The Aldruku Empire - an empire woven from tribal clans and bound by the powers of their shamans. Bloody and warlike, they continually lashed against their neighbors. It was they who helped shatter the Hanaset empire. And their final war was that against the Nyorians. In their bid to destroy their most hated enemy, they wrought their own doom and created the horror known as Nethernimbus.
A Cruel, Violent People
The Aldruku are a bronze-age society embroiled in sorcery. Hailing from tropical coastlines they are excellent sailors and build ships similar to Viking longboats. They were a violent people prone to head hunting, slavery and cannibalism. The Aldruku have no central leader - the nation is led by hundreds of tribal shamans who coordinate over distance via magical rituals. The shamans are advised by their gods through visions.
Practitioners of the Dark Arts
The Aldruku were some of the greatest necromancers of the Ancient world. They created many amulets of power and their skill reached it's zenith with the Wands of Soul Rending. These weapons enabled the destruction of the Nygorian High Fleet, and brought about the fall of both Nygoria and Aldruku.
A Visage Macabre
The Aldruku use body paint and tatoos, along with mutilations to create horrifying appearances. Shamans tend to paint themselves to resemble skeletons. Upon their heads, the shamans wear skullcaps fabricated from human skin - taken from fallen enemies. Their Warriors would typically carry trophies of slain victims, such as shrunken heads or fingers. Armor is generally leather reinforced by bone. This leather is generally made from the hides of wild boars or sharks.
Snake Headed Vessels
The Aldruku build longboats of all sizes, from single-person to large ships of war. Their ships are built with cobra-like prows and serpentine imagery is used throughout. Their paddles are carved to appear as cobras - the blade of the paddle shaped like a cobra's hood.
A Dark Legacy
The Aldruku are nearly extinct as a people. There are a few isolated islands harboring dwindling and terribly inbred pockets of Aldruku, along with small enclaves in other kingdoms.
They have, however, left a dark and dangerous legacy in their large number of necromantic amulets. These talismans, generally crafted from human bone and either bleached white or dyed night black, are repositories of necromantic energies to be drawn upon by unprincipled magii. While useful to the powerful and skilled, they are occupied by bound dread spirits who will seek to take over weaker users, spurring them to even greater acts of evil and depravity then they may already be prone to.