Forsaken

Dwelling in the ruined and accursed lands formally known as the Forsaken Wastes, the people known only as the Forsaken, scratch out a miserable existence. Inside their homelands, the Forsaken have built up towns, villages, and the occasional city in the habitable region of their homelands.

Many are fishermen and hunters, and by necessity live near rivers and lakes. The coast is dotted with fishing villages and docks for the sturdy northern longships. In the central wastes lies the valley that in their language means 'gods' home.' A grand temple has been erected there, and the Forsaken champions and warlords make the perilous journey to ask for their gods' blessing on their conquests.

The wilds of the wastes are filled with ferocious creatures, that ransack outlying villages when they are not hunting each other. A result of this is that every man and woman are expected to be able to fight, either as defenders of their village, or vicious raiders, sacking more civilized lands. It is almost unheard of for a Forsaken to die in their beds.

History
Forsaken were thought to be descended from those First Men who were lead to worship the gods of the outer darkness, by Lirua the Whisperer. There is little proof to confirm their lineage, aside from the fact that no sane people would settle in the Wastes of their own volition. In ancient times, their lands were unusually prosperous, the soil around the great volcano that sits at the heart of the wastes providing fertile farmlands.

The First Men had a wary if productive trade relationship with the Iludrathi of Aidal to the south. With their access to the Sea of Ice, they were able to acquire trade goods that the landlocked Iludrathi could not easily get to. In exchange, the snow elves crafted beautiful jewels, weapons, and clothing. Though the relationship between the two races never reached anything more than wary respectfulness, there was peace in the north, as other upstart kingdoms of humans sprang up elsewhere.

When the giants came down from the mountains in the western regions of the wastes, many of the people living there perished. It was at this time that the snow elves were busy with orc incursions all along their southern border and were unable to lend aid to their neighbours. Desperate and without an answer for the unrestrained savagery and strength of the giants, the First Men of the Wastes fled to the great volcano, hoping to make their last stand on its' slopes.

It was then that the creature known as Lirua the Whisperer made her appearance. Disguised as a wise and beautiful woman, Lirua suggested to the assembled wise men and tribal leaders that all was not lost. She hinted that the Quintex, the five greatest gods, could deliver the desperate people. There were skeptics, as there always is to change. Many wise men distrusted this newcomer and her new gods. But desperation won out over caution, and the people of the Wastes accepted the Quintex.

Thousands of years of warfare with the rest of the world has thinned the blood of the First Men. The Forsaken have long forgotten their noble roots, instead becoming savage raiders, who lay ruin to anything they find south of the wastes. There is little love lost between the Forsaken and the people of Anendior. For centuries, the newly corrupted Forsaken ran rampant over the northern regions of Anendior, waging brutal war on their former allies. The formation of the sovereignty of Aidal, a few centuries later, served as something of a buffer against the raging madmen that had once been noble descendants of the First Men.

A people reforged
Main article: War of the Red Winter

In the early months of the winter of 436 CC, the Forsaken forged an alliance with the orc tribes of the Frigid Marsh and struck at both Aidal and the Grey Marches in a campaign that would become known as the War of the Red Winter. Though the alliance was eventually driven back by an alliance of Aidal, the Grey Marches, and the Stormlands, it was a wake-up call to the rest of the north. This would be the first the world south of Aidal saw of the new Forsaken. After the Forsaken were forced back, watchposts and fortresses were built along the northern borders of the Stormlands and new agreements of mutual aid were forged among the Grey Marches.

As for the Forsaken, they withdrew to their blasted, icy land, giving themselves fully to the grasp of the Quintex. In their minds, corrupted as they were by bitterness and desperation, the rest of the world had turned on them.