The Jagged Forest

The Jagged Forest is a frozen northern forest in the far north of the continent of Ambar. It is characterized by its two most prominent features; the stoney jagged rocks which make up much of the ground in the region and the massive Tla trees which make up the backbone of the region's ecology.

Because the region is at such a high latitude, the region is also punctuated by the seasonal cycle of extended night and extended day cycles based on the time of year. The three month long night is referred to by the residents as The Dreaming Days while the three month long stretch of daylight is referred to as The Bloom.

The Tla Tree
The Tla tree makes up the base of the Jagged Forest's ecology. The sap is a bright orange and has useful anti-frost abilities. The trees are many and can grow to up to 300 feet in height. The trees form thick canopies designed to collect falling snow and slowly liquefy it with their sap and then absorb the water as it falls in the winter, giving the forest floor a feeling of freezing, orange-ish rain. Their fruit, which grow at the very top, are delicacies. Of more importance, the roots of the Tla tree are a staple food for most tribes. The frozen soil is difficult to excavate so harvesting the roots can take on the appearance of an open pit mining operation. The sap of the tree has important alchemical properties and can be refined into a drink or paste that provides some protection from the cold.

Fungus
The Bloom results in a massive growth of fungus, some edible some not. Almost all fungus goes dormant during the Dreaming Days, sitting beneath the slush as spores waiting for spring. What little fungus that is still active is usually quite dangerous, and fungus hunts are carried out by most tribes during the leaner months.

Chrell
Chrells are large, termite-like bugs that dig through the permafrost layer and eat the tube root. The colony has many subspecies and is controlled by a queen. Digging into a nest is one of the greatest fears of any Tla-miner. While the queen is capable of speech, she rarely has occasion to speak with outsiders. Negotiating with Chrell is considered to be impossible as they seem to have no regard for, perhaps even no understanding of, other races. Chrells are responsible for the network of tunnels dug into the permafrost that is generally referred to as the Frozendark. Most chrell abandon their hive after a few years to prevent overharvesting the Tla roots, and so the complex of tunnels and chambers carved into the frozen earth is impressive in scope.

Birds of Summer
Birds of Summer - A general term referring to the flocks of migratory birds that roost in the Jagged Woods during The Bloom.

Frozen Souls
The Frozen Souls and undead that haunt the forest floor. Most carry Shivering Death–a deadly disease (Con/Dex damage, tremors, rise as undead based on HD)

Spiders
Spiders of a disturbing variety of sizes and types. Most are frost resistant. Giant Spider eggs are a delicacy amongst some tribesmen.

Giant Sloths
Giant Sloths have massive claws, though they are herbivorous. In the Dreaming Days the Sloths carve out a burrow in a tree and hibernate. It is at this time they are generally hunted.

The Tlalan Tribes
These tribes live off the land and range from nomadic to semi-nomadic. During the Dreaming Days these tribes put their young and infirm into hibernation (using the spell).

Maloon
The Maloon tribe (Maloonen) is probably the best known tribe outside the Jagged Forest. This tribe is well connected and occasionally traverses the White Wastes to trade, though more often a Everriver Valley caravan will cross north to trade with them for furs and Tla fruits. In truth the tribe was dieing, being pushed farther and farther south, until a council of elders decided to traverse the White Waste to trade furs for metal weapons. The tribe’s power has since grown, but it has few friends and many enemies. The tribe is ruled by a council of elders, almost all of whom are members of the powerful Church-Guild of Fharlanghn.

Tribal Bonus: Tundra Diplomat +1 bluff and diplomacy. Once per day, when you fail a diplomacy check, make an intimidate check against the target. If successful, reroll your diplomacy check. Traditions: Kinship, Hunter, Trader

TL;DR - Icy silk road traders.

