High Clan Faough

Society: High Clan Faough is a very small clan surrounded in myth and widely misunderstood by the other clans. This clan organizes around a small pack structure, each pack being headed by one male; generally the best warrior. Justice is handed out as judgment by peers with harsh penalties. Generally, acts against the clan are not just seen as dishonorable but subversion to survival of the clan. To dishonor the clan or the pack is to place all those around you in jeopardy and carries stiff penalty. Often times this means death at the hands of the pack. 

They hunt among the woods for their food, though a small minority do engage in rudimentary farming. They have villages in which they live in houses constructed mostly of sod and/or rough timber but they are more comfortable with a nomadic life style. Trades and crafts are plentiful, but "higher" tech trades are virtually unheard of among this people. Most common skills center around life in the woods. Some have been known to be able to speak the language of the Worgs that roam the woods and occasionally packs have alliances with these creatures. This is rare and usually extremely short lived.

Their founder's respect for wolves reflects in their politics. On outward appearances it is a male dominated hierarchy. (However, women aren't seen as inferior, just as having a different role to fulfill.) Leadership of each clan is given to the eldest male and can be wrested in combat by other males. Competitive midnight hunts among the woods are also common means of settling disputes This generally makes the strongest and craftiest member of a tribe the leader. These leaders are responsible for protecting the tribe and share this duty with the tribe Matron. The matron is not necessarily wed to the leader as there is no formal marriage per se in this society. Relationships do tend to become quite complicated between them because of this, though they are not disturbed by it. The benefit of the pack is always of utmost importance.

Fighting among the packs isn't uncommon although organized war does not exist among them. Most internal clan hostility is fierce but brief. Many times it is settled by a combat between the two strongest males of the packs in which case the loser is often removed from his position or replaced by the stronger combatant. (These fights are not normally to the death.)

The various packs trade and communicate loosely with other tribes within clan Faough; mostly sharing in their worship of the clan's founder and his way of life. This is detailed in an oral tradition handed down for centuries through bard and druid alike. One of the most respected positions is to be a pack's "Wrochna" or "Teller of The Tale". The role of the keeper of this story is incredibly important as they often serve as judge and wise man for the tribe. Many times this position is filled by a priest from the tribe but it can just as often be a druid, bard, or nearly any other character with the aptitude and determination. 

The training requires approval and apprenticeship to a pack's current Wrochna and then diligent study and recitation of the tale until all 10,000 words can be recited from memory (see the skills section for more detail). It details the founding of the high clan and the basic tenants of their society. Most is told verbatim as Faough instructed; and word for word from the day he first uttered it. Much of the tale is allegorical as well; told as from the viewpoint of a wolf, so interpretations do sometimes vary.

Unique Items: A weapon known as the "Paw". Simply a glove with claw like projections. The material varies from razor sharp stone to metal but is most frequently claw or bone. This weapon is light and can be dual wielded (with standard off hand weapon restrictions.) These are common weapons in disputes settled by combat.