Jambu, painted for this archiveTamala
Place, Region
The frozen far north of Jambu, home to the only Caucasian peoples of the continent, of unknown origin, who live in clans of 20-200 hunting whale, seal and caribou. They worship fire, and each year every family carries a whale-oil lamp to Saba to be lit from the sacred fire stick by the Keeper of the Flame; in hard winters some cross the frozen North Sea to raid.
From the book
Tamala is a bleak land of ice-bound mountains and frozen tundra in the far north of Jambu, home to the hardy Tamalan tribes, the continent's only native Caucasian people. Their origin is a mystery: some think them descendants of First Age Atlantean colonists, others a lost Hyperborean tribe, but they are paler than the ancient Atlanteans and shorter on average than Hyperboreans, so neither idea quite fits, and their own legends say only that they came from a far-off, hostile land.
Surrounded by ice and snow, they worship fire. Every year Tamalans travel to Saba, their largest settlement, carrying a whale-oil lamp, and their religious leader, a shaman called the Keeper of the Flame, lights each lamp with the sacred fire stick so that every family's fire comes from the one flame.
They live in clans of 20-200, hunting whale, seal and caribou, and shelter in tents of hide stretched over whalebone frames. They dress in heavy layers of hide and fur and make all their tools and weapons from bone and horn. Not warlike, they fight savagely when angered or threatened. In very cold winters many must hunt farther south, and some, driven by hunger, cross the frozen North Sea to raid small villages for food.
At a glance
- Pronunciation
- ta-MA-la
- Region
- northern Jambu
- Notable places
- Saba (SA-ba), religious center
- Religion
- fire worship; the Keeper of the Flame; the sacred fire stick
- Weapons
- bone and horn harpoons, short bows, knives
- Dwellings
- hide tents on whalebone frames
- Clans
- 20-200 individuals