Pourmen
This tribe is adept at portages between lakes and streams during The Bloom. In the Dreaming Days these tribesmen mine the lakes for hibernating, semi-frozen Frostfish. Tribes are usually ruled by a priest of Geshtai, though powerful rangers or druids occasionally rise to prominence. Geshtai is a neutral god of lakes and rivers, and his followers seek to live a tranquil life that drifts inexorably into death. These Priest-Chiefs are renowned for their skill at potion crafting, and virtually all warriors of the tribe carry potions into battle. Perhaps as a consequence, The Pourmen often come off as boring and slightly detached. In battle a Pourmen strives to face death with calm. A warrior who slides peacefully into their own demise is the Pourmen ideal. Pourmen are extremely well traveled and can be found almost anywhere in the Jagged Forest. This tribe is generally looked down upon, both because fish are seen as a poor food and because the tribe’s nomadic habits often breed animosity with their new neighbors.

Tribal Bonus: Potion Mastery - Once per day, either extend a potion when drinking it as a

free action, OR draw and drink a potion as a free action.

Traditions: Trader, Sailor, Shield Acolyte, Hunter, Tracker.

TL;DR - Wandering river hippies.

Wassermann
This tribe lives around Die Grosswasserloch. During The Bloom this tribe spreads out from the shores. During the Dreaming Days they withdraw to the islands of Lake Grosswasserloch, and each of the Tribe’s camps takes its name from the isle on which it winters. Each camp is lead by an elder druid who oversees the day to day activity of the tribe. Wassermann are very orderly and hierarchical, and each member of the tribe has a specific rank and set of duties that are apparent to others via a complex system of facial tattoos and paint. The tribe works together very well, and intermarriage between the camps is traditional, and almost all marriages are arranged by the groom’s parents and the bride’s camp’s chief. These transactions often center around which camp the couple will live in, with each side effectively “bidding” on the betrothed.

Tribal Bonus:  Battle Trance - Gain +2 on will saves while in combat (which is to say, not

flat footed). You never critically fumble an attack.

Traditions: Sailor, Shield Acolyte, Hunter, Voice of the Trees.

TL;DR - If everyone has a face-tattoo it doesnt hurt your job prospects!

Axefolk
This loose camps of warrior-hunters are known for their far-reaching raids and their practice of chopping down trees to make houses, eat the fruit, and promote fungal growth. They are a far-ranging folk during the bloom, but on the last days of summer they chop down a mighty tree, fire harden it, and make a home for the winter. The next spring they promote the growth of fungus on the rotting log to provide food for their wakening tribe before moving on. The harrowing song of their Skald-Chiefs are often the last thing an unsuspecting village ever hears. Axefolk tend to concentrate around the Cracked Hills region.

Tribal Bonus: Hit and Run - Axefolk may attack at the beginning of a charge instead of

the end of it. The bonuses and penalties for charging are not applied to this attack or attacks of opportunity that are received during the charge.

Traditions: Martial, Skald, Battle Yodeler, Battlerager

TL;DR - Terrifying trilling tree topplers.

Snow Hadozee
These Hadozee thrive in the canopies of the Jagged Forest. Their fur counts as cold weather gear. These tribes solve disputes through treetop wrestling matches, and tribal leaders are always physically intimidating specimen. In these matches the challenged choses the height of the match (30ft-300ft is the general canopy level). The Snow Hadozee have very limited tribal unity, and inter-camp warfare is common. Powerful leaders often prefer to subsume other tribes, rather than allying with them. Only the greatest leaders can keep multiple, equally powerful tribes working together. The Snow Hadozee worship Auril, a god of cold, evil, and wrath, and her deadly battle-clerics are often the only Hadozee capable of getting more than one camp working together. These tribes are known to ambush travelers by dropping from above and prefer sudden, decisive ambushes to straight up fights. Often one does not know they are in the territory of a Hadozee camp until the moment of their death. Snow Hadozee seem to be most commonly found in The Slogg.

Tribal Bonus: Death From Above - Can charge as part of falling/gliding on an opponent.

Roll to hit twice. If one

hits, resolve the attack as normal. If both hit, 25% bonus damage and the opponent must

make a ref save (DC=dmg) or fall prone.

Traditions: Battlerager, Barkclimber, Stalker, Hunter, Blood Acolyte.

