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Pargori, Clan of the Net
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This industrious clan are the closest thing the Machtig have to city-folk and merchants.
They are one of the third smallest clans, though they are close in population to
the Ulthferen, and they have the smallest Clanhold. However they carry much more
weight among the Machtig than a mere headcount or acreage comparison would indicate
as they are also the closest thing the Machtig have to politicians.
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APPEARANCE & DRESS
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Pargori Obermancer (Zauberer)
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The Pargori are usually between 58 and 66, weighing in around 160 to 260 lbs. However,
being the itinerate traders of the Machtig, the men folk often bring home brides
from other Clans met while on the road and therefore the Pargori are a melding of
all the other Clans. Any particular Pargori might have the coloration and build
of any other Clan inherited from his mothers side or previous generations.
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The Pargori still generally wear their tartan as everyday apparel but long ago switched
to an abbreviated half kilt worn like a skirt with a belt permanently part of its
construction rather than the traditional body wrap with a belt worn over it. Their
colors usually incorporate blues in the weave, and many Pargori take great pride
in their appearance and keep their kilt clean or replaced as needed so they tend
to be more vibrant than the kilts of some other Clans that aren't as fastidious.
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The Pargori favor jewelry with real gems and are some of the primary customers of
the Wundvolding jewelry smiths. A successful Pargori usually has an ornate brooch,
a bejeweled dagger, and a signet ring that they use with wax seals on trade contracts,
agreements, and correspondence. Poorer Pargori tend towards a semi-precious earring
or brooch and a less fancy signet ring..
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In general Pargori wear leather or in some cases cloth leggings and a tunic or shirt.
The merchants among them prefer comfortable ankle or low boots rather than full
midcalf or high boots, but the fisher and sailor folk typically go barefoot.
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GENERAL CHARACTER
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Pargori are usually charismatic and affable, and are renowned as fair traders; a
happy customer is a future customer is their thinking. They are generally a progressive
and optimistic people, respectful of traditions, but also open to new ways of thinking
about things. Many of the more progressive customs of the Machtig originated with
the Pargori, and the Clan as a whole are forward-thinking.
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For every six Pargori that were born into the Clan there
is an expatriate or visitor from another Clan residing in the Hold, which is a substantially
higher outsider-per-capita than any of the other Clans. Because of their general
attitude and openness towards cross-Clan trade and accommodation the Pargori lands
have become in many ways the center of Machtig higher culture.
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Several Hoher Skalding tarry in the Pargori lands, some Zauberer expatriate from
their birth-Clan to join the Pargori, and numerous craftsmen prefer to reside in
the Pargori Hold even if they maintain their birth-Clan affiliation, as it is easier
to get supplies and move finished products in the rich markets of Fallenheim, Alarsvik,
and Rollenhurst.
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There are even several hundred non-Machtig residing in Pargori lands. Traditionally
such people have no status in Machtig culture and thus have no rights, but the Pargori
extend the privileges of a Thrall to these outsiders as a courtesy, and some outsiders
have even gone so far as to gain Thegnship so that they may bear weapons in the
Vold, or some form of Fertigkeiten status. This only works because the Pargori Clan
Laird is currently also the Oberlaird and thus has some ability to mandate acceptance
of this upon the other Clans.
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The Pargori Laird treats their acceptance of the rules of trade as a tacit "fealty",
and assesses a besterung which is really a trade tariff on traveling merchants and
a property tax for outsiders that actually reside in the Hold. This allows the foreigners
to trade throughout the Vold, but most have learned to restrict themselves to the
heartland clans (Pargori, Huarthmunn, Hengsting), for the other six Clans are not
so tolerant of outsiders and don't always observe their notional status.
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In addition to fishing and trading, the Pargori also craft numerous longboats, many
of which they sell or trade to the Raevoring Clan and there is a sub community of
skilled shipwrights in several coastal communities..
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NAMING CONVENTIONS
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Some Pargori use the variations of the "son" and "daughter"
suffixes, but in the last millennia or so many families keep the same last name
from generation to generation, often with an "-ing", "-ings",
or "-ingas" suffix. Frequently the normal patronymic is used as a middle
name in addition to such a family name but isn't used in every day speech.
