Karameikos

Overview
Karameikos is a heavily forested land bounded by mountains to the north which form its natural border with the Republic of Darokin. To the west is the nation of Halflings called the Five Shires. To the north and east, across the vast Altan Tepes mountain range, is the mysterious desert nation, The Emirates of Ylaruam. To the east is the mighty Empire of Thyatis, from whence the Ruler of Karameikos, Grand Duke Stefan Karameikos, hails. To the south are the island lands of the Minrothad Guilds and the Kingdom of Ierendi. The capital of Karameikos is Specularum

Most of Karameikos is covered with thick forests, hardwoods and softwoods, and is largely unexplored. There are broad patches of rich soil, especially beside the broad Highreach River, so farming is good here. The capital city of Specularum is a thriving and very active sea-port with around 50,000 inhabitants; other notable sites are the city of Kelvin and the town of Threshold, in the northern hill country, a haven for adventurers surrounded by wilderness inhabited by humanoids.

Karameikos is well known for its animal and monster life; its forests are home to all sorts of forest creatures. Vampires and other forms of undead plague the land, as do lycanthropes

Karameikos is officially a Grand Duchy for political reasons, but is effectively a monarchy. Stefan Karameikos, the ruler, chose to be only (Grand) Duke as a political signal to other nations that his nation has retained its ties to the Thyatian Empire, and that to invade Karameikos would therefore be to invade Thyatis. The nation also has several semi-autonomous baronies

In the western part of Karameikos, on the Gulf of Halag facing the Five Shires, is one of several semi-autonomous baronies, the Black Eagle Barony. Duke Stefan’s black sheep cousin, Baron Ludwig von Hendriks, rules it. Von Hendriks’ minions have raided into Karameikos, Darokin, Ierendi, Minrothad and, especially, the Five Shires, wherever they could slaughter and rob for the greatest profit. Nominally protected by Duke Stefan’s inability to believe such horrid stories of one of his own relatives and his hands being full just trying to rule the country, Baron Ludwig acts with impunity in this part of the world.

History
In ancient times the land of Traldar was home to a heroic civilisation of barbarian-like people. About two thousand years ago, a massive army of beast-men attacked the Traldar people. The war raged for years and spawned countless legends (chief among them the stories of Halav, Petra, and Zirchev, the later patron Immortals of Traladara);but eventually, the gnolls were driven out, leaving the glory of the Traldar heroes in ruins. The people, now calling themselves the Traladarans, then founded a nation of loosely allied, small communities in the deep woods.

Traladara, a century ago, was a well-known trading spot, particularly Marilenev, its chief city. More than 600 years ago, Marilenev was built where the Volaga river enters the sea. There, Traladarans traded valuable furs for weapons, wines and other spirits. Most of the Traladaran profits stayed on the coast and the lands immediately inland. Few traders ventured inland; those that did included the annual Gnome Caravan, a well armed force of gnomes who descended from the northern hills, traded a year’s accumulation of craft goods in Marilenev and made their way back to gnomish lands.

At about this time, the nation of Darokin and Thyatis began to view Traladara with increasing concern. The forest nation had never offered them any threat, so they had never created any significant defenses against Traladara. But what if its people should be united under a powerful leader- or, worse yet, conquered by an enemy foreign power?

The Empire of Thyatis decided the matter by sending troops to the Traladaran “capital”, Marilenev, and conquering it, claiming alI Traladara for Thyatis. Darokin shrugged and began steps to make sure its border was secure. Thaytis took few real steps to secure Traladara for itself. It installed a garrison of soldiers in Marilenev. The commander renamed Marilenev “Specularum” (The Mirror City) after the reflective beauty of Marilenev's bay. A tax collector took in revenues on all trade money which changed bands in the city.

Other than that, the rest of Traladara was left pretty much to itself. The more isolated communities were completely unaffected by the conquest. The traders suffered a Thyatian tax, but the greater Thyatian interest in Traladara meant that trade boomed and they profited more anyway.

That's how conditions remained until thirty years ago At that time, Duke Stefan Karameikos III, a youthful nobleman of Thyatis, struck a deal with the Emperor of Thyatis. Karameikos, in essence, traded his valuable ancestral lands for Traladara and a free hand. The Empire recognized Karameikos' claim to Traladara, now renamed the Grand Duchy of Karameikos, and recalled its officials from Traladara territory. Duke Stefan traveled to his duchy, announced his assumption of rulership over Traladara. and put down the armed insurrection which resulted. After things had settled he began luring ambitious, landless nobles from Thyatis to help him rule this land in proper Thyatian fashion.

