Cimmeria is a bleak nation of forested hills and towering mountains. Rank upon rank upon rank of dark hills rise and fall in all directions, forested with strange, dusky trees that give the land a frightening, menacing appearance even by day. Its appearance at night would terrify a civilised man to the brink of sanity. Rain clouds hover perennially over the moody terrain, bringing stinging rain, slick sleet and freezing snow. Its depressing forests are home to a million or so dark-haired, despondent savages. Descended from ancient Atlanteans, the fierce savages of this oppressive realm are grim survivors in a realm that kills softer men.
The Cimmerians are one of the oldest races of the Hyborian world, claiming a pure-blooded lineage that traces back to ancient Atlantis. Like their ancestors, Cimmerians have dark hair and skin, and light eyes, blue or gray. They are tall and lean, yet powerfully built.
Cimmerians shun finery and ostentation. Typically clothing for men and women are simple tunics or shirts of coarse wool and linen worn either with kilts or woollen trousers, dyed with simple, natural dyes. Footwear, when worn (often it is not – many Cimmerians go barefoot), is a pair of simple leather sandals laced around the ankle and calf. Cimmerians generally consider headwear to be a form of disguise as it shadows the eyes or masks the hair. Every Cimmerian is proud to be a Cimmerian; disguises or attempts at them, are for cowards and thieves.
Cimmerians are regarded as among the most fierce and savage peoples in the world and many in the far south regard them as semi-mythical. They are primarily hunters and gatherers, but are also raiders and plunderers, striking into neighbouring regions. They are solemn folk and do not boast of victories, which would be considered prideful and rude, and an invitation to be forced to prove themselves.
For all their brutal hardiness every Cimmerian understands honour, integrity and dignity, even if these concepts differ markedly from what the civilised realms of the Hyborian age would understand by the terms.
The tribe or clan is the most important aspect of life in Cimmeria. Except for the outcasts or those who leave Cimmeria, most Cimmerians owe allegiance to their clan.
Also, they dislike change; therefore they put high value on conformity; non-conformists are a threat. The Cimmerian outlook is founded on things that work and ensuring they continue to work with as little interruption as possible. This means that Cimmerians act and think the way they do because it has always been done that way.
Cimmerians live by a rough code of honour. To Cimmerians, honour does not need to be any more complicated and should always be a straightforward business. Most Cimmerians speak and act plainly, clearly and bluntly – but always honourably. Personal excellence in a given area is a matter of deep personal honour for all Cimmerians. Generally most Cimmerians place import on their prowess as hunters and warriors although, for some, prowess in other fields is held in higher regard. What is most important is the honesty and honour of understanding where one’s talents lie and achieving excellence in that field, whilst still cultivating the ability to both hunt and fight well.
Cimmerians are passionate and filled with pride for their clan. Slights can be weathered from time to time, but insults and assaults against the family or clan are taken seriously and never allowed to rest. The desire for vengeance runs through every Cimmerian as freely as their blood. Insults and assaults must always be paid for, usually in blood. Injury to an individual becomes the responsibility of the entire family or clan to avenge.
Cimmerians do not place any faith in their gods to provide them with a happy afterlife. Death is part of the natural cycle of things, and every Cimmerian knows that death is never far away. Every Cimmerian wants a death that is both clean and honest. That is, a death that would not bring shame on the clan or the individual. Dying whilst behaving with honour in battle, sword in hand, surrounded by the bodies of the enemy, is a good and honest death. Being executed after capture, pleading for one’s life, is exactly the opposite. If a foe fights well and honourably, a fast, cleanly delivered death is an honourable thing to offer. A clean death is delivered without cruelty and without resort to unclean methods such as poisons or venoms, which are the weapons of cowards who lack the prowess to slay their foes cleanly.
Cimmerians believe in a rather dark pantheon of gods, all of whom are ruled by Crom and are of his racer. Crom is seen as a dire god, as gloomy and dangerous as the Cimmerians themselves. The Cimmerians do not pray to Crom, nor do they worship him or any of his kind. Crom and his race of gods despise weaklings who call on them for aid and would likely make the situation worse for the petitioner. The Cimmerians value individuality and self-worth; their gods expect them to take care of life themselves. Indeed, Crom only takes pride in a Cimmerian if that Cimmerian never calls upon him for aid in his life.
Cimmerians are supposed to take what they want from life, not ask a god for blessings, wealth, health or anything else.
Cimmerians are self-governed on a clan or tribal level. Their government consists of a chieftain who is placed in power by consensus of the people who will follow him. A Cimmerian chieftain must have (or be perceived as having) courage, honesty, integrity, loyalty and physical prowess.
A loss in any of these areas and the chieftain is likely to be abandoned and a new chieftain followed. The health of the clan is identified with the health of the chieftain, so if he is wounded or sickly, he is expected to stand down. Often there is an aspect of hereditary titles but this is not preordained.
The clan chiefs are not dictators and are required to at least listen to the respected members of the clan before setting the clan on a course of action. Most often, the decisions of a chieftain accurately reflect the will of the people, else he risks being deposed or even outcast. Disputes are handled via kin. If a dispute is brought before a chieftain for judgement, that chieftain usually makes the entire family of the wrong-doer responsible for any fines, compensation or other punishment.
Cimmeria is a land of subsistence, peopled for the most part by hunters and gatherers. They raid for what they cannot produce themselves and are not given toward international trade. For this reason, no trade caravans from the civilised lands make their way into Cimmeria. Cimmerians do practise internal trade, often for timber, tin, iron and copper. Wealth is measured in cattle. It is the desire of most Cimmerian youths to be considered fine fighters first and foremost, but not all: some are destined to be better craftsmen or herders and, whilst the hunter-warrior creed is expected of all Cimmerians, it is understood at a cultural level that a range of skills and talents are essential for the clan’s survival.
A Cimmerian also does not keep slaves or sell his people into slavery. He sees slaves as weak, else they would not be slaves. For this reason Cimmerians do not make good slaves, so slavers avoid Cimmeria. An adult Cimmerian would rather die trying to escape slavery than just meekly submit.
Common professions:
Cimmeria is a land where the men are the primary force; however, women are respected and treated with far more freedom than women in Hyborian lands. While women are expected to take care of the home and the children, a strong-willed Cimmerian woman can easily break this pattern and become a respected warrior or even rise to become clan chieftain.
An unknown female warrior or chieftain is likely to be treated with disdain when encountering other Cimmerians but those whose reputation are well known are likely to be regarded with almost superstitious awe and given more respect than males in their position might earn.
