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Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2010 3:41 pm
The Hill Folk are the nomadic human population who do the bulk of trading with the Niffin communities and the outside world. They travel in caravans of house-wagons pulled by draft horses. They are the only known human population who know, communicate with, and even periodically work with the Godar dragons.
They are a secretive community, difficult to understand, but also subject to a lot of romance and dislike on the part of the good villagers of the Niffin communities. It should be stated in all fairness that while the Hill Folk willingly trade with the Niffin communities, they suspect the villagers and don't trust them to not come after the caravan with torches and pitchforks if some particularly nasty rumor about the Hill Folk has been going around lately. Consequently, the Hill Folk are disinclined to stay in the vicinity of the Niffin communities for very long.
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Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 10:13 am
Those who know much about the Hill Folk speak of a strictly structured and law-abiding community who live by their own traditions to which they strongly adhere to. Hill Folk generally do not communicate a lot to outsider, not being able to bring themselves to trust such violently distrustful people as villagers.
The average caravan has a set, often hereditary, command structure: the caravan leader, his family, the head horse wrangler, his family, the most gifted traders and their family, and so on down the line until orphans and misfits are reached at the bottom of the social pyramid. Their rules are very strict about theft, though they're more inclined to look the other way if orphans and misfits steal a little bit from villagers, but grand theft is absolutely not tolerated. Hill Folk almost never intermarry with villagers, only partially due to the fact that villagers do not like the Hill Folk.
Despite these strict rules and this solid, uncompromising set of social norms, the Hill Folk have a highly developed aesthetic sense and are not only gifted artisans and craftsmen, but also talented performers. During festivals, when Hill Folk are in town, the Hill Folk will allow some of their own to go and perform in the squares for a bit of extra gold they divide between those who performed together: musicians, dancers, and singers.
Clothing is also much flashier in comparison to the villagers, partially due to their sense of aesthetics and partially due to their trading activities. Gold jewelry, bright reds, whites, and blacks are common colors to the Hill Folk in terms of dress. Riding boots, flared pants, long skirts, full blouses, bodices, vests, and flat, brimmed hats are the most common articles of clothing, and not a few working women are permitted to wear pants.
Their animal handling skills, particularly in regards to horses and to some extent in regards to dogs and cattle, are famed, a reputation that's well-deserved. They breed and train some of the finest of horseflesh, though a lot of their equine breeding programs run toward flashy pinto drafts to pull their wagons, to be practical. Dogs are for the most part herding breeds, but the cattle are whatever they're trading at the moment. There's no real point for them in herding cattle around willy-nilly. Since this means they do not have a steady supply of meat on hand for the most part, some members of the caravan are hunters who will ride out for a few days and return with meat for the caravan. This is a vital, though often unappreciated, job.
The wagons are rather similar to gypsy wagons in our world. They are brilliantly painted and well-crafted to last generations. Wagons vary by size, and a given wagon is passed down within a patrilineal or matrilineal family, depending on the caravan's rules of inheritance, and the team and other accoutrements of the wagon will stay with that wagon forever. Having a wagon is an investment of sorts, and to have one is to have a home and a say in the destiny of the caravan. Almost everyone lives in one, and no wagon is left behind. All wagons carry beds and are used to store a nuclear family's personal belongings, as well as trade goods.
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Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 10:24 am
Physically, the Hill Folk look very distinctive from the Niffin communities. Their skin tone ranges from olive to a medium brown, suspected to be due to more southerly ancestry. Their hair and eyes are also often dark, though redhead Hill Folk or green-eyed Hill Folk are not unheard of. Light-skinned, blond, blue-eyed Hill Folk often have a lot of outsider blood in their veins, and the same is true of the very darkest complexioned Hill Folk. Both ends of this coloration spectrum often have a lot more to prove than the more average-colored Hill Folk.
Their build is at times rather distinctive. They are surprisingly on the tall side for people who live in house-wagons, tall, strong, and graceful. Children are encouraged to be helpful and willing to periodically perform with their elders, which explains their high levels of flexibility and great strength. Given that they are on the move and often take what food they can get, they're also slenderer than average for humans. What the villagers all agree on is that the Hill Folk are very attractive due to this combination of coloration and build. It's not surprising that a lot of the romances and raunchier tales told in the villages around the fire involve Hill Folk.
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Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 10:38 am
More so than any other human population, the Hill Folk maintain relations with the Godar dragons, and occasionally raise orphans. Godar dragons raised among Hill Folk may never meet other Godar dragons, but are respected and prized members of the caravan until they die, valued for their strength, courage, friendliness, intelligence, and abilities to hunt and work with children and adults alike. Even though the Hill Folk can't directly communicate with the Godar dragons, given that they speak in totally different ways, they still find ways to communicate.
Interestingly, the Hill Folk will trade with Godar dragons, opting to let the dragons find ways to tell the Hill Folk what they want in exchange for some deer and fish, always a good deal in the eyes of the Hill Folk. This explains why some dragons carry sashes, scarves, and even armor, among other articles of clothing or jewelry. Business is trusted and respected with the Godar dragons who come to trade, since they don't attack the Hill Folk and they don't usually try to cheat the Hill Folk. This is always a bonus in trading partners of any kind.
The Hill Folk do not know about the plague. Their ability to communicate does not go that far, and the Hill Folk expect that there are secrets the Godar dragons wish to keep to themselves, just like the Hill Folk. What they did notice around the time of the plague was a sudden, dramatic, and tragic loss of most of the Godar dragons and some of the older caravan members who remember the plague recall seeing a lot of dead dragons around, a fact which worried them at the time, although they could do nothing about it. Increased numbers of dragons, especially young ones, has made them feel relieved, especially as trade relations have been increasing with this population boom.
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