The Snakecoil Mountains
The Snakecoil Mountains are home to various barbarian tribes, dwelling on the edge of civilization and living a dog eat dog existence. They are the only ones that dare dwell in the deep desert, but they do it out of necessity, not out of choice. The mountains harbor many creatures like arachnids and various lizards, but the barbarians also need the flesh of the Great Worm and the Old Turtle to feed the tribe. They revere these creatures and give them names as ‘sacred gift from the desert’ or ‘destroyer of life’. They are well aware that these creatures can mean life or death to the tribe: Life when they take a worm or turtle's life and live of his flesh, death when he takes the life of their best warriors and leave the tribe crippled and defenseless.

The tribes have rituals that initiate the hunt on a worm or an old turtle. These rituals last several days and include dancing to the spirits for good luck and to ask forgiveness from the great worm, for they are about to take his life. They also smoke various herbs to enter a trance, in which they try to reach out for their totem and ask him to guide the aim of their weapons. When the warriors leave the tribe, their bodies and weapons are decorated with paint and they are given a talisman, woven from the hair of the tribe's women. Women are thought off as the givers of life, and with this talisman they want to give their gift of life to the chosen warrior. Children born during the period of the hunt are often seen as an ill omen, for the life the mother gives to her child belonged to a warrior who was out hunting. Depending on the tribe, these children are sacrificed or exiled together with their mother.

The barbarian tribes don’t keep up relations with any outsiders. Although not all tribes are hostile, they do consider outsiders as a threat to their way of living. They believe strongly in survival of the fittest and anyone who is not attuned to the tribe’s way of living is an obstacle. From here, there are only two options, either they kill you or they insist that you leave their territorial grounds at once. Barbarians tend think in terms of black or white, there is no grey area in between.

The Barbarian Tribes:

Races:
  • Humans
  • Brutes
  • Minotaurs

Worship:
animal and nature spirits, each tribe has a tribal spirit totem
  • Earth, Fire, Air
  • Lizards, Drakes
  • Scorpions, Spiders (evil)
  • Acid Hounds (evil)
  • The Worm, The Old Turtle
Tribes:
Some tribes of AranoX known through rumour or experience.
  • Tribe of the Fifth Circle:
    • Very spiritual
    • Not at all violent
    • Very xenophobic
    • Travel the spirit world
    • Unknown Spirit Totem

  • Tribe Ignus
    • Almost all barbarians
    • Burner Prestige Class
    • Huge fire elemental Spirit Totem

  • Tribe of the Foul Wind
    • Ride on tamed Sand Wyverns
    • Raid caravans and small farms in the Rock Desert
    • Sand Wyvern Spirit Totem

  • Tribe of the Scorpion
    • Live in the Rock Desert
    • Survive solely on Giant Scorpions
    • Very tall, hair reaches down to their knees
    • Wield the zerka and shulkak
    • Wind and scorpion Spirit Totem

  • Tribe Juggernaut
    • Juggernaut Prestige Class
    • Their Juggernauts hunt Giant Worms!
    • Huge earth elemental Spirit Totem



Prestige Classes:

The barbarians bind with spirits of the elements so that from this union, they can harness powers to defeat the creatures of the Deep Desert. There are currently two prestige classes that represent this, the Juggernaut and the Burner. The Juggernaut comes from a tribe that worships earth; the Burner comes from a fire-worshipping tribe.