The early years of Duke Stefan’s rule were characterized by both good and bad results. On the bad side, many of the Thyatian settlers who poured into the country, swearing loyalty to Duke Stefan and receiving land grants, were ruthless men who generally stole lands from the Traladarans living upon them. Worst among them was Duke Stefan's own cousin. Baron Ludwig "Black Eagle" von Hendriks. On the good side, Duke Stefan himself was an exemplary leader, demanding fairness and honor. He began using the revenues to build good roads across the country, uniting the far-flung villages into a single nation. He built a substantial army, using native Traladarans, Thyatian immigrants, and the Callarii elves, to protect the Grand Duchy.

In short, he began the long. slow process of building Traladara, a land of unfriendly villages and wolf-howls in the night, into a modern nation.

Today. the Grand Duchy is still growing into that nation .It is still young, with its two halves of the: population (Traladaran and Thyatian) largely unmixed and its interior mostly uncivilized. But it is growing stronger day by day and most of the nations of the continent have representatives in Karameikos, a sign of the nation's growing international importance.

Geography
Karameikos is a land of dense old-growth forests. These forests are dark, with little foliage near the ground except in and near to clearings. As you get closer to the coast the clearings become more numerous; though never more that forty percent of the ground.

The western half of the northern edge of Karameikos is dominated by the Cruth Mountains and the Black Peak Mountains. Populated by the peaceful but territorial Earal Stone Giant Clan

South of these massive peaks are the Cruth lowlands.

The principle threat in these areas are making enemies of the tribes of Ogres that live there.

South of this are the Achelos and Riverfork Woods. Both of these are largely unexplored and are ominous in their darkness and silence.

The Blight Swamp is an area of dead and decaying trees and foliage infested with disease-bearing mosquitoes and other less healthy creatures that swim just below the surface of the slimy and scum-coated waters. Worse, it is said that there are black dragons here!

The Radlebb plain is full in humanoids control, and the road is quite dangerous and The Radlebb Woods are inhabited by the Callarii along with numerous dangerous animals.

The Wufwolde Hills are home to numerous iron mines, especially those of the dwarves and gnomes in and around Highforge.

The Moor is a slightly rolling clear area filled with dangerous and deceptive-looking bogs. There are numerous reports of life-sucking undead in this area.

Altan Tepes Mountains are alpine peaks that are snowcapped year-round. The principle danger here, besides sudden blizzards is the presence of hostile Frost Giants.

The Dymrak Forest is the largest in the Duchy. It is an incredibly ancient and numerous tribes of centaurs, goblins, hobgoblins, and orcs can be found here. Centaurs and the mysterious Vyalia Elves can also be found here, if they wish.

Climate
The weather in most of karameikos is temperate and mild with short winters and little to no snowfall. As you approach the Altan Tepes, the weather adjusts accordingly with cooler temperatures and more snowfall, even in fall and spring.

Weather Roll
Start with 1d8 and roll, adding 1 to the roll for winter.

The Inhabitants
There are several distinct cultures present in Karameikos.

Traladarans
A pale, dark-haired people, have lived here for thousands of years. Energetic, romantic, artistic and superstitious; they are descendants of the Traldar. The Traladarans are ruled by a conquering class of Thyatians brought here about thirty years ago by Duke Stefan Karameikos.

Thyatians
Most of the nobles in Karameikos are of Thyatian descent, and a sizeable proportion of the commoner population is of Thyatian descent.Thyatians tend to be physically larger than Traladarans, men averaging around 5’11” and women about 5’5”. The Thyatians have had centuries to interbreed with other nations, and so there is no one Thyatian look; hair ranges from dark blonde to dark brown, with occasional redheads (including the Duke); eye color ranges from blues to browns and blacks. The Thyatians tan more easily in the sun than the paler Traladarans, who tend to sunburn easily. Upper-class Karameikan families have a custom where their children go out into the world to survive on their own without family support for a while when they come of age.

