Development Level 5

Development Level 5 political entities are identified by the possession of three technologies: fishing, hunting and mysticism. These are the most primitive examples of organized civilization, highly distrustful, remote and scattered.

List of Political Entities

These places are rare and almost always describe humanoid cultures that are neither human nor demi-human. A list of known political entities that have a development of 5 are shown.

Entity	Overlord	Population	Area (20-mile hexes)	Environment	Race
Biyetia, Haftsmark of	Magloshkagok	11,223	599.9	boreal	goblin
Nissi An, Reaches of the	none	3,975	729.0	boreal	bugbear
Ostyakia, Haftsmark of	Magloshkagok	38,913	500.0	boreal	goblin
Tyan-Shan, Hat of the	Dungane	5,985	44.0	alpine tundra	githzerai
Yak'Margug, Barony of	Bjarmaland	9,644	178.0	boreal	gnoll
Yelania, Ilkhanate of	Jagatai	2,799	22.0	steppe	orc
Zyria, Banner of	Bulgrastan	958	31.0	boreal	ogre

Sub-technologies

Basic Hunting: the primitive killing and trapping of animals for food, with hunters acting in groups to drive and encircle animals so they can be harvested. Plants and other food sources provide staple forage.

Catch Fishing: also known as artisanal fishing, the employment of primitive styles of fishing using short (rarely overnight) fishing trips close to home. The catch is not processed but is instead eaten. The amount caught usually meets the subsistence needs of the community.

Mute Barter: the basis of a primitive trade economy whereby more developed outsiders arrange to barter with well-placed yet isolated tribal-based settlements. An arrangement is often made in which the outsider leaves trade goods at a pre-arranged place, thereafter signalling with a gong or by smoke. The primitive culture examines the offer and deposits their own goods in exchange. The goods traded for are typically crude and for practical use. Continuous trade helps stabilize larger settlements into sustained villages enduring multiple generations.

Shamanism: enables communication with benevolent and malevolent spirits, whose threat is mitigated by the presence of a tribal shaman. Through religious ecstasy and trance, an abnormal state of wakefulness, existing spirits are appeased and encouraged to act supportively of the shaman's people. Further, the shaman manipulates wild magic through the altered states of consciousness induced by pain, fasting, herbs and extraordinary physical exertion, producing a natural degree of intoxication. The presence of the shaman adds +1 happiness to a community.

Tools

Dwellings: developed stone & clay roundhouses, dugouts and adobe structures; hide huts (portable)

Food Gathering:: fishing line (made of gut or woven fibre), fishing nets, gaffs, hooks (bone), snares

Religion: drums, gong, rattle, smoke pipe, tokens

Watercraft: boats consist of lightly built narrow craft for one to three persons, made of natural materials and lacking the strength to survive a storm in deep water. Caulking is done with natural materials.

Weapons: javelin & spear (barbed, with heads of bone or stone)

Culture

Leadership

Shamanistic culture serves to legitimize the power held by chiefs and chieftains over clans or tribes. The choice of leader relates to the practice of sacred journeys, vision quests and tests of adulthood, which separate out the weaker members and identify those that are strongest. These obtain greater status within the clan, forming a "council" with the right to partake in decision-making and to select a leader from among themselves. Those who succeed these test without special merit form the strength of the clan and those who do not succeed become the subservient class. Special merit reflects a strong belief in superstitious signs and omens.

To survive at all in such harsh circumstances requires fortitude (the will to survive); as the weak are abandoned, the living possess a higher natural endurance above other humanoids of their species: +1 strength, +1 constitution and minimum 3 hit points. Clan structure is inordinately self-supporting and defensive, so that standard morale is 8.

Religion

Individuals experience awe of the power of nature, particularly of storms, which threaten boats on the water and cause damage on land. There is little comprehension of "gods," but the forces that control storms, wind, fire and water are typically the entities called upon by shamans and others.

Animal sacrifices are carried out at certain times of the year, invoking a strong relationship between clan members and death, and importantly the ideal of personal sacrifice for the good of others.

Contact with Outsiders

Contact with outsiders is minimal; most settlements are located on rivers or coasts, enabling contact between settlements by boat. Distances are usually extreme, however, so contact is over very rare except in cases where settlements are nearer than 100 miles apart. The only contact may be with outsiders seeking goods such as furs, gold or provisions (meat). In such cases, trade is usually done through a form of silent barter, with parties not directly contancing each other. Dev-5 settlements seek to import metals (copper and bronze, which they can work), pottery and weapons.

Some knowledge of the outside world is gained through these sacred journeys that young members of the clan undertake. It is common to seek out sacred places and monoliths that make up the larger tribal culture; and to dedicate new monoliths to highly celebrated members of the tribe, which then become important to sacred journeys undertaken by distant settlements and groups.

Daily Life

Members of the council possess the greatest number of comforts and personal wealth, with personal servants, furs to sleep on, imported weapons and metal jewelry, the use of pottery vessels and many skins to wear. Among others, the ownership of placer nuggets, ornamental stones, axes, sea shells and warm skins are chief signs of wealth and importance.

