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| Saami:; Ice-Dweller of the Frigid North. | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: May 24 2013, 12:21 PM (360 Views) | |
| Nialldubh | May 24 2013, 12:21 PM Post #1 |
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Saami By W. N. Vossbrink. Description: The average Saami male stands rarely taller than five feet, six inches; females average six inches shorter. They have stocky, broad-shouldered frames, dark eyes, dark hair and high cheekbones. Furthermore, the men do not grow full beards as do the Vanir and Æsir: what scant whiskers grow on their cheeks, lip and chin are plucked out unceremoniously. The men shear the hair of the head very short, while the women-folk wear theirs down to the waist. Only married women braid their hair. Culture: The Saami are a hearty, mainly nomadic people living in the uttermost north of Nordheim and parts of Hyperborea who are quite comfortable in the deadly cold of the Northern Wastes where some Nordheimers would hesitate to abide. Theirs is a culture which has changed little over the millennia, and one which is significantly shamanistic. In addition to reindeer-herding the Saami hunt, gather and fish by a variety of means. They call themselves Samid, or Sapmelash, but the more indelicate of Nordheimir refer to them instead by the pejorative term Lapp. In the past there were clashes between the Nordheimir and the Saami, which at times places a great strain on their relations. Fortunately the inhabited lands of these two peoples are now far from one another, and conflict is extremely rare. Names: (male) Ahcchi, Aigidolin, Almmajolmmosh, Arpa, Boaris, Ganda, Girjeradju, Kaveri, Lavlu, Olmmái, Riipu, Ruksesrieban, Sátneduojár, Vilbealle; (female) Bajandavgi, Balva, Biika, Boallonjukcha, Oabbá, Ruksesraddi, Ruohtta, Savvon, Uhcaoabbá, Váibmu, Vuodjarássi. Religion: see “Beliefs of the Saami” below. Culture: * +2 Constitution. The Saami are a remarkably hearty culture, capable of enduring the harshest frigid lands of the Thurian Continent. * +2 racial bonus to all Climb, Balance, Hide, Knowledge (Nature), Listen, Move Silently, Survival and Spot checks made in cold environments. * +2 racial bonus to all Handle Animal checks when dealing with reindeer. Many, but not all, tribes of Saami herd reindeer. For tribes that do not herd this animal, a character may instead get a further +2 bonus to Survival checks or Profession (fisherman). * Saami receive Animal Affinity and Track as bonus feats. They need not meet the prerequisites for these feats. * Simple Weapon Proficiency. Compared to the Vanir, Æsir and Cimmerians to the south the Saami are a placid folk, not warriors. They are only familiar with the tools of survival: bow, hatchet, knife, and the hunting spear. Some tribes also use the staff for shepherding reindeer and fighting off wolves, bears or wild dogs. * Exotic Weapon Proficiency (lasso) as a bonus feat. Technically the lasso is not so much a weapon in Saami hands but a useful tool in herding reindeer. Virtually all adults are skilled with this instrument, and children are instructed in its proper use from the age they can stand up and use their tiny hands. Coastal, fishing-oriented tribes can instead take a feat which better reflects their milieu and means of living. Background Skills: Handle Animal, Knowledge (Nature), Survival. Favoured Class: Nomad. Prohibited Class: Courtier, Noble, Noble Cavalry. Automatic Languages: Saami. Bonus Languages: Cimmerian, Hyperborean, Nordheimer. Due to a lack of regular contact between the Nordheimir and the Saami, stereotypes and misunderstandings are numerous. To the Vanir and Æsir, the Saami seem cryptic, inscrutable, stoic, aloof - deaf and mute from birth, or even mentally deficient. The Nordheimir think that the Saami sleep out under the stars in snowdrifts, chasing wild animals, sacrificing to the sky and praying to trees. To the bearded, sword-wielding ones the Saami are little more than two-legged animals that wear crimson, patchwork garments. The truth, however, is markedly different. The Saami are superb hosts: they welcome guests without exception into their tent-homes, offering food, drink, fire and a place to sleep. This is a universal, unwritten law among all Saami tribes. The Saami know nothing of alcohol, nor gluttony. The constant feasting and revelling of the Nordheimir would be distasteful to the men and women of the Five Nations. Taciturn in extreme around strangers, the Saami are quite chatty amongst themselves. They are avid conversationalists, delighting