The Empire of Thyatis is a large, flourishing empire with powerful armies, strong trade relations with the great nations of the world, lavish arts and entertainments, and a cultural standard equaled in few places in the world. So it’s natural that many of Thyatian descent tend to feel superior to the native Traladarans, although this attitude has begun to fade over the last decade, thanks to the Grand Duke and the Traladarian people proving themselves. Among a few of the Thyatians, there is a sentiment that Traladarans are superstitious and ignorant, and even feel that Thyatian spoken with a Traladaran accent denotes lack of mental ability. (Again, this is a prejudice which you don’t have to foist on your own character if you don’t wish to).

There are many frictions between the Thyatians and Traladarans, but increasingly they are coming to think of themselves as a single nation. Despite the exploitative nature of many Thyatian nobles, who see the Traladarans as a work resource to be used for maximum profit, Stefan has enforced many laws to ensure Traladaran equality.

There are also two elven clans here: the vigorous Callarii in the central parts and the Vyalia in the northern parts of the eastern forests.

Callarii Tribe Elves (Wood Elves)
A merry and hardworking tribe proficient in riverboating, riding, horse-trading, hunting and foresting.Callarii elves are robust and healthy, with very pale hair (blonde to white) and blue eyes. They tend to wear tunics or robes of green with leaf-patterns embroidered upon them.The elves are neutral toward humans in general. They become fast friends with humans who demonstrate honor and humor; they do not cooperate with humans who are pretentious, dishonorable or rude. Duke Stefan has a guard unit entirely composed of Callarii elves, which has given many elves the chance to meet him, and the Callarii are favorably disposed toward the Duke.

They tend to live in tree houses in Radlebb village (deep within the Radlebb Wood and not to be confused with the human settlement of the same name). They form a clan hierarchy. They practice various forms of elf magic. They have learned the ways of horsemanship and river boating. They possess a high level of iron-age technology. Radlebb village has about 20,000 Callarii. When the Callarii make a new village (something not done in a thousand years) they begin by learning about the new area through physical and magical scouting, then they receive a leaf from the Tree of Life and a Treekeeper consecrates the location of the new Tree of Life and they plant the leaf there. Over time this will grow (in a few years) to a sapling, at which point the village may begin.

Vyalia Tribe Elves (Eladrin Elves)
The Vyalia Elves also live in Radlebb Wood, they live in tree homes. They wear traditional elven garb. They are an official demihuman clan with a Tree of Life. They have the traditional elf magic. They use horses for transport.They have an iron age technology, though they substitute wood and stone for metal. There are around 50,000 Vyalia elves in Karameikos. When the Vyalia make a new village they begin by learning about the new area through physical and magical scouting, then they receive a leaf from the tree of life and a treekeeper consecrates the location of the new tree of life and they plant the leaf. Over time this will grow (in a few years) to a sapling, at which point the village may begin

Gnomes
The  largest  gnomish  community,  called  Highforge,  is  in  the  mountain  foothills  several  miles  east  of  the  town  of Threshold. It’s a large and secluded community composed of gnomes (and one allied dwarven clan); it is mostly self-sufficient but profits from trade with the southern humans.The gnomes are well-disposed toward the Duke;  they did not observe much of the Thyatian abuses against the Traladarans, but are well aware of the improvement of trade and communication which have resulted from the Duke’s building of roads throughout the land.The gnomes have no preferences between Thyatians and Traladarans.

The gnomes of Highforge live in the village of Highforge, both in stone houses above ground and in stone cottages built within caves underground. They wear normal Karameikan garb. They are an official demihuman clan with their clan artifact The Chimes of Time. They have the magic of Fantasy Physics. They have an early industrial-age level of technology including steam power and some crude experiments in electricity. There are about 50,000 gnomes in Highforge. The gnomes of Highforge are content to stay where they are, only underground do they seek to expand their territory by making new mines.

Dwarves
The dwarves living in the Grand Duchy are either members of the Stronghollow clan up in the gnome community, or are dwarven professionals who have immigrated into Karameikos-often acting as professional soldiers in the service of the Duke or one of his barons.There are about 20,000 dwarves in Karameikos. When they do express a preference between Traladarans and Thyatians, the dwarves tend to prefer the company of Thyatians, who are practical people, and not superstitious-ridden like the Traladarans.

They wear normal dwarven garb. They are an official demihuman clan with a Great Forge. They have learned to make magic with their craftsmanship and have adopted the worship of Kagyar. They use wagons for transportation. They have a high iron-age level of technology (including crude handguns and bombards). The Stronghollow clan is content to stay in Highforge, but they do explore caves and make mines.

