The Paldorians were originally a group of barbarian raiders living south of the Lake of the
Crown Beast. They first entered history when they were conquered by
the ancient Empire of Kelnore.
When that Empire fell, however, the Paldorians were
one of the barbarian peoples who sacked the city. Many years later they migrated east and came
into conflict with their former allies the
Gismesh who they used to raid for wives and slaves.
Eventually through familiarity and the Paldorian appreciation of the Gismesh women and
craftsmen the two tribes merged and founded the city state of
Tarantis on the eastern shores of the Winedark Sea near the
ruins of fabled Kelnore.
The Paldorians and Gismesh, however, have each kept their own distinctive cultures and
religions and to a certain extent each has kept to its historic roles. The Tarantine
military for instance is entirely dominated by Paldorian families while the majority of
shopkeepers in Tarantis are Gismesh. Although intermarriage between the two tribes still
takes place by convention a wife is expected to live within the culture and religion of
her husband and there are significant cultural barriers for an individual to overcome. For example the
Paldorian practice of sacrificing maidens to the god
Adorak Tau is abhorrent to the family-loving Gismesh.