Pischan

''“Strong as an ox and half as smart is what I'd say. I can't believe some of 'em are human. More like cave trolls than people proper. Ya know why the countryside 'round here is so flat? Cause all the mountains got up and started farmin! Course, don't let any of 'em hear you say that. They got all the humor of a mountain too.”    ''

-Overheard in a tavern on the Cambria-Pischa border

Appearance
The Pischa are often stereotyped as farm animals: large, brutishly strong, stubborn, quick to anger, and none to bright. And in many ways they live up to this. Pischans are large, as much as 8 feet tall, and muscular, with uniformly flaxen hair and skin tones of grey to white. A stubborn independent streak runs strongly in Pischan culture as well, and while Pischans are usually slow to get angry, once they do it is seldom forgotten.

Culture
Pischans are superb craftsmen, slowly hammering out amazing metal and stone works. These are well traded though most of the civilized world, especially with the Astran empire. The Rus, leader of the Pischa, lives in a largely underground palace, carved with this artistry into the stone of the southern Pischan steppes.

International Relations
Pischans are a mostly peaceful folk, humble farmers and tradesmen. That said, they are a force on the world scene for their ability to thrive in the cold northern plains, one of the few places fickle winterwheat can grow year round, and their Ice-ships, powerful sailing vessels that can break through the pack ice that surrounds most Pischan harbors.

Pichan pirates or raiders, known as Iceriggers, also terrorize the north coast of Cambria and the Shar in the winters, though this has lessened in recent years.

Making a Pischan Character
Pischan names are often short and hard sounding, especialy male names.

Male: Drak, Kos, Tor, Sön, Kaseh

Female: Illya, Killa, Tus, Sim