AW: Dark Ages - The Saga of Trüng-Holt (Set-Up)

Our Setting: The Trüng-Holt, a stronghold bordering on the Baltic Sea that defends a harbour and port and is threatened by a raiders from the sea, an unlawful crown (seized by a tyrant, Miklos of the Zsolt), and a local warlord, ambitious and bold. Its fortifications include a hilltop position, a bottleneck approach up the side of the cliffs, an outer palisade wall, and a deep well; its armoury includes spears, round shields, hide coats and leather helmets, and bows, enough for 10 warriors. 

Its People:

• The Trüng, bone-white, stout, and angular-faced, who first lived and thrived in this place. They are a village of 50 souls living in 6 households with 8 warriors among their number. They are known for their elaborate cosmology, their sorcery and enchantments, their mercy to their defeated enemies, their craft and skill as shipwrights and sailors, and their far-reaching trade routes.
• The Caymbre, wiry, tale, and white-blond, who are a single family by birth and marriage. They are a clan of 30 souls living in 4 households with 8 warriors among their number. They are known for their generous hospitality, their great beauty, their craft and skill at fortification and construction, their archers, and their devotion to law.
• The Kekkonen, black-brown, hulking, and blue-eyed, who are bound by a single common experience – being enchanted to attack the Trüng-Holt and then freed by sorcery. They are an enclave of 20 souls living in 4 households with 5 warriors among their number. They are known for their subtle fashions, their superb metalwork, their veneration of the priests and priestesses of the Trüng, their physical prowess, and their implacable blood-vengeance against those who ensorcelled them.
• The Tearwyn, wiry, lithe, ginger-haired and freckled, who are bound by a single common experience – they were born with their eyes already open. They are a band of 16 souls who live in 16 households with 16 warriors among their number. They are known for their individual skill at arms, their strategy and tactics, their loyalty, their spicy cosmopolitan cuisine, and their vigilance against sorcery.
• The Aluki, barrel-chested, round-faced, and golden-creamy skinned, who speak the same language while others around them do not. They are a band of 12 souls living in 1 household with 8 warriors among their number. They are known for their brutal raids, their loyalty, their insularity, their towering monuments, and their superb metalwork.
• The Laung, black-brown, blond-haired, and painted in red and white, who worship the same god and were displaced from their homeland by the Empire of Eagles. They are an enclave of 20 souls who live in 4 households with 5 warriors among their number. They are known for their celebrations, the might of their god(s), their fearlessness in the face of death, the garishly-dyed wolf-pelts they wear, and their loyalty.

Our Cast (thus far):

Amai the Touched, Wicker-Wise of the Trüng. She is wyrd, wary, and strong, but goodness yet evades her. She is wise in poison-craft and whispers to ghosts. She can enchant someone or something, and is sometimes overcome by oracular visions. 

With one hand in each world,
Healer, counselor,
Bloody to both elbows. 

Hilda the Right, Peasant Beauty of the Caymbre. She is bold, good, and strong, but the ways of wyrd elude her. She is breathtaking and fell when she appears on the battlefield, and her foremothers were queens of the Old Blood. She is radiant and stunning, and receives gifts and offerings on behalf of the summer, the earth, and the river.

Born free, feet upon the earth,
But in my birth are secret things,
And in my future, fire.

Ritva the Certain, Blacksmith of the Kekkonen. She is strong, wary, and good, but the ways of wyrd elude her. She speaks wisdom to those who come to her for counsel, and has taken a student as her apprentice. Were she wronged, she could muster champions to demand blood recompense and they would come; were danger near, she could rally warriors from among her peers to the defense of all and they would listen. 

Scorched and roaring,
Fearless, indomitable,
Sanctified by crucible and forge.

Soku the Swift, Court Wizard of the Laung. She is wyrd, good, and wary, but her spirit shudders away from boldness. She is literate in Persian and Arabic and has the right to seek the truth in any troubling situation, unhindered by any. She is able to step out of her earthly life and journey in other places, and can see into the heart of unnatural creatures. 

Astrologer, necromancer,
Scientist and sage
Trembling before God

Others:

• The Zsolt, sharp-featured, bronze-skinned, green-eyed, who are all descendants of the same ancient queen. They are the people of Hilda’s mother, who came from outside the Caymbre, and it is through them that Hilda claims her descent from the queens of the Old Blood. That crown is currently usurped by an unlawful tyrant, Hilda’s cousin Miklos, who despite being male has laid uncontested claim to rulership. The Zsolt are a vassalage of 300 souls who live in 40 households with 40 warriors among their number. They are known for the might of their gods, their vigilance against monsters, their ruthlessness, their insatiability in war, and their great beauty.