Mahirim of Tribelands
By the light of the Ghost Moon, mahirim packs strike deep into enemy territory, plundering and killing without mercy. They vanish as quickly as they came, leaving devastation in the wake of their lightning raids.
The mahirim are a fierce race of predators, whose society has only recently moved towards civilization. And while they may have cities and laws now, they retain the wolf-eyed wildness, the finely honed instincts, and the uncaring cruelty of their pack-hunting ancestors.
See race page for info on attributes.
The Tribelands
The mahirim homeland is located in the Northwestern part of Agon's main continent. To its east lies the dwarven kingdom of Dvergheim, while the elven republic of Mirendil lies to the south. Across the Sarthan Sea to the north lies Niflheim, an icebound but resource-rich continent which is coveted by both mahirim and dwarves.
The Tribelands consist mainly of rolling hills interspersed with large forests of relatively sparse-growing, deciduous trees. The wilder regions are home to an abundance of prey animals, as well as large monster populations. Gnolls have always been common in the Tribelands, while a growing threat is posed by the Moon Cult, a twisted race of ex-mahirim humanoids who worship a demigod called the Moonbeast.
Red Moon
The mahirim capital sprawls across a chain of grass-clad islands within a lake in the central region of the Tribelands. With its low, wooden buildings nestled among tall autumnal trees, Red Moon gives an impression of being a compromise between the forces of nature and those of civilization.
The Red Moon skyline is dominated by a strange semi-organic and vaguely egg-shaped structure called the Moontower, which has been constructed using a gargantuan slab of rare and precious moonstone. The tower is older than the city which surrounds it, and none now know why it was given such a strange and unique shape. The Moontower is sacred to the worshippers of Theia, and a large temple complex lies in its shadow.
Mahirim player characters start their career in one of three starting villages, which all lie within easy walking distance of the capital.
Culture and religion
The mahirim worship Theia, which is Agon's second moon, called the Ghost Moon. They see their celestial deity as a goddess with many different aspects, including Theia as a warlike conqueror, and Theia as huntress and bringer of nature's plenty.
Until quite recently, the mahirim were a race of nomadic hunters and raiders who carried their possessions with them between ephemeral seasonal camps. The ongoing development towards civilization was set in motion by a prophet-king called Amurran, who had a vision of the Tribelands as a modern and powerful nation state. Though the prophet-king is long dead, his work is continued by the Elders of Red Moon, an organisation whose power is felt everywhere in the Tribelands.
Movers and shakers
Players participate in Tribelands life through quests offered by six* powerful organisations, which all seek to further their own, more or less sinister agendas.
The Elders of Red Moon founded the Tribelands capital, and inspired by the workds and works of the prophet-king Amurran, they thens set about civilizing the primitive and nomadic mahirim. Their work continues to this day, as they seek to turn the Tribelands into a culturally advanced, militarily powerful nation.
The Long Claw see the mahirim as hunters, all others as prey. The group's raiding parties strike mercilessly against the settlements of other races, killing and looting with relish. The Long Claw are traditionalists who want to keep the mahirim race strong, untamed and ferocious. There are frequent disagreements between the Long Claw and the Elders
The Circle of Neith is a mysterious group who worship the blue moon Neith, claiming that it is the source of all magic on Agon. The Circle are spellcasters who take a special interest in magical items and ancient artifacts. Uncommonly for mahirim, they are also highly interested in the history of their own race and the world in general.
The Wolfmasks are an order of elite warriors who serve as enforcers for the Elders of Red Moon. Named for their characteristic face-covering helmets, the Wolfmasks commonly deal with internal trouble in the Tribelands, but are sometimes dispatched on occasional hit-and-run missions into enemy territory.
The Ghost Pack claim that, if you want to prove yourself as a master hunter, you must do so against the fiercest, most dangerous creature on Agon. The Ghost Pack are a group of mahirim who hunt other mahirm, for the challenge and to satisfy their own twisted desires.
The Cult of the Moonbeast worship and old and sinister deity, who occasionally manifests in the Triblands to hunt and kill anything that strays into its path. His Cult seek to emulate the ferocity and unpredictability of their primal god, and though once mahirim, they have mutated into a shape more pleasing to him.
What makes the mahirim special?
When standing erect, mahirim move with the same speed as members of the other races. However, when not engaged in combat, they can switch to all fours and run with the speed of a horse. Since they don't really need them, the mahirim don't breed mounts of their own, but they may buy or take those belonging to other races.