Halflings
There are around 10,000 Hin (as they call themselves) scattered around Karameikos, increasing in density as you go west, approaching The Five Shires.That number rises to as much as 20,000 during spring and summer, the busiest trading seasons, but aren't usually included in population figures because they return home for the fall and winter in The Five Shires.

Some Karameikan halflings are long term natives, i.e. living in Traladara since the Orc Wars, therefore having a distinct culture, influenced by traladarans, quite different from the one of the Shires.

Karameikos also has mediated treaties between The Five Shires and The Empire of Thyatis during their war, boosting halfling opinion of Karameikos and its citizens.

Lupins
Immigrants from a far away land, there are less than 600 lupins in all of Karameikos. They not welcomed in this land due to similarity with gnolls when they first showed up in 968 AC but things are slowly changing over the years.

Orcs
The One-Eye Orcs live in wooden villages within the Dymrak forest. They wear rough and thick wool clothing, or they wear animal pelts. They have a horde hierarchy. They have spirit magic, shamanism, and the religion of Karaash. They have learned to tame and ride horses, and Dire Wolves. They possess an iron-age technological level, including crossbows and war machines. There are about 9,600 orcs in Karameikos.

The One-Eye horde is now content to be vassals of Duke Stefan in return for gaining the Dymrak forest as their fiefdom (at least what they can hold of it).This brings them into frequent conflict with the goblins, hobgoblins, and centaurs. They avoid Argosyll. The orcs will scout an area carefully, then will send war parties to establish fortifications; then they will attack enemy settlements one at a time until they fully control the area. There are 19 clans of about 500 orcs each.

Jagged Rocks Horde, 2.000, with goblins and hobgoblins allies, all followers of Hel and goblinoid immortals.

Centaurs
One of the more ancient races to live in Karameikos, Centaurs have tales of the time before men and elves.

The Shurack Centaur Tribe, 5,000 lives in wooded glades throughout Karameikos, usually in the densest woods around where they use natural caves to store their writings away from the elements. They do not wear clothing. They do not form into familial groups, a newborn is seen as the responsibility of the whole tribe. There is a chieftain, Shurack, who is the leader of the tribe. They have learned the magic of the forests, the magic of song, and the worship of Ixion.They have a crude iron-age technology level. The Shurak are content to live in their forested lands between the Dymrak forest and the Atlan Tepes mountains.

Firemane centaurs, 3.500, between Haven and the Kelvin Moor, hostile to humans colonists and the Order of the Griffon who are expanding in the area, occasionally allied with the Hags of Dymrak and maybe even goblins and Argos.

Stormwind centaurs, 4.000, they control almost all the Moor, have good relations with the humans of Kelvin and Penhaligon, dwarves and gnomes, but occasionally clash with Firemane centaurs and Dymrak goblins. At least 1.000 traladarans have found shelter among them

Gnolls
Traladarans have tried to exterminate gnolls for centuries, but some of them still survives nevertheless. After the initial invasion from 1002 to 999 BC, gnolls maintained a kingdom in the west for centuries, often dominating over orcs and other humanoids. But several wars against humans, elves, orcs and ogres eventually undermined and destroyed their power, so that today their numbers are greatly reduced.

They are all Canis Erectus Hilaris with light brown hair and black spots, yet there are enough differences between the four tribes that they can easily recognize the origin of a gnoll. To humans and the like, they all seem the same.There are around 14,000 gnolls left in Karameikos
 * Death's Head or Galt-Kalat, 4.000. From their strongholds in and west of the Foamfire valley, these gnolls have tormented Threshold, Verge and nearby kobolds, goblins, hill giants, ogres and elves for centuries, and have maintained the Lost Valley of Hutaaka isolated. They are followers of Yeenoghu.


 * Faceslasher, 5.000. Living near Haradraith keep, probably under control of Ilyana Penhaligon or the great red dragon that lives nearby. They are followers of Uthgar and often in conflict with nearby harpies, goblins, stone giants, chameleon men. They have not raided a city or town in living memory.
 * Horned heads, 1.000, allied with orcs and followers of Yeenoghu.
 * Rashak's Reaver, 3.000. They claim to be the heirs of the ancient gnoll kingdom, as the Faceslashers do. Recruited as soldiers of the Black Eagle by Baron Ludwig von Hendriks. They are followers of Asmodeus.

