"The leader turned to his clan and raised his voice. 'Stranders!'
'Of the East Bend!' They answered.
'Quick hands! Long beards!' he cried.
'And sharp daggers!'
'No law!' shouted the leader."
- North! Or Be Eaten
Stranders are bands of lawless vagabonds who have been forced out by the people of Dugtown. They live along the River Blapp, surviving off of the creatures in Glipwood Forest. The more dangerous a Strander clan is, the further along the Blapp they live. Each "clan" is different; some clans are meaner than others, but all of them use a developed system involving pones, a trinket that all clan leaders carry and are identified by. The legendary Strander King, Growlfist, is the most well-known strander to have walked Skree.
History[]
Pre-Series[]
Long before the Great War, the Stranders and Dugtowners made a mess of things, mainly because the Torr Dynasty chose to ignore them. Sharn the Torr made an attempt to clean out and restore order to the Strand, but the Stranders were fierce fighters, and, without the honor of soldiers, were all but impossible to defeat in battle. For years, the war was waged. Finally, Sharn and Growlfist the Strander King agreed to a temporary truce during the Battle of the West Bend. Shortly after, Growlfist and his Pounders breached the battlement of the West Reboubt in the middle of the night and assassinated the highest ranks of the Torr army– a dishonorable action even by Strander reckoning, but effective. Though Growlfist lost most of his men, the loss to Sharn and his soldiers was greater. The army from Torrboro retreated and left the citizens of Dugtown to deal with the Strand on their own.
References[]
- North! Or be Eaten, Chapter 23: "Growlfist the Strander King"
- North! Or be Eaten, Chapter 22: "The Stranders of the East Bend"
- North! Or be Eaten, Chapter 24: "Quick Hands and Quicker Feet"
- North! Or be Eaten, Chapter 26: "Along the River Road"
- North! Or be Eaten, Chapter 27: "A Bruise on the Back of the Land"