Laying between the realms of Ghur and Ghyran is the vast, mountainous steppes of Ghuryan. Woven of the meeting points between a thousand thousand hidden paths and places between the realms of Beast and Life, Ghuryan is a land of harsh contrasts, a blue-green sky blazing high over rocky steppes of browns and golds, where life is tough but abundant if one knows where to look.
From Ghuryan, it is said that one can reach anywhere within either Ghur or Ghyran, should one know the right paths to follow, and the keys to each door one may find. Most of these paths seem to align to places or lines of power from the Age of Myth, places where great magics once dwelled. The Waystones used in ancient days to align ley lines are perhaps the most common of such places, and many paths are to be found between one Waystone and another. Most paths are small, narrow things, barely wide enough for a small group to pass through, but some are large enough that larger convoys may pass through with relative ease, and several are large enough for entire armies to pass through. The largest and rarest of these paths are the great Trade Paths, large enough to allow settlement and to require a permanent guard. Though the vast majority of paths link the Realms of Life and Beast, it is rumoured that there are paths hidden deeper in Ghuryan that link to other, more distant Realms. Few speak of these paths with surety, but the mysteries of the Mortal Realms are deeper and more shadowed than even Gods may know…
The Roaming is one of several Cities of Sigmar that lie within Ghuryan, though to call it a city is more than a little inaccurate. The Roaming is a loose collection of nomadic tribes that have a common system of leadership, justice, and culture, and who can rely upon one another for mutual aid. An elaborate system of kinship ties and oaths of brotherhood tie the tribes of the Roaming together, with inter-tribal adoptions, fosterings, and marriages being so common as to be unremarkable.
The majority of the Roaming’s members are aelves, primarily Wanderers, though certainly not exclusively, and at least one Daughters of Khaine shrine maintains a presence in the tribes. Non-aelven folk are rare, though this is due more to the culture of the Roaming being suited to aelven tastes than any active attempts to preclude them. All are welcome to join the Roaming, so long as they are willing to take their place in the web of oaths and kinship, and to contribute as they can. As in all aelven societies, children are prized, and it is common for a child to have several adopted parents, even if their birth parents are still alive. Children are raised communally, with care passing amongst their many cousins, parents, grandparents, amongst others. Perhaps the only thing in Roaming society that is valued as much as a child is art itself. The various tribes of the Roaming boast strong traditions of storytelling, weaving, carving, music, and dance, to name but a few, and to devote one’s life to the mastery and creation of art is regarded as worthy as any other.
In war, the Roaming is an implacable foe, swift as the wind, unyielding as stone. They prize mobility, preferring to face the foe on their terms, delivering strength against weakness, where their exceptional martial skills may carry the day. But they know the value of a resolute defence, whether it be to hold until relief can arrive, to buy time for an escaping populace, or even simply to spite their foe when all hope of escape has faded. They are led by Nomad Princes, the descendants of the noble houses that once ruled the Wanderer nations before the Age of Chaos. With no political responsibilities, the Nomad Princes devote their lives to the study of the boundless field of war and are appointed to command by the councils of the Roaming when their armies are mustered for war. Though they hold supreme authority over their followers in time of war, the warriors of the Roaming are fiercely independent and headstrong, and a Nomad Prince commands through common agreement as much as strength of will, and is as likely to accept advice from a spearman as from a learned battlemage.