Only mahirim mastersmiths can make Ghost Claws, a weapon which is made using an extremely rare resource called moonstone. Ghost Claws have a strange affinity with Theia, the Ghost Moon, and as that satellite waxes and wanes, so does the magical power which surrounds each claw like an eldritch aura.
Given their warlike, somewhat arrogant nature, and their long history as semi-nomadic raiders, it should not surprise anyone that the mahirim have few friends. They do, however, have a grudging respect for the equally warlike orks, who they see as strong and capable warriors. Though they can theoretically join and form clans with members of all other races, they prefer to ally with orks and other mahirim.
* Some of these groups will not be active yet when Darkfall releases. They will be added later as parts of post launch content patches.
How the mahirim see the world:
"If I am stronger, I will take what is yours. If you are stronger, you will take what is mine. This is the natural order of things."
- Yulane the Proud, Long Claw raider
"That which cannot defend itself should not be suffered to live. Weakness is an insult to the gods, and Theia bids us remove all weaklings from under her gaze."
- Merdan the Brave, Wolfmask agent
"Since they are helpless to stop our raiding parties, imagine how our sickly neighbours would fare against a united army of the Mahirim. The day will come when such an army sweeps all before it, clearing the way for our rightful mastery."
- Ylmon the Wise, Elder of Red Moon
How others see the mahirim:
"Sit! Fetch! Play dead! They are not even fit to serve as our pets, and will be put down like the scabby mongrels they are!"
- Naeva Darkshroud, Alfar from Shoal
"I respect the Mahirim as hunters and as warriors, but their culture is despicably cruel and primitive. If they would but submit to Mirdain teaching, we could civilize those simple-minded brutes."
- Derheil Silverglade, Mirdain from Charybdis
"Of all non-orks, the Mahirim are the least pathetic and puny. In fact, Orks sometimes ally with that noble race of predra... pedrato... hunters. If the Mahirim are extra nice, Ashaka may even spare them from the Big Burning, hehe."
- Azog Elfstrangler, Ork from Flaming Skull
"To a Mahirim, the world is a hunting ground full of prey such as you and me. They value nothing outside their own strange culture, and the only way to deal with them is by the sword."
- Moirna Fernway, Human from Sanguine
"You can forget about your dragons and your gargantuas, the second most dangerous thing in the world is a Mahirim raiding party. They are fast, agile and strong, and they fight with the ferocity and cunning of born predators. What? Well, the most dangerous thing in the world is clearly an angry Dwarf. Which is why you should shut up and buy me a beer."
- Iarlgrim Snowshield, Dwarf from Ymir's Tear
Allies and enemies
The Moon-Beast is a sinister lunar deity, who represents moon-induced madness and virility. He is seen as a celestial hunter, who descends upon the Tribelands as a full moon rises, and hunts relentlessly until it sets. The moon-beast is a vaguely humanoid figure, whose body is covered in flowing, silvery black fur. He runs on all fours, but while his legs are wolf-like, his arms are those of a giant human. He has an enormous, protruding jaw which resembles that of a crocodile, but it is fur-clad and has a rounded shape. His shining, yellow eyes seem locked in a perpetual, mad stare.
Little is known of the origin of the moon-beast, who has been worshipped by the mahirim since time immemorial. In ancient times, when all mahirim were nomadic hunters, the moon-beast was one of the strongest aspects, but his popularity waned as mahirim culture grew more sophisticated. Unlike the other mahirim gods, he is not associated with only one of the moons, but with both: his rampages occur in the full moons of both cycles.
Those mahirim who see themselves as walking in the light of the moon-beast, rather than that of Leen or Neith, tend to be violent, unpredictable individuals who live outside the large, modern settlements. Small clans of moon-beast worshippers, who follow the ancient ways of hunting and raiding, roam across the Tribelands. They tend to follow the movements of migratory prey-herds, and to maintain semi-permanent seasonal camps in the deciduous forests which are so common in the Tribelands.
Though they are few still, the number of Moon-Beast worshippers has grown steadily for decades. The Cult of the Moon-Beast has become the focal point for a cultural reaction against the civilizing influence of Red Moon.
Ioanna the Tall and Silverclaw
The members of the Cult are spread throughout the Tribelands, with cells of worshippers existing within many predominantly progressive communities. Depending on the situation within each clan, these cells either work openly for a return to the ancient ways, or they work covertly, wreaking damage to modern structures and equipment while undermining the positions of Red Moon loyalists.
