The permanent Grat'han jungle village with which Black Steel has been longest in contact is concealed in the jungle canopy abovethe east bank of the Azarin's main western branch (see regional map) but its exact location is known mostly by approximations and the nature of the local foliage, as mapping the jungles can be exceptionally difficult. It typically takes Herring and Theril about a week to travel there on foot along the river from the jungle's edge when not speeding their travel by sorcerous means, but measurements of that nature are obviously far from precise, particularly for travel through the jungles. The Lacrethah village (a name usually translated as "Black Feather") has risen to importance in the area because of its importance as a local center of trade: It is the only known village with active trade ties to both the Grat'han trade network and the Edge, and profits both as an intermediary between them and as the village where goods from both can most readily be found together -- as well, occasionally, as those of Grat'han elves.
Population: Something between 1,000 and 1,500 Grat'han humans. The official village population includes no non-humans, but visitors from nearby Grat'han tribes of woodland elves and even serpentfolk from the trade network are sometimes present. Though members of Black Steel (most often Herring and Theril) occasionally visit as well, the only person of non-Grat'han descent who actually resides in the village is Tomas Bardickson of Shalaton.
Government: Like many Grat'han tribes, both in and out of the jungles, the Lacrethah are ruled by a primitive power-sharing arrangement between a secular chieftain, a religious leader, and a council of elders. In the case of the Lacrethah, the elders serve an advisory role for the chief, whose decision on all tribal matters is final. He has no authority over the tribal witchdoctor (for reasons of his own, Dlakarsta prefers this term of address when speaking in the trade language, in which he now is fairly fluent) however, who has enormous influence with everyone in the village and is something more than just advisor to the chief: He cannot be refused admission anywhere in the village, and so long as he doesn't step over certain hazy lines, everyone is more or less required to agree with everything he says. Negotiation of these lines and these rules is where the business of the tribe gets very tricky, even though (or especially because) Dlakarsta and Chief Tonbrin understand each other very well, and typically support each other as much as they are able.
National Affiliation: None; the Lacrethah are an independent tribe, ruling their village and nominally the territory in which they hunt and harvest, owing fealty to -- and claiming fealty from -- none beyond their village itself. Their relationships with Black Steel or the Grat'han trade network might yet develop into something more, but so far remain strictly based on trade.
Chief Exports: Lacrethah villagers harvest fruit, wood, herbs, edible fungi, and spices from cultivated sections of the surrounding jungles, camouflaged among the local flora, and from naturally-occurring plants nearby, and hunt for meat, hide, and bone. Their primary exports however are items they acquire via trade, serving as the primary intermediary between the Grat'han trade network and Black Steel.
History
Written language has only recently been introduced to the Lacrethah people, and it is difficult to know where -- if anywhere -- myth and legend give way to factual information in their rich oral history, to say nothing of the changes that may have been introduced over the years. The village has existed in its present location for several generations at least, and has from time to time fought skirmishes with neighboring tribes (not often of humans) or beings for hunting grounds or the tribe's secretly cultivated groves, but the motives, names, and (in many cases) fates of their opposition in these skirmishes is unknown to their people. On the whole, the life of their tribe however had continued mostly the same for several generations at least prior to the arrival of Herring and Theril. Herring, Theril, and Dlakarsta shared an interest in teaching and a thirst for knowledge about the jungles and the world at large, so it was perahps inevitable once they met -- especially given The Edge's intense interest in trade for jungle resources -- that the tribe's recent history should become much more varied and interesting. In addition to initiating long-distance trade with Thornton along the river, the Lacrethah have met with representatives of the Grat'han trade network and established lucrative trade through them with distant, still-unknown-to-them jungle tribes, and have even been introduced to a nearby tribe of woodland elves, with whom the Dlakarsta and his assistant are moving through an intricate diplomatic dance toward a future as yet unknown.
Key Tribal Figures
Chief Tonbrin: The Lacrethah chieftain's imposing figure and air of calm superiority have no doubt contributed to his success as ruler of his people, but his habit of showing the same aloofness to outsiders has kept him apart from the real negotiations into which his tribe has entered with the likes of Black Steel -- as well as limiting what they know about him. While his agreement is ultimately required for every important decision of his tribe, the details of the agreements he eventually makes are almost always worked out by his witchdoctor and the elders of his tribe, sometimes without even his presence until the negotiations end. This habit may be a form of overcompensation for his youth -- few jungle tribes are led by so young a chief -- or acknowledgement of that very youth and therefore inexperience: Chief Tonbrin in effect leaves most of his intertribal -- and now international -- negotiations to those he trusts who are older and wiser than he.
Dlakarsta: The witchdoctor of the Lacrethah tribe rejects terms like "priest" and "shaman," insisting that of the titles he has heard translated for him, only "witchdoctor" conveys the proper air of mystery, danger, and power over spiritual and physical well-being associated with his role among the Lacrethah. It must be noted as well that, though he normally speaks only in his native Grat'han tongue, Dlakarsta's comprehension of the Eastport Trade Language is strong and growing; according to Tomas, he has made a point of learning the tongue, together with as much information about Shalasia and the world beyond the jungles -- particularly including Shalasian sorcery -- as Tomas is able to convey. Dlakasta has shown himself to be very forward-thinking and open to ideas from outside, slow to make changes in the traditions of his tribe, but swift to adapt those traditions and his own actions in impossible-seeming ways when circumstances so dictate. He is a quick judge of character, and a good one in Theril's estimation; he has no compunctions about speaking with people he likes and respects on an informal basis in the privacy of his quarters, so long as eh expects them to know how to behave toward The Witchdoctor when before strangers or the other members of his tribe.
Tomas Bardickson: A young wizard from Sarema by way of Shalaton, Tomas recently found himself apprenticed to a wizard seeking immortality through undeath. Tomas's ultimately successful efforts to see the wizard's plans destroyed and the wizard himself slain entangled him with an organization that was itself perhaps more dangerous still: The Black Guard of Shalaton. When he managed, through an old acquaintance with Thaqz, to persuade Theril to extract him from his entanglements, he felt that the only place in which he could feel safe from the reach of the Black Guard would be miles away from civilization; Theril obliged by finding him a place as apprentice to Dlakarsta of the Lacrethah tribe, deep in the Grat'han jungles. Far from objecting to a Shalasian understudy, Dlakarsta embraced the charge and has been working closely with Tomas ever since, combining their knowledge of Grat'han and Shalasian traditions and innovations to strengthen the place of the Lacrethah -- and one another -- in the larger world to which the Lacrethah has recently been introduced.
