The Banate of the Craots

Stinky marshes that cover a great part of the Craot lands

The Craots organize themselves in clans lead by a chieftain, three of which amass a great part of the power and hold de facto domain over the rest. By the votes of the chieftains a Ban is chosen, which in theory rules over the craots as a king would, but in reality it is just a recognition of the biggest chieftain at the moment. Only in times of need the Ban is really given any power, as the craots despise being lorded over.

Many tribes ravaged the rotten corpse of the western reaches of the Maronni empire, but on the once province of Direnia some of the most ruthless peoples found a place to call home. The orc tribes from the eastern forests, the gnoll packs from far flung lands and the hobgoblins escaping the ash clad warriors that took their home whilst singing songs of doom. With time, these peoples formed into clans following the rule of race, and with the external threat of civilization to their lifestyle of piracy and raiding they united under the mythical warrior only known as Craot, their first Ban.

Many races are found within the craot clans. Gnolls, half and full orcs, tieflings, hobgoblins and dragonborn, with none being an imporant majority. The culture of the craot depends on its clan, but generally one can expect a craot to care little about written law or the rules of polite society, mainly understanding the rule of might and the politeness of the mace.

The domains of the Craots border the Sharpheart Clans to the north, the Kingdom of Mythrelle to the south as well as the Republic of Ragoza, who has taken cities from them. To the east they face the Kingdom of Gahunry which was their suzerain for the flimsiest moment, and the Banate of the Nasiob, whom they fear and hate.

Clan Varcusa:

Once the feared slavers and pirates of the sea of Marcus, Clan Varcusa was the dread of sailors and farmers alike, but has been defeated in battle, and have come to reap the destruction they sowed. In the early years after the fall of imperial authority the orc tribesmen unified under the authority of Craot, and took the City of Varles to themselves, naming it "Varcusa" . From her ports they launched raids all across the sea, becoming the bane of the Vanneti and Istvani traders, who pledged great sums of gold in ransoms and extortion fees. On land they pillaged the small lordships across the river, battling the knights for sport and selling the poor farmers to the Duergar, who dug a tunnel to their capital just to make the trade easier.

With so much gold in their coffers clan Varcusa could afford the steel to kit themselves, buying ore from the Armagusa and becoming great smiths of weapons in their own right. For centuries their chieftain was the Ban, allowing them to bully the other clans into concessions, and when that did not work they simply squashed them with their heavy infrantry, To this day varcusan orcs love all axes of battle and bludgeons.

Chieftain Orzgh Gruzka, last seen charging the Ragozan invaders during the long night of Varcusa

However, the years quickly catched up with the savage pirates. First they faced internal conflicts, no matter how comfy a life the orcs would fight each other for a higher spot in the totem, and with their clan growing this turned the capital into a battlefield. Next, the Istvani authority declined , and thus the trade in the region fell. The vanneti expanded to fill this gap, and for a while typical varcusan business continued, but to their horror the vanneti invited a weird bunch of mercenaries to settle right across the river, a bunch who would become their downfall.

This bunch became the Ragozans, who turned out to be a tough nut to crack, and gained a taste for battles in the sea. The easy business became hard, and then harder when these newcomers declared themselves independent and made a navy battle them, making the Varcusa to loose their domain of the sea. Two centuries later the petty lords beyond the river were united under a king who saw no defeat, Rakam, which proceeded to invade them and murder their best warriors by the thousands. They lost much of the respect of the other clans that fateful day, but it would not be the worst yet. Not fifteen years later, the Ragozans declared them to be demon worshippers and put their capital to siege. In a terrible night they stormed the walls, and with red in their eyes they slaugthered half the population.

Chief Varko, the most powerful one in the fortress of Tarku

Clan Varcusa has not recovered from this loss. Their capital has moved to the fortress of Tarku, their chiefs fight each other as they have lost the strength to figth other peoples. Without the wealth from the slave trade or piracy their only good weapons are the ones that were forged centuries ago, but their rage remains, looking for a day in which to get vengeance and be the dread of the weak men once more.

The varcusan depise any formal learning of magic, their shamans are tolerated as they channel the might of Gruumsh and Baphomet. They are rude, beligerent and independent, preferring to die alone than to fight together with people they consider beneath them. In battle they are a heavy hitting force, preffering to grind their enemies down with sheer force.

Clan Armagusa:

Ramzu of Ki Tembe, feared armagusan manhunter

Around one century after the fall of the Maronni empire many tribes of hobgoblin raiders, dragonborn mountainmen and their kobold servants were forced to flee their conquered lands, as the conquered peoples wore ash as their skin and sang songs of doom whilst tearing down their best warriors into pieces. The survivors fought for a piece of land westwards, and the Istvani empire was happy to pay them to try and gain a foothold over the other more savage tribes. The name of "Armatura" was given to them, which later deformed into the craot language to Armagusa.

With the decay of Istvani authority in the area their supplier of resources was gone, and they were not allowed to settle in the lands of the empire. Clan Armagusa was quick to adapt, and submitted to Ban Craot without a fight, thus being allowed a seat as a great clan.