There are entire clans who have remained worshippers of the Moon-Beast, or who have taken it up as a protest against recent modernisation. Most of these clans live as nomadic hunters and raiders in the peripheries of the Tribelands, beyond the reach of the Order of the Crescent and their loyalist allies.
Recently, Cultist attacks have increased in frequency, as has their work to recruit new members. Many of the efforts of Cult’s cells and clans now appear to be parts of a larger plan, and their actions have a growing tendency to be large-scale and coordinated.
This increase in sophistication is partly the result of the work done at Silverclaw, a recently established base hidden in the forests of the southern Tribelands, near the Mirendil border. Silverclaw is run by Ioanna the Tall, a female warrior of great strength, valour and charisma.
The Cult remains nominally leaderless, as it always has been, but Ioanna has gradually established herself as its de facto leader. Initially, many cultists opposed her plan of establishing a headquarters and a central leadership structure, but those dissenters have been dealt with – at least temporarily – and there few who would dare to challenge her now.
The Elders at Red Moon are certainly aware that a new leadership is behind the recent increase in Cult activity, and that a headquarters has been established in the southern part of the Tribelands. They know very little about Ioanna the Tall, however, and have been unable to locate Silverclaw.
Human Brutes
A barbarian race of humans called the skaerings live in the Tribelands. Once, the clans of the skaering people were found throughout the Tribelands, competing with gnolls and mahirim for prey. However, the success of the mahirim has spelled disaster for the skaerings, and they have been driven from most of their ancestral lands, only surviving in isolated and inaccessible locations. A few large tribes still survive in the northwestern Tribelands, where an inhospitable climate and northman raids have kept the number of mahirim settlements down.
The skaerings are short-statured but stocky race, whose physical strength makes them formidable close combat opponents. They wield extremely primitive weapons, such as clubs, simple stone axes and stone-tipped spears. Skaerings are fiercely territorial, and attack any other predator that enters their hunting grounds.
In all respects, skaering society is stuck on a Stone Age level. They live in caves or in primitive earthen huts, and use few and primitive tools. They speak a language consisting mostly of grunts and whines, and wear no clothes except for hide loincloths.
Gnolls
Close racial relatives of the mahirim, the gnolls are also their fiercest ancestral enemy. Since time immemorial, these two races have fought for control over the best hunting grounds in the Tribelands, with wars of eradication breaking out whenever paths crossed.
In recent centuries, the gnolls have lost ground to the ascendant mahirim, and they have been adversely affected by the enclosing of animal herds. But the gnoll decline has not been as fatal as that of the skaerings, and many large and small tribes still roam the Tribelands, particularly its more peripheral regions. Gnolls live in hide tents, which the tribe brings along as it moves between hunting grounds.
Culturally, gnolls are slightly more advanced than the skaerings, but not much. They fight using a combination of spiked clubs, simple bows, and weapons taken from fallen enemies. They are expert hunters who attack their enemies in large, well coordinated packs.
Religion and magic
The mahirim worship Leen and Neith, which are divine embodiments of Agon’s two moons. They are venerated as divinities with radically different dispositions, who bestow different sets of equally necessary gifts upon the mahirim. While it is common to worship both deities, most individuals see themselves as walking in the light of one especially.
Red Neith is the larger of Agon’s two moons. She is worshipped as the moon mother, and seen as a provider of plenty and a bringer of peace. While venerated by most, she is a particular favourite of more peaceful individuals. Her symbol is a red circle surrounding a field of ochre.
In mahirim imagery, Neith takes the shape of a red-furred mahirim female with eyes that are large, brown and gentle. She wears full mahirim festive clothing and lapis lazuli jewelry.
Bluish white Leen is a smaller, more distant moon than Neith. He is worshipped as the god of war, who grants his followers the fulfillment of combat and the spoils of victory. Like Neith, he is venerated by most mahirim, but his worship is particularly fervent among more aggressive clans and individuals. Leen’s symbol is a white crescent.
Leen appears as a fully armed mahirim warrior, clad in leather armour and wielding a heavy spear. His fur is bluish white, like the moon he represents, and he wears a large necklace of silver and lapis lazuli.