TL;DR - Lethal monkey Wrestlemania

Kearen Glade
Mysterious, xenophobic, deadly. This tribe of elves haunts The Lost Coast region and are a big part of way captains running the Northern Passage dare not send foraging parties ashore. The elves have little time for talk, and are absolutely merciless towards outsiders trespassing in their territory. Worse, no one is quite sure what lands the Kaeren Glade claim. The tribe is understood to reveal a pantheon of animalistic deities, though often individual elves seam to have dedicated themselves to a specific god. Away for The Lost Cost these elves can sometimes be found traveling alone or in small groups. In this setting they are very insular, saying few words and generally exuding contempt. Kearen Glade camps are generally made up of only one race of elves. Perhaps partially as a consequence, the tribe is very poor at working together with each tribe generally pursuing its own nebulous goals.

Tribal Bonus: Untouched Arrogance - As long as you are not injured in any way, gain a +1 Bonus on attack rolls and saving throws.

Traditions: Tactician, Fanatic, Stalker, Voice of Hunger, Herbalist.

TL;DR - Elves who took Buzzfeed’s “What is your spirit animal quiz!” too seriously.

Burrowfolk
The Burrowfolk tribe frequents the Cracked Hills region, though they forage widely during The Bloom. The tribe is mostly made up of halflings, though dwarves do live in some camps. During the Dreaming Days this tribe retreats into small caves worked into the side of one of the many fissures of the Cracked Hills. These burrows are expertly disguised with only a handful of breathing tubes visible on the surface. The Burrowfolk are a very defensive people, with much of the tribes collective energy going to fortifying their subterranean homes. Each burrow is an independent town ruled over by an elected mayor who serves a lifetime term (though bad mayors can be put to death for failing the community (a circumstance made worse by the significant limits to the mayor's power). In fact, Burrowfolk are very liberal with the death penalty when it comes to each other, averaging a couple executions a year; crimes from stealing to falling asleep on watch duty have been punished in this way. This is in no small part do to the deity of the tribe Hairellin, the chaotic neutral god of community, retribution, craft, and passion. He advocates direct democracy and encourages mob rule at the slightest hint of tyranny. Victims of retributive lynching are given over to Hairlellin as a kind of sacrifice for which he bestows his favor. Burrowfolk are known for being capricious hosts. Guests can stay in a burrow for the right price, but the mercurial Burrow Folk can be dangerous to deal with for long periods of time. After all, eventually someone has to be lynched, and the good folk of the Burrow prefer outsiders to their own.

Tribal Bonus: Indomitable Vengeance - you gain +2 to will saves. Whenever a creature

targets you with a will save and you succeed the save, gain +2 on attack and damage rolls

when targeting that creature.

Traditions: Kinship, Stalker, Hearth Acolyte, Battlerager

TL;DR - The Purge except 24/7 and with midgets.

The Peurstan Order
While not a tribe in a strict sense, this order of monks and priests of Shankhil operate in many of the same ways. The Peurstan Order is not indigenous to the region, having made a long journey from the now-dead continent of Galora. The order settled in the Jagged Forest because they found its climate suitably harsh. The order is very ascetic, teaching that death takes all in time and that comforts and luxuries seek only to distract one from the coming moment of demise. The Peurstan Order is obsessed with the moment of death, believing that it is at that moment only that enlightenment can be achieved. They spend their lives meditating on the moment of their death in preparation for it. To die well is the goal of any member of the order. The Peurstan Order is a highly dispersed organization with small monasteries established across the forest. Often these monasteries are little more than campsites with meditation chambers. They are, however, important parts of the local scenery because other tribes consider them to be neutral ground where trade, meetings, and negotiations can take place. The order can also be paid to guarantee the terms of a contract. Violators of such a contract are hunted mercilessly. For the right price (rarely in gold), the Peurstan Order can be contracted to kill or capture a target. Monks of this order very commonly take the decisive strike ACF. The members of the order themselves are a cosmopolitan lot, with many races amongst them. The monasteries are very hierarchical, with at least a dozen ranks serving under a Deathmaster, who has unlimited authority.

