North Manmarch

The North Manmarch lies east of the Great Wood, north of the Highway and northeast of Marshedge. Its western edge is made up of rolling hills, giving way to a wide, sparsely-wooded prairie that slopes gently towards the east. Many springs bubble up from the hills and flow eastward in tiny streams that feed the Dread River.

The region is heavily populated and small, well-armed hamlets dot the hills and plains.

Impressions

Always

• A wide-open sky, a sense that you can see forever
• Wagon-rut trails and well-worn foot paths stretching on and on
• Longhouses with steep, thatched roofs
• Smell of woodsmoke, dung, wet fur
• Huge rams pulling plows, wagons
• Scarred faces, hard glares, weapons at hand even while working fields

The Manmarchers

Thousands of people dwell here, spread out over hundreds of hamlets. Those hamlets cluster around a half-dozen larger, fortified settlements. These hillforts are home to chiefs who (ostensibly) protect the surrounding hamlets.

Manmarchers say "east of the river" the way others say "once upon a time." They migrated from across the Dread River long ago, before the Barrow Builders called up the Things Below and made the waters unsafe.

Names

Germanic-inspired: Alfher, Bathhilde, Berkhard, Bertrim, Clothar, Dagmar, Elfrida, Ganter, Gerhild, Hartig, Hilde, Hiltrude, Hramn, Ludig, Luise, Meike, Modd, Sabrinne, Swanhilde, Ulrike, Urrsla, Weillem, Wiland, Wulfrim

Lore

Everyone has heard of the Manmarchers' warlike ways. They fight mostly among themselves, the violence fueled by bloodfeuds, treachery, and ambition. The area might see a decade or two of peace, but only after war leaves the best part of a generation dead or maimed.

Something interesting: When one

Manmarcher kills or harms another in times of peace, the victim's family is owed a wergild—coin, livestock, or other wealth.

The victim's chief sets the wergild (usually Value 2, or Value 3 for a person of import).

Failure by the accused or their kin to pay is grounds for blood-feud.

Something useful: Scheming chiefs will justify violence by setting an unreasonable or highly specific wergild. Should the wergild be paid, though, the feud must be called off. A paid wergild is sacrosanct—a chief who ignores it invites a curse upon their people.

Questions

• How is the Manmarcher language different from that of Stonetop?
• When did the last round of fighting start among the Manmarchers? Has it ended yet?
• Who all did you lose to the violence? Which clan/family/chief is to blame?
• Which hamlet or hillfort do you hail from? What was it notable for?
• Do they worship ___ there? How does it differ from what's done in Stonetop?
• The Manmarchers fell trees from the Great Wood—did they break or just never have a compact with the Forest Folk?
• How do Manmarchers treat Green Lord ruins and artifacts? Do they shun them? Treasure them?
• What is this clan best known for? How can you tell them from other clans?
• What tells you that this land has been shaped by human activity, even though there's not a settlement in sight?

Hooks

• Manmarchers waylay a merchant south of the Highway, stealing something important/dangerous/valuable.
• News arrives that the kin of a Manmarcher PC (or important NPC) were butchered in the latest round of fighting.
• People are vanishing from some of the western hamlets, and the local chief seems powerless to stop it.
• Manmarcher refugees arrive in Stonetop, promising buried treasure to whomever avenges them.
• An ambitious chief has conquered three of the hillforts, and is preparing to move on a fourth. If they succeed, they will likely unite the Manmarchers,

and then what?

Terrain

Pick 1 or combine 2, or have someone roll the Die of Fate (d12).

Discoveries

For any one of these, pick 1 or have someone roll the Die of Fate.

