Strigany

The Strigany folk are a common, if not always welcome, sight in rural parts of the Empire. Originating from beyond the Empire themselves, the Strigany are nomads, never settling in one place for long but travelling the roads in colourful wagons or plying the waterways in barges. The Strigany have a reputation for being thieves, mystics, and con artists. But they are also associated with much darker rumours. Legends whisper that the Strigany are the heirs of a great civilisation that fl ourished in the time before Sigmar, and the tales tell that the rulers of this society were inhuman fi ends that demanded tithes of blood. The persistence of such stories explains much about the intolerance shown towards the Strigany. Some Strigany folk even play up to their unsavoury reputation, presenting themselves as uncanny seers, amoral rapscallions, or rakish master criminals if it suits them. Such Strigany might even be so rash as to threaten people with talk of the “old masters” and a coming time when their power will be restored to them. However, most Strigany are simply poor travelling folk, trying to earn their way as pedlars of cheap household goods or lucky charms. Their bad reputation makes them easy and undeserving scapegoats whenever trouble occurs in their vicinity.

The Striganos are the descendants of the survivors of the destruction of the city of Mourkain at the hands of the Orcs. Strigany human empire worshiped vampires as gods, but their Undead deities could not save them from the carnivorous force of green skins. When the capital fell before the green skins under the command of the Red Eye Dork Kaudillo, and the city ruler and leader of the Ushoran vampires died during their defense, the survivors, both vampires and humans, dispersed to the four winds, heading mostly to the Old World.

While the Strigany vampires hid in the darkness of the catacombs and crypts, progressively degenerating into brutal beasts, the Strigany humans found themselves a wall of hatred of the other human tribes, but they had no one to turn to, so they became a nomadic town that travels the Old World in caravans or river barges.

The Strigany are still wandering and are no less hated today, despite the fact that centuries have erased the memories of their empire soaked in the blood of their compatriots' minds. Reflecting the uprooted land caravans of their people, the Strigany roam up and down the Old World rivers in small boats, moving from one chase to the next. Their depressing and painfully maintained ships are often moored away from civilization, where they take advantage of the riparian superstitions by selling amulets and protections for whatever amount they can.

Their historical relationship with vampires forces them to maintain this lifestyle and makes them feared and despised by the rest of the inhabitants of the Old World, who accuse them of hiding and helping vampires in their caravans, so they are frequently persecuted. and favorite victims of witch hunters. They also have a reputation as thieves, so they tend to be the head of the local justice Turk. Striganos are quickly blamed for any local problem that does not have a more obvious culprit, and witch hunters with excessive zeal are all willing to accuse them of transporting Undead sick in their rotten barges. When their innocence is proven in these cases, their boats have already been burned to the waterline and their caravans destroyed.

In reality, most of them are simple lumberjacks, artists, merchants or simple tramps. However, among them there are some sorcerers with some knowledge of divination, and many have relationships with vampires. It is true that sometimes they hide Strigoi vampires among them and feed them with their blood, because for many, they are still their lords and kings and dream of the day when they can recover their ancient kingdom and glory. Although Strigoi vampires appreciate this help and devotion to them (and their blood), they don't usually stay with them for long since Striganos tend to attract witch hunters and other vampire agents.

They are a desperate people, often clinging to the half-forgotten legends that say their former vampire masters will return one day to get them out of their pathetic lives. As long as the rumors of these retrograde beliefs spread outwards and are heard by outsiders, continued vampire worship does not help those striganos who are trying to leave their past behind. On the contrary, it ensures that the persecution at the hands of outsiders continues.