Barbarians

Introduction

Barbarians are defined as any nation or power that the Empire is at war with. The Empire has been at war with for much of it's history. The short periods of peace have usually been marked by increased politics and infighting. At present the Empire is formally at war with four orc powers, the Jotun, the Thule, the Druj and the Grendel although there is a ceasefire in place with the Grendel and the Jotun. If the Senate declares war on any of the human nations that border the Empire, these pages will be updated to reflect that.

The primary role of barbarian threats is to provide the Empire with opponents to fight in the pitched battles that take place at events. This makes it particularly important to try and write interesting and challenging plot using barbarians - we want to avoid them becoming faceless recyclable goons. Barbarian leaders should be sophisticated and capable enemies.

Orc Tribal Structure

Orcs are divided into countless different tribes - each tribe has its own unique name and visual and cultural identity. All these different tribes are scattered across the orc lands, there are Druj in the Jotun lands, Thule magicians who live in Grendel lands and so on. Each orc 'nation' is politically controlled by a single tribe; it is their culture which dictates strategy and tactics and decisions taken by that nation. A Jotun warband that lives in Thule lands will fight and serve the Thule, largely without rancour. Their Jotun culture is not abandoned - they are still Jotun - but they adapt their approach to fit in with the rule of the Thule.

This means it is perfectly possible to include plot with a Thule magician working for the Druj, a Jotun commander in charge of a key Thule fortification. Plot that highlights the difference between these orc tribes is great, provided that the friction is not so great that it undermines the credibility of orc society. It makes no sense for ruling Thule magicians to appoint Jotun orcs to positions of authority if it is clear that their first action will be to betray their Thule overlords.

On battles it means that we can reuse groups of orcs with strong tribal identity in different battles. The Jotun like battle - tribal members take the battlefield eagerly regardless of who they are fighting for. So Jotun warbands can be found regularly in every campaign the Empire fights. This also means that plot (and players!) can create their own barbarian orc tribe, reusing the same costumes, banners, shields, weapons and iconography on multiple battlefields.