Garaban
From Sedes Draconis
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The Garaban
The Garaban are the most widespread and populous of the troll hunter-raider cultures.
Garaban trolls are found largely in the Yari savanna, the ancestral homeland of the trolls, but also in suitable areas throughout the Second and Third Quadrants (see Theâdn Polar Coordinates).
Ideal locations for the Garaban are open terrain, between regions sparsely populated but well-traveled by others (potential raid targets) and regions with good big game hunting, relatively undisturbed by pastoralists or farmers.
It should be noted that the Garaban are not unified or homogenous and this description is necessarily only of norms.
Kindreds
The basic unit of Garaban culture is the kindred, a loose group of 10 to 80 related individuals.
The Talka
The talka, the headman or headwoman, is the focus of the kindred. About 20% of Garaban kindreds are lead by headwomen, the rest by headmen.
Membership in the kindred is based on a relationship to the talka, though this may be by common descent or by marriage-based relationships. The immediate family of the talka will practically always be a part of the kindred. More remote family may or may not depending on their relationship with other talka.
How closely an individual is related to the talka is only one factor of membership. Another factor is the degree of emotion invested in each link between the individual and the talka. If an individual is, say, the brother of one the talka's sister's husband, but he and his brother are often in conflict, the individual may join the kindred of a talka not quite as closely related.
The third, and most important, factor is the perceived strength of a talka. In the above example if the individual's brother-in-law has more face than the other talka, the individual may join his kindred despite his acrimonious relationship with his brother.
This perception of strength is not only, or even primarily, physical muscle, but also force of personality, accomplishments and abilities, and perceived support, both inside and outside the kindred, and in the spirit world.
The position of talka is not hereditary. Though, since a close relative may be perceived to inherit the support and abilities of the talka, the next talka is often a close relative of the old talka, but could just as easily be a long time rival of the old talka (or both).
The Mbaga
Another important member of most kindreds is the mbaga, or wise-woman, who acts as an intermediary between her kindred and the spirit world. She serves as both the spiritual leader of the kindred, as an herbalist and healer, and as a teacher of the kindred's children.
An mbaga takes an apprentice of a young girl no older than six years old, and trains her until she is around twenty. An mbaga is considered to increase considerably in spirit world influence when she becomes a mother, and even more so when she becomes a grandmother. An elderly mbaga is often addressed as gamya, "grandmother" by most of her kindred regardless of their actual relationship to her.
Usually there will be one mbaga, or one old mbaga and her newly trained successor, to a kindred, but depending on the lines kindreds split along a kindred may have two established mbêge (the plural of mbaga), or none at all. If a kindred does not have an mbaga for an extended period, it will dwindle as more and more peripheral members leave for other, more spiritually secure, kindreds.
The mbaga may occasionally also be the talka. This is the case in more or less half of kindreds led by a head woman.
The Urvada
The third lead role of a kindred is the urvada, the warleader. The position of urvada is held by a male of fighting age, generally between 18 and 35.
The urvada is the military leader of the kindred and leads the kindred's raids. The urvada must be a strong fighter, but the position will often go to the better leader and tactician rather than just to brute force.
The position of urvada shifts, not often, but as a matter of course, as new warriors grow more skilled and old ones slow down. No kindred has more than one official urvada, though the responsibilities may be shared to a greater or lesser degree if two members of the kindred are similarly qualified.
The urvada is also responsible for the hunting and military training of the kindred's young, particularly the vêde (singular, "vada").
The Vêde
The vêde are the hunter-warriors of the kindred.
While other members of the kindred hunt small animals, birds, small mammals, etc., the vêde are responsible for the hunting of large animals, such as the huge gabkuro (singular gêbkire). They also protect the kindred from incursions, whether other trolls, non-trolls sentients, or particularly dangerous animals; and conduct raids. In most of these endeavors, the vêde will be led by the urvada.
Depending on the kindred, most of the young (about 15-25 years old) males and often at least a few of the young females will be active vêde.
The skills and weapons the Garaban use in their fighting are closely related to their hunting.
When in action, a vada will usually carry a spear, several javelins and a throwing stick, and possibly a shield.
The vêde's spear are designed to keep the opponent (or quarry) out of reach and is usually about 2.5 to 3 meter long with a thick haft. They are tipped with points of flint, metal, or bone depending on the resources and skills available. While true metalworking is not generally practiced among the Garaban, raided or scavenged metal is often cold-hammered into spearheads. Flint spearheads are often sharper than cold-hammered iron or bronze, but more likely to break and need to be replaced. Bone is used as a last resort, being relatively dull and fragile.
The javelins, too, may be tipped with metal, flint, or bone, or may simply have a wooden tip, sharpened and fire-hardened. The javelins are about 1.2 meters long, with much lighter shafts and points than the spears. Vêde also usually carry a throwing stick (effectively the same as the Earth atlatl), a 1 to 1.5 meter stick on which the javelin is lain, that effectively lengthens the throwing arm and increases the power behind the throw. The throwing stick is somewhat slow to reload and is usually only used for a first shot; after the first shot, a javelin can be more readily thrown by hand.
Garaban trolls do not normally use bows, as savanna wood tends to be relatively hard and brittle, and cannot be fashioned into a bow that would make effective use of a troll's enormous strength. And even when other woods are available the crafting of a bow powerful enough to supersede the throwing stick would require a prohibitive amount of time and skill. For small game Garaban trolls usually use thrown or slung (launched from a sling) rocks.
When the vêde are expecting particularly dangerous opponents, they may carry large shields of hide stretched over a wood/wicker frame.
Categories: Hajasith | Peoples | Trolls