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Thus Gavin son of Gillian Collingas might be officially named Gavin Gilliansen Collingas,
but in every day usage would be Gavin Collingas.
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FOREIGN RELATIONS
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Despite being the most centralized Clan and having no border that is not shared
with another Machtig Clan, the Pargori have the most peaceful contact and relations
with foreigners. Some among the upper echelons of Pargori merchants travel abroad
frequently.
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The strongest connections for the Pargori are with the Free Cities of Worfinal and
Shidaal, which represent extremely lucrative outlets for exporting Machtig merchandise
and importing exotic and luxury items. The Pargori Oberlairds of the last century
have worked hard to overcome bad blood with neighboring Shidaal, which has been
attacked and pilaged on numerous occassions by Herodi led hordes, and the current
Oberlaird is close to forging a formal alliance; he's even married off two of his
six daughters to important men in Shidaal.
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The constant upgrading of the Shidaalweg, though most of its expanse is in Huarthmunn
and Wundvolding lands, is largely a Pargori undertaking, as is the many efforts
made to encourage foreign traders to dare to enter the Vold to conduct business.
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TRADE
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The Pargori are the preeminent merchants of the Machtig. They are responsible for
most of the cross-Clan commerce of the Vold and most of the foreign trade as well.
Pargori merchants move goods around by wagon, pack horse, and boat as needed. They
do most of their business in the standards; food, practical implements, clothing,
weapons and armor, horses, and similar basic commodities, but many Pargori merchants
like to buy and sell curiosities, luxury items, arts and craft items, and similar
things.
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For their part the Pargori produce high quality long boats of various styles, have
a number of skilled carpenters and wood carvers among them, a few communities of
artisans that turn out high quality furniture, table settings, clothing, and knick
knacks, and of course they ship copious amounts of pickeled and salted fish caught
in Lake Pargo which are considered delicacies in many parts of the Vold.
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ORIGINS & ORGANIZATION
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The Pargori were originally many of the people that stayed behind on the coasts
while the warriors of the Machtig conquered the Vold. This process took almost two
decades all told, but eventually some of the warriors returned to the coast and
quickly took over, raiding the neighboring shores and eventually becoming the Raevoring.
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Some of the inhabitants of the coast, primarily from the main steading of the time
at Hafenstadt, were disgruntled by the return of the raucous, overbearing Thegns
and decided to look for a better place to live. The warriors brought back tales
of a vast Lake to the north fed by many rivers, so some of these disgruntled fishermen
and crafts folk decided to press up the river Unien and settle on the shores of
this Lake. Thus the Pargori were formed.
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The Pargori were a weak Clan for many centuries, small in numbers, land, and significance.
But they found their niche as the most centralized Clan with the greatest ability
to network and move goods between the Clanholds and grew in wealth. It took a long
time for the Clan to grow in strength and clout among the other Clans, but eventually
all of the other eight Clans came to rely on them commercially and with that reliance
the Pargori ascended to become one of the most influential Clans.
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In the modern day the Pargori are an industrious, adaptable, and initiative taking
folk that are confident in their commercial and political clout and aren't willing
to let the more hawkish Clans push them around.
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PROFESSIONS
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The Pargori are composed of Thralls (62%), Thegns (15%),
Non-Thegn Fertigkeiten (15%), Skalds (5%), Druids (2%), and Zauberers (<.5%).
At least half of the Zauberers were born into other Clans.
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THEGNS
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Thegns are a minority among the Pargori and they have much less influence in the
everyday life of the Clan than is normal for a Machtig Clan, though they still control
the political aspect as all Reeves and Lairds are still Thegns. Additionally, the
standards to become a Thegn among the Pargori are less stringent or exacting, and
as a result all of the more millitant Clans look down on Pargori Thegns weaponscraft.
Most Pargori Thegns don't even wear armor, which is another source of derision.
