History
The Fjordssons can trace their lineage back to the first groups of humans who settled on the Northland in 4,000 BH. Around 800 BH, a flight of white dragons appeared from the Winterpeak Mountains and drove the Northland humans out of their settlements and back to the coasts where they would either take to the seas or flee southward along the coast. Among those that sailed for safety, most landed on Winterwheat Isle to the east of the Northland and slightly northeast of where present-day Haven stands. The sudden arrival of so many refugees on Winterwheat Isle combined with the island's pre-existing human residents created a population crisis: a shortage of food, water, and shelter. Solutions to this crisis were intensely debated, and ultimately the Winterwheat Islanders' elders would decide on a fairly drastic course of action: the old, sick, and weak from among the refugees would be exiled to the nearby Iceblood Islands. This was considered by many to be a death sentence as the Iceblood Islands were an extremely cold and inhospitable place, but most did not protest the decision for fear of being cast out themselves. And so, in the spring of 798 BH, the first wave of Winterwheat exiles arrived on the Iceblood Islands.
During the winter of 798 BH, most of the people that had been exiled to the Iceblood Islands fell to cold, starvation, and disease, but a tenacious few held on into the following year. Over the next few years, several more waves of exiles would arrive, and each year only a small fraction would hold on to see the next spring. Through all of this death and hardship, a small and sturdy community arose from the survivors. It was from this small community that a boy named Finn Ivarsson would be born.
Finn Ivarsson would grow up strong despite all of the threats of the Iceblood Islands, and he would become one of the islanders' most skilled adventurers by the time he was just a teenager. In 782 BH, while exploring the more remote northern islands in the Iceblood archipelago, his boat would be wrecked by a fierce and sudden storm. Finn would be tossed into the sea where he would nearly die from hypothermia before washing ashore on a nearby island where he would be found by Ingrid the Frail. Ingrid was a frost giant who was exiled from her clan's lands to the north for having failed her Trials, an ancient frost giant rite of passage. Ingrid would nurse Finn back to health and would teach him of her people's culture, survival skills, and magic. Soon enough, a romance would blossom between the two, with Finn choosing to remain with Ingrid rather than return to his village and his family.
In 780 BH, two years after they had first met, Ingrid and Finn would become parents to septuplet sons. Rather than name them in the traditional manner of humans or frost giants, they chose to name them after the location of their birth, and thus they became the first of the Fjordssons. Strained by the extreme cold of the Iceblood Islands' northern winter, however, Finn and Ingrid would be forced to travel south to Finn's village to seek help in caring for their children. While initially terrified of Ingrid, the humans eventually welcome her in after seeing her embraced by Finn and his family.
Many generations pass, and by 200 BH most humans living on the Iceblood Islands are descendants of the original Fjordsson sons. They begin referring to themselves as Fjordssons to differentiate themselves from their hated and now-distant relatives on Winterwheat Isle. Their frost giant heritage allows them to grow large, strong, and ruggedly resistant to the cold. A warrior named Yngvar the Fearless constructs a plan to retake the Northland from the white dragons that had displaced them so many centuries ago, and a years-long war effort begins to accomplish this task. After 50 grueling years and many hundreds of raids, the Fjordssons succeed in whittling down the white dragons' numbers to the point where they are no longer a serious threat to survival, and the Fjordssons begin resettling the Northland.
Before long, the Winterwheat Islanders learn of the Fjordssons' success, and many begin attempting to settle on the Northland as well. The Fjordssons resent these people encroaching on land they had rightfully conquered, and a meeting is convened between the Winterwheat Islanders and the Fjordssons to settle the dispute. While some Fjordssons were content to reunify their society with the Winterwheat Islanders, others called for justice for the exile of their ancestors so many years ago, demanding the heads of the descendants of the Winterwheat Islanders that had condemned so many people to die in the Iceblood Islands' winters. After many arguments, a compromise was eventually reached: most of the Winterwheat Islanders would be allowed to settle the Northland and reunify with the Fjordssons, but the Winterwheat elders and any descendants of past elders would receive a curse from the powerful Fjordsson mage known as Torold the Stern.
