Karameikos - Vaults of Pandius

The Demography of KarameikosThe Firemane tribe lives in the wooded landsbetween The Moor and the Lake of the Lost Dreams.They are a warlike tribe who is hostile to humanpresence in the area. The Shurak tribe lives in thewoodlands around the Lake of the Lost Dreams,bordering the Vyalia and goblin lands. They are apeaceful tribe who mostly wants to be left alone.Lastly, there is the Stormwind tribe, who controlsthe north-eastern part of The Moor, outside theborders of the Barony of Kelvin. The Stormwindcentaurs dislike outsiders and prefer to stay awayfrom civilization, but have been known to helphumans in distress and even accept some of them asmembers of their tribe.Another group of individual centaurs (with somechevalls within their ranks) is the Clanless, whoconsist entirely of bards and druids roaming thewilds of Karameikos and acting as judges, sages,storytellers and healers for all the centaur tribes.Bugbears (pop. 1,650)All the bugbears of Karameikos belong to thecommon bugbear stock (Ursus bipedis vulgaris)and arrived in this region during the aftermath ofthe Battle of Sardal Pass (BC 492). The bugbearpresence in eastern Karameikos is limited to smallbands which are part of larger, mixed humanoidtribes (like the Steelwarriors hobgoblins of the AltanTepes). Bugbears are, however, quite numerous inwestern Karameikos, where the Vileraiders (abugbear-only tribe) and the Bloodbears (a mixedbugbear-hobgoblin tribe) are in control of largestretches of the woods south of the Westron Road;another bugbear-only tribe, called Bargle’sBugbears, lives within the border of the Black EagleBarony and serves the Baron’s infamous courtmagician.As a result, if you allow them inyour campaign, a number of halforcsand half-ogres should betaken into account whenexamining the Karameikanpopulation as a whole. In thearticle they have been included inthe population figures given forhumans. Half-ogres should notexceed one hundred, while halforcsmay be about one thousand,many of whom may be part ofthose “orcs” serving in the Bannerof the Black Eagle elite unit orliving in the Black Eagle Barony.If you want to have other halfbreedsin your Karameikancampaign, use this rule of thumbto determine their whole numberin the country: on average, thenumber of half-breeds is equal to5% of the population figure givenfor the relative humanoid race inKarameikos. As with half-orcs andhalf-ogres, the half-breeds shouldbe subtracted from the totalhuman population.Gnolls (pop. 1,400)Karameikan gnolls all belong to the laughing gnollstock (Canis erectus hilaris). Today’s gnolls areonly a pale reflection of the savage gnoll hordes of23THRESHOLD: The Mystara Magazine Issue #1