The Waste Lands are exactly what the name says! They're the uncivilized parts of the continent: any place outside the border of the Diamond Empire, Harrowdeep, Zalavat, or Fallanor. It's pretty much a catch-all, and there's no single common culture. But the difficulty of survival, and the harsh living standards, create some similarities between the Lion-People of the hinterlands, the Dragon-Spawn hamlets in the Bitter Mountains, and the Human savages in the southern jungles.

History of the Waste Lands

Again: due to the scope and varied territory, it's kind of hard to talk about the Waste Lands. But generally these places fell to the Dragons and their armies long ago: there simply wasn't a high enough population to resist. Of course, since the population was low and there were virtually no large cities, the destruction was pretty minimal. Mainly what happened is that the nomadic tribes were enslaved or conscripted into the army for assaults on other territory.

When the Giants and the Humans drove off the Dragons, the Waste Lands didn't change much. There are only so many Giants, after all, and even they can't colonize everywhere. The people of the Waste Lands still live according to their old tribal ways, and most fiercely resist any attempt to draw them into "civilization."

Species of the Waste Lands

It varies, but tribes of Lion-People and tiny Human villages are what you'll mostly come across, with a few Verrik and Dragon-Spawn scattered in isolation. The Giants and Jackal-Kin are too committed to their empire-building; the Fairies live comfortably in Harrowdeep; the Verrik (by and large) keep to themselves in mysterious Zalavat.

Yet the Waste Lands harbor all manner of beasts and monsters, some from other worlds beyond the knowledge of men. They say the Dragons opened great portals in amid the ruins of Thartolan and Verdune to let abominations into this world.

Waste Land Skills

Fighting: Ambush
You're a sneaky S.O.B. who doesn't fight fair. This skill includes every kind of dirty trick imaginable, including poisoning the water supply, giving other tribes disease-ridden blankets, and of course jumping out of the trees screaming "Yaaaaaah!" while you gut people with spears after your deadfalls cut off escape routes. Of course, if they capture you, they'll probably kill you for being such a rat-bastard.

Outdoor: Survival
You know how to eke out a living in an inhospitable climate. This includes hunting/gathering and making very crude tools, and finding shelter when necessary.

Outdoor: Traps
You know how to rig pit-traps, rope-traps, deadfalls, and so on, either to capture game or to confound your enemies. This skill also governs detecting and disabling traps laid by others.

Priestly: Tribal Lore
This lets you know about the tribe's totem spirit, the tribe's history, and its interactions and marriages with other tribes. It can be used to impress others on formal occasions, or can grant bonus dice for other encounter skills.

Waste Land Secrets

Most of the Waste Land secrets revolve around Witchcraft, a primitive form of magic.