When not working or travelling, clan members gather to experience religious fervor through the shaman, to dance and to sing and to tell stories of long journeys and acts of bravery, especially from older members to the young.

Blocks

Hinterland

Fertile land: areas where the soil is capable of producing in abundance, typically well-watered with one or more springs, formerly verdant, with easy access to rivers, ponds and lakes, adjacent to known animal trails and watering holes. Bottomland fits this description.

Forage land: indicates naturally rich food sources related to animal and plant life, such as patches of fruiting trees and shrubs, bird mating grounds, extensive sources of honey, crab grounds, muscle and clam shoals, etc.

Ford: a shallow place with good footing where a river or stream may be crossed by wading. Such places may be impassable during seasonal high water.

Groves & dales: these are naturally idyllic wilderness places existing as gathering places for benevolent spirits, able to heal and restore worthy persons to a state of health and life. Worthiness is determined by the manner in which the subject became infirmed, disfigured or killed.

Ocean banks: submerged plateaus that are shallow compared to their surrounding area, accessed by boats and improved by markers and navigation to become fishing grounds.

Protected beach: with fishing boats that are pulled high upon the beach to protect them from storms, with boats light enough to be carried; the settlement is located behind the beach in trees or among protective rocks.

Sacred places & isles: These are naturally occurring geographical features that lend focus to wild magic and other energy, increasing the effectiveness and power of spells, typically from 20-50%. Such places are typically marked by a monolith.

Monuments

Cairns & columns: these are unnatural piles, or stacks, of stones, serving as landmarks and guideposts. Diviners are sometimes able to communicate with spirits related to the cairn.

Geoglyphs: these are large designs or motives produced on the ground and formed of broken rocks or similarly durable material. These function as monoliths, but as they cannot be understood from the ground, they are comprehensible to only a small number of holy persons who understand their nature.

Monoliths & megaliths: a humanoid-made monument in the form of tumulus, dolmens, barrows, mounds, kurgans and like structures, existing as markers, burial sites or features intended to channel magical energy. The presence of monoliths demonstrate a shared cosmology among primitive cultures. These places act as catalysts for empowerment, visions, self-awareness and direct communication with the cosmos. Their presence adds +1 culture. Megaliths are mindbogglingly immense monoliths, adding 1d6+2 culture; 1 in 100 monoliths will be a megalith. Monoliths and megaliths are commonly rock cuts.

Trading site: a specific agreed-upon location usually coinciding with an unusual geographic feature such as a stone platform, high embankment or isolated tree or standing rock. A cairn or other minor construction may be present.

Villages

The nature of the village and its juxtaposed landscapes depends upon the food source exploited by the inhabitants. Nomadic clans will sometimes create temporary villages that are not technically "blocks" because of their impermanant nature (and are therefore not included); they are more appropriately deemed encounters.

Hut village: component settlement blocks with semi-permanent wooden huts and movable hide huts. The block provides consistent forage throughout the year, surrounded by grazing and verdant lands. Seasonal change of permanent residents reflects the season, with clans gathering in cold and dry seasons and dispersing when the weather improves. Natural features provide defense and protection from monsters and raiders. The population of such a conglomeration is between 100 and 150 males, females and children.

Village centre: a collection of long-established durable buildings organized around a village green and common water supply (natural spring, pond or river), with paths leading beyond. Settles 100-150 persons. Village centres are only present in settlements of 500 persons or more, with remaining population distributed among other village blocks.

Water village: small settlement constructed on a tidal mud flat, freshwater pond or marshland, with houses on pillars or jetties, allowing direct access to boats tied to each house. The village is often reachable only by boat. The population of such a conglomeration is between 75 and 125 males, females and children.

Improvements

Dugout & stone/clay housing: developed stone & clay roundhouses, dugouts and adobe structures built to last several generations with minimal repairs. Dwellings are small, typically 15-20 ft. in diameter at most, with 4 ft. doorways and capped ceilings, or dirt floors dug three feet below surface level. Use of clay is primitive and depends on dry climates to ensure durability; found only in village centres. Adds +1 health.

Fishing grounds: exploration has located a sea, lake or river location of unusually rich fishing waters. This is indicated by pre-existing trade references indicating fish or boatbuilding. May be exploited by up to two T(1-6) settlements. Adds +2 food total (to one settlement if not divided between two) and +1 health. Includes salmon runs.

Hunting grounds: describes the unusual abundance of herds and game, usually due to the amount of water, access, alignment with natural migration routes and lack of overhunting. This is indicated by pre-existing trade references indicating game or furs. May be exploited by up to two T(5-6) hexes per hunting reference (see below). Adds +2 food total (to one settlement if not divided between two) and +1 health.

Market: select settlements have access to trading sites that add +1 wealth. This wealth is expressed in hard goods and not coinage.