Svartalfheim
Overview
Svartalfheim is populated by the Svartalfar, known commonly as Svart, but also as Dwarves. They are a people who revere the art of smithing, and most svart craft in some way, whether this be weaponry, armour, building work, adornments or Automata creation. The Svart all live inside covered fortress cities that look like moutains in their own right. They use mecahnical automata to man the fields in the rare spaces where this is possible.
The Svart are ruled by 'The Forge' a singular figure who then decides the policies and status' of their fellow Svart. He lives within their capitol city; Bholvor. Leaders of individual cities are known as the 'Anvil' with their second being the 'Hammer.'
There are also Human's and Jotunborn upon Svartalfheim, though they are left to their own devices outside of the Svart cities, with trade and communication between the being two quite rare. These two outsider races are therefore largely ignored by the Svartalfar, and have instead produced their own culture in the dangerous wilds beyond the Svart cities, living together to survive. This has produced Hybrids between Humans and Jotunborn though they aren't common. A Svart Hybrid however, has never been seen.
The world is harsher than the other realms; it is not covered in lush wilderness but is marshy, with volcanoes and mountains, with few and far between forested areas. It is also dangerous here, for there are beasts upon Svartalfheim to rival the stories of the monsters of old, generally known as Dires; wolves, bears, boars, and serpents of gargantuan size, making the lives of the Humans and Jotunborn refugees event more perilous. Those who survive are hardy, cunning and knowledgeable.
Symbol
Current Forge/Leader
Unknown
Peoples of Svartalfheim
For the majority of the Svartalfar population, their lives are based upon their ability with crafting or combat. The better you are at either of these two things, the more revered you are. Some use their talents for the crafting of weapons and armour; which are coveted by those on all the Higher realms. Their materials, techniques and artistry in this area makes 'having a Svart crafted weapon' a point of jealously for all those who do not own such an item. Other Svart use their crafting talents for more artistic works, or building works, or for the building of the Automata. Those Svarts who are combat inclined have their worth measured by which organisation they have become a part of.
Human refugees, now called the Freefolk, who came to Svartalfheim were not the lucky ones. They have freedom but the world of Svartalfheim is harsh, and they are left to their own devices to try and survive. The Svartalfar do not allow them within their city walls, and trade opportunities are rare. They have become a hardy people as a result, living where the harsh landscape is best for them. Some do live together with the Jotunborn of this realm who are also in the same position as they are, creating cohabiting communities both of the settled and the nomadic varieties.
Jotunborn refugees, now called the Freefolk, who came to Svartalfheim were not the lucky ones. They have freedom but the world of Svartalfheim is harsh, and they are left to their own devices to try and survive. The Svartalfar do not allow them within their city walls, and trade opportunities are rare. They have become a hardy people as a result, living where the harsh landscape is best for them. Some do live together with the Humans of this realm who are also in the same position as they are, creating cohabiting communities both of the settled and the nomadic varieties.
Religion on Svartalfheim
Svartalfar
The religion of the Svartalfar was never like it was upon the other realms. Though they respected the Aesir and Vanir for their power, the Svart never worshipped them like the rest of the nine realms did. 'When Gods come to you to make weapons for them, some of the awe disappears' is a common saying, that encompasses their views on the matter. There have been those few over the years, however, that have taken a difference stance and created religious cults. These are usually to Thor, though they have always been quickly dealt with.
Instead, the Svartalfar revere the knowledge as passed down from father to son, mother to daughter, and make offerings to their Ancestors in the form of ancestor worship. The Svart all know that they came from those who lived before, and so the honouring of their Ancestors is their form of religion. They keep the combined knowledge of all Svart in the Athenaeum; a vault housed within the bowels below their capital city Bholvor.
It is commonly believed that the souls of the Svartalfar go to power The Great Forge upon their death, the forge where the God weapons of old were created. To protect the knowledge of the ancestors is considered one of the highest honour, even above that of being a crafter or warrior. The Order of the Assayers are those who perform this duty, travelling the length and breadth of Svartalfheim collecting the knowledge of the people. Families vie for their children to be in this order, and most will send their eldest child for consideration not long after birth, though only a few are ever chosen.