The mahirim worship in moonshrines, which are found in every sizable community. Here, they give sacrifice to the moon, offering different kinds of animals to the different aspects, in accordance with ancient traditions.
Before the arrival of Amurran, the mahirim worshipped a wide variety of lunar deities, each of whom dominated in different regions and among different clans. While most of these divinities have faded into nothingness, one in particular – the Moon-Beast - still thrives among traditionalists and in the wild regions of the Tribelands.
Art and architecture
The mahirim prefer single-storied wooden buildings with sloping roofs, covered in grassy thatch or wooden tiles. Generally speaking, the houses of the well-to-do have tiled roofs, while those belonging to poorer mahirim have thatched roofs. Inside, the roof is supported by thick beams that run along the centre of each structure.
Mahirim houses resemble inverted ship’s hulls, with graceful curves that seem to mirror the rolling hills of the Tribelands surrounding them. They have a distinctly elongated shape, with most rooms aligned in a single surface row, and only larders and armouries hidden underground. The underground levels of mahirim houses, which are dug straight out of the soil, tend to be quite dark and damp.
All mahirim houses are surrounded by waist-high (to a mahirim) stone walls that offer both protection and insulation. Inside, the earthen floor is broken by a stone-laid section in the central chamber, which contains a sunken fireplace used for preparing food.
Mahirim decorate the edges of their roofs and outside walls with intricate woodcarvings that depict the twisting, intertwined bodies of beasts, interspersed with crescent moon shapes. On the more luxurious mahirim houses, gaping heads occasionally protrude from the carvings, especially on corners and along doorways.
Artistic blacksmiths also shape flat figures from cast iron, which are riveted onto doors and other suitable parts of the exterior. The cast iron shapes resemble the woodcarvings along doorways and corners, but they tend to have cleaner lines.
Walls and keeps
The villages of the mahirim are protected by stone walls crowned by wooden battlements. The outer walls of the battlements are dense vertical rows of sharpened poles that are difficult to scale. For the benefit of javelin-throwing mahirim defenders, waist high gaps have been cut at regular intervals.
Square-shaped, stout wooden guard towers stand above all gates and at regular intervals elsewhere along the walls. The battlements run through these towers, and windows have been cut out of their outward walls at battlement height. A ladder leads up to a roof where guards keep outlook, and where ballistae are sometimes placed.
Mahirim keeps consist of two separate parts, one of which always stands atop a steep hill raised prior to the construction of the keep itself. The lower section, which stands at the foot of the hill, consists of a number of wooden buildings surrounded by stone-and-wood walls.
The smaller hilltop section consists only of a stout stone tower protected by another stone-and-wood wall which girdles the hill. The walls around the two sections are connected by a narrow, walled walkway which ascends the hillside between them.
Clothes and Decoration
The mahirim venerate the lapis lazuli gemstone, which is mined in the hillsides of the western Tribelands. They fashion all sorts of jewelry from it, usually inset in larger decorative items made of silver or silvery-blue ormham. Additionally, the mahirim are fond of the colour ultramarine, which is extracted from lapis lazuli, and which is used generously in artworks and decorations.
When dressing up for festive occasions, mahirim commonly wear broad, colourful pectorals and matching armbands and ankle collars. Besides pendants, these are also the item types most commonly imbued with magical powers by mahirim spellcasters.
Mahirim often wear very long pendants that hang down their chests and bellies, often below a colourful pectoral. These pendants generally carry animal claws or crescent shapes made of ormham or lapis lazuli and are referred to as Moon Pendants or Bearclaw Pendants.
Inside their homes, mahirim cover the earthen floor of living rooms and bedrooms with colourful rugs. Generally, the patterns on the rugs are the same throughout a single dwelling, but vary greatly from house to house, and the choice of pattern is often a matter of long-standing family tradition. The mahirim do not use beds, but sleep on snug piles of rugs and furs along the walls of large communal bedrooms. Tables, chairs and other furniture tend to be of solid, untreated oak.
The inside walls are decorated with mahirim war-banners which hang from the ceiling and reach all the way to the floor. The war-banners are slender (approx. 1 meter broad) and straight-hanging, but are forked at the point where they reach the earthen floor. Most war-banners are split between two colours that meet at the fork and run up their entire length. The banners in richer homes tend to be more elaborate, with moon shapes embroidered along the edges, and a large clan symbol halfway between floor and ceiling. The colours on the banners commonly mirror those on the clan-patterned rugs.