in riddles, folk-tales, myths, legends, fairy tales, gossip, local news, and most of all epic songs. Some tribal singers and shamans have a prodigious memory, retaining the equivalent of many thousands of verses without error. Theft and other crimes are rare. On unusual occasions a proven offender is either shunned for a period of time or, in severe cases, exiled permanently. Capital punishment is not practised among the Saami: to be set adrift in the harsh world is a death sentence enough. A Saami Tent: or dallu provides a +2 bonus to Fortitude saves against cold. If the tent is occupied by at least 3 people and a fire offers additional heat the bonus is doubled. In areas where there is little vegetation to burn, dried reindeer dung provides suitable fuel. The typical tent can be assembled or disassembled in 15 to 20 minutes and can be carried by four or more adults of average Strength. ' |
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| Nialldubh | May 24 2013, 12:25 PM Post #2 |
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New Item: Lasso A lasso is used to entangle or capture a target, either by horns, head, neck, a limb or some such similar projection. When you throw a lasso, you make a ranged touch attack against your target. A lasso’s range increment is 10 feet. The maximum range of a lasso is 30 feet. This assumes a loop big enough to ensnare a man or the head of a large animal. The loop can be made big enough to ensnare up to four men at once if they are standing close together (i.e. in adjacent squares) but each extra man reduces the range of the lasso by five feet. Changing the size of the lasso loop is a standard action. The Saami method is to place together the extra coiled length with the loop and throw the loop and the coils toward the target. This ensures a flatter, straighter trajectory, with no need for an excessively large loop. If you hit, the target is ensnared. An ensnared creature takes a -2 penalty on attack rolls and a -4 penalty on Dexterity and can move at only half speed. If you control the trailing rope by succeeding on an opposed Strength check while holding it, the entangled creature can move only within the limits that the rope allows. An entangled creature can escape with a DC 25 Escape Artist check (a full-round action). The lasso has 12 hit points and can be burst with a DC 30 Strength check (also a full-round action). A lasso must be coiled evenly to be thrown effectively. The first time you throw your lasso, you make a normal ranged touch attack roll. After the lasso is unfurled, you take a -4 penalty on attack rolls with it. It takes 4 rounds (24 seconds) for a proficient user to coil a lasso and 10 rounds (1 minute) for a non-proficient one to do so. . |
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| Nialldubh | May 24 2013, 12:36 PM Post #3 |
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The Great Nations There are five major divisions of the various nations of the Saami, one for each direction of the compass, plus an additional division dwelling in the so-called Blue Mountains which divide Vanaheim from Asgard. Their numbers are highly speculative. Most of the tribes have had a very low birth-rate for many generations, and are slowly dying out. DAVVI: c. 600 members. North Saami. MADDI: c. 400 members. South Saami, i.e. those who live in more southerly Nordheim, relatively closer to Vanir and Æsir settlements. Conflicts with the Nordheimir in years past have severely diminished their once great numbers. NUORTI: c. 2000 members. Name for the Eastern, i.e. Hyperborean Saami. OARJI: c. 800 members. Western Saami, i.e. those who live in Vanaheim.. Most live along the coast and are fishermen. Vearra is their largest permanent settlement. Guolli is their prime deity. There are three sub-divisions, namely: * Skálzhu, c. 300 members. A coastal tribe, known for using seashells as currency, some carved with designs. These items are even more valuable the further inland they are traded. * Oaggu, c. 300 members. Known for being excellent fishermen in the fjords of Vanaheim and along some rivers. * Suolu: c. 200 members. This group inhabits three of the larger islands just off the coast of Vanaheim. They are especially adept “coast-hugging” seafarers, hunting seals and occasionally whales. Also called Dámpa, or Boat-People. Games Masters are encouraged to give such characters ranks in Profession (shipwright), or Profession (sailor), Profession (fisherman), and so on. For more nautical concepts suitable for this group, see Pirate Isles. GASKI: c. 900 members, Central Saami. Foremost among them being the Várri. * Várri (c. 600 members), living in the Blue Mountains. Geadhgi is their god. |
