EditTravelling Merchants and Entertainers- Tone: Light-hearted traveling bands of shiftless entertainers, tinkers, and petty merchants
- Timeframe: -3000 to Present"
- Artifice: Low
- Region: Civizia, Stepizia, Norizia, Orizia,
- Capital: None
- Notable Settlements: None
- Government: Band
- Ruler: Alpha Male / Elders
- Races: Human (Humans, ~200,000)
- Languages: Atoli
- Religions: Eldar Gods aka Ithus Pantheon
- Coinage: The Atlov do not mint coins but they use the coins of many nations.
EditSynopsisTraveling bands of jugglers, acrobats, minstrels, tinkers, and merchants of petty goods, the Atlovs travel through the lands of Falcoria, Calamshar, Sycthylund (Anornia), Zlavikia, Varos, and surprisingly the Khor-da Hordelands, where they are never molested.
They merely pass through most lands on constant cycles of movement and are entirely transient, but many tribes summer in Zlavikia for some unknown reason, and there is a subgroup of Atlov bands that rarely leave Zlavikia's borders. Some Atlovian legends claim that the lands of Zavlikia were originally the Atlovian homeland, and they wander now because they were displaced by the cruel and dour Zlavikians. Other legends tell a different story and say that the original Atlovs were outcast from the Zlavikian people for loving life too much and daring to have fun. Yet another version says the original Atlovs self-exiled to seek a life of adventure. Of course, this merely illustrates the truism that its nearly impossible to get a straight story from Atlovians.
EditMagicThe Atlovs have a tradition of Seers and Fortune Tellers, but many posing as such are charlatans.
EditDetails
- Heraldry: different bands of Atlovs have their own various identifying banners, mostly in various bright and clashing colors. The closest recognizable symbol associated with almost all Atlovs is a golden wagon wheel on a field of green, which Atlov traders hang out on their wagons to show they are open for business; thus this symbol is sometimes used to refer to or is associated with the Atlovs in general by outsiders.
- Forms of Dress: Atlov bands nomadic cycles take them across a vast expanse of land and across many nations and cultures, and their clothing is a riotous mix of garments and styles ranging from Orizian silks, furs from the frozen north, linen pantaloons from Falcoria, woven garments of Calamshar, hand-cured and worked leathers, and just about anything else. Many Atlovs favor loud colors and personal distinctiveness and their apparel reflects these preferences.
Some, though by all means not all or most, Atlov bands are specialized in entertainment and are effectively a travelling circus or carnival of sorts; such bands might have a menagerie of exotic animals, members of unusual / freakish nature, acrobats, jugglers, and the like. Similarly, some Atlov bands focus almost entirely on trade and some such are taken seriously in the larger world of commerce in the markets of Calamshar, Falcoria, Varos, as well as less civilized lands. Most Atlov bands however are a hodge-podge mix of extended families with no overarching focus, goal or theme.
Traveling across so many lands, where locals sometimes leave their boring existences behind to join an Atlov band (and some also claim they kidnap children on occasion to enhance their numbers), the Atlovians have a diverse heredity. Though most use the Human (Skilled) package (focusing on skills useful for entertainment, thievery, and life on the road), but some use the Human (Athletic) package, and a rare few use the Gargants package.
EditAdventure Seeds Caravans: Roving trade caravans of nomadic Atlovs recently passed through a town recently; a few days later several children have gone missing and the locals insist the Atlovs kidnapped them. They are willing to pay some bold souls to track down the Atlovs and return with the missing children or baring that proof that restitution has been made.
Gra'Kur'Tai: Every five years for three weeks in mid summer many Atlov caravans congregate in various places (going to whichever one is closest to whatever region a particular band currently happens to be in) for a combination carnival, family reunion, and grand council called a Gra'Kur'Tai. It is a time of celebration, but also of serious business such as marriages between bands and discussion by elders and leaders. Outsiders that bring gifts are permitted to join in the revelry.
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