Humans & Jotunborn
Amongst the Humans and Jotunborn refugees of the realm there is no organised faith. The worship and devotion of the people is very much still reminiscent of that which was upon before Ragnarok. Of all the peoples of the realms, here is where the ‘old ways’ carried on in its purest form. Religion is personal based on the settlement beliefs, or passed down within the family. All the old Gods are revered, for here especially, the knowledge of who did and did not survive Ragnarok is little known. Most settlements of the tribes have shrines to the Gods, who are tended to by all who pass through, or by those who permanently live in the area.
Most Humans have those runic symbols associated with their preferred God tattooed upon their necks as a symbol of the constant presence they feel their Gods have upon their lives, and have personal idols of their Gods which move with them if they are one of the nomadic tribes.
The Jotunborn also have their own idols of their chosen Gods, though it is less common. They also do not tend to tattoo themselves as their skin usually prohibits this practice; being furred, or scaled or harder than their Human companions. Instead, they wear pendants with the runic symbols of their preferred Gods upon them.
Culture of Svartalfheim
Svartalfheim is unique amongst the four Higher realms. Whereas the other three, post Ragnarok, integrated Humans and Jotunborn into their lives and cultures, some to more of an extent than others, on Svartalfheim it was the opposite. Even though the Svartalfar allowed the refugees to come to their world, they wanted nothing to do with them. They shut their cities to them and left them to fend for themselves. To the Svart, they are NOT Svart, and as such are ignored.
There are a few exceptions to this, and in some places a tentative trade has emerged between a refugee tribes and a few of the Svart cities. This has lead to the acquisition of better cloth for clothing in exchange for the furs of the beasts the refugees hunt. This contact lead to another problem however, of capable craftsmen tribe members going missing, leading to the rumours that they are being kidnapped by the Svartalfar, and taken into the cities.
Svartalfar
The Svart Cities
Every Svart city is run by an Anvil; the leader of the community, who is backed up by his second in Command The Hammer. Svart Cities operate like enormous factories with the Anvil being the Director of the cacophony of creation, and the Hammer being the General Manager of daily living. Svart cities are not Carbon copies of each other, however. They each have their specialties and they are very much molded by the Anvil that runs it. The 5 largest Svart cities are:
Bholvor is the largest of the Svart cities, and considered the Capital of the realm by dint of The Forge living within its walls. It is also where The Grand Forge sits, within the Golden Hall, guarded day and night by the Wardens, and tended to by the Acolytes of the Flame.
Gathar is run by Agard, a wisened older Svart renowned for his almost magical ability to shape metal using his own hands. He focuses heavily on the artisanal side of armor smithing and Weaponsmithing, and his city creates decorative yet functional items that are seen on many of the crafters of renown.
Gabad is run by Isran, a Svart in their mid life who is known for his eccentric take on what can be deemed a weapon. He spends his time creating schematics for new and lethal weapons, and the entire city is full of weaponsmiths and fighting arenas that are used to test out the weapons made. This is also a spectator sport, with Svart from all over the realm coming to watch, the Gladiators of which are famous and favoured.
Baledzig is run by Thorvillesa, a svart who is nearing her death (80-90 years old). Not much is known about this City due to their secrecy, but what is known is that this is where the first Automata came from, and still produces the programmed cores of all the automata machines across the realms. The Automata are machines that go outside the cities for the Svarts, in order to farm and harvest the scant land that can hold crops.
Khiz which is run by Alvis, the youngest of the current governing Anvils. he is known for his ability with both weapons and armour, and is commonly referred to behind his back by his peers as the Jackal. Khis runs as a 'jack of all trades' city, giving rise to the nickname for its Anvil. The city combines the efforts of weapons and armour smithing, artistic expression and research, and the city is divided into 3 districts depending on your chosen craft. Each district is lead by a Stoker; they're sole purpose to stoke the creative fire within their crafters to bring out the best in them.
