HURLEVENT FAMILY

Motto

“The wind will carry away the screams of agony of our enemies.”

When the first Dwarf kingdoms began to expand their borders, a vast expanse of plains swept by relentless winds still remained uninhabited. A place where many saw nothing but hostile land.

Originally, the HURLEVENT were a people of nomadic warriors who roamed the immense grasslands of their territory. They lived as much from their herds as from raids against their neighbours, and were feared by all for the violence of their attacks and the cruelty they were capable of displaying.

For centuries, their riders swept out of the plains, pillaged villages and estates, then vanished back into the vastness before any retaliation could be organised. But the world around them changed. Villages surrounded themselves with palisades, then walls; towns became fortified strongholds, and Dwarf lords raised stone castles that even the boldest of the HURLEVENT could no longer hope to capture in a simple raid.

The HURLEVENT realised that their old way of life was coming to an end. Yet the source of their lands’ wealth had always remained untouched: pastures stretching as far as the eye could see.

Little by little, the former raiders became livestock breeders. They settled around ever-growing herds while preserving the culture of wide-open spaces inherited from their ancestors. Raised almost entirely in the wild, their animals developed meat of an incomparable flavour, soon sought after by all the great Dwarf families.

Thus, those whose appearance on the horizon had once been feared became those whose convoys were now eagerly awaited.

“And so the Hurlevent family as we know it today was born.”

Since time immemorial, its members have lived according to the rhythm of the seasons, migrations and the great herds that roam the steppes. The wind is their most faithful companion. It heralds storms, carries the scent of predators, accompanies their riders and bears away the final cries of the defeated. From this land, their motto was born.

The Hurlevent are, above all, livestock breeders. Their immense herds of giant boars, beasts of burden and animals raised to feed the Confederation constitute one of the greatest sources of wealth among the Dwarf people. From an early age, children learn to ride, hunt and live in the open air. Where other families build walls, the Hurlevent learn to read the clouds, sense changes in the wind and recognise a trail through the tall grass. To them, nature is not an obstacle. It is an ally.

The Hurlevent cavalry is renowned throughout the Confederation as one of its most formidable forces. Its warriors excel at long-range reconnaissance, lightning raids and devastating counter-attacks. The wind is their greatest accomplice. They strike. Then disappear. Before the enemy has even understood where the danger came from.

Despite their reputation as fierce warriors, the Hurlevent remain deeply attached to their lands. They do not seek conquest. They defend what is theirs. And when their pastures or their families are threatened, their response is always the same.

Fast. Brutal. Final.

For centuries, the Hurlevent and the Graindorge have maintained a relationship as indispensable as it is turbulent.

The immense Hurlevent herds depend upon the grain, fodder and crops produced by the Graindorge to survive the long winters of the steppes. In return, the Graindorge depend upon Hurlevent breeders for the meat, leather, wool and beasts of burden essential to their farms.

Such economic interdependence might have made them the closest allies within the United Dwarf Confederations. It did not.

The fertile Hurlevent lands have always stirred the envy of the many Graindorge farmers. The Hurlevent, for their part, believe that no furrow is worth the thundering charge of a giant boar, and they defend their pastures with legendary determination.

Trade negotiations between the two families are renowned throughout the Confederation for being as lengthy as they are heated. Agreements are often reached only after endless discussions, a few slammed doors… and sometimes a good tankard of beer shared once tempers have cooled.

Despite their disagreements, both sides know that neither family could prosper for long without the other. The Graindorge feed the Hurlevent herds, while the Hurlevent provide an essential part of the food supply for the Dwarf kingdoms.

The elders sum up this relationship with a well-known proverb:

“Where the Graindorge sees a field, the Hurlevent sees a pasture… and yet, it is the same land that feeds the Confederation.”