Reghedmen

The Reghedmen, also known as the Reghed barbarians or the men of the tundra, were the barbarian tribes of Icewind Dale. They eked out a harsh and bitter life between the Reghed Glacier and the Sea of Moving Ice.

Each entirety of the Reghedmen people lived within one of several tribes, each of which was ruled by a king. Known tribes were the Tribe of the Elk, the Tribe of the Wolf, the Tribe of the Bear, the Tribe of the Tiger, the Tribe of the Seal and the Tribe of the Caribou. However, by the late 15 century DR only the tribes of the Elk, Tiger, Wolf, and Bear remained.

Description
The Reghedman were tall for humans, sometimes reaching seven feet in height. They were blue-eyed and fair-haired, with hair of blond, red, or light brown hues.

Culture
The Reghedmen were migratory hunters, who herds of reindeer across the frozen tundra. They lived in deerskin tents and crafted goods of wood and whalebone.

The Reghedmen spoke their own language, Reghedjic.

Like many of their kind, they were suspicious of magic, and saw it as the tool of the evil and indolent.

Religion
The Reghedmen worshipped tribal beast spirits and Tempos, the god of war. Tempos was served by shamans who revered their tribal beast totems highly.

These beast totems were great spirits, similar to those of the Uthgardt barbarians. Unlike the Uthgardt, Reghedmen shamans could not call upon a beast power, however, extremely motivated or experienced shamans had been known to become possessed by the spirits of their totem animals.

Relations
Due to their combative history with one another, the Reghedmen collectively hated orcs.

History
For many years the Reghedmen were hostile toward the Ten-Towns and raided them relatively frequently.

Around the, the Reghedmen invaded the Ten Towns of Icewind Dale, and were rebuffed by an uneasy alliance formed by the folks of the dale and the dwarves of Kelvin's Cairn. After the barbarian army was all-but-destroyed, King of the Tribe of the Elk, Heafstaag, allied the tribes with Akar Kessell, a dark wizard from Luskan. Kessel used the last Reghedmen in his plan to exact revenge upon the Ten-Towns. Fortunately for all, the barbarian Wulfgar slew Heafstaag in a challenge and became king of the tribes. He brought the fifty remaining Reghedmen to the Ten Towns, where they turned away Kessell's invading horde and settled down for a time, away from the harsh wilderness of the north.

The survivors dwelled in the Ten-Towns, mostly in Bremen and Caer-Konig, while others went south to Settlestone, to rebuild their strength and learned how to exist within "civilized society". Over the next couple of decades though, more and more tribesmen decided to return to their traditional ways, splitting along similar tribal lines. Two new tribes sprang up, the tribes of the Seal and Caribou but they were both eventually absorbed into the Tribe of the Elk which had again emerged as the strongest of the Reghedmen tribes.

15 Century
As of the late 15 century DR, the tribes of the Wolf and Tiger barely managed to exist out on the tundra.

The Tribe of the Tiger tried to gain entry to Bremen during the winter of the, but were refused by suspicious townsfolk, forcing them to make camp on the northwest shore of Maer Dualdon where they suffered repeated attacks from beasts. The Tribe of the Wolf took shelter against the wind in the lee of the Spine of the World near Ironmaster but lost its king in the journey. The Elk and Bear tribes were much more prosperous, although the latter had come under Auril's sway and they had begun to exclusively worship the Frostmaiden.

Notable Reghedmen

 * Jarund Elkhardt, King of the Tribe of the Elk
 * Jerrod, the warrior-shaman who briefly united the Reghedmen and Uthgardt
 * Revjak, 14 century King of the Reghedmen

Appearances

 * Video Games:
 * Icewind Dale