**Tribe of the Charakoo** --- ## Overview The **Charakoo** are one of the most feared and violent barbarian tribes in Solare, hailing from the brutal volcanic region known as the **Land of Fire**, located north of the continent of **[[North Angoria|North Angoria]]**. Their homeland lies within the **Ring of Mountains, also known as the Charred Crown Peaks, the Ashfang Wall, and the Grahlspire Range**, a range of jagged, ash-covered peaks that surround a burning, cracked landscape of lava flows, sulfur springs, and scorched plains. Few dare venture into this cursed region, for the land itself seems to hunger for blood—much like the Charakoo themselves. --- ## Culture and Way of Life The Charakoo are known for their unmatched savagery in battle and an unyielding devotion to pain and domination. They believe strength is proven through torment and conquest, and their warriors practice brutal rites that involve self-mutilation, ritual scarification, and bloodletting to harden the spirit. Charakoo warriors wear the flayed skins of enemies as armor or cloaks, and their leaders often wield weapons made from the bones of fallen foes. They do not distinguish between warriors and civilians—to them, all who stand in their way are enemies, regardless of age or gender. Mercy is considered weakness, and hesitation is a death sentence. Despite their brutality, the Charakoo are not mindless. Their savagery serves a greater purpose: **to awaken the Flameborne Age**—a prophesied era where the weak are purged by fire and the world is reforged under Grahl’s burning judgment. The Charakoo believe they are the chosen catalysts of this purification, and every raid, every slaughter, is another step toward igniting this sacred transformation. They see themselves as divine harbingers of a new, stronger world born in ash. --- ## Religion and Beliefs Unlike other barbarian tribes who worship [[Perserphina]] or Angoria, the Charakoo follow an ancient and forgotten fire god known only as **Grahl the Burner**, a deity of primal flame, destruction, and eternal hunger. Their rituals involve volcanic offerings, sacrificial burnings, and the belief that only fire can purify weakness from the world. They believe the Land of Fire is sacred and that they were born of the volcanoes themselves—ash and bone forged by Grahl's wrath. --- ## Relations with Other Powers - **Free Kingdoms**: The Charakoo are viewed as monsters and war criminals by the Free Kingdoms. Even hardened warriors in places like Silverdeep and Northoria speak of Charakoo raids with dread. They are known to attack supply routes and border villages, sometimes vanishing into the burning mountains before retaliation can come. - **Other Barbarian Clans**: The **[[Cuthwulf]] Clan**, despite their own ferocity, have an uneasy hatred for the Charakoo. Clashes between these tribes are legendary and vicious, often ending in mutual devastation. The [[Daughters of Serenity]] and Sky Talons view the Charakoo as abominations and make efforts to steer pilgrims and allies far from their territory. - **[[Askaria]] Empire**: Oddly, there is a quiet mutual respect between the Charakoo and the Empire. While the Empire does not officially ally with the tribe, it has occasionally hired Charakoo mercenaries to burn down rebel strongholds or frighten disloyal territories. In turn, the Charakoo are left alone and allowed to raid freely along certain routes in exchange for their "assistance." - **[[Queen Cyrill]] and Brensistria**: [[Queen Cyrill]] views the Charakoo as an existential threat. She has ordered several border defenses be fortified in the north due to rumors of Charakoo migration. She sees them as a blight on the realm—a force that must eventually be cleansed if peace is ever to truly reign. - **[[Perserphina]] and [[Angoria]]**: The Charakoo neither revere nor openly scorn these goddesses. They acknowledge their existence but view them as "gods of soft lands." To them, only Grahl the Burner is worthy of devotion. --- ## Tactics and Warfare The Charakoo fight like wildfire—swift, unrelenting, and fueled by destruction. They favor ambushes, firebombs, and terror tactics. Children are taught to fight by age six, and the elderly are expected to join the charge or offer their lives in flame rituals to empower younger warriors. Burning villages to the ground is not just a tactic, but a holy act. Charakoo raiding parties are often marked by columns of smoke and the echoing screams of their victims. Survivors are rare. --- ## Adventure Hooks - A village in northern Northoria reports the return of the Charakoo after twenty years of silence. - An [[Askaria]] official offers the party coin to deliver a message to a Charakoo warlord. - A dying barbarian carries a cursed artifact from Grahl's shrine that must be returned or destroyed before it awakens. - The Land of Fire begins expanding—volcanic activity threatening the bordering kingdoms. --- ## Symbol A burning skull within a spiked circle of obsidian shards. Often carved into flesh or painted in blood before raids.