Strider Enclaves
Impressions: The moonless sky above, a star-studded void that whispers of infinity. Plains of glittering ice, weathered and spiderwebbed by ancient cracks. The pale glow of witchlights, dividing the enclave from the moonlit gloom. Strider homes, their gentle eaves and radiant moonflowers in stark contrast to the harsh realm beyond the village.
The striders were not originally of this world. Oh, they certainly are nowadays. After all, you can find at least a few striders living on just about every inhabited island in the Archipelago. Originally, though, they came from elsewhere. Many of their kind dwell there still.
The entrances to their “enclaves” can be found in secluded groves all over the world. Only under the light of the full moon do the spaces between the trees thicken, giving way to a deeper darkness. Follow that darkness and it will lead you to an icy otherworld of endless night. Look up into the sky, though, and you won’t see the familiar curve of the Moon. That’s because you’re standing on it, upon the occult face it never shows to the waking world.
There on the Moon, living in sleepy frozen villages, you will find striders. Content with simplicity, they observe the messiness of the Archipelago from a safe remove, knowing that their homes are far from the concerns of the world. In times of hardship, they can even seal the entrance and cut themselves off from the affairs of the waking world entirely. Only the destruction of the entrance grove can truly threaten an enclave, severing their connection to the outside permanently.
| 1d6 | Anchor |
|---|---|
| 1 | The Burden. Striders who wish to leave the enclave and wander the world are given a sacred burden to fulfil. For example, they may be tasked to bear witness, to mend with kindness, or to share in hardships. They cannot return without satisfying the elders that they have done their duty. |
| 2 | The Obligation. Every enclave swears to preserve one particular kind of thing, such as memories, weapons or poetry. They will keep such a thing safe for anyone who asks, as long as you are willing to tell them what it means to you and why it must be kept safe. |
| 3 | Patience. Every rudder leaves a wake, and every word leaves an echo. Better to let the roof fall on your head than to open a door you do not understand. |
| 4 | The Long Walk. When the entrance to an enclave is destroyed, the entire community must brave the icy emptiness of the Moon to seek refuge with another enclave. Often, only a few survive the journey. Many enclaves have members who remember life in a different enclave, connected to a different island, with different obligations. |
| 5 | Greywhiskers. A keeper of records and chronicles. The only deity venerated in strider enclaves, with a saucer of milk below his shrine at moonrise. Most enclaves are absolutely infested with cats. |
| 6 | Mushrooms. Mushrooms are a staple of the enclaves. Strider mycologists cultivate a dizzying variety of funghi, using them for everything from sustenance to seasoning to medicine. There are even mushrooms that can be carved or burned like wood! Mycologists sometimes organise expeditions into the shadowy otherworld to find new varieties. |
The Lady’s Tomb. Some striders call the Moon this, a casual expression passed down from the oldest times. It calls back to an old strider legend: that the Moon is the corpse of a spirit who took pity upon the nascent world. According to the legend, she was a vast water-spirit - maybe even a god - who crossed the ocean of night in order to give the waking world its oceans, allowing the people stranded upon it to set sail and find each other. She succeeded, but at the cost of her own immortality: the striders honour her sacrifice, treating the Moon with a kind of funereal respect.