The North Naruaghin occupy the jungle territories surrounding Ekomorn, the great rift that plunges to the center of the material plane. Living in proximity to this abyss has shaped them into the most spiritually focused—and most paranoid—of the three Naruaghin tribal confederations.
Territory
The northern tribes claim the jungle from Ekomorn's edge to the foothills where the Ishnit Jungles meet the Dunes of Kunagi. Their territory is smaller than their southern or eastern kin, but they defend it with desperate ferocity. The rift itself marks their sacred boundary—no North Naruaghin will willingly cross to its far side.
Culture
Where other Naruaghin tribes venerate their draconic heritage through warfare and conquest, the North Naruaghin have turned inward. They are ancestor-worshippers who believe the spirits of the dead stand between the living and what lurks in Ekomorn's depths.
Shadow Vigils: Warriors take rotating watches at the rift's edge, monitoring for emergence events. When shadows rise from the cracks—and they do, unpredictably—drums sound through the jungle to warn neighboring villages.
Bone Temples: North Naruaghin temples are built from the bones of their honored dead, arranged in intricate patterns believed to ward against the dark. These structures serve as both religious sites and defensive positions.
The Marked: Those who survive an encounter with something from Ekomorn are tattooed with black spirals and separated from their tribe. They become seers, consulted for warnings but never trusted. The North Naruaghin believe proximity to the rift's darkness leaves a stain that cannot be washed away.
Dragon Relations
Pythalomos, the constrictor dragon, terrorizes the North Naruaghin more than any other tribe. The dragon's territory overlaps significantly with their lands, and it treats their villages as hunting grounds. The North Naruaghin don't fight Pythalomos—they hide, scatter, and rebuild. They hate the dragon with cold, patient loathing, and their bone temples include effigies of the serpent that they ritually desecrate.
Relations with Other Tribes
The North Naruaghin are the most isolationist of their people. They rarely participate in the intertribal wars that occupy the South and East, preferring to husband their strength against the greater threat from below. Other Naruaghin consider them cowards. The North Naruaghin consider everyone else fools who don't understand what's coming.
Notable Locations
Ekomorn's Edge: The sacred/forbidden boundary. Warriors patrol here but never descend.
Keth-Voram: The largest North Naruaghin settlement, built into a system of caves three miles from the rift. The caves can be sealed with massive stone doors when shadows rise.
The Watcher's Spine: A ridgeline overlooking both the rift and Pythalomos's favorite hunting grounds. The tribe maintains permanent lookouts here.