Vendicsal Society

Twelve years after being born Alfar are gifted their ‘life-path’ of Crusader or Colonizer: this involves a Smith, the guardian of a settlement's traditions, reading the paradigm of the child through arcane casting of lots in a ritual.

As an Alfar in the bar, you are a Crusader by definition: Colonizers rule and defend the homelands, their duties are not on the frontiers. Thus, if you are Colonizer at the bar you are in disguise as a Crusader, and embracing in the exact same behaviour as other Crusaders: not to do so would be too suspicious. Crusaders dress in colourful clothes that often bare parts of their body that are scarred, to show off glorious showdowns. Many trinkets are attached to their clothes, each one with a story behind it that a Crusader is VERY INTERESTED in telling people whether they asked or not. Colonizers dress in plainer working clothes, though this is often added to by spoils of war brought back by one of one’s Crusader associates.

Crusaders are a ‘Viking’ type figure in many respects, though not as simplistic as modern stereotypes. Raiding, combat and violence is expected for Vendicsal Alfar, but so are feats of surgery in battle as well as exploring unknown places; so long as it is a good story. Trade is a glorious occupation, as long as you have tales of obtaining your goods in a suitably dramatic way. Work for the Antiquarians is especially popular. To hide one’s true intentions is generally regarded as a bad practice, Alfar merchants have a reputation for being callous but honest.

Colonizers, on the other hand, accomplish the tasks that keep Vendicsal society running, which can involve defending the borders of one’s settlement, trading with neighbours to get fuel for the winter, etc. The Alfar tendency towards aggression and competition tends to come out here in border skirmishes, bragging about their hunting prowess and so on. To give a comparison, it is glorious for a Colonizer to hunt one’s dinner down and then turn it into a feast to outdo one’s neighbours: for a Crusader it would be glorious to steal such a feast from a rival. Powerful Colonizers have a tendency to declare themselves as leaders on behalf of a clan, ensuring that people are fed and that their Crusaders are accomplishing wondrous deeds on their behalf.

The third life-path is that of the ‘Smith’: It is a life-path whose members are regarded as blurring the traditional society roles. A Smith is both highly connected to industry and tradition, but also leads armies of Crusaders into war. They are the only Alfar who have the right to craft things from metal, and are treated with respect because of it. Essentially they are a Guild within that nation. Their monopoly on decent weapons and tools allows them tremendous influence over both halves of society. Their only general unifying belief is that they must protect the Vendicsal faction from outside forces that would threaten them. They have considerable influence in determining the Ambassador to other nations, “reading the auguries” to advise the Colonisers on who to pick.