The Veyrani are a wandering people whose brightly painted wagons can be encountered along the roads of Valedorn and occasionally far beyond the kingdom's borders. Traveling in extended family clans, they rarely remain in one settlement for more than a few weeks before packing their belongings and continuing along routes traveled by their ancestors for generations. Their wagons are immediately recognizable for their elaborate carvings, brilliant reds, greens, blues, and ochres, and the small bells, ribbons, charms, and keepsakes that hang from their roofs. When a Veyrani caravan makes camp, the quiet roadside can quickly become a small temporary village filled with horses, cooking fires, music, conversation, children, merchants, and travelers.
The Veyrani earn their living wherever the road takes them. Among their clans can be found musicians, storytellers, animal handlers, tinkers, smiths, herbalists, fortune readers, craftsmen, merchants, guides, and skilled laborers. Their arrival near a town often draws curious locals to their camp to have a pot repaired, purchase an unusual trinket, hear news from distant settlements, trade horses, listen to music, or have their fortune told. The Veyrani are particularly famous as storytellers, carrying tales and songs from one end of Valedorn to the other. More than one tavern keeper has discovered that a visiting Veyrani musician can fill every chair in the house before the evening is finished.
Family and clan are at the center of Veyrani life. Elders are treated with considerable respect, children are generally watched over by the entire community, and hospitality offered beneath a Veyrani roof is taken seriously. They have their own traditions concerning marriage, inheritance, hospitality, disputes, and obligations between families, although they generally obey the laws of whatever lands they travel through. The Veyrani are friendly enough toward outsiders but can become noticeably guarded when questioned too closely about their history, traditions, or ancient travel routes. They have long memories for both kindness and betrayal, and among the Veyrani there is an old saying: “The road remembers every footstep.”
The Veyrani most familiar to the people of GrayHaven belong to Clan Saravelle, sometimes called the Amber Road Clan. Their caravan returns to the GrayHaven region every few years, bringing roughly eighteen wagons and several dozen travelers under the leadership of their respected matriarch, Grandmother Mirela Saravelle. The Saravelle are generally welcomed for their music, trade, craftsmanship, news, and entertainment, though their habit of asking questions about forgotten ruins, abandoned roads, old battlefields, and strange local legends has inspired plenty of tavern speculation. Their symbol—a golden wagon wheel beneath three silver stars—can be found painted or carved upon many of their wagons. Ask a Saravelle what the stars mean and they will usually give the same answer: where you have been, where you stand, and where the road carries you next.