The Choice
Each family of Svarts has an 'Ancestor Anvil' where the names of the members of that family are etched when they attain success in their chosen path, as a living testament to the ancestors of their line. When a Svartalfar reaches thirteen years of age each Svart must choose to go on to learning a craft, or to start combat training. If they choose to craft, they are assigned to a local Guild to learn as an apprentice, or they are sent to the that cities Brand training camp if they choose combat.
For those who succeed in their path; they either become a member of a Crafting Guild, or Part of the Brand Companies. They can gain influence in the Guild to become a Guild Master, and enter the succession of the city, up to Hammer, Anvil and The Forge, or they can become an Acolyte of the Flame. A warrior can be promoted to the Wardens, for gaining honour and glory in combat with the wilds of Svartalfheim. Those who fail at their Crafting or Combat trainin are forced to turn to the more menial tasks of the city; either forging mundane items as a Guild labourer, or to the life of a Varg.
The Guilds
Every Svart city has a selection of Crafting Guilds that normally specialise in an area of crafting knowledge. This would be weapons, amour, architecture, or various types of artistic expression. Each Guild is named after their Guildmaster, and there could be several of each type within Svart cities depending on how that city is run by its Anvil. The guilds do not have ranks, but instead the mark of the capabilities of a guild member is in how many people they personally oversee, and by how many levels of overseeing there is below them. This can chain downwards quite far dependant on the size of the Guild.
To become a Guild member, the apprentice must craft their first item without any assistance from their teachers. Instead they ask for their ancestors to guide their craft, and upon finishing their creation it is inspected by the Guild Master. If the piece is deemed worthy their name is added to their family anvil, and are given a copper pendant with their families insignia upon, which they are to wear as a sign of their ability, and their worthiness to be included in their ancestry when they die.
The Brands
The Brands are the Military Class within Svartalfheim. Compared to most Svarts the Brands value strength and dexterity over crafting ability.
To be a brand is become a weapon. They are taken from their families at a young age and put through five years of ruthless training in the art of war, culminating in The Crucible trial. This training is 'mock war' and trainees are taken to the slopes of Mount Mernhria where they are split in half to fight. The "slain" being thrown back into whichever city they came from.
The survivors receive their brand which denotes their weapon specialisation and what company they are part of. There are three Companies:
Specialising in scouting, skirmishing and all other forms of fast front line fighting
Specialising in sword and shield tactics, and all aspects of defensive fighting
Specialising in the engineers of war, they are equally skilled in combat but focus on the building war engines
The Varg
The Varg are a legally sanctioned and hire-able group that specialises in corporate espionage and information gathering, who normally consist of the Brand trainees who did not make it through their training. There are three different Agencies of business, all of which are run out of the various Taverns that can be found within the Cities.
Led by a female svart named 'the Keeper', their sole purpose is gather information they act as the Svart's information brokers for both legal and illegal trade, they can be hired at a premium to infiltrate and gather more intimate information where applicable
Led by a male svart know as Cleaver, have the lovely job of being hired thugs and debt collectors as their name suggests they are not the most subtle when it comes to claiming their bounties
Are hidden even from the Varg as a whole and operate through out the different Agencies. The Cleansers act as legally authorised assassins, which can only be summoned into service by either the Forge or a cities Anvil.
The Acolytes of the Flame
The Acolytes of the Flame are an ancient monastic sect who tend to the ever-burning Grand Forge, and serve as the the Forges attendants. They wear simple black robes with red, orange, gold and copper accents, and have burn marks on any of their visible skin. This burning is a result of the final steps in their initiation to become an Acolyte. They are forged, which involves walking through the Grand Forge's furnace. Any who fail at this step are consumed by the heat and left to feed the fires.
The Acolytes are specialists in hand to hand combat opting for duel wielding war picks and thrown weapons, and are skilled crafters in their own right focusing on tools and equipment that aid in their duties. As part of their training, they spend up to 5 years in the service of an Anvil and serve as his forges keepers.
