Kellids (Ethnicity)

The Kellids are a human ethnicity who live in the north, beyond the Treaty Border. They are more commonly referred to as “Barbarians”, “Wildlings” and “Wild Men” throughout Athas. There are tens of thousands of Kellids split into dozens of cultures, tribes, villages and raiding parties. Some are reasonably cultures, others savage and hostile.

Overview
Clad in animal furs and bearing fetishes of feather and bone, hordes of brawny, dark-haired Kellids wander the cruel, cold mountains and tundra of the Hinterlands (also called the Frozen North or the Northern Wastes), from the Tusk Mountains in the west to the plains of Elkland in the east. Although clearly of common descent, Kellids in different regions live in significantly different cultures, with varying religious practices and more. Still, Kellids share a predilection for violence and a well-earned distrust of magic.

More than any other human ethnicity, the Kellids are a people shaped by threats. The harsh, cold terrain have forced these tribes to keep moving, to live lean and primitively. Threatened by savage beasts, ice trolls, wicked fey, mechanical monstrosities, orcs, spirits and more, Kellids learned to fight constantly—if not monsters, the each other. These threats would kill a lesser people, but the Kellids have endured and thrived.

Despite the lack of sophistication and occasional confusion in understanding magic, Kellids are not inherently stupid. They simply lack the good fortune of living in places that can afford the luxury of education not tied directly to survival. Indeed, Kellids make for some of the best warriors, guides and druids in Athas and many citizens of the more southerly nations pay handsomely to keep Kellid guides and plainsmen on retainer.

Pragmatism is not a character trait for Kellids, it is a survival mechanism. Indirect behavior is for soft people who have time to waste. Although suspicious and violent toward most magic, Kellids are respectful of druids.

Culture
The mountains, walls and lakes that separate the Kellids from the rest of Athas in many ways defines them. The Kellids view those in the south as lacking freedom, whereas the people of Athas view “barbarians” as lawless and primitive killers, rapists and thieves. Due to their isolation, the Kellids remain a people free of states, nobles, kings and laws but those of their own choosing, following whichever leader they please. There is little in the way of law or property rights in the lands of the kellids. They what they can and keep what they can defend. Many have little interest in marriage. Despite this, Kellids have a tradition of rough hospitality. Although they would kill an armed warrior shouting and charging, that same warrior—half frozen and near death—would be taken in and cared for. Dying of exposure and starvation out on the killing tundra is considered a dishonorable death that leads to restless spirits.

Kellids are common throughout Athas, especially along the northern fringes. Most speak various dialects of Hallit and have little time for the fancy written languages of the “soft” and “green” southern folk.

Society
Kellid society is made up of many tribes, each with their own peculiarities and customs. Some recognize chieftains, while others exist in a perpetual state of conflict, warring against each other or themselves. The kellids place importance in a man keeping his word. Some tribes are led by Clan Mothers, or magnars.

Tribes make up the main cooperative unit for Kellids, and their tribes hold their main allegiance. Tribes clash over hunting rights, campgrounds or anything else they can find to disagree on. While most disagreements and clashes resolve over the course of a few months or years, some tribes are ancestral enemies and continue to feud and war for reasons neither side can recall.

Some tribes live in small villages in the Haunted Forest (such as Whitetree) while others reside in the ruins of former castles or halls. The Hare Tribe live in a hidden valley in the Frostfangs. Some are semi-nomadic hunters, held down by their own needs.

The kellids primarily follow the Old Gods and burn their dead. The men of the Frozen Shore believe in gods of snow and ice, while Crab gods can be worshipped at Storrold’s Point. Cave dwellers in the far north allegedly worship dark underground gods.

Customs
Kellids in different regions and tribes differ in customs and quirks. Mammoth Tribe Kellids revere giants. Wolf Tribe warriors fight with disciplined tactics. Bear tribe members despise and hate the winter as an enemy. The boar tribe are largely a dissolute, cruel people. The sorcerers of the Snake Tribe hunt the nomads for sport. Their mutations and disfigurements are well known.

In all regions, strength, bravery and guile are winning traits. In fact, the Bear Tribe is said to hold yearly contests to test these virtues with prizes plucked from a hidden treasure stash somewhere in the Tusk Mountains. The prizes are said to be much more valuable and powerful than the wildmen understand, and well-informed outsiders might one day try to compete.

Raiding
Raiding in the south is a large part of kellid culture. Raiders start at a young age, as little as twelve years. Over the decades, the kellids have found many routes and methods of infiltrating into the south with their large raiding parties and have started to grow bolder. Raiders cross into the south to steal swords and axes, spices, silks, furs and any valuables they can find. They are known to take women in any season to carry them back into the north.

Attire
Kellids tend to dress in simple clothing appropriate for the climate of their homelands. They favor durability and ruggedness, and thus tend to wear hides, leather and furs made into loose clothing. In the coldest areas they claim, Kellids line their leather and hides with furs and wear layers of linens and silk underneath. Where the climate turns warmer, they favor the lightest, most supple leathers they can acquire.

Armament
Most kellids wield weaponry forged of stone, wood and bronze, such as stone axes and flails, fire-hardened spear and lances, and bows of wood and horn. Their bows are outranged by the yew longbows of the south, but should never be discounted for accuracy.

The kellids do not mine nor smelt and there are few smiths and fewer forges in the Hinterlands; the only metal armor they wear is bits and pieces looted from dead soldiers or adventurers. Most will wear leather and hide armor and use crude, round shields painted with figures such as skulls and bones, serpants, bear claws, twisted demonic faces and severed heads.

Magic
Being native to the isolated north, Kellids tend to distrust magic. Even those who abandon their superstitious homelands for the civilized south tend to hold arcane matters in low regard. Many Kellids cannot differentiate between divine and arcane magic, and many assume all magic comes from “the gods”. This can be a good or a bad thing, depending on the tribe.