Meeting of the Tribes

From The Wandering Inn Wiki

The Meeting of the Tribes is a major gathering for the Gnoll tribes in Izril. It takes place in the Great Plains.

Overview[edit | edit source]

The Meeting of Tribes is the most significant traditional event for Gnoll tribes. Currently taking place every twenty years, it is a time when they gather to exchange information, forge alliances, and coordinate the efforts of their species as a whole. Furthermore, the status of each tribe is determined by the gift they present which benefits Gnollkind as a whole. However, it is also a time for festivities, with food, booths, and events.

The layout of the Meeting of Tribes is divided into private and public; each Gnoll tribe is assigned an area to camped out, while the spaces between tribes is a neutral space for booths, events, and communal eating areas.[1]

Background[edit | edit source]

In ancient times, the Meeting of Tribes took place every two centuries, and could last for years. Considered significant on a global scale, guests from all over the world would come, including royalty, [Courtiers], and Dragons. As recalled by Belavierr, "[s]he could have bought a unicorn horn, bartered for a Djinni, hired an army, and been sipping on tea poured from a Dryad’s gardens in a single day."[2]

Over the years, the number of years between Meetings of Tribes have shrunk, to a hundred-year event, then to a fifty-year event, before becoming a twenty-year event. Additionally, in the Waning World of the current age, the Meeting of Tribes have become smaller and less grand, to the point that it has become relatively unknown beyond the shores of Izril.

Chronology[edit | edit source]

The Meeting of the Tribes is an event that gnoll tribes have prepared for for decades and was hinted at many times during earlier volumes. Notably, the Silverfang Tribe prepared a gift by sending a large delegation to Liscor and collected magical spellbooks that they would present to gnollkind. These books were accidentally burned down, though and the tribe had to start over.

The actual Meeting of the Tribes took place across much of Volume 8. Here, many tribes met and deals were struck as usual, but it wasn't until the ending of the meet that major revelations were uncovered. As a part of different tribe's gifts three major ideas were uncovered:

  1. Drakes restricting magic from Southern Izril - In a combined attempt to hinder gnolls, drakes repurposed large crystals that they had used as a teleportation network to instead take magic from Gnolls stopping them from casting standard arcane magic. Shamanic magic was still available to them, but any gnoll in the southern plains could no longer cast magic otherwise. The crystal found was broken and magic was returned to the gnollish people.
  2. The existence of Earthers - While many individuals knew of Earthers, gnolls were the first species to share this knowledge to all or at least all of their powerful people. The Longstalker's Fang Tribe and the Silverfang Tribe both brought humans to the meeting along with technology that proved the existence of Earth.
  3. Doombringers being Doombearers - Satar Silverfang uncovered the truth that white haired gnolls previously considered bringers of doom, are actually those that are simply marked by the tragedies around them. They have a way of controlling luck from this, but are not necessarily the cause of destruction that they were thought to be.

These events - particularly the last two - led to a three-pronged war between two groups of gnolls and the drakes. The drakes launched a preemptive attack once they realized that their deception about gnollish magic was revealed, and the gnolls split between traditionalists that considered white haired gnolls to be doombringers and more progressive gnolls that considered white haired gnolls doombearers. The war encompassed all of plains gnollkind. By the end of the war, many factions were involved outside of gnolls and drakes as well. Some switched sides part of the way through and most had varying motivations. The following is a list of factions and casualties in the final fight of the Meeting of the Tribes.

Doombearer Battle[edit | edit source]

Xherw vs Merish and Satar by Brack

Participants[edit | edit source]

Anti-Doombearer Gnolls[edit | edit source]

Pro-Doombearer Gnolls[edit | edit source]

Fellowship of the Inn[edit | edit source]

Chandarians[edit | edit source]

Drakes[edit | edit source]

Other Participants[edit | edit source]

The factions of Pro Doombearer Gnolls, Fellowship of the Inn, and Chandrarians fought against Anti-Doombearer Gnolls and Belavier with Drakes (unless otherwise stated) trying to cause chaos in the middle of it. Most of the other participants also supported Mrsha and the pro-doombearer gnolls in some way as well. The end of the war came from the final tearing of the barrier between the world of the living and the Land of the Dead. Before the dead's souls were all consumed by the Dead Gods, many came down to innworld to leave one last legacy or help those they saw around them. Many came to the meeting of the tribes including some of the most powerful witches who were able to contain and give a new purpose to Belavierr, and three of the most powerful gnolls in existence who worked together to raise an area of Izril long submerged underwater to give a new home and new hope for gnolls.

Casualties:[edit | edit source]

Anti-Doombearer[edit | edit source]

Pro-Doombearer[edit | edit source]

Drakes[edit | edit source]

  • Dragial - Former Wall Lord of Fissival
  • Milka - General from Manus
  • Qeuse - General from Fissival

Aftermath[edit | edit source]

With many powerful gnolls dead, the species sat diminished from an already weakened state by the end of the battle. Strong tribes such as Plain's Eye and Az'Muzarre were disbanded or severely weakened[4] and many others had taken heavy casualties. With this, some tribes decided to leave, going with the Chandrarians. Others took the opportunity to venture out to the newly revealed parts of Izril previously sunken underwater and find a place there.

On a smaller scale, individuals gained and lost power from the war as noted in the casualties section. Feshi Weatherfur and Adetr Steelfur picked up the mantles of their chieftains as did Merish for Plain's Eye.

Trivia[edit | edit source]

  • There is some confusion within the text whether the Meeting of Tribes takes place every ten years or twenty years.
  • Erin Solstice once referred to the Meeting of the Tribes as the "Gnollmoot", passing the moniker along to Tkrn.[5]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ Chapter 8.02
  2. ↑ Chapter 8.66
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Chapter 9.26 F
  4. ↑ Chapter 9.00
  5. ↑ Chapter 8.00
Retrieved from "https://wiki.wanderinginn.com/index.php?title=Meeting_of_the_Tribes&oldid=92526"