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The majority of Thegns are primarily skilled in the use of normal one handed swords,
short swords, and daggers; some go so far as to use thin bladed "small swords"
which is a source of much derision for the Herodi and Raevoring. Many Pargori Thegns
spend more time learning how to move and tumble well and to talk their way out of
conflict than actually fight, and prefer to evade combat or to fight on their own
terms by traversing a lot rather than getting stuck in to hand to hand combat. A
key point is that most Pargori don't consider running from a superior opponent to
be cowardly; they take the view that to do otherwise is just suicidal.
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However there are a few formal schools called duolairian (DEW-LARE-ee-ON)
that teach disciplined fighting skills. There are two in Fallenheim, one in Alarsvik,
and another in Rollenhurst. About one in ten thegns attend these schools, paid for
by wealthy parents or in cases of exceptional merit by sponsorship. In addition
to turning out probably the most skilled fighters of the Clan overall there is a
political aspect as well; the sheer number of future Reeves and Lairds that have
matriculated from these establishments makes them a defacto finishing school for
would-be rulers.
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While there is definitely something of a "house style" specific to each
of the duolairians, the instructors are flexible and often adapt the curriculum
to suit the strengths and weaknesses of a particular student. The duolairians sprang
up a little over two hundred years ago, with the first being founded in Fallenheim
by a Pargori named Fionnlaoch Fingaling that had undergone the Huarthmunn Prfungdebod
training regimine.
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Stripping out the military aspect of the training, Fionnlaoch taught the weaponscraft
to those that would pay him to do so. This turned into the Akademie dros Kmpfenden
Kelfed, the first duolarian. From there, more techniques were developed or imported
by others and in the modern day the style is diverged from the Huarthmunn fighting
style.
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Both of the duolairian in Fallenheim teach the gaff and net technique used by the
Pargori Huscarl (the Meeres) in addition to its normal criteria, and many that have
aspirations of joining the Huscarl attend one or the other school at least briefly
to learn it.
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Most Pargori Thegns use the following Packages or some variation of them:
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Swashbuckler: approximately 75% of all Pargori Thegns (using WF: Short Blades
for Sword, Short Sword, and Dagger)
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Bladesman: approximately 10% of all Pargori Thegns learn their skills at a duolairian
or from someone else that trained at one.
- Approximately 15% of Pargori Thegns have a fighting style or discipline unique
to their families or circumstances.
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ZAUBERER
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There are about two to three thousand Zauberer among the Pargori, but most have
fairly weak magic and joined the Pargori from other Clans merely to escape ostracism
faced in their original lives.
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There is a community of Aeldenaren in and around the Feihaus settlement, and they
represent the bulk of the Zauberer population.
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There are twenty seven Obermancers currently residing among the Pargori, the largest
concentration of any Clan, and eight of them are respectably skilled, with the other
nineteen being either apprentices or dabblers with incomplete educations.
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There are a few Runecrafters among the Pargori, which mostly work in textiles and
wood rather than the more traditional metal, stone, and flesh.
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LAIRD AND HUSCARL
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The Pargori Laird is traditionally called the Fisher Laird. His Huscarls number
around 50 and are called the Meeres; they are renowned for their trickiness in battle
by other Machtig. Some time in the past the Meeres struck on the idea of employing
fishing nets and gaffs in battle and working in teams, and have become quite good
at it.
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The current Laird is Kaenha Kennering, who is also the current Oberlaird.
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CLANHOLD
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In the middle lands of the Vold there is a confluence of six rivers of various sizes
called collectively the Oberfallen, resulting in a good sized lake named Pargo.
This smaller Clan makes a very good living from this lake and the other surrounding
water bodies, fishing for their food.
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In addition, the many rivers branching up into the mountains, down to the coast,
and beyond the Vold in several directions give the Pargori an
ideal position from which to conduct trade throughout much of the Vold.
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Most of their steadings are either on the shores of Lake Pargo or one of the rivers,
or both. There are some fertile pasturelands in the north western corner, but the
land around the lake is ringed by a respectable forest called the Schutzwald, which
the Pargori carefully harvest to make boats and residences.