Tribal Bonus: Premeditation - A member of the Peurstan Order may chose to study a

target for a round. If they do, they gain sneak attack damage on their next attack against

the target as long as it is made in the next 5 rounds. This ability does not stack with sneak attack dice from other classes for the purpose of qualifying for feats/PRC’s etc.. a round spent studying a target for this ability counts towards other similar abilities such as the assassin’s death attack.

Traditions: Tactician, Stalker, Blood Acolyte, Fanatic

TL;DR - Like the Faceless men, except for the faces.

The Sheilve Clans
Beneath the soil of the Jagged Forest where the soil never thaws are a system of tunnels known as the Frozendark. Into these tunnels were driven the dwarves of the Sheilve Clans after their kingdoms under the mountains were overrun about 50 years ago by the Crusade of Spiders (drow). The dwarves still smolder with rage over this, and have added the name “Sheilve” to their clans, which means “coward” in dwarven. The dwarves are highly diverse, hailing from many different kingdoms and holds swallowed by the servants of Lolth, and more refugees trickle in every year. While a dwarven clan is traditionally a large, disperse group of extended family, the realities of The Shielve Clans’ new lives have reduced their clans to something that in numbers and function is very similar to a camp in the other tribes. The clans have little political or religious unity, and some clans greatly distrust each other, occasionally violently. The only thing that holds them together is the vague hope that they can one day participate in the recapturing of their homeland, a hope that grows fainter every day.

Tribal Bonus: Spiteful Strike - if a member of the Sheilve Clans attacks an opponent who

dealt them damage in combat during this encounter, they gain +1 on the attack roll and +2

on the damage roll. Additionally, members of the Sheilve Clans add drow to the creatures

affected by their Hatred racial trait.

Traditions: Any but Hunter, Fist of the Forest, Voice of the Trees, Voice of Hunger, or

Barkclimber.

TL;DR - Homesick Dwarves with added arachnophobia.

Northmen
These hardy folk live upon the Skraeling Isles and the eastern part of the Lost Coast. During The Bloom they are adept seamen and fishermen, while in the Dreaming Days they ride across the Sea of Moving Ice on their dogsleds. While the camps of the Northmen are similar to those of other tribes, the Northmen organize themselves into broader factions called lodges. These lodges are made up of likeminded warriors and other such Awakened (a title given to those who are not put into hibernation during the Dreaming Days). The lodges vie for the allegiance of different camps, sometimes with bribes, sometimes with competitions of strength or displays of power, and sometimes through open warfare. Religiously, the Northmen are animists, worshiping the spirits of islands, the ocean, mountains, and forests. A surprising number of sorcerers are born amongst the Northem, and the people of the far north are often viewed as strange and recondite as a result.

Tribal Bonus: Natural Savagery - When a Northman causes an opponent to roll for an

injury for any reason, the opponent rolls twice and the Northman choses the result he

prefers. NOTE: some lodges of the north may grant a different tribal bonus, at the DM’s

discretion.

Traditions: Any, based on which lodge the character is a member of.

TL;DR - Obligatory Vikings

Independent Camps
Independant camps dot the Jagged forest region. Through cultural differences or simply by choice these camps do not properly belong in any tribe. Effectively, this is an opportunity for a player to create a tribe for their character. Just run it past me please.

Tribal Bonus: Snowflakes - come up with a tribal bonus that fits your tribe. (DM approval)

Traditions: any, as long as it fits you tribe.

TL;DR - We’re not as creative as we’d like and we know it.

Notable Locations
The Lake of Lost Souls - this crater lake is rumored to exist in the upper Jagged Woods. Supposedly, the lake only appears to lost travelers and lures them into drinking its cursed waters.

The Everriver - This river is well known for not freezing over.

The Everlake - This lake is the head of the Everriver (duh).

Ferken’s Rest - This tomb is the meatingplace of Tla tribesmen (almost exclusively Maloon camps) who want to trade with caravans coming north. Thee town is bustling, up to perhaps 500 people, during The Bloom, but is usually deserted during the Dreaming Days. The town has a small dock.

The Frozendark - Series of tunnels and chambers that wind through the ground under the Jagged Forest. Created by Chrell.

Pourlochs - Small lakes in the Jagged Forrest.