ciricen into what it was at the time of the Quest of Oron Amular. The Lordai are a warrior tribal culture, with each earl being a warlord in his own lands and commanding household warriors sworn to fight for him by binding oaths. The restored monarchy relies on the willing loyalty of these earls, and so is much weaker than the old feudal kingdom. The kings of Ciricen in the fourth century are merely a glorified first among equals.
The Lordai have a reputation for dourness, slow to smile and jest, quick to take up arms and fierce in loyalty to their lord. They are tough, resourceful and proud. They do not have the sophisticated trappings of culture you might find in Hendar or Maristonia, but they do cherish traditions of bardic poets and ritual feasting. For the most part they live in fortified dwellings, everything from walled cities to strong holdfasts and palisaded villages surrounded by earthen ramps and ditches. The Lordai dress in fur and thick cloaks, for they must endure harsh northern winters, and even their summers are cool and moist as a rule. The wool of their sheep is renowned as the best in Astrom. Most of the homespun wool is drab and functional, but a lot is exported overseas where it is fulled and finished as high quality cloth in Hendar and Maristonia. The Lordai who are not warriors are mainly either farmers, shepherds or fishermen
The Sordai
The Sordai are despised by the Lordai as murderous barbarians, though in truth they have their own culture, a highly militaristic but also artistic one. They are great metalworkers and sculptors. Their fortresses are strong, their mines are productive, and their greatest halls are below ground, not above it. They are cruel and brutal, and live by an unforgiving traditional code of honour-killings and vendetta-based justice.
Over time the Sordai branched out into several different groups or ‘hordes’, all of which are tribal and follow their leaders purely for their strength. The Crimson Horde are the strongest tribe, controlling the baleful city of Arcost and fighting bare-chested and daubed in red dye. The Arithi Horde are great horsemen and raiders whose legs are bandied by a lifetime in the saddle and whose heads are ritually deformed from birth with tapered bindings. The Ashen and Sable Hordes control the northern mountains and live under the shadow of Kurundar’s domination. The Granite Horde are stocky mountain-dwellers living further south, a grim and reclusive people, while the Bronze Horde are even harder to find, living underground for the most part. They favour bronze weapons, armour and ornaments, and have been heavily influenced by the old dwarven cultures beneath Ciricen’s mountains.
The Sordai keep slaves to work the land in support of a ruling warrior-class. Those who are not warriors and cannot enrich themselves through raiding are despised and downtrodden. The Sordai dress in garish colours, often dying their skin or painting their faces for battle, and scorn any hint of effete southern comforts or manners.
The Lordai are followers of Prélan, taught and encouraged by networks of priests who were trained in Kalimar during the years of exile and who have passed on beliefs faithful to the old elven orthodoxy. Some Lordai are fervent believers and pursue conflict with the Sordai as a holy war, whereas others are more secular-minded. The Sordai, by contrast, are pagan, having abandoned the old elven beliefs and traditions millennia ago. Their religious practices are syncretistic and highly varied, ranging from animal-worshipping shamanistic sects to the more sinister worship of demons and fanatical death-cults introduced by the malign influence of Kurundar and his agents.
The Lordai are hardy warriors, both as mounted patrols and as foot soldiers in the shield-wall. They are wily and tenacious in defence of their border fortresses, but do not excel in open battle. The Sordai have different fighting styles according to their Hordes, mostly ill-disciplined mobs of infantry, but some are terrifyingly effective as horse archers. The Granite Horde provides first-rate skirmishers and members of the Bronze Horde serve as sappers in siege warfare. In a trend common to all the Hordes, the senior warriors are well-armed and armoured, but their greatest champions scorn armour and go bare-chested into battle, drug-crazed, full of bloodlust and thirsty for glory in single combat.
So, as you can see, Ciricen is a land of stark contrasts and deep divisions. Its history is tragic, its traditions noble and its society scarred by and geared around war. It is a poorer kingdom than most of its neighbours. The Mortals of Ciricen hate the overbearing Hendarians, mistrust the aloof elves and ignore the Mortals of Aranar, with whom they have few ties nowadays. They are friendliest with the distant armists, who often aided them in the past. The men of Hendar look down on the Lordai as impoverished and uncultivated. They are the lesser trading partner, and of small value as allies, but they do respect their valour.
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