Over a thousand years ago, when the Elves of the Siti fought the Tenebrian Horde as only elves can war, when the Empire collapsed and the Horde was left without purpose, they were chased from the Pepper Savannahs, hounded day and night.  The survivors crossed the river Erd and found they could run no further... that there were no armies, no reserves waiting for them. In desperation they turned to the darker gods of the Empire, and when that failed them, the Demons that were said to be worshipped by the Horde before they became the Empire.

This then is the origin of the Huron, scattered bands of desperate survivors fleeing an implacable, terrible enemy.  The camps and smaller fortress towns of the plains that had formed the more recently settled territories of the Horde were raided by desperate survivors, and those who gave shelter to the refugees were destroyed by the vengeful Siti, who still hold to the idea of leaving no survivors.

The Tenebrians had always held faith with Verra, the so-called Demon Goddess, she who is neither divine nor profane, but both in equal measure, and she has always answered the cries of desperate men.  Of all the Ten Thousand Gods of Tenebria, she alone is stil worshipped by the Huron, for it is She who taught them the rituals to summon Dbarra and v'Suthk, to breed their horses with the Luiia... demons all.  It was she who intervened when Dbarra wished to eat the first Tenebrians who dared summon him, and convinced him to accept their worship.  

A thousand years later the Huron no longer remember this history, nor do they care. They know that Verra loves them, is their Mother, that Dbarra makes them strong if they eat the blessed meat, that v'Suthk gives them children.   The Huron are savage and untamed, almost as much demon as man.  They live in small bands of warriors scattered around the cursed scrub plains, riding massive, half demonic horses. There are no women among the Huron, when a band is strong enough, the hardest warriors may summon the daughters of v'Suthk, feeding them the blood and stones of captives, and in turn are given children... of course, if the band is too weak, the daughters of v'Suthk will attack the Huron instead.

The plains themselves are dry and windswept, full of thorny bushes and creeping vines. There are rocky canyons and wadis across the plains where the river has flooded in the past.   There are ancient cyclopean ruins scattered about, occasionly entrances to buried temples may uncovered when  a new wadi is carved out of the dry rocky soil, though the Huron care little for such things.   However, as the Plain of Singing Stones, the Huron bands gather every so often, when the stars are right, to make sacrifices and read the augers and to fight among themselves for the right of leading gatherings of the bands from the plains.   They survive purely by raiding, taking weapons and armor, even food from their neighbors.  They rarely cross the Erd, not just because the crossing is difficult and the pickings are slim in the pepper savannahs, but because of ancient superstitions.

Religion:

Verra:  Here is worshipped almost exclusively in her role as the Demon Mother. The Huron prefer to sacrifice children to her, casting them into deep pits alive to either die of exposure or be taken by the Goddess.   It is viewed as particularly auspicious if the child is taken.    Sacrifices are performed at night during the new moon, and the Huron often make bets about how long the child lives and if the Goddess will take them.  The winner of such bets typically leads the band until the time of the next sacrifice, particularly if the sacrifice is taken.

Dbarra: This was once a relatively minor demon lord, known only to a few demonologists, known for a prodigious appatite and a monsterous rage.  For reasons known only to the gods, Dbarra has a particular hunger for the flesh of Elves.  Dbarra is never depicted, not as the Gods are, but instead he is summoned directly or indirectly to receive his worship personally. Where Dbarra has been summoned he leaves his imprint, which the Huron (and a few perverse followers in other parts of the world) then venerate as holy.  Dbarra is a massive figure, swollen and bloated and masculine, with no neck, a giant mouth full of sharks teeth and arms for legs.  His eyes are in his massive mouth. He is known as the Father to the Huron, and his monsterous, fanged penis drags on the ground when he walks.   While a Demon, his worship by the Huron, and by cannibals everywhere, has granted him a divine provinence, and so he can enter Heaven and participate in the councils of the Gods.  All summoners of Dbarra must consume the flesh of their own kind, and prepare a ritual feast for him.  A living sacrifice of an Elf is particularly auspicious, and He is said to grant great favor to those who summon Him with such feasts.  A Huron who summons him with an Elf will be annointed warlord of all the Huron, and is destined to lead them out of the Plains in a horde.

