Sunday, October 6, 2013

Mesa of the Sky-Vikings


In the Hidden Land beyond a cave in the Superstition Mountains, there is an imposing, solitary mesa rising above the jungle. The mesa is some 1200 feet tall and steep-sided. Its flat top is about 900 ft. long and 400 ft. across at its widest. Located there are the longhouses and fortress of the Sky-Vikings.

Interbreeding with captives from the jungle tribes and exposure to the tropical sun and turned their pale complexions darker, but they often retain the fair hair of their ancestors. Their material cultural is similar, but adapted to their surroundings.

Most dramatically, they have replaced their forebears seagoing raids with aerial attacks. The Sky-Vikings have domesticated the pteranodons that nest on the mesa and use them as mounts. As there society depends on the raids for most of their food and raw materials, they train from a young age to command the flying beasts. Their society is male-dominated; only rarely are women able to prove themselves as pteranodon-riding raiders. Some jarls are more permissive than others, however.

The Sky-Vikings know the working of metal,and have metal spearheads, knives, and short-swords. The rarely waist their limited supplies on armor.


3 comments:

Simon J. Hogwood said...

Armor, no, but apparently winged helmets are all the rage.

I like the concept, though - although their most obvious use is as enemies or other NPCs, I could see a game based around playing a squad of recently-minted riders, too.

Jim Shelley said...

I'm digging these Hidden Land posts. Keep 'em coming!

Trey said...

Thanks, Jim.

@Simon - Well yeah--the helmets are a given. I think your right as well on there use typically being as antagonists.