They believe that the only Ancestors worthy of respecting and honoring are the first Svarts that discovered fire, and subsequently led them to where they are now. The fire that powers the Grand Forge is the same flame that was lit all those millennia ago, and because of this they have the view that any non-crafter is of lesser stock and thus is not worthy of being spoken to.
Players may not play a character who is an Acolyte at Character Creation.The Wardens
The Wardens are the Grand Forge's eternal protectors. They are chosen from the top members of the Brands, and spend their days continually training. They are equipped to the highest standard; with armour that heals the wearer, and weapons that are able to cut through anything; all of which are ancient. They were all crafted by the first Forge within the flames of the Grand Forge. Whilst they are not at the level of the God weapons of old, they are the only weapons still on Svartalfheim that have magic crafted into them. There are 24 Wardens, each one embodying the traits held of one of the 24 runic symbols.
players cannot play a character who is a WardenHumans & Jotunborn
The Tribes
Following their banishment out into the wilderness when they arrived on Svartalfheim, the Human and Jotunborn coalesced into Tribes as the Freefolk. This process was natural and gradual as a result of needing to band together to survive. The environment is not only rough, but also dangerous with The Dire creatures attracted to the sounds and smells of settlements. For this reason most of the tribes upon Svartalfheim are nomadic, frequently moving throughout the areas not controlled by the Svartalfar.
Defendable positions that also have the resources to live are far and few between, and so most of the tribes travel constantly in order to not be a lingering target for the monsters in the marshes. There are Tribes who are static; looking after one of the rare permanent settlements, though even these change hands. Each tribe is unique and are usually quite small, consisting of a few family units at most and rarely growing larger than twenty to thirty individuals. Some are patriarchial, some matriarchal, some warrior lead, others religion lead. The one constant throughout all the Tribes, however, are the Foragers; those that hunt for food, and the Stalkers; those that protect their people.
From the very beginning there was no hostility between the Humans and the Jotunborn. There was never any time for such things, in the mad rush to survive. Though tribe are more often either all Human, or all Jotunborn of one caste or another, it is not uncommon to find Tribes with a mixture of the two, living harmoniously together. There is very little conflict within Tribes, or between Tribes, as survival does not do well when people are fighting amongst themselves. If any conflict does occur, the perpetrators are usually Trollan, who upon Svartalfheim has become the most savage of Tribes. Their hotheadedness can occasionally cause problems.
players groups may form Tribes as outlined in these pages, including the following cultural rolesThe Foragers
The land of Svartalfheim is harsh, but it is not unproductive if you know where to look. The Foragers of each tribe have spent their lives learning where and how to find and trap food. Within the marshes there are a multitude of small game animals that an be hunted, as well as many plants and fruits that can be gathered. The only arable land the refugees have is where their permanent settlements are; all other stretches of land good enough to grow cultivated food upon is controlled by the Svart, which are tended and protected by the Automata. The foragers can occassionally steal some of a crop, though these sorts of expeditions are best left to the Stalkers. These individuals are experts at moving silently, and for environments they are able to move unseen through the marshes to catch their prey or gather food without attracting attention.
players may be Foragers of their TribeThe Stalkers
Every tribe has their Stalkers. These are the individuals who protect the members of the Tribe by stalking and luring The Dire creatures away from their encampments. They may also, if skilled, lure the Dires into traps in order to kill them. To manage to kill a Dire is considered to be a great achievement.
The Stalkers also undertake another task, which again provides for the Tribe when successful. The @autom, the machines of the Svartalfar which tend the Svart controlled forests and farm land, are made of metals that the refugees cannot get anywhere else. From this scavenged metal can be made armour pieces, weapons and shields. As they also tend and protect the crops and orchards of the Svartalfar, if the Automata is successfully distracted can also provide grains and apples for the Tribe. Taking down an Automata requires exceptional skill, however, and requires the core of the machine to be pierced. This is rarely managed though, and instead they are usually either distracted, or sections of armour are chopped off and removed for the Tribes use.