Torold the Stern was a mage feared for his stoic demeanor and brutal outlook on the world, and this reputation would be further solidified during his creation of the Winterwheat curse: all of those afflicted would have the word "WEAK" magically imprinted across their face in Fjordsson runes, unable to be washed away or removed. In addition, all of those afflicted would be unable to travel more than 100 meters from the shores of Winterwheat Isle without being overcome by debilitating disease symptoms such as vomiting, fever, dysentery, and internal bleeding; the only way to prevent death from these symptoms would be to ingest soil from Winterwheat Isle at least once every hour. Altogether, this curse was viewed as so extreme (even by those that had previously been demanding justice) that Torold the Stern would lose what little public influence and popularity he had, and would be forever known afterward as Torold the Cruel.
For the Fjordssons now resettled on the Northland, several decades of peace pass as towns begin to grow across the rolling hills and valleys. Without warning, a colossal white dragon known as Inexorus descends from the Winterpeak Mountains and razes many of the Fjordsson towns in a single day, not eating any of the humans or their livestock and seemingly acting out of rage alone. Every day for a week Inexorus descends and claims hundreds of lives, with the Fjordssons' counterattacks seeming to have little effect despite their success against the white dragons of years past. Talk ensues of fleeing back to the sea, but the leaders quickly resolve that this time they will win or die. A man by the name of Bjornolf the Bold proposes a plan to ascent the Winterpeaks, locate Inexorus's lair, wait in hiding, and then kill the dragon in a confined space in his sleep. He is ridiculed by many, and finds only four allies: Rorik the Mad, Siv the Shadow, Yngvild the Vigilant, and Torunn the Cold (the daughter of Torold the Cruel). Together, these five develop their scheme and act the next day. The rest of the leaders and community begin to criticize them saying that they are seeking death, and so their party is referred to as the Deadmen by the rest of the public. They execute their plan and, stunningly, it succeeds; they successfully ambush Inexorus in the dead of night and a fight ensues, but the dragon is ultimately slain in the close quarters of his cave lair.
Unbeknownst to the rest of the party, the reason for their victory was a curse spell cast by Torunn the Cold which condensed all the luck and fortune of all the party members' lives and their descendants' lives down into that single fight, which allowed them to accomplish the impossible feat of slaying Inexorus, the demigod leader of the white dragons with relative ease in his own lair. They would be welcomed back as heroes and honored for all time, but for centuries each of them and their descendants would be beset by personal disasters, tragedies, and early, often violent deaths. Eventually, this was noticed by the public, and it was assumed to be a curse put on them by Inexorus. Partly because of the curse, and partly because of the name they bore at the dubious start of their quest, the party continues to be referred to as the Deadmen.
In 90 BH, as the population of humans on the Northland reaches a critical mass, a need for a unified government emerges, and many begin to step forward with claims for a crown. Eventually, Torunn the Cold nominates Bjornolf the Bold, and he immediately receives the most popular support for his role in slaying Inexorus. Bjornolf is made king, and he rules justly and effectively for a decade as King Bjornolf I. However despite his strong rulership, his own life becomes miserable and fraught with illness and misery. Though he would not know it, this suffering was the result of Torunn's magic, a curse that would continue to weigh on him in the wake of Inexorus's death. In 80 BH, Bjornolf would wed a maiden named Ranveig the Red, but he would die of a heart attack just a few weeks after the wedding at only 38 years old. A pregnant and grief-stricken Ranveig ascends to the throne as Queen Ranveig I.
Tragically, Queen Ranveig I's reign lasts only as long as her pregnancy. She dies unexpectedly in childbirth, and the new heir to the throne, Mikkel, is born. After this tragic sequence of events, the nature of the curse is more apparent than ever to the public, and its name is attached to Mikkel; he becomes known as Mikkel Deadman. Mikkel Deadman lives a tortured 16 years while a regency council rules the Fjordsson and Winterwheat lands in his stead. After witnessing the suffering of King Bjornolf, Queen Ranveig, and now Mikkel, the Curse of the Deadmen is now apparent to all, and many attempts are made to remove it, including by Torunn the Cold herself, but to no avail. At age 16, Mikkel Deadman is crowned King Mikkel I.
Mikkel travels to a new residence at the advice of one of his mages, as they have discovered a confluence of ley lines at this location. This mage believes that this immense source of raw magical energy may disrupt the effects of the curse, or at least allow the mages more power to attempt to lift the curse. The curse is not able to lifted, but its effects are lessened. Mikkel relocates his government to this more remote town (a tiny settlement bearing the name Leyhollow), much to the annoyance of the nobility. Mikkel's leadership abilities lessen as he is distracted by trying to enjoy his new, relatively pleasant life.
