Nordrivordr

This is a building-ship I'm not looking to win with, and am honestly struggling to write it.

The oldest intact building of Port Frostfind sits at the top of a hill overlooking the harbor and the North Sea beyond. The Nordrivordr looks like a ship turned into a building, and most historians agree that it was not a building made to look like a ship and was instead a ship made into the building it is now.
Ever since Norrasjo seceded from Vetheriss, the Nordrivordr was the seat for the Arles of Norrasjo, making Port Frostfind the capital of the Arling.

History

The origins of the ship-turned-building are known to be ancient, predating the Adrakian Empire and built to be large or to potentially accomodate large beings. Stories have told of a Goliath standing in the main hall, and still being unable to reach the ceiling - but the stories about Goliath companions of heroes also describe people traveling through time or doing impossible things no mage could dream of achieving at the time or presently, and they're often dismissed.

The ship was beached up onto the hill after a waterspout threw it from the North Sea and the survivors either flipped it, or it landed that way and they just made their home there.

— historian

Alternative Name

The Ship-Keep

Type

Keep, Capitol Building

Formerly

Ship

Parent Location

Port Frostfind

Owner

Arle Sten Stormwatch

Owning Organization

Norrasjo

Ruling/Owning Rank

Arle

While I disagree with the use of the term "capsize" as the ship was not likely flipped in water, the beaching was clearly done in an attempt to protect the ship from the storms the region is known for. The only question is why the Nordrivordr is the only ship left.

All along Theydim's northern coast, we see ships repurposed into homes and buildings after a ship is no longer seaworthy and assuming it reached shore, but those are generally near the harbors.

— historian

The Nordrivordr is one of the pre-Adrakian structures scattered about Theydim, suggesting it was used by the ancients before the Empire took over, and the Empire had no interest in taking it town. From what we've put together of pre-Adrakian Thydian runes, the name has survived mostly intact, as "Northern Watch."

The prow faces the North, where we believe the building once had eyes painted along the sides. There were threats to the north we may not know of now, or threats we no longer deal with or fear to the same extent, that the ancients were concerned with.

— historian

In the preserved histories, the once-ship was used as a meeting hall and as a defensive position for uncountable generations before Port Frostfind became a city. Where the oars would once have been when they would be needed, inhabitants of the region have built up ramps and steps to repurpose the openings into sources of light for the upper level or shuttered mostly closed into arrowslits.

Structure, Modifications, and Adaptations

The ship is build of wood, though the type has been hard to identify. Some speculate it is from timber before the wood became salt timber though other argue that the wood is not the same type and pieces of the Nordrivordr broken off over time have different properties from salt timber in regards to floating, lichen-growing, and some other uses.

Over time,

Historical Inhabitants

Current Design