Sigurd's Craw

On the Edge of a Dead Continent

On the edge of the Northern Wastes, along the southern coast at the closest point of approach to the main continent of Arrhynsia, sits a small settlement of resilient humans, The Izotza who will not bow to the foolishness of the past. They crave the wild open tundra, the enthusiastic dancing curtains of light, the crystaline sparkle of sunlight on the icy white snow, the fierce heat and stately waves of a slow lava flow, the crisp smell of clean pure air and the sizzling crack of breaking stone as it shifts below a crust of ice. To them, the bitter cold and abrupt climate changes are nothing to fear, only to prepare for.
Hardy, independent and self sufficient folk, these are the residents of Sigurd's Craw.

History Making

by nenets

Sigurd's Craw was the first landing of humans on the Northern Continent of Arrhynsia having found their way first to Portsend after leaving their homeland Eryia. The town was named for Sigurd Craw the captain of the ship "Destiny" who first located the spot. Sigurd's Craw became a major staging area for immigration into the Northern Continent and the first and largest port of entry for goods and services throughout the following generations until the Cataclysm. Sigurds was the single largest port from which humans left the crippled continent, and the area least effected from the magic that was invoked by the unfortunate spell that caused the Cataclysm.
During the last years prior to the Cataclysm, Sigurd's Craw had evolved through urban sprawl towards the east from a simple industrial area into a complex community with extensive recreational opportunities, a thriving fine arts scene, and formidable institutions of learning.
All this was lost in the three years after the Cataclysm, as giant waves rose up from the floor of the Ur Hilgarria destroying everything along the coast. People fled the community, moving further and further east as the destructive magic waves seemed to follow them, scouring the traces of their presence from the very soil. Today's location for Sigurd's Craw is east of the original settlement, which is now considered unlucky and avoided by natives and sailors alike.

Today

In modern times, Sigurd's Craw is home to the Izotza, a semi-nomadic people who own and tend large herds of reindeer who are well adapted to the cold. They live in moveable tents, packed onto sleds that are pulled by reindeer or teams of dogs. Culturally and religiously, they follow the way of the Fireley and Waterley. The Izotza do a brisk trade in exotic materials sourced from the Northern Wastes, particularly Firewater, a fluid drawn from firepools, found only at the locations of the convergence of fire and water leylines in the Northern Wastes.
Some natives of Sigurd's will also act as guides into the wastelands for adventurers and archaeologists. Notable amongst these is Hamerber Dreadlok, an irascible old cuss who frequently leads archaelogical expeditions to the ancient city of Magetown, and who, it is rumored, has penetrated into the deep Wastes as far as the ancient city of Cairne where the Reliquary of Cairne is located.