Stone Giants
The Earal Stone Giant Clan lives in the Black Peak Mountains. They wear stone clothing. They have formed a familial clan. They are led by the clan elder Earal, who is also their spiritual leader. They have learned the magic of stone and some are priests of the Immortal Ka The Preserver. They have learned to transport themselves through solid rock or earth. They have a low iron age level of technology. There are 32 stone giants in Karameikos.The Earal do not seek to expand their territory.

Frost Giants
The Grokilan Clan of Frost Giants live in ice citadels high in the Altan Tepes Mountains. They wear clothes of cold iron and ice. Their clan head, Grokilan, is a High Priest of Hel. They have learned the magic of darkness and ice, and the religion of Hel. They have the technology of cold iron and ice. There are 5,000 frost giants in in this clan. These frost giants call upon their power to control bears, and to conjure small armies of shadows to control an area. Once the shadows have "pacified" an area they move in and use their magics to enshroud the place in clouds where it will be perpetually winter.

Ogres
The Duyar Ogres tend to live in caves in the Cruth lowlands. They wear animal pelts. They have a horde hierarchy. They have developed a kind of spirit magic. They practive the religion of Jammudaru, and have developed shamanism. They possess a high bronze-age level of technology. There are about 70 Ogres in this horde. They are generally peaceful unless provoked.

There are some more ogres in the Altan Tepes, roughly 150, who came with the Leptar horde or are renegades from thyatian ogre tribes. They are usually followers of the Dark Triad.

Goblins
The total number of goblins in Karameikos is around 50,000
 * Nightstalkers: 10,000. This is Dhrom Dhum's tribe, described in issue #1 of Threshold magazine, page 119.
 * Dymrak goblins: 15,000.
 * Faz-Plak or Yellow fangs: 3,500 goblins followers of Leptar.
 * Under Leptar's fist Hobgoblins: 1,500 goblins
 * In the northern Altan Tepes: 5,000 goblins, mostly under Hobgoblin rule too.
 * Nightseeker goblins: 10,000, followers of Nyx, north of Sulescu
 * White death: 5,000 goblins under Hobgoblin rule, in the Radlebb plains

Several goblin tribes, particularly the Nightstalkers and the Nightseekers, claim to descend from the Nightfollowers, the first goblin tribe who came in Traladara in 890 AC. Another major group of hobgoblins and goblins arrived after 490 BC, when Queen Ubdala's attack on Rockhome failed, and was lead by Leptar, terrifying central Traladara for years.
 * Cruth goblins: 5,000 goblins scattered west of Verge and underground.

There are deep religious divisions among the goblins with followers of Hel and Wogar (Nightstalkers) Nyx (Nightseekers) and the Dark Triad (mostly Dymrak and Altan Tepes goblins), Thanatos and Yagrai (White deaths) and Atzanteotl (Cruth goblins).

The Green Dragon Argos hold power over many goblin tribes in the east.

Hobgoblins
The Dymrak hobgoblins live in caves and in dense thickets of the Dymrak forest. They wear animal pelts. They have a horde hierarchy. They have spirit magic, a religion based on the worship of Yagrai, and shamanism. They have developed the ability to tame and ride Dire Wolves. They possess a high bronze age level of technology. There are about 200 Dymrak hobgoblins. When the Dymrak hobgoblins want to control an area they conjure forth spirits to enhance their warriors who then enter an area and dominate it.

Bugbears
The Achelos and Riverfork Woods is the home of the Blackfang Bugbears. They tend to live in dead-fall and dugout villages in the woods. They wear animal pelts. They have a horde hierarchy. They practice spirit magic, the religion of Bartziluth, and shamanism. They have learned to tame and ride Dire Wolves. They possess bronze-age style technology. The Black Fang horde has about 526 Bugbears. When the Black Fang horde inhabit a new area they launch war parties of up to 50 bugbears riding Dire Wolves to perform aggressive scouting; this is followed up by settler parties of up to 150 bugbears (including 50-75 warriors) who look for suitable locations and build their villages.

Kobolds
The Brokenshields kobolds, arriving in Traladara from 5 AC from Darokin number about 5,000 from Castle Mistamere to the north of Threshold barony and the mountains, including the extensive network of caves and dungeons in the area.They have often fought with nearby gnolls, goblins and humans. They worship Kurtulmak and are allied with local harpies.