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Most buildings in the Pargori Hold are wooden structures vaguely like a somewhat
squared off longhall, with a smaller central area and separate walled off rooms
even in the dwelling of individual families.
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CLAN SEAT
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The Pargori ancestral home is Fallenheim, which is on a large hill above the lake.
This large settlement has grown on
both sides of the Unien River over the centuries.
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In the last century, the steading was extended by building an expansive dock system
on the eastern side of the mouth of the Unien River, and laying the groundwork for
a sizable steading.
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Neuse Fallenheim is not completely filled out yet but has experienced a large migration
over the decades and by itself is more thriving than most other steadings in the
Vold. Most of the practical work, such as working docks, warehouses, and trade processing
facilities, have been moved from Altes Fallenheim to Neuse Fallenheim over the years.
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Altes Fallenheim has become a sort of high-rent neighborhood for the wealthy and
influential and older families that been in the city for a long time. It still has
all of the culturally and politically important assets of the city and is where
the Laird resides.
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A good deal of trade is conducted from here, making Fallenheim the closest thing
to a city to be found in the Vold. It can be said pretty fairly that in the Vold,
all paths eventually lead to Fallenheim.
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Though most trade from watercraft is now routed to Neuse Fallenheim a good amount
of trade still makes its way into Altes Fallenheim before being ported across the
river thanks to the Shidaalweg ending at the gates on the left side of the river.
A large trade market exists essentially permanently and bustles with trade, though
the individuals currently manning the stalls vary widely.
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A surprising amount of swag makes its way to Fallenheim, including copious amount
of loot and plunder traded to the Pargori by the Herodi and Raevoring. Between the
The Kauffenkwad (COUGH-in-KWOD, literally "Merchant's Square")
in Neuse Fallenheim and the Geschftar (geh-SHOVT-tar, literally "Trade
Fair") outside Altes Fallenheim's southern gate a person could find just about
anything for sale aside from certain things that the Machtig don't countenance such
as drugs and slaves.
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Altes Fallenheim is walled, but Neuse Fallenheim is not. The Laird Hall of Fallenheim
rests on a hill that gives it a commanding view of the entire area, particularly
the Lake.
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OTHER SETTLEMENTS OF NOTE
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Alarsvik (AHL-ars-VIK), this relatively new steading (less than 200 years
old), has quickly become one of the richest in the Vold, growing fat off of the
Vanodolor River trade, and because many Pargori traders make their home here enriching
the Reeve with their lucrative besterung. An open, airy steading with an actual
kind of sewer system provided by stone-lined vaults hollowed out at various points,
allowing deep middens which are periodically cleaned out by Zauberer as besterung.
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This feature combined with strict rules controlling the dumping of waste into the
River and within the steading limits, and a sense of civic pride among the populace
makes this a very clean, attractive, and pleasant place to make ones home. The buildings
are made in the usual Pargori fashion, but are typically newer and highly maintained.
Seat of a Reeve-halten.
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Jasovik (YA-so-VIK), a smaller steading on the Vondolfelsig River, this settlement
makes its living mostly by trading with the Huartmunn and seasonally with the Jagrling.
The Vondolfelsig is not navigable by merchant craft most of the year, but with spring
runoffs comes the logging run from Waldenhalle in the Jagrling lands, when they
drive hundreds of cut trees down the river to the shipyards at Fallenheim. Seat
of a Reeve-halten.
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Kryri (CAREER-ree), a smaller steading on the Lagersbrek coming down out
of the Ulthferen lands, Kryri makes most of its living via fishing in the well stocked
northern waters of Lake Pargo. It has a large fishing fleet, and the fisher folk
do a brisk trade in pickled fish sold in barrels. Seat of a Reeve-halten.
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Dorbrook (DOOR-BROOK), a mid sized steading on the Ordefelsig River, a tributary
of the Ordecar. Similarly to Kryri, Dorbrook fishes to great profit, and sell most
of their surplus upriver into the Herodi lands. Rather than pickle their fish they
salt it instead with salt purchased from the Wundvolding or the Herodi.
