Star Stone

Four generations ago the Great Shaman Kez’ani Oniquah was meditating under a great Spirit Pine tree when a great flying star passed overhead. As the star passed by the Shaman received a vision. The great trees of the North were cut down by grey demons, the sky choked with the smoke of a hundred thousand campfires, and the very earth bled black blood. The flying star grew larger and larger before it crashed into the forest not far from Kez'ani. He approached the fallen star slowly and made sure to honour the spirits and the ancestors to ask for their protection. 

As he approached the spot where the star had fallen he noticed a great hole formed in the ground and at the centre of the hole was a great stone. The stone had a shiny black surface that was pockmarked with glimmering orange spots. As he approached the great stone from the stars he received another vision. He saw the tribes of the Great Vale pushed back further and further until they were pushed onto the very glaciers of the North. Taking these visions as a warning from the ancestors, Kez’ani reached out to the great shamans of all the local tribes. 

He sought their aid in interpreting his visions but all were confused. It is only when Kez’ani took 5 shamans, each from one his tribe’s neighbours and showed them the Star Stone that he had a final vision. He saw the tribes of the North standing together side by side against the grey demons. Upon hearing of this third vision did the shamans agree. The ancestors were instructing Kez’ani to create a confederation between the tribes of the Great vale to stand against the grey demons. Kez’ani was a young man but a proven shaman at 28 years of age when he started his quest to unite the northern tribes of the Great Vale no matter creed, people, or rivalries. 

He would spend the entire rest of his life at the task until he died at the age of 63. In that time he united the tribes in an honourable code of conduct for interacting with each other, creating a tradition of cooperation. And forming the Quyllur Wasi, a forum for the tribes to petition their grievances against each other without resorting to violence. After the great shaman’s death the council also took on the role of a sort of cross tribal legislature with a requirement of a ¾ majority to create any rules for the tribes to follow. This council meets at the location of the Star Stone. A place that is kept secret from outsiders.

I'm an intro to the subject of this section, so that I can break up the white subheading below so we can better accentuate the sections!

The Quyllur Wasi is the sole unifying body of the Circle of the Star Stone and is made up of 3-8 chiefs from each of the 26 tribes of the Great Vale. It should be noted that all tribes that had not become members of the Circle of the Star Stone before the death of the Great Shaman Kez’ani were driven out of the Vale shortly after his passing. Only 7 tribes have 8 chiefs in the Quyllur Wasi. These are the Chutya, Wanpuk, Lobah, Alqur, Misich, Niska, and Llantu tribes. Each of these tribes are extremely influential and were accorded more chiefly representatives than others. 

The Chutya and Wanpuk tribes were both human and also had some of the largest populations of any tribe. The only other tribes with similar populations were the Alqur, Misich, and Niska tribes which were Artic Lycan, Woolly Minotaurs, and Taiga Boarfolk respectively. The Lobah were the dominant warrior tribe of the Vale and had, until the formation of the Circle of the Star Stone, survived through raiding other tribes and settlements to the south. The Llantu tribe was a tribe of Northern Ursoids who were known for their hunting trips in the northern icefields in which they hunted the great white walruses so prized for making shelters like the traditional stilted Goahti due to their waterproof skin. 

Of the other 30 tribes 2 more were Human, 3 more were Artic Lycan tribes, 5 more were Taiga Boarfolk, 3 more were Wooly Minotaurs, 5 more were Northern Ursoids, and the last one is an Orcish tribe which migrated to the region from the east centuries ago. Generally each tribe's chiefs are chosen from the young men by the tribes clan council, made up of each clan’s matriarchs. The same clan council determines which chiefs become a Quyllur chief and have the right to take one of the tribe's spots on the Quyllur Wasi. While it is a great honour, the loose nature of the confederation means that tribal affairs, dominated by the clans, are much more important to the people of the Great Vale. 

As a tribal confederation there is very little in the way of military or industrial technology that is native to any of the tribes of the circle beyond the tribal level of native tech. They do have limited access to trading for some industrial goods but this is often extremely limited. Socially however the circle is a traditional society. As previously mentioned, the tribes are made up of clans each of which is the primary unit of societal organization for all of the constituent tribes and a fair amount of the neighboring tribes as well. 

These clans are organized matrilineally and are led by a matriarch. The mother determines which clan a child belongs to until they are married, then the husband joins the wife's clan. While the chiefs of each tribe are male, they are appointed and removed at the pleasure of the clan council of the tribe which is always made up of only the matriarchs. There is also a custom of equality between the species of the Circle as tribe and clan are seen as much more important. While this type of society is not conducive to industrialization it does have the strength of increased stability.

Every tribe has different stories, different myths, different rituals and different symbols but there are some that are common across the tribes. The Star Stone itself is the most obvious as it has become a symbol of unity in the face of a perilous future. The black blood of the earth is another common symbol and represents the destruction of the sacred land the tribes depend on for their survival. Another recent commonality between tribes is the tradition of sitting under a spirit pine tree whenever someone wants to come to a wise decision because the great shaman sat under one when he received his first vision. 

While meditation in the forests has been a common tradition for shamans for generations, the legendary tale of the great shaman Kez'ani has led to the spirit pine gaining a special place in the tradition. Older commonalities also exist. All of the tribes have long had a tradition of placing their left hand on their forehead and bringing it down to their chest as a form of polite greeting. There is also the common motif in the myths of the people of the great vale of snow leopards as being untrustworthy and villainous. While the gods and spirits they pray to are often different, every tribe celebrates their ancestors. 

Shamans are another important cultural force across all of the tribe though the name for these wise people changes from tribe to tribe. They are separate from the clans and it doesn't need to be a woman or a man. Shamans are trained through apprenticeship and are charged with providing knowledge of rituals and spiritual issues for their tribes. The most important part of the cultures of the tribes are often the pastoral animals they keep. The Caribou, the Woolly Oxen, and the Ice Elk are necessary for the survival of the tribes and are respected above all other animals. 

I'm an intro to the subject of this section, so that I can break up the white subheading below so we can better accentuate the sections!

• I'm a bullet pointed list of relevent OOC stuff