Fjorheim

Where Land Meets Sky

Overview

Fjorheim is a large island, about 600 miles East to West and 280 miles from southern tip to northern edge (roughly the size of Great Britain). It boast a wide variety of ecosystems with warm rolling hills and a large deciduous forest in the south near its largest city: Solheim.
The city of Ariendahn is located at the base of one of its many fjords, with Jotunverold in the stony hills in the West. The birdfolk and their city of Ravenscar occupy the large temperate coniferous forest in the northeast that blends into a boreal forest above the Whitestone Alps where the city of Winterdusk lies.

History

A Land Born of Titans

The ancient island of Fjorheim has long been steeped in tradition, magic, and respect for the land. Fjorheim has long been the home of the Giants and giant-kin (Goliaths, Ettins, Trolls, Ogres, and Firbolgs) of Eilgorah.
In the Primal years of Aezieron, The Ice Titans, the precursors to the Giants, ruled the Northern half of what became Eilgorah. In their fortresses of cloud, storm, and ice high above the ground, the Giant Titans commanded their children and slaves. Their stone cold demeanor, long memories, and penchant for holding grudges clashed with the avarice and pride of the Dragon Titans ruling the southern half of the land.
One Dragon attack was so severe it altered the land entirely. The Dragons stirred up magma from the bowels of the globe and in a furious blaze, ravaged the northern lands. The great spine mountain range was left as a scar on Eilgorah. In a very rare collaboration with the Leviathans, the Giants fractured a section of the land to preserve their forces and children and retreated from the mainland. This left all of mainland what would be Eilgorah to be ruled by the Dragons.
With the Giant's power waning over Eilgorah, they retreated to their Ice Fortresses high above the mountains and left their children to rule the island. When the Titans vanished from the world, the various giant races competed for dominion of their lands. In Fjorheim, clans of Frost, Stone, and Hill giants remain from this time.

Teeming With Magic

It has been long theorized Fjorheim has many portals and thin veils to the Feywild which lends to its magical essence. It is a land of old magic, some strands going as far back as the creation of the world itself. Long ago, when the giant-kin ruled the land, magic was an everyday part of life. When the humans arrived in the coming centuries they where surprised to find giants and trolls well versed in magic as opposed to the dim witted or more feral variety they encountered before.
At some point before war broke out between humans and giants, the Moon watched as a human and a giant worked together to survive a bitter winter night. In their shared trial, they came to see each other as equals and when attacked, the giant sacrificed himself for the human. The human cried to the Moon and she appeared and was about to bring the giant back when Raven sent a messenger to stop her, for it was the Fate of the giant to perish in sacrifice to show it was possible for the races to respect one another. Raven made the place special, and the Moon rose a structure to house the sacred site as a reminder to the inhabitants of the land this message.

Legacy of War

The giants and their kin, with memories lasting back to a time the Giant titans ruled, desired to subjugate all who would live in this land and possess absolute authority. 200 years before the era known as the Great Awakening in Eilgorah, war broke out among the inhabitants of Fjorheim.
The giants, trolls, ogres and ettins waged war against the humans, elves, gnomes, and goliaths. The war lasted 50 years with neither side gaining any advantage over the other. On yet another cold winter's night the warring armies engaged in battle and it was the deadliest and bloodiest one to date. In this battle, the "Battle of Giant's Bane", the humans brought a deadly magic to destroy the giants permanently. The Moon and Raven looked on with fury and sorrow. They sent warriors of their own: the White Winter Strigidae and the Corvidea who tore through the 2 armies. The message was clear and returning to the site in the mountains blessed by both the Raven Queen and Sehanine Moonbow, the pact was made between the clans and a temple was built on the site and named Hrieg-Lani , "Temple of the Moon" and dedicated as a site to remember the cost of the war and the agreement of peace. It was decreed the temple would be a place where no conflict between the races would be allowed and where individuals could go to seek sanctuary.

Gathering of the Clans

In the Era of the Great Awakening, the cities of Fjorheim were run by councils and the leader of each represents the clans at a yearly summit held at Hrieg-Lani. For the most part, the peace lasted, though distrust of the humans towards the giants grew overtime and tensions grew until both re-established peaceful ties when the Shadow Wars broke out on the mainland.
Fjorheim sent armies to help bolster the defenses of the Zarian Empire but as Avaria breached the defenses and overran Zaria, the clans retreated back to Fjorheim. As the Shadow of the Calamity overtook Eilgorah, Fjorheim was protected by the light of the Moon, though its magical nature was heavily drained and diminished. For thousands of years, the Fjorans lived without contact with any other nation and stagnated while focusing purely on survival as the mainland was still too dangerous to return to. Through this time, the clans were at peace, though still wary of each other.

Current Day

When the new nations of Eilgorah arose and made contact with Fjorheim, there was apprehension who these new nations were and what their agendas could be. The Zenora Republic proved to be a powerful ally that grew out of the remnant of the Zarian Empire. The clans refused to engage in the wars of other nations, which put tension on their relationship with Zenora and Avalon during the Pyrrhian Wars and Avrodian Conquest, but in the era that followed, the clans of Fjorheim have been able to maintain friendly relationships with Avalon, Zenora, and Merridorn, neutral relationships with both the Pyrrhian Empire and the Iron Coasts, and tense relations with Avrodia.
Not one to forget its past, the traditions of the clans are steeped in magic and the old ways like living relics from before the Calamity.

Maps

• 

  Fjorheim

Type

Island

Location under

Eilgorah

Included Locations

• Ravenscar

Included Organizations

• The United Clans of Fjorheim