v'Suthk: another minor demon lord who has been elevated to minor god-hood by the worship of the Huron, though she is far less powerful than Dbarra in her divine power, she is far more popular among demon summoners.  v'Suthk appears to mortals as a woman, beautiful and terrible.  Like most Demons, even the minor lords, she lacked the purviews of gods, responsibilties and so forth, though as she has many daughters, all lesser demons that appear as she does, she is often said to be the mother of succubi, which explains her popularity among those who summon demons.  She is said to be envious of mortal women, which is why the Huron and demonologists prefer to sacrifice women to her in return for her favor. The Huron rarely have women to sacrifice, even their raids rarely provide many suitable sacrifices, as they prefer to eat them.  They do sacrifice beatiful things, silks and paintings and gems to her, though not to summon her.

The Daughters of v'Suthk: Least Demons, barely more than mortals. The Huron summon them once a year at the spring equinox, and provide their own blood and the freshly cut stones of captured warriors (and sometimes their own) in return for half demon children which are raised to be future generations of Huron warriors.   Despite their demonic origins, such children are not notably different than ordinary children... though the children 'born' of the Daughters of 'Suthk (wether Huron or not) are said to be particularly loved by demons as a sacrifice, and so demon summoners who plan long term often summon the Daughters (for the fun of it) then keep the children to use as future sacrifices to other demons.

Luiia:  These are demonic predators. Luiia have four legs, shoulders like a bull, but clawed, split hooves, long serpentine necks lined with horrible, barbed fangs. They have no heads nor mouths but absorb blood directly through their scaley hides.  When the Huron do summon v'Suthk it is to have her bring more Luiia into the world. The Huron breed ordinary horses to the Luiia (all Luiia are male), after which the Luiia leaves the band to wander the plains. Wild Luiia are a threat even to the Huron, and the mare never survives the birth, but the resultant half-demon horses are immortal and hard to kill.   Luiia are impossible to tame, but may be bound by demonic magic. They are occasionally used as mounts by demons.

For some reason I feel compelled to point out that being appointed warlord over all the Huron and leading their demonic Horde out of their lands...

... not a big deal. Happens alla time, at least every few years.  Their various neighbors rather expect it to happen.


And for those not buried deep in the lore of Haven, the reason the Huron are superstitious of the Pepper Savannahs is because that was where the Siti Elves (technically Tuathan Elves who lived among the Siti) broke the back of the Tenebrian Horde, the ancestors of the Huron. Those Tenebrians that fled and became the Huron remained convinced for generations that the Elves would slaughter them if they crossed the Erd. Modern Huron do not remember any of that, just that crossing the Erd is never done, that it is Taboo.

There is something to be said for that attitude. Many of the Tuathans are still alive, and would not be happy to learn an army of former Tenebrians were once again approaching the Hydenimoi.



Also: In recent revisions I've shortened the modern age timeline a bit. Instead of millennia it's closer to 6 centuries, give or take.  In theory we could talk about twists of Fate: Had the Warlord gone East instead of West he would have encountered the Huron, probably recruited them into his monsterous army and crushed the entire continent.... or he would have gotten bogged down fighting the Kra and the Spada, two of the hardest, most professional militaries in Haven. Since getting them to fight each other wouldn't accomplish anything (since they've been locked in a state of perpetual war for well over 600 years the strategy of setting neighbor against neighbor wouldn't work... and given a 'bigger bad' its possible his appearance would have actually made things better!).  He also would have had to deal with Reavers harrying him from the Sea, but if added to his allies (not... unlikely, honestly), then he'd have had a strong naval force, which he didn't get in the West (the northroners have a  good fishing tradition, but no naval expertise, and the Harbor of Renbluve was never conquered, merely sieged endlessly. The lower city and docks fell, but workers loyal to the Warlord died in droves as they were attacked from above.)

But, as I said: He went west and history was written.