Cleft warren is located to the south, outside the main region of the DragonLands, in a place referred to, by the DragonLands people, as the NomadLands. This land is vast and sparsely populated, being mostly grasslands running to desert. There is a l ittle tropical vegatation located near two massive lakes (Lake Isle and Blackstallion Lake). The terrain doesn't easily support farming, so the people there are nomadic, grazing their herds and moving on.

Three major rivers (Mare River, Hehran's River, and Splitoff River) run water through the land, giving life to the plants and animals. These riversides are prime grazing areas and are rabidly sought after.

The NomadLands, like the DragonLands, is surrounded by rocky mountains. A populace called the Horse Nomads roams through the plains and deserts, never staying for very long in one area. These people are the reason for Cleft Warren. It is to provide them with the protection they now need from the elements of the Wastes-- mostly wraiths and wild dragons-- which are moving into the NomadLands.

Warren Layout:

Cleft Warren is comprised of a series of caves and tunnels within the walls of the Great Cleft, carved by the raging Dragon River spilling into the NomadLands. They are similar in style to a warrens planning, and with much work can be made quickly in to a full functioning warren. The caves for apartments are along the walls of the Cleft, and in comparison with carved caves in other warrens, are much more spacious.

Within some of the caves are a large expance of tunnels, running into the earth much like the design of an anthill. Many of these tunnels let out into huge antechambers, the largest being named the "Gathering Cave" from which the dining hall, hatchin g grounds, workshops, and other facilities can be accessed on Dragonback.

It has been found that there are four caves large enough for a few dragons to fly into at the same time that have access to the Gathering Cave, where the wing will meet at times of emergency and roll-call for practise.

The Warren Green and feeding grounds are located on top of the plateu, a huge expance of grassland with a few trees, with a lake further east. DragonRiders can enjoy thier time there, as well as a secondary waren green located just out of the cleft o n the ground level. This second green gives the warren a chance to provide for itself at least in a minimal way, growing certain fruits and vegetables that are native to the area, as well as raising livestock and animals.

There are currently 300 people in cleft warren, 100 of those combat dragons, 10 non-combat dragons, and 190 unjoined. The unjoined are made up mostly of craftmen: 75 Miner and Metal Workers, 15 medical healers, 10 cooks, 3 WeaponMasters, 10 leather workers / weavers, 25 farmer / herders, and 27 relative staff which have no distinct craft, and help out with all positions.

Horse Nomad Culture:

The Horse Nomads are a group of people who are native to the NomadLands, roaming around in tribes much like the Mongols of ancient Asia, loyal only to their tribe. The horse is the basis of their whole society, as might be gathered from the name. Ch ildren are practically raised in the saddle. A man is valued by the number of horses he owns, a woman by the number of horses her husband had to give her father to gain her as his wife. Herd animals-- sheep, goats, and cattle-- are also of great value a nd their greatest food source. There are some wild grains, berries, tubers and such which are also eaten, but the Horse Nomads grow no crops.

Each tribe has its own diety, after which they will be named. Often, the deity that is believed to oversee the tribe is based on natural psionic abilities within the tribe. If one is a pyrokinetic, then one has been blessed by a fire god. And when one establishes a tribe, it will obviously be devoted to that deity. Not every tribe has abilities to do with their deity, and not every member will have an ability. In fact, in most tribes, there will only be a handful of people who have been "touched" by their deity. These people are always revered. Many tribes also have an item of power having to do with the power of their specific deity.
Other deities will be worshipped in a tribe, but the deity that has blessed that tribe is always served first and foremost.

Most tribes who serve "peaceful" deities are just as warlike as those who serve the more violent ones. This is not seen as a conflict of interest. However, those people who have been touched by such a peaceful deity often are pacifists by vow. Sinc e they will be avidly protected by their tribe, it is usually not necessary that they fight.

The tribes roam through the lands, usually limiting themselves to a given area which they share with "allied" tribes. If grazing gets sparse, as it often does, they will move into new areas, which usually leads to great warfare.

Tribes do not make true alliances. They will cooperate toward a common goal when necessary. There are tribes which serve allied deities and these tribes will not attack tribes of their allied deities. Those tribes serving non-allied deities are fair game.

There is a single language that is common in the NomadLands, though each area and tribe has its own distinct dialect of the tongue. This is another reason of contention between tribes, since it is sometimes very difficult to understand another person from another tribe. Generally, the dialects of nearby tribes are very similar, those of distant tribes, quite distinct.

The tribes are very male-dominated, famales having almost no say in the workings of the tribe. They are kept mostly for cooking, sewing, and bearing children, leaving the more strenuous activities (like War and Herding) to the males. The exception t o this are the warrior women, who choose to reject the typical female roles and learn the arts of war. These women are treated as equal to men, but are also very sought after as wives. Because of the desire for many sons, it is not uncommon for female ch ildren to be aborted (if the sex can be determined ahead of time) or killed at birth. Many daughters are called Benna ('my daughter') by their parents and Bahtna *mother's name* by others at birth and only given a true name when another daughter is born or a proper name is determined. To call a girl not your own 'Benna' is considered a promise to act as a parent toward her.

Some of the most common skills of the Horse Nomads are horsemanship, archery, horse archery, swordsmanship, spear use, mounted combat, and hunting.

The tribe is run by a chieftan, with the power usually passed down from father to son. The eldest son does not automatically inherit the position, however. If there is more than one son of age when the father dies, there generally follows a bloodbat h as they fight for control of the tribe. Any person who stood against the eventual chieftain in his rise to power is usually put to death, though sometimes they are sold as slaves. They never remain in the tribe to possibly cause trouble later.

The chieftain and kin can be recognised because they use a two-scimitar fighting style (long one in the main hand and short in the off hand-- they are drawn across the body, so you can tell that a chieftain is left handed if he wears his long sword on the right side). Others in the tribe use a single scimitar, and sometimes a knife in the off-hand.

There is no taboo against homosexuality among the tribes, and it is common to find a man with a lover of the same sex. A tribesman may have one male and one female lover and no more-- having a male lover is not considered 'cheating' on your female lo ver or vice versa. Slaves and war captives don't count on your limit, but the children produced are not heirs unless you declare them so. Marriages are usually arranged. There are the typical incest taboos, though here again, slaves don't count-- men c an and do have concubines who are half-sisters, born to one of his father's slaves.

Slavery is common. A slave is looked down upon as nothing more than another useful animal, and has no place in a tribe's society. They typically take only female slaves, though sometimes a high-ranking or especially attractive male from another trib e will be kept. Most men, older women and young children will be slaughtered wholesale in the raids.

Many clans exist within the NomadLands, and as of yet, most have not been contacted. The magic of DL is growing, witch adds the hostility of the wastes to this once simple land. It is not entirely taken over yet, and the magic is still mostly in its first stages, the wraith attacks and such being kept to a minimum.

WARREN / HORSE NOMADS RELATIONS:

The warren lifestyle is very confusing to the nomad culture, since the people from the DL's are stationary and live in a single place all of the time.
Dragons are also very frightening creatures and are looked upon much like demons, especially since many tribes encountered dragons first in wild dragon attacks on their tribe.
Another hardship is the language barrier, since the DL tongue is quite different from the NL tongue. Time will have to be taken to learn this new language so communication can be simpler with the tribes. In the beginning, communication was limited to either a translator or sign and hand gestures. Most notable in the Horse Nomads tongue is that they do not use plurals (instead use descriptive words to make a single noun plural) or the articles 'the' and 'a/an'. This tends to confuse DragonLands people.

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