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The salt is expensive, but the Herodi don't seem to like pickled foods in general,
so it's necessary to move the fish in that market. There is also a respectable ship
yard here, and as the Reeve-halten is relatively distant from Fallenheim the Reeve
is usually given special delegated authority greater than most other Reeves in the
Hold to rule in the Laird's name for practicality reasons. Seat of a powerful Reeve-halten.
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Rollenhurst (RAHL-en-HEARST), a booming trade and fishing town on the lucrative
Vandolor river. This steading has a huge market, second only to Fallenheim in size,
and conducts a tremendous amount of business up the river to Steinern, the Varhold
of Visar, and most importantly the Allishan "capital" of Kasaad, which
sits on a major and ancient trade route.
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The Vandolor is a massive River, and goes beyond Kasaad, eventually reaching the
Varhold of Volir and continuing on to lands that few Machtig have ever bothered
going to. This was the Reeve-halten of the current Laird and Oberlaird Kaenha, and
he gives it some mild, culturally acceptable favoritism, which has also helped this
steading grow tremendously in the last two decades (and it was wealthy and sizable
to begin with).
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Seat of a powerful Reeve-halten and currently filled by Earak Beransen who is also
coincidentally married to Kaenha's second daughter Losoeth Kennering. Unsurprisingly,
Earak has maintained local policies pretty much as they were when Kaenha was the
Reeve.
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Feihaus (FEY-HOSS), this midsized steading between Rollenhurst and Fallenheim
is kind of an odd place, with elaborately detailed and decorated residences surrounded
on all sides by a thick copse of the Shutzwald which at one time contained a small
enclave of ancient Aelfing. In the past there was some congress between the Aelfing
and the initial Machtig settlers, including some interbreeding.
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The Aelfing either expired or departed, perhaps to join their more numerous kin
in the Faendradi lands, at least a thousand years ago but there are many strong
Aeldenaren bloodlines living in and around Feihaus even to this day, strengthened
by crossbreeding, and the occasional influx of Aeldenari leaving their birth-Clans
to come live in Feihaus where they are appreciated and part of the majority rather
than a decided minority. Many Machtig give the place a wide berth, as over half
of the residents are Aeldenari with various Gifts.
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Feihaus is home to a number of very talented crafts folk that turn out exquisitely
crafted pieces which fetch a high price in many markets where quality outweighs
superstition. All Aeldenaren using their Gifts to make a living must become Zauberer
by Pargori tradition and thus this group accounts for the majority of the Clans
many Zauberer..
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Bollenbrek (BALL-en-BREK), Built on the southern shore of the Gunnarsvik
River coming down out of the Herodi lands, this large steading was not built on
the juncture of the river and Lake Pargo due to an expanse of marshy ground. However,
the residents of Bollenbrek built a massive fourty foot tall arched stone bridge
called Steinekbogen (STINE-eck-BOG-en), wide enough to move ten head of cattle
abreast one way almost fifteen hundred years ago.
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This bridge enables the movement of many head of horse and occasionally cattle from
the Hengsting Hold on the other side of the river, and Bollenbrek is the primary
point of Pargori-Hengsting trade, doing business mainly with the sister steading
of Faeren on the Hengsting side of the river roughly thirty miles away (about one
days travel by horse). Seat of a Reeve-halten.
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Dorenheim (DOOR-en-HIGHM), a steading on the southern shore of Lake
Pargo, this settlement is very large but now stands mostly empty. This was once
the home of many non-Pargori crafts folk but at least half have moved to Alarsvik,
Rollenhurst, Lower Fallenheim, or into the Hengsting lands in the last two decades,
leaving many residences standing empty.
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The settlement makes most of its living via fishing now, though there is an extensive
dock system that was once used to service the products that were made here. Some
of the craftsmen tarry, but as fewer traders visit it becomes increasingly tempting
to transplant to one of the booming settlements. Perhaps soon the steading will
be left entirely to the fisher folk. Seat of a dwindling Reeve-halten.
