History of the Barbarians
Spread across the world of Arcana are countless human tribes that in the common
tongue are known as “barbarians”. The majority of these tribes have never known
bondage at the hands of the Elves. When the armies of the Elf lords burned their
way across Arcana, these tribes retreated to more inhospitable or secluded areas
that were unknown or of no interest to the Elves. There they waged war among themselves,
resisted Elven slavers and raided isolated and weaker Elven settlements. This period
of low-intensity warfare with the far more advanced Elves allowed most tribes to
adapt their tactics and slowly develop the secrets of metal forging and magic. When
the Elven civil war raged, many barbarian tribes exploited the situation to sack
weakened Elven outposts and even some entire cities, greatly expanding their territories
and giving rise to some of the largest barbarian kingdoms of today. In the later
years of the war, many Elven cities recruited whole tribes of barbarians as paid
mercenaries to strengthen their ranks. After the war, these mercenary lords either
returned to their homes as powerful warrior kings or seized new land from the weakened
Elves.
The Barbarian tribes of today go by hundreds of names and have vastly different
spheres of influence and power. The great tribes such as the Kadesh, the Volgar,
the Mezdri, and the Skurgin rule vast areas of untamed land across the face of Arcana.
Their armies have crushed Marrian provinces, Lyonnesse baronies and even entire
Elven cities. Other tribes are little more than large bands of brigands that scrape
a meagre existence on the wild lands that border more powerful kingdoms. Here they
wage an almost continuous battle for survival with the many Beastmen, Orc and Goblin
tribes that also inhabit such areas. Regardless of their size or military strength,
the barbarian tribes of Arcana are all proud warriors hardened by a long history
steeped in bloody conflict.