For centuries they kept to themselves, selling iron from their mines to the Varcusa and slowly working on making their warriors sterner. They knew they could not compete in brutality, so they focused on discipline and tactics, training to fight as hunting packs as well as solid battle lines.

When the Mythrellians unified and their king invaded them clan Armagusa was the first in battle and the last to retreat, this costed them many men, but earned them the respect that clan Varcusa lost. After the battles with the enemies west and the defeat of the Duergar army they took the business of slavery, which they carried out against the gahunre across the mountains. For this, the under empire built tunnels to their capital, and traded people for good steel and powerful weapons

Ban Zargoste, chieftain of the Armagusa

As clan Varcusa fell from power, Armagusa rose from their forts. With only a few battles Chieftain Zargoste asserted himself as Ban and unified the craots under a single banner, at least for a while. To this day they remain at the top of the pyramid, being the wealthiest and best organized of all clans. This has earned them the scorn of Ragoza, but they are yet to face them in full war.

The Clansmen of the Armagusa follow strict laws with harsh punishments to keep everyone disciplined. In their pantheon one can find Maglubiyet, Bahamut and Baphomet, as well as many lesser known entities with which many pacts have been made. The lack of universities and wizarding schools does not stop their ambition, so they make do with sorcery, pact magic and druidic practices.

Clan Meropje:

Unknown Meropje pack leader

As the Maronni empire crumbled to dust many tribes settled in their lands, amongst them were the Luthir, Taxonni and Lakonni. These great tribes of gnolls fought, and lost many battles against the orcs who would make clan Varcusa, as well as the brutes that settled in the forests up north. This left them trapped in the marshlands that only the insects would like, and with time the tribes split into a dozen meagre groups, figthing each other for any crumb of wealth. It was in these times of starvation, disease and cannibalism that a priestess of a small tribe slew their chieftain, and urged their females to do as much with every male that did not submit. So came her name to be known, Meropje, the first chieftain of her clan.

Meropje Sorceress reading the guts of a slain male to gain foresight

Years of figthing unified all the gnoll tribes under the Meropje, who were quick to establish their way of ruling. Food was to be rationed and discipline to enforced with iron. The chieftain ruled on top, always chosen by vote amongst the senior priestesses and pack leaders. At the bottom of this rule were the male gnolls, who were forbidden to take weapons, hunt or stray away from the pack, and were underfed as to never let them grow strong.

The meropje are skilled hunters and foragers, living off the animals in the swamps and whatever they can raid from other clans. Very little grows in their domains, and their constant figthing with clan Vastroje has forced them to quit farming, as to leave the slaves outside of their peans would risk them escaping and joining the enemy.

Due to their beliefs on top of the profit of slavery, clan meropje rarely cooperates with the outside world, as most nations are lead by men. Trade is next to non existent except for slave sales to the duergar in exchange for ritual components and few steel armaments, and they do not enjoy the mercenary contracts that their greatest rivals have, them being clan Vastroje. Decades of constant skirmish with the clan of escapees has diminished them greatly, despite the best efforts of the Meropje, they have only managed to corral the Vastroje to the harsher swamps of their domains , kill a few dozen per year and maybe sometimes enslave one of their escapees back, although these slaves are only used for inmmediate sacrifices. Clan Meropje holds Yeenoghu, Leira and Loviatar in their pantheon.

Vastroje Gnoll mercenary

Clan Vastroje:

Out of the slave pens of clan Meropje rose a few who risked it all to see a better life .Malnourished, desperate gnolls, many of whom were brought back or hunted for sport, but some of them managed to escape, and to the terror of their once masters, thrive.

The few stragglers quickly found out how big can a gnoll become if given enough fodder, and in their hunts found each other. Within a year half a dozen runaway slaves turned into fifty, and within a decade they were half a thousand, all of them ready to die before being enslaved.

Clan Meropje made efforts to exterminate them, them being the superior tacticians and hunters. The enslavers were horrified when they clashed not against half starved slaves , but against bulked bandits bearing down with greataxes, mauls and bludgeons. To this day both clans are on a standstill, waging heavy skirmishes and raids onto eachother´s dugouts but being unable to erradicate the other.

On its own, Clan Vastroje adopted the tribal structure of their enslavers and twisted it into a more brutal system. The clansmen look out for each other, but weakness is not allowed and the spoils are for the ones who get it. Very few are interested in the priestly matters or the arts of wizardry, instead, they devote themselves as mercenaries to anyone who is willing to hire them, gaining themselves a reputation as incredible shock troops. Their signature weapon is the Craot Axegun, with which they shoot before closing in melee. They obtain these weapons from the Ragozan Republic, as the duergar are unwilling to trade firearms with what they consider runaway slaves.

Clan Vastroje numbers no more than a thousand gnolls, all of them being freed from Meropje pens. Unlike their slavers, the Vastroje hold no Meropje slaves, as their bloodlust makes them unable to keep a single gnoll female alive for more than a few moments in captivity. Their contractors have also noted that whilst they are not like the cruel, debauched cakonis, they should be kept away from any woman as to avoid frictions.

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