Desert dwellers

While I await some pieces I need for the next chapter of the Tale of the Wandering Slayer, I decided to finish up the tribesmen I ordered from Mike earlier this summer.

Making their home in the less traveled parts between the cities of the central desert, the tribes live.
Scratching out an existance much like their ancestors, little has changed in these insular communities of hunters. Hunting and trapping creatures of the desert sustains them, but some tribes are known to cultivate a few hardy crops or even trade with the outside world. Theirs is a world of spirits and fey, the lure of civilization and all it's trappings matter little to them.

Making use of stone and wood to fashion the implement neccessary to survive, the tribesmen are hardened by the life they lead and every one is expected to hunt and defend the village of their birth.

The favored tool of most tribes are some variation of club or axe, often with obsidian heads or blades. Spears and daggers complement their arsenal for hunting and various tasks respectivly. The tribesmen rarely use armor, finding it uncomfortable and quite cowardly. They already have a shield, after all! 

 The shields of most tribes are wooden or hide streched over a wooden frame. More successful tribes, like the ones we see here, have intricate carvings on the face of the shield. But even the less fortunate usually paint and embellish their shields to ward off evil spirits and bring good luck in battle.

A slightly more recent addition to the tribes is the bow. In their ancestors time they used throwing implements shaped from rock or javelins, but some of the more progressive chiefs traded for bows and the knowledge needed to use them, as well as techniques for fletching. Before long, most tribes had traded for this to them new-fangled weapons though a few stubborn tribes refuse such outsider blasphemy.


I'm hoping to see the last few pieces arrive by post this week, so I can get to finishing up for the next chapter.

Til next time!