The other tribe, the Grey Rats, live to the north west of Castellan keep and counts about 5,000 above and below the mountains. They arrived originally with Leptar's Horde after 492 BC but do not follow the Dark Triad anymore, and worship Kurtulmak.

Dragons
There are dragons scattered about Karameikos but in particular the Dymrak Forest is also the base of the dragon nation of Argosyll. Members of the Argosyll dragon clan tend to live in caves and in the densest part of the forest. The dragons become members of the kingdom/clan through subjugation. There is a familial hierarchy. They practice dragon magic, and some are priests of The Great One. The kingdom has about 12 green dragons (including King Argos). The dragons settle an area by the technique of subjugation; their vassals are loyal to them so long as they exercise active control. There is always rivalry, but not so that it disrupts the kingdom. Argosyll has an alliance with Duke Stephan, though it is anyone's guess how long that will last.

Economy
Quarterly income taxes of 25% (20% for nobleman) are collected on Vatermont 1 (for Sviftmont-Kaldmont); Yarthmont 1 (Nuwmont-Thaumont); Fyrmont 3 (Flaumont-Klarmont); and Eirmont 1 (Felmont-Ambyrmont). Sales tax is 5% on all sales. Import taxes are assessed at 1% of the cargo’s value. Penalties for tax evasion range from small fines or one day in jail (for minor offenses) to fines up to 30,000 gp and up to six years in jail.

Imports
Weapons & tools, armor, rare furs

Exports
Wood, animals, furs, common metals

Local Laws
The Duke's Law is as follows, with repeat offenders of these crimes getting stiffer sentences within the fine category or even raised by one category: In addition to these, all weapons except daggers are peacebound in major cities. Carrying an unbound weapon is an automatic Class Two crime, but murder with an unbound weapon is automatically tried as a Class Seven crime.

Casting a spell on an unwilling party is tried as a Class Two crime (or greater if the effect warrants a greater punishment).

Threshold
Threshold is a "village" of about 500 humans and 50 demihumans on the south shore of a lake, at the mouth of a river. Furriers and woodsmen live nearby and often visit the town. It's ruled by Patriarch Sherlane (presumably a 9th-level or higher cleric) who lives in a lakeside castle to the north called Tarnskeep.

Homecoming: A fisherman pulls the body of his 3 month dead uncle out of the lake, even though he was properly buried at the time. It turns out the foreman of a logging camp in the mountains is a chaotic cleric who keeps costs down by using zombies to do the work. The townspeople are obviously against this, and ask the PC's to do something about it.

DM Tables
Proposed table for Random generation of a Karameikan village:

Give a -1 to human relations in the west, and maybe a +1 along the eastern road. Also a -1 to humanoids relations could apply in the Dymrak area and the Radlebb plain, while the Cruth hills could have a +1 as local ogres and hill giants shouldn't be too aggressive, at least IMC. Also a -1 to the nearby monsters roll could be applied to borderlands probably.

Roll 1d6 for the internal mood
1) Very bad. People in the village are very unhappy, scared and/or there is an internal feud 2-3) Moderately bad, as above but without bloodshed, so far. 4-5) Normal, the village is placid and there are not serious problem, for now. 6) Very good, people are happy, friendly and united, rulers are fair.

If previous roll is 1-3, roll 1d4 for human relations:
1) Thyatians and traladarans are at daggers drawn here, blood has been spilled or is about to be. 2) Thyatians and traladarans hate each others, scuffles are commonplace 3) Thyatians and traladarans tolerate each other well for now 4) The two people are fully integrated in this village.

Roll 1d4 for humanoids relations
(that could apply regardless of the internal mood, but obviously a bad mood will complicate things much): 1) Humanoids raid the outskirts of the village often 2) Humanoids aren't attacking now but the village fear they soon will 3) The villagers appease the humanoids somehow (paying tributes, trading or in worse ways) 4) The village is on peaceful terms with local humanoids

Roll 1d4 for other nearby monsters (regardless of internal mood):
1) Many and dangerous, threaten the very existence of the village 2) Some monsters nearby, roads are often unsafe. 3) Rare monsters sightings, creating more curiosity than fear 4) No monsters in the nearby area, or only peaceful creatures

1d4 roll for xenophobia
From 1, Severe xenophobia, other races could be killed on sight to 4, some villagers aren't human and well integrated.

You could have regional modifiers to those rolls as well.