Avvar

The term “Avvar” is used to describe a loosely affiliated group of tribes that live in the Frostback Mountains between Ferelden and Orlais. These clans were part of the barbarian army that marched against Tevinter with Andraste, but when that union eventually split apart, the Avvar took the Frostbacks as their territory. Trying to describe the Avvar as a whole is difficult, because each tribe, or clan, is different in some way from all the others. There are some commonalities, just don’t take the information provided here as ironclad fact that can be applied universally. Impermanence is a way of life for the clans, and they accept that nothing is forever. This includes everything from settlements to marriages, the latter of which are often done through ritual kidnapping, which is an entertaining concept, but completely alien to the rest of Thedas. Each clan is led by a thane, and most have shaman called augurs that commune with all of the various things they worship. There are three common gods between all Avvar clans: Korth the Mountain Father, the Lady of the Skies, and Hakkon Wintersbreath. Past this trio, however, each clan believes in a complicated mix of lesser gods, nature spirits and fabled ancestors that would take multiple tomes to try and sort out, and by the time you had done that, some of them would have changed anyways. Also, most tribes have sacred animals called hold-beasts that are part of the clan and act as a physical representation of that clan’s well-being. The Inquisition dealt with the Avvar several times, as both enemies and allies. The first incident was the kidnapping of several scouts by a group of rogue idiots that drew me to… That Place for the first time, and I really don’t want to talk about it, it’ll just make me angry. The aftermath was entertaining at least, it had goat-throwing and annoying Tevinter. The largest incident was the resurgence of the Jaws of Hakkon in Frostback Basin. If you need an example that the Avvar are not a unified force, look no further. We allied with one clan, the Stone-Bears, against another, the Jaws, as they fought one another. Also, we sort of killed Hakkon Wintersbreath, or at least destroyed the body he had been bound to and freed his spirit. Considering he was going to go on a rampage across Thedas, this was a fantastic short-term outcome, but now an angry god-spirit is roaming around again, so, maybe bad in the long term? Time will tell on that one, I guess.