Avvar
The Avvar are a fiercely independent people occupying the Frostback Mountains and surrounding highlands. Descended from Alamarri tribes who ventured into rugged terrain centuries ago, they have developed a distinct culture and spirituality that sets them apart from lowland folk. The Avvar live in scattered holds perched on cold peaks and narrow valleys, united more by shared customs than by any single ruler.
Environment
The Frostback Mountains are a harsh domain, with steep, jagged slopes and perilous passes. Howling winds and frequent snowfall keep much of the region cold year-round, though some sheltered valleys enjoy a brief, green summer. Game such as mountain goats, wolves, and elk roam these alpine reaches, providing the Avvar with meat, hides, and bones for tools.
Travel in Avvar territory is treacherous even for seasoned climbers. Narrow footpaths connect clan holds, crossing natural bridges and ledges that can collapse under snowdrifts or avalanche. Despite the danger, Avvar people see the Frostbacks as sacred territory, believing the mountains forge both the strength of their people and their bond to ancient spirits.
Culture & Society
Avvar society is clan-based, with each hold ruled by a thane or chieftain who protects the clan’s territory. Kinship and survival bind clans together. In times of hardship, they may share resources or rally to defend a hold against invaders.
Avvars follow a deep spiritual tradition that reveres gods or spirits of the sky, mountain, sun, and seasons. Their best-known deity is the Lady of the Skies, although each clan might also honor lesser spirits or ancestors who dwell in sacred caves or high crags. Avvar shamans—often referred to simply as wise ones—commune with these spirits, interpreting signs and guiding clan religious rites.
Avvar crafts reflect their rugged life. They excel in leatherwork, bone‐carving, and forging sturdy weapons suited to close-quarters combat in mountainous terrain. Their music and oral traditions are rich with heroic sagas, praising ancestors who once defied the might of distant empires or overcame fearsome beasts to protect their kin.
Politics
Culture Skills
Avvar are mountain‐dwellers bound by loyalty to their clans, reverence for powerful spirits, and a shared legacy of rugged survival.
Standard Skills (+5): Athletics, Brawn, Customs, Endurance, Evade, Stealth, Swim
Professional Skills: Acrobatics, Healing, Musicianship, Oratory, Survival, Teach
Requirements: Human
Nothing lasts in the mountains. Wind and rain eventually eat away the strongest holds. Valleys that were arable one generation are locked in year-round ice the next. Game is constantly on the move.
The Avvar have no single authority. Each hold manages its own affairs, occasionally sparring with neighbors over hunting grounds or trade routes with the lowlands. Blood feuds between certain clans can last for years, though attempts to unify them under one banner are few and fleeting. Unity or a lasting alliance with any people requires immense proof of strength and wisdom for an Avvar to consider.
Outsiders seldom gain an Avvar's trust without proving their worth or braving perilous journeys with them. Trade with lowland merchants or other mountain folk does occur, usually involving pelts, rare herbs, or freshly cut ice from glacial deposits—exchanged for metalwork, salt, or other necessities the Avvar cannot easily craft themselves.
Imperial and Chantry authority does not venture high, Avvar traditions remain uninterrupted by the spreading of the Andraste's word. Those interactions had of Templars with wise ones, or missionaries of the Maker, and Avvar, typically end in bloodshed. Unforgiving like their homeland, Avvar do not take kindly to their beliefs being actively undermined by zealots.