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CLAN VIEWS
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The Machtig are an individualistic people, but nevertheless there are some generalities
about how the Pargori think of the other Clans
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- Raevoring: Barbarians, but good customers. At least they bring in new influences
from their far ranging raids. Via the Raevoring the Machtig have come into contact
with many peoples, some of which later become sources of trade, like Worfinal. Just
don't get into a drinking contest with one of them, and make sure all deals are
witnessed by a Skald as the Raevoring sometimes "forget" the details of
a bargain.
- Jagrling: The Jagrling are always happy to see Pargori traders. They also
produce many fine furs, leather goods, furniture, and seasonally raw lumber. Good
neighbors and good business partners; men of their word and imminently trustworthy.
Plus, not too worldly and very trusting, not like the Raevoring who inspect every
longboat for soundness and want a discount for every minor "flaw" in everything
they buy.
- Faendradi: Regrettable situation; the Druids may have been lax on that front,
though the interference of the Aelfing is not to be discounted. So cliquish and
closed off, even we have trouble making nice with them. It would be sad if they
disappeared as a people, but really the true disruption would be in the Machtig
political order. Without an odd number of Clans, many of the things decided by majority
currently would have to be reworked. This is far more of a concern than the loss
of such a small group of very distant kinsmen. However, there is a pocket of Aeldenari
and other folk with Aelfing ties in and around Feihaus who feel differently about
the matter.
- Wundvolding: The Wundvolding have made the Pargori very, very rich. Their
armor and weapons are practically worth their weight in gold in foreign and domestic
markets, not to mention their jewelry and other adornments. Also, though it isn't
noted much by the other Clans, the Wundvolding have some salt mines in their lands
as do the Herodi to a lesser extent. We buy this salt and gladly pay a premium as
it lets us salt some foods and transport them longer distances. Also it is through
the Wundvolding the Machtig made cordial relationships with two Varholds, who send
some trade our way. The Var are hard bargainers, but it doesn't matter much because
their goods fetch an absurd profit in far off Worfinal, which being on an island
is beyond the Var's reach. The Wundvolding can be stodgy and inhospitable, but fat
profits smooth hurt feelings.
- Huarthmunn: The most favored of favored cousins, not only are the Huarthmunn
friendly to us beyond measure, they are also one of our
best customers. It goes like this; any Pargori worth the name can get rich via buying
a wagon, filling it with commodities, taking it down into the Huarthmunn lands and
trading every bit of it for food and livestock. Turn around and come home, sell
and trade the food before it rots and repeat, pocketing a respectable profit each
time. Our Clans are closely aligned in almost all matters, and the individual Clansmen
get on well together.
- Hengsting: The other favored cousin and neighbors. Their horses are a little
more difficult to move around, but they are such fine specimens of horse flesh,
that much money can be made driving a modest herd to Shidaal. Sadly they trade to
the Herodi and the eastern Huarthmunn directly, but some money can be had selling
draft horses to the western Huarthmunn and some mountain ponies and draft horses
to the Wundvolding. Plus in recent history the Hengsting Laird Chigante has started
to institute some of the trade-friendly policies of the Pargori, making the Lake
Pargo area that much more cosmopolitan.
- Herodi: What to say about the Herodi? They live in the past, but are still
powerful and represent the second biggest source of potential customers after the
Huarthmunn. Plus, their rugged lands leave them eager to trade loot for commodities.
On the other hand they represent the biggest threat to the practices and lifestyle
we have been trying to engender for the last century. Treat the Herodi fairly and
pleasantly, but be very wary of these dangerous and unpredictable hill folk and
avoid discussing politics with them at all costs as they tend to make their points
with violence.
- Ulthferen: Well, they're a little like the Jagrling and a little like the
Herodi, except you're always wondering if one of them is actually thinking about
hunting you down in the night and eating you. Only the bravest or most desperate
Pargori trade with them directly, but unfortunately both the Vandolor and the Ordecar
Rivers border their lands, so doing river trade up those two main passages requires
some contact with them. The smart advice is to take several guards along if trading
with the Ulthferen, and put them on night watches by twos. .
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