Dagonfel



Dagonfel is a Kingdom in the Shadows. It has a large and mighty castle for its King, and a vast world that reveals a frozen land, a lush rainy forest land, a desert land with oasis’s, and so much more. The castle is located toward the north where it is cooler and the winters can be harsh some years. However the spring and summer has some of the most lush flowers, fields, and woodland because of the great amount of water. There is a non-human race in Dagonfel known as The Shadow Tribe. It is a nomadic race that practically lives on horses, long-lived and with pointy ears. They have recently founded a settlement after a truce with the new King near the town by the castle.

Trade
There is a promise of rich trade in Dagonfel, especially with the addition of The Shadow Tribe.

Before, both people worked with leathers and both have their own techniques to produce quality leather, however, The Shadow Tribe work on beautiful furs and when combined with the imprinted fabrics that the people of Dagonfel have created it makes beautiful clothing. The imprinted fabrics come in all colors and imprints, some work can even be custom done for the right price. It is a unique technique to bring out the textures of the fabric and give it variety.

The Shadow Tribe still have nomadic parts of their tribe, and some interchange throughout the seasons to travel to different areas of the world for hunting. The have furs from silver, red, and indigo foxes, furs from white, brown, and black bears, and different colored rabbit furs. Using dye is only a recent knowledge gained from the citizens of Dagonfel, but is usually used for their leathers.

The citizens of Dagonfel also export lumber. This lumber is of good quality though depending on where in the Kingdom it was obtained depends on the hardness and type of lumber it is. The harder lumber requires transport from the south, so it is a little more difficult to obtain.

History of Dagonfel
The Shadow Tribe is a long-lived race and have seen much change for the Dagonfel people. They have had little interaction over the centuries upon centuries, and what interactions there have been have often been violent. It grew worse after the last ruler however, since then becoming known merely as 'The Mad King'.

He was cruel to his own citizens, wishing to spread his seed above all others. As a result, to even get married, he had the right to demand to spend the wedding night with the woman before she could live with her husband - though this was generally practiced in the town closest to the castle. He had a harem of women rather than a wife, and he was violently cruel in his crime and punishment running a 'secret police' that hunted down and burned people alive that was suspected of treason of even the smallest degree.

The Mad King also saw The Shadow Tribe as sick dogs that needed to be hunted down and destroyed as they were different. He blamed everything bad that happened on The Shadow Tribe, and it gave the Dagonfel citizens something to lash out at and blame openly.

That was how the previous Khan died, fighting the Knights of The Mad King, and the current Khan Leif rose to power. The war ravaged for decades, The Shadow Tribe taking the worse of the toll as the Dagonfel people re-populated much easier.

When Prince Corwin of Amber arrived, he overthrew The Mad King and took over. He also reached out to The Shadow Tribe and offered peace to Khan Leif. He began to change the Kingdom and the people, to show them a new, peaceful way of life that had freedom without rape and murder in the middle of the night.

The Khan
The Khan is like the Chief or King and is decided by both blood and wisdom. There once used to be many Khans, but the people's population have suffered so extensively that there is now only one bloodline remaining. The Khan has always been male until Leif, the current Khan.

It is rare for the bloodline of a Khan to change, and takes great conflict and strife, including a ceremonial battle for it to change. This has only happened a handful of times in the history of the Tribe that currently exists, the current bloodline has ruled for now nine generations.

Culture
As people read this, they may notice that The Shadow Tribe is a mixture of the people of the Russian Steppe, Native American Tribes, and a dash of fantasy.

Tents
The tents can often be large, though no less portable. When The Shadow Tribe is not hiding, they can add furs and colorful fabrics they have traded for or raiding in the past to add color and creativity to their tents. This is highly popular, and one thing that the people love doing now that they do not have to hide in fear of attack.

Horses
The Shadow Tribe breed stocky, high endurance horses. They are not of strange intelligence, but are taught at a young age to be good around children. The children of the Tribe play about the horses which would make other cultures appear shocked at the danger they could be in. The children use the horses as jungle gyms and play tag with the colts. The horses are treated as part of the family and have free reign about the tents and typically do not run off far from the camp sites.

The horses have their own social structure as well, with different stallions separating naturally into their own small herds on different sides or sections of camp. This is done to limit fighting between them, the only real danger, and the only way the humans get involved usually directly with their breeding program which generally lets nature take its course.

It is not common for the Tribe to trade horses as a result of how they are raised. Furthermore, when one examines their horses, they will find them appearing as if a Clydesdale mix, with the stock and socks of the Clydesdale, but not quite the sheer massive size.

Clothing
The women also love the discovery of bright dyes to make their clothing very colorful, though the males generally like more subdued colors that are more traditional. The women can wear layered skirts of multi-colors, while the men are more simplistic.

Magic
The males of the tribe are actual practitioners of magic. They study Tenebrous, and even magic itself. When new magic is discovered or created, they share it within the tribe.

They are a naturally long-lived race, and are very tough and enduring. As a result, it is not easy to kill them, but a side-effect is they do not reproduce often. It is said these 'gifts' are from their magical nature, by being born from Shadow.

Men
The men are warriors and hunters, the greatest horsemen. They also oversea what training the horses get and what breeding they do purposely do. They specialize in archery, but they train in whatever they can get their hands on. They are more aggressive than the women, the protectors. The women are not belittled however, but they are heavily protected and cherished.

Women
The women are the ones that typically skin the kills and prepare the meat. They cook, they clean, and they are hard workers as they even help set up camp and the massive tents. They are the ones that cure the leathers and prepare the furs. They handle all the social aspects of the camp and arrange matings as well.

It is only with Khan Leif's rule that they have learned archery and dagger work for self-protection since their people have taken such a population hit. However, other than the Khan, the women still do not participate in battle, this was only done to give them self-defense in case their camp itself is attacked.

Mating
Matings are decided by the women. These are not traditional marriages. They can be short-term or long-term. The children are usually raised by the women. It is only the males when they reach the Age of Reason that they are turned over to their father's to train and finish raise.

Matings are very rarely done for love, and the fact that Leif's parents loved each other and was a long-term mating was beyond rare, to the point that it is almost taboo. Matings are done for the strength of the tribe and to create strong children and stronger family bonds about the Tribe.

Interbreeding with humans is not a none, and would likely be met with mixed feelings as they consider their bloodline being birthed from Shadows to be very unique and precious.

Humor
To outsiders, The Shadow Tribe appears very serious. However, when left alone or when they welcome someone openly, they are a people that love to laugh, to dance, to play drums, and to sing. They have old myths and stories about the Spirits, about being birthed from the Shadows, and the trickster Coyote.