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| Nialldubh | May 24 2013, 12:38 PM Post #4 |
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BELIEFS OF THE SAAMI Saami shamanism involves nature and ancestor worship, and veneration of the World Tree, named Muorra. Shamans make offerings to discrete geographical or topographical features such as lakes, mountain, boulders, or sky above. By long sessions of drumming and dancing, shamans go into a trance wherein they believe their spirit (in the guise of a bird) flies to the world of the dead or the realm of the gods for the purpose of asking questions, seeking remedies to diseases, or understanding the manifold signs and portents which manifest themselves in the natural world. A faithful tribes person who seeks the counsel or treatment of a shaman later benefits from a +1 morale bonus to all Will saves for 1d8 days thereafter. Often shamans are the repositories of a tribe’s lore - a kind of walking library or almanac of traditional wisdom. For more ideas on the Shaman multiclass option, see Hyboria’s Fiercest. Saami and Multiclass Options Instead of the Shaman multiclass, Saami characters can be developed with the Mystic multiclass in Hyboria’s Fiercest. Some Saami Player Characters or Non-Player Characters make for superb guides: those who know the frigid lands, hidden dangers and how to cross vast snowscapes in safety. For information on the Guide multiclass option, see Hyboria’s Fiercest. GODS AND SPIRITS OF THE SAAMI The world of the Saami is full of life - the sky, trees, mosses, snow and even stones are alive. Every phenomenon has its spirits or even gods which are venerated by the Saami, although some receive much more attention than others. The Saami offer prayers to various spirits, thanking them for bounties, or begging them for mercy. They think of the spirits and gods, not as beings all too removed from the kin of Men, but merely another tribe with somewhat more power over the forces of nature. Many tribes conceive of a particular spirit as their progenitor or patron. What follows is a basic primer in glossary form of the major spirits, gods and tales that pertain to them. Games Masters are welcome to compose more details to suit their individual campaigns. Almmai, the prime deity, the first man, primogenitor of the Saami race. He sacrificed himself by dismembering his own body. Each limb became the various great nations of the Saami. His head became the Davvi Nation, his legs and feet the Maddi Nation, his left arm and hand the Nuorti Nation, and his right arm and hand the Oarji Nation. Lastly, the stump of his torso became the Gaski Nation. . |
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| Nialldubh | May 24 2013, 12:39 PM Post #5 |
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Gods of the Saami DEITIES OF ANIMALS: Venatorial Pursuits. Aldu, a goddess in the form of a reindeer cow. Also called Gussa. Wife of Heargi. Badje, a tutelary god of reindeer herds. Also called Badjeolmmosh. Bierdna, a god in the form of a great bear. Also called Karhu, and Guovzha. Bivdu, god of the hunt. Boazu, god of reindeer. Chearpmat, a tutelary god of new-born reindeer calves. Gumpe, a wolf-god. Enemy of the Saami and their reindeer herds. Offspring of the evil Skabma. Guolli, god of fish and fishing. Heargi, god in the form of a reindeer bull. Husband of Aldu or Gussa. DEITIES OF THE SKY: Celestial/Meteorological Phenomena, Weather, Precipitation. Albmi, the sky, or heavens deified. Husband of Eana. Almmibalggis, The Milk Way, or, as the Saami believe, a long procession of their ancestors following the celestial reindeer herd. Arve, the god of rain. Bajan, the god of thunder. He pounds the celestial shaman’s drum and dances. Bajannjuolla, the god of lightning. Beaivvash, the sun-god. Also called Chalbmi, The unblinking Eye. Husband of Mannu. Biegga, a god of winds. Borga, god of snowstorms. Buolash, god of the frigid airs. Galja, god of sleet. The three brothers Galja, Borga and Arve wrestle one another in the heavens to decide whom may impregnate Eana with their seed. Mannu, goddess of the moon. Sister of Nasti. Wife of Beaivvash. She is chased by Gumpe and each month is devoured by him. After a few days, as the new waxing crescent, she re-emerges from his tail. Beaivvash tries to rescue her but never can reach her in time. Muohta, goddess of snow. Sister to Jieknga and Chahci. Of uncertain relation to Borga. Nasti, goddesses of