The Tar Drinkers are a people that live amongst and around the Unarim Tar Pits in central Brightmarch. They are widely known for their mastery of working with oil and tar, which they use extensively for defensive purposes, as well as for their necromantic practices.
Demographics
The total population of Tar Drinkers is difficult to determine, though they are generally thought to be between four to six hundred people, split between a handful of tribes. Most are half-elves.
Culture
Religion
Tar Drinker religion is quite unlike the beliefs of any others who live near them. They adhere to generally animistic practices, which is not unusual at all on its own, but their fusion of these with their widespread use of necromancy is quite unique. In essence, the Tar Drinkers believe certain animals, paragons of their kind, possess especially powerful souls, and that by raising the skeletons of these creatures and binding their souls to their remains one can gain potent spiritual patrons. These undead spirits can prove capricious and difficult to predict, but this is to be expected, for ultimately no matter what offerings and supplications are given, or how often they are provided, the spirits remain powerful and independent beings. Those that raise the bone-spirits are thought to have a particularly close connection to them, but they can be turned against unexpectedly all the same - the relationship between the spirits and their worshipers is inherently one of constant tension.
Dinosaurs that met their ends in or near the Unarim Tar Pits are especially favored to be brought back as bone-spirits.
Society
The Tar Drinkers are considerably more isolationist than are most other Marcher peoples. They engage in trade with outsiders on occasion, but otherwise have little to do with the outside world, preferring instead to remain near the safety of their protected communities. They make heavy use of the tar, oil, and asphalt around them, turning them into deadly hidden traps, tar golems, and flaming weapons. It is not only for defense that they use these materials, however, as the tar is also important for waterproofing their homes and as an adhesive.
Necromancy
Necromancy is a completely accepted practice to the Tar Drinkers. They rarely raise their own dead, preferring instead their tar burials, but the corpses of mundane and magical creatures, as well as those of their foes, are often brought back to act as guards or servants. Beings that were particularly powerful in life are brought back as revered and feared bone-spirits. The Tar Drinkers prefer skeletal undead whenever possible, even if that requires flensing and disposing of the flesh of the recently deceased.
Languages
Nearly all Tar Drinkers speak Aserdian as a first and only language. A very small number speak Elven as well.
Architecture
The Tar Drinkers live in permanent abodes, largely made out of alphalt-covered hides stretched over wooden frames, roughly conical in shape though with sides that get less steep as they rise. These homes are clustered into multiple small villages throughout the Unarim Tar Pits. All villages are located in some of the most treacherous places in the tar pits, built there intentionally to discourage unwelcome visitors.
Government
Unusually amongst the peoples of Brightmarch, the Tar Drinkers do not govern themselves under a meritocratic system. Rather, they are ruled by a hereditary diarchy. These leaders are the closest living descendants of two Eitan scholar-nobles who established an outpost near the tar pits millennia ago, when the elven kingdom was still in its prime. Of course, as a result of the long span of history since effectively all the Tar Drinkers are related to these two figures, but careful genealogies are kept to track who has the most direct line of inheritance. As a side effect of this, a more elven appearance confers social status and prestige amongst the Tar Drinkers.
The Tar Drinker diarchs enjoy effectively absolute rule - provided, that is, that they can come to a consensus between them. As there are more tribes within the Tar Drinkers than merely two, the diarchs rely heavily on networks of patronage to ensure that tribal leaders, who also inherit their roles, loyally carry out their orders.