In Leyhollow, with the effects of the Curse of the Deadmen eased, Mikkel I leads a debauched lifestyle, much to the annoyance of his nobles and subjects. Under this negligent reign, the unity of human lands weakens significantly, and small wars break out. Eventually, Mikkel I manages to find a bride, Freya the Fair, and the two are married. King Mikkel I and Freya the Fair have a son who Mikkel names after himself, Mikkel Deadman II. Due to his many vices and ever-declining sense of dignity and responsibility, Mikkel I becomes a terrible father to Mikkel II, and he makes no attempts to improve. Freya is left to effectively raise the prince on her own, while Mikkel I devolves back into alcoholism.
King Mikkel I dies of liver failure while blackout drunk at a bar. His widow, Freya the Fair, ascends to the throne as Queen Freya I, the fourth monarch of the Northland humans. Mikkel II grows up filled with hatred for his father, a flame fanned by his mother who had also grown to despise him after he had regressed to his old ways. Mikkel II turns 16 years old and is crowned King, becoming the fifth monarch of the Northland humans. Along with the help of his mother, Queen Mother Freya, he begins a campaign to reunify the increasingly fragmented human kingdom, beginning with a declaration that the growing town of Leyhollow will be renamed to Haven, and that it will be the new capital of all human lands, and that all lords must literally bend the knee to him in Haven either in person or via a chosen representative.
Upset at the new authority disrupting their autonomy, many of The Northland's human city states refuse to comply with Mikkel II's demands, and an attempt is made on Mikkel II's life by poisoning of his food. Due to the nature of his curse, Mikkel II survives after suffering through several days of gruesome illness, but his mother Freya succumbs to the poison. Mikkel II desires vengeance but his council stops him from initiating a war, as Haven at this time is one of the smallest and militarily weakest human domains. Mikkel II dispatches messengers to his few potential allies among the nobles to the east and the smaller settlements to the west, seeking any aid he can rally to his side. King Mikkel II's call for aid to reunify his lands reaches Master Whittington. Deciding that Mikkel II's claim is legitimate, Master Whittington calls upon the might of The Guild to intimidate all human city states into submission. The effort is successful, and Mikkel II begins his reign over a unified human kingdom. In exchange, The Guild is granted land high in the Winterpeak Mountains to construct a base of operations.
From this point forward, the history of the Fjordsson humans becomes highly intertwined with the history of the city of Haven, and more of their actions and accomplishments can be read about in the city's historical record.
Personality
The Fjordsson humans are so many in number and so integrated with other Haven races in the present day that they have become fairly multicultural and as such do not have many unifying personality traits. A single trait that does tend to remain is a tendency towards bluntness and directness; Fjordssons are not delicate or careful with their speech, and will typically tend to say and do what is on their mind with little hesitancy.
Physical Description
The Fjordssons are relatively average in their builds compared to other human lineages, though they tend to be slightly on the taller and bulkier side. They are generally fair-skinned and fair-haired, and many choose to adorn themselves with tattoos or metal piercings.
Relations
Because of their historical role as the rulers of Haven and the rampant expansion that they have overseen, most other races that interact with the Fjordssons have historically held a strong contempt for them. In recent decades, as the Fjordssons' direct control over Haven has regressed and the government of the city has become more of a collective effort between many races, the hatred of the Fjordssons from other races has begun to die down, but it still smolders among many of the city's inhabitants.
Alignment
Fjordsson humans of all alignments exist and can be found throughout Haven and in lands beyond.
Lands
Most Fjordsson humans live in Haven or one of its territories, though a small few still reside in their historical homeland, the Iceblood Islands. These modern-day Iceblood Islanders strive to live a simple existence and to emulate the lifestyles of their ancestors.
Religion
Fjordsson humans have made themselves parts of many faiths, and Fjordsson worshippers of many different deities can be found. Among the most traditional Fjordssons, it is common for them to worship Finn Ivarsson and Ingrid the Frail as something like ancestor-gods who they turn to for wisdom and support.
Language
Fjordsson humans speak common as well as the Fjordsson dialect of common, which contains elements of both common and frost giant language, with its written form being composed of runes instead of script.
Adventurers
Fjordsson adventurers of all paths can be found in the world, although Fighter, Rogue, Ranger, Sorcerer, and Cleric tend to be the most common.
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