The Barbarian tribes of the Highmountain

The various barbarian tribes that live on the icy slopes of the Highmountain are not at war with each other, according to their own laws. While quarrels break out and goats are often swapping hands under cover of darkness these disputes are now-a-days settled by the Court of Princesses.

In the old days, when the berserker lords ruled the mountains war was constant. Eventually, the people (chiefly the women) grew tired of the constant funerals and fitting of wooden prosthesis and worked together to reign in the warlords. The matrons of each tribe sat their husbands down with a nice cup of tea and said while its nice you’ve all got big sharp axes wouldn’t it be great if you still had all your limbs? And those axes don’t help much when the trolls come to steal our goats.

After the warlords shouting died down ruling power was handed down to the eldest daughter of each tribe, who were wise and would have to learn all this eventually. The warlords learned to work together to protect holdings from the cunning trolls and other foul folk of the mountain. The high matrons of each tribe act as advisers to their daughters the princesses, and an uneasy ceasefire made way for growth and prosperity.

Modern barbarians now travel down to trade with the other peoples of the world, and the greatest treasure they took home with them was the written word. Younger barbarians now gather in school groups and learn to read and write, and the demand for books of all kinds has led to a resurgence of printing new editions of even the oldest works of literature.

The barbarian tribes are the most diverse of all cultures in the known lands. People of every sentient race can be found among the tribes, usually descended of freed slaves of the trolls. Barbarians hate slavery more than anything and value their freedom above all else.

Barbarians worship the gods and goddesses of nature. The winding trails and paths of the Highmountain can be navigated by way of shrines instead of street signs.

Barbarian adventurers are as likely to be druids and rangers as they are berserk swordsmen.