Amongst the Stalkers there are some older weapons and armour, which are left over from the old world on Midgard, maintained and passed down through the generations. Every tribe has them, and to own one is a great indicator of their prowess as a Stalker; for they are only given to the greatest amongst them.
players can be Stalkers of their TribeThe Settlements
In those places where the land can be productive, which are not controlled by Svart and their Automata, there are permanent settlements. These settlements are in areas where they can be both defended against Dire incursion, and have usable land to produce food. Finding sites where both can be achieved is very rare, and there are only a handful of them across the whole of Svartalfheim.
The settlements are tended to and protected by a coalition of Tribes, which are tasked to stay and protect each settlement as residents. These Tribes rotate round with new ones coming in to reside, and ones that have been there for years moving back to a nomadic lifestyle. There is no set schedule for the rotation of the tribes and is usually managed on petition based on need. The tribal leaders of the settlements residents will discuss with the petitioning leader, and decide who will stay and who will go. The usual reason for a petition being made is that a Tribe has been attacked by the Dires, and have lost their Stalkers, Foragers or both and need a place to recuperate. This must be carefully managed, however, as allowing them to reside could take away needed Stalkers and Foragers from the Tribe who leaves. This is where Tribes can instead merge, so that all may survive.
The settlements act as both a respite for travelling Tribes, and as trading posts. Land is set aside for travelling encampments who can stay a maximum of three days before either petitioning for a permanent position there, or moving on. When a Tribe comes through they will usually have goods to trade; excess animal furs, trophies from Dire creatures, weapons and armour made from Automata, or the rarer berries and fruits of the marshes that have become sought after by those who do not travel.
There are also shrines to the Gods at every settlement, who are tended to by all. These are areas where carved wooden or metal statues can be placed in order to honour the Gods. A shrine is usually a collection of these statues, all different shapes and sizes, interspersed with candles. Religious practices such as weddings and funerals frequently take place at these Shrines as well, with Tribes travelling to a settlement for this purpose, and making the most of their three days of residence with the ceremony and following celebrations.
Religious festivals are also held once a year at midsummer when the climate is the most forgiving and warm. For this also, Tribes travel in order to take part of these festivities, organised by the resident tribes over the course of three days. Amongst many of the Tribes, Midsummer is the most anticipated time of year, not only for the warmer weather, but also the respite and celebration; a concept which is much sought after in the harsh environment out in the marshes, where all are on edge.
There are 4 main permanent settlements of the refugees;
This is the largest of the settlements. Situated halfway up Mount Dun Doral, within a hidden valley that can only be accessed by two trails. It is surrounded by rocks and easily defendable, with the largest swathe of arable land within. There is a small forest, and two large crop fields, and a spectacular waterfall bringing fresh water directly off the mountain. Sanctuary has the largest capacity for visiting Tribes, and the permanent settlement there is well constucted with wood. There is even a watchtower at each entrance trail, to alert for Dire incursion, or should it ever happen, the discovery by the Svart.
Talvar is a small settlement at a secluded bay on the Southern coast below Mount Mernhria, accessed by a path through razor sharp rocks. It is one of the only places the refugees can fish safely for any length of time, and the Tribes that have residency here are now mainly fishermen. It is rare that the residency changes at this settlement, due to the specialised nature of there knowledge.
Ormsal is situated on a high plateau, like an upthrust of rock from the ground. On the top, which can only be access by climbing up a series of ladders and ropes, and through tunnels carved into the rock itself, can be found a settlement of stone buildings and rock palisades, which protect from the elements. It is a lot older then the refugee inhabitation, but nobody knows how or when it was constructed.
Gilsa is the only settlement situated in a forest. Located on the Southern side of Mount Dun Doral, it is another hidden valley on the side of the volcano, where an entire valley, though small, is covered in forest. It is the most well protected from the elements in the winter months anywhere outside of the the Svart cities.
Histories of Svartalfheim
The following are prominent events, or timelines, in Svartalfheim's history.
check back regularly, as more may be added
Map of Svartalfheim
Click here for larger map