Hamlet

Here's a typical settlement:

Size hamlet (~25 to 75 souls)

Population +0

Prosperity -1

• Trade with other hamlets

Resources (pick 2-3)

• Livestock (pigs, goats, sheep, meat, milk, wool)
• Farming (wheat, barley, oats, honey, mead)
• Timber
• Trapping (fur, meat)
• Mining (amber, salt, and/or iron)

Defenses +1

• Warrior culture
• Iron weapons, wooden shields
• Protection from the local chief

Hamlets consist of a longhouse for each family and their livestock, plus smaller outbuildings (sheds, cellars, etc.), clustered together. Inhabitants work the surrounding 1-2 miles of land. Each hamlet bears the name of its most notable resident, possibly truncated, followed by "-hall" (Dagmarhall, Swanhall, etc.).

Hillfort

There are about a half-dozen larger, fortified settlements spread across the North Manmarch, each 20-30 miles apart. Most are in the western hills, but a couple sit on the plains to the east, at the western edge of the woodlands that overlook the Dread River.

Hillfort names might include: Wulfberg, Rabenberg, Eikelberg, Hokberg, Tiefberg, Baerinberg, Schutberg, etc.

Size village (~150 to 350 souls)

Population -1

Prosperity +0

• Trade with other hillforts
• Trade with Marshedge and/or Lygos (textile, spices, glass, herbs, finery)

Resources (pick 2-3)

• Taxes from surrounding hamlets
• Trades: smithing, tanning, pottery
• Livestock (pigs, goats, sheep, meat, milk, wool)
• Market (for surrounding hamlets)
• Timber

Defenses +2

• A dozen or so professional warriors
• Rotating recruits from the hamlets
• Iron weapons, wooden shields
• Series of earthen ramparts
• Palisades

Each hamlet is bound to one of the hillforts and its chief, through oaths or blood. The chief keeps a standing force of warriors, and is responsible for protecting their hamlets from other clans, or (when that's not possible) demanding wergild or exacting vengeance.

Trade & Barter

Commonly available

The following are special items in Stonetop, but commonly available in the North Manmarch—PCs can acquire them here without having to roll. They do need to trade something of equal Value. Stonetop whisky is usually in demand.

Special items

The following might be acquired in the North Manmarch, in addition to special items from the Moves & Gear handout. PCs must roll Trade & Barter to acquire them.

When PCs Trade & Barter in the North Manmarch, they use the local Prosperity (-1 and disadvantage for a hamlet, +0 in a hillfort, by default). On a 6-, they don't mark XP, and if they want to sell/acquire it, they'll need to talk to the local chief.

Services and favors

The PCs don't need to roll Trade & Barter for the following, but they might need to Persuade the locals—even if they offer something of equal value. A likely way to convince them is to bribe the local elder, or get permission/backing from the local chief.

A hamlet that's well-disposed to the PCs might grant these favors for free, or without needing to be Persuaded, or at a reduced price.

trade opportunities

If the PCs get a trade opportunity (from the Seasons Change move), the Manmarchers might offer the following:

• A good exchange rate, two or even three Value 2 items for 1 Surplus
• A pouch full of amber (Value 3) ◇ in exchange for help getting vengeance against a rival clan or chief
• A small herd of 6-12 tonnerhorn (Value 3 total), for 1 Surplus and help with a problem
• An arcanum of the Green Lords, Stone Lords, or Things Below

Dangers

Hazards

• Nasty turn in the weather: lashing wind, bitter cold, blistering heat, sleet/ hail/rain/snow; lightning
• Flash flooding in valleys/on slopes
• Prairie fire on the plains
• Mudslides and rockslides on the hills
• Fire in a hamlet or hillfort

Monsters

• Predators: pack drakes, cougar, feathered drakes, or wolves, maybe even a kleztigr
• Big ornery beasts: boar, cave bears, or thunder drakes
• Chimerae of the Green Lords, unearthed by recent logging or mining
• Ghosts or revenants, lurking near old battlefields or places of bloody, one-sided slaughter
• Emanations of the Things Below, especially near the Dread River
• Spirits of the wild in the lonely, untouched places
• Terrors come down from the Whitefang Mountains