Maelstrom Campaign - Major Nations: Tritoni

The wemic people occupying the south-east of Murland are known to themselves and others as the Tritoni. The vast jungle they inhabit is less a nation and more of a grand alliance of tribes, not ruled but led by a queen. Many visitors find the Tritoni tradition of leadership strange. Tritoni tribes are exclusively led by females; the male warriors and hunters of a tribe are divided amongst the females in prides. The more males a female has in her pride, the more status she accrues.

There is little structured government. Instead of a formalised statute of laws, the Tritoni maintain a series of traditional greetings and etiquette that encompass rules to be followed when members of different tribes meet. There are seasonal gatherings of the Bajari (tribal leaders) who meet to discuss issues concerning the nation as a whole. The queen oversees this process acting as a figurehead for any decisions made by the tribes.

If you wish to do any significant business with the Tritoni nation as a whole, then attending this meeting is a must. It is only when attending one of these meetings that you realise exactly how close-knit the Tritoni tribes are. You will need to be sponsored by a friendly Bajari to be allowed to speak. It is uncommon for folk who are not Tritoni to address the gatherings, but only women are ever permitted to speak.

First Meeting
Upon first meeting a Tritoni tribe there are several invaluable pieces of advice. Firstly, assess the tribe you are meeting with. Look carefully to see if they have imported or high quality goods. If so they are likely to be familiar with foreigners and you should be able to trade normally. It is entirely possible in these cases that you may find yourself negotiating with a Stellen, one of the males trusted to handle minor negotiations and deals. For important matters you will always find yourself dealing with a prominent woman of the tribe, if not the Bajari herself.

If you are negotiating with a tribe from the interior, bear in mind that most are unused to the idea of speaking to a male as a person of authority. In such cases it may be wise to either negotiate through a female in your party or ensure that your chosen negotiator is sufficiently attended with retainers that his social status is obvious. Never under any circumstances should a lone male enter into negotiations with a Tritoni tribe. He will likely fail to impress them, however if he does manage to represent himself well, he is just as likely to find himself captured and inducted into the pride of the Bajari or one of her sisters.

Fashion
The Tritoni prefer wearing furs and leather. Embroidered cloth is seen as an unnecessary imported luxury, since good clothing is made from local hides, and money is reserved for more important purchases. Although jewellery of copper, bronze and silver is common, the Tritoni seem to place little value on the worth of individual pieces. The Tritoni regard themselves as a pragmatic people, and you are unlikely to find bright cloth or showy braiding on anything other than captured garments.

Religion
The most common devotion amongst the Tritoni is the Huntress who they call Bubastis. Tritoni settlements consist of large clearings dotted with the small wooden huts where they spend their time when not out hunting. The hut of the tribal shaman will also serve as a shrine where the warriors and hunters go to make their devotions.

Other beliefs are tolerated by most Tritoni, although it is unwise to preach too openly. Most Tritoni regard faiths other than that of Bubastis as lesser beliefs. Although they do not take offence, it is still unwise to press the issue without invitation. It is possible to find members of other faiths amongst the Tritoni. After Bubastis, the Weaver is the most popular faith, but there are few Tritoni who revere the Smith or the Merchant.

The Orkhon is the shaman to the queen; and is effectively the highest ranking priestess of Bubastis in the land. She wields considerable influence outside Tritoni lands, as well as within them and few would dispute her claim to speak for the Huntress.

Trade
The Tritoni have no currency as such, but they will trade in coins with a high gold or silver content. Barter can often be the easiest form of trade, although most tribes will accept the Freiboden Florin. It is unheard of for a Tritoni tribe to accept a Rimici Capell Letter of Credit under any circumstance, apparently they do not consider that that Trading House can be relied upon to make good their promises.

The Tritoni produce fine furs, rare silks, dyes and other exotic bounties from their lush forest habitats. However what they are famous for is producing superbly well crafted bows. These elegant weapons are much sought after throughout the Known World. Tritoni archers using these weapons have proved themselves a match for the ranks of the Freiboden Pietkrieg armed with muskets on more than one occasion. The traditional Tritoni war bow is crafted for a specific warrior, the poundage is adjusted to exactly match her draw strength. But fierce demand (particularly from the Kamakura) has created a spate of cheaper imitations.

Iron for making hunting knives and arrow points sells well to every tribe and most metal worked goods fetch a good price. The Tritoni people do not practice any form of slavery, most regard the practice as beneath contempt. They see little worth in individuals who do not hunt and provide for themselves, only the young, the crippled or the old do not hunt for themselves in a Tritoni tribe.

And so it began......

Dawn breaks, war looms, the evil Lord is gathering his armies to wage a campaign of destruction upon the free peoples of the world. It is up to I, Sir Maximilan Pegasus to stop him, with my trusted band of adventurers we must gather the enchanted sword of Tek, the Shield of Way-Lem and the amulet of Subsidence and together we shall slay this abomination! “TIME FREEZE” And bam, the fantasy world fades away, the enchanted sword of Tek in my hand is a rubber sword smothered in coloured ribbons with a laminated card cable tied to the hilt, I look down and I’m wearing plastic armour and unflattering heropants, and the magical world of my imagination washes away to reveal a field in Wigan, but you know what? It’s larp and I’m a larper, it’s what I do.
I started larping when I was 17, I’d never role-played before, I’d never played D&D or Warhammer, never played WoW or any form of online game, I’d never even read Lord of the Rings, I feel somewhat privileged that I hadn’t done any of those things, I think it gave me an untainted attitude towards what larp could be, I had no preconceptions about saving the maiden fair, slaying the dragon or smiting the liche, to me it was just a new thing to try.
It was cold, really cold, 10am on a September morning, the rain was battering down and I’d been given a faux fur tunic, a mouldy old sword and been pointed towards a man and told, “You’re monstering, there’s the ref he’ll tell you what to do.” I obeyed, I played wave after wave of zombies, orcs and various line monsters and to be honest, was cold, bored and hungry. That is, until lunchtime, the teams switched sides, I got into the kit I’d scrounged up, as with most first timers, a black trenchcoat. I took the mouldy old sword, stood with my fellow adventurers and it hit me, I’m a god damn hero!
Pow, there it was, a new larper was born.