the stars. Children of Mannu. Some say rather that Nasti, the stars, are the fragments or shards of another moon, a twin sister of Mannu, that was broken in a dispute or war some time before the Saami were created from the limbs of Almmai. DEITIES OF LOVE: Matrimony, Fecundity, Children. Bierggas, the goddess of carnal love, passion, lust, copulation. Wife of Doanggat. Also called Rihccut. Chizzhi, goddess, patron of new (nursing) mothers (human and animal). Cumma, the goddess of romantic love, tenderness. Sister of Heajat. Dievva, goddess of pregnant reindeer cows and women. Doanggat, god of male fertility, virility, generative potency. Husband of Bierggas. Heajat, the goddess of marriage. Irgi, protective spirit of grooms. Husband of Moarsi. Manna, tutelary goddess of children. Moarsi, protective spirit of brides. Wife of Irgi. THE EARTH: Terrestrial Phenomena, Vegetation, Minerological Chahci, god(dess) of water, whether salt (male) or fresh (female). Also called Njuoska. Eana, goddess of earth, all the lands of the world. Wife of Albmi. Geadhgi, god of rocks, stones, (and by extension, all mountains). When avalanches or rock-slides occur the Saami say that Geadhgi awakes from deep slumbers. Jieknga, god of (rock-hard, mid-winter) ice. Brother of Geadhgi. Sometimes thought of as a Goddess, when pertaining to melting (late spring) ice. The female form thought to be sister to Chahci, “water.” Muorra, the World Tree (as the axis mundi) at the centre of the cosmos. Its roots push deep under the disk of the world, while its wide-spreading branches support the heavens. Soahki, spirit of birch forests, often thought of as a goddess. Vuovdi, the emerald-eyed god of forests (esp. fi r forests). His skin is as tree-bark and his beard thick, green moss. Squirrels and birds live in his leafy hair and when the wind blows he whispers ancient tales of the world when it was young. He fears Bajannjuolla. Son of Muorra, and brother of Soahki. Sometimes called Tapio, and thus Tapiola is his dwelling. Worshipped quite predictably further south in Nordheim where forests are more common. OTHER BEINGS Chiegus, little, invisible, benevolent spirits who sometimes lend aid to the Saami-folk. Their adoration may be yet another form of ancestor-worship. They live in the earth, in giant, rounded stones (called häll by the Æsir, for example), in trees or bodies of water such as lakes or mountain streams. Every year the Saami deposit a sacrificed reindeer bull into a sacred lake dedicated to the Chiegus. Goaskin, a golden eagle who sits in the World Tree and conveys the spirit of the deceased up to the realm of the afterlife. Conversely, he bears the spirits of the dead down to Earth to communicate and watch over posterity. At times the friend of Oarri, the squirrel, at other times, his enemy. Matki, protective spirits who accompany and watch over those who travel. Patrons or “guardian angels” of wayfarers. Monni, the cosmos before the creation of the world, being a perfect, unblemished egg. The egg was broken in ages primeval, the top portion becoming the sky, while the bottom became the earth (the yolk) and sea (the whites). Oarri, the squirrel who runs up and down the World Tree carrying messages between the World of the Living and the Realm of the Ancestors above. Often invoked by Shamans. Skabma, god of dark, the place beyond the world. God of the abyss that existed before the world and time came into being. The “Eater.” Enemy of Beaivvash, the sun-god. Father of Gumpe. . |
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| Nialldubh | May 24 2013, 12:42 PM Post #6 |
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Terms for non-Saami Peoples: Daro, the Saami word for the Nordheimir. Jiehtanas, signifying “giant.” Refers to the Nordheimir, being much taller than the Saami. A term undoubtedly related to the Nordheimer word jötunn, “giant.” Miehkki, a term for the Nordheimir as bearers of swords. Swords are unknown to the Saami, who instead use knives, spears, and bows. Ravdi, the term used for the Cimmerians, known for their blacksmiths. Ropmi, a derogatory term for the Nordheimir. “The ugly ones.” Rukses, “red”, a term signifying the Vanir, being redheaded. Ruottha, a term refering to the Æsir, and their land, Asgard. Veazhir, a term for the Nordheimir as wielders of warhammers. Vielgat, a term for the Æsir. Also vilges, “white” for the Æsirs’ blonde hair appears white to the Saami. Vuokta, the Nordheimir as having long hair. The Saami normally crop the hair of the head closely. . |
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