Imperial Agderian
The people of the Northern Principality are tall, averaging 2.00 m, and very strong for humans.
They have fair light skin and blond or light red hair, their eyes are almost always light green or light blue.
Military
Though they do not possess any form of organized standing army each Thane may call their villagers to war and the Jarl may call for the aid of the Thanes who have the right to refuse. The small population and lack of a well-organized army may lead one to believe that Agder is a weak nation, this could be not further from the truth, although few in numbers almost every Agderian male or female is a capable hunter who knows how to forage and survive in the wild without a logistic train supporting them, and a sizeable number of the population is capable of killing dangerous monsters alone, furthermore invading the north with a sizeable army is almost impossible given it's hard to reach both by land and sea, the climate and wildlife are extremely hostile and the population is skilled in guerrilla tactics, plus it has no sizeable quantities of natural resources so it would be useless as well.Economy
The kingdom of Agder has no major mercantile exchanges with the rest of the empire so no major imports or exports, some merchants may brave the arduous mountain passes or sail the frozen sea and rivers but most do not see the value in that.Government
They do not have any form of proper nobility, the king is called Jarl and the other rules Thanes, the Jarl rules over the capital and each Thane rules over a village, both titles are for life and elective, Thanes are elected by the villager and the Jarl is elected by the Thanes.Naming Traditions
Family names
Naming tradition consists of a first name chosen by the parents, a second name that is the first name of the father with a suffix depending on the gender of the individual: son for males, dottir for females. So an example of an agderian name would be Ragnar Ragnarson coincidentally one of the most popular names in the region.
Some individuals that complete a navnejakt earn a third name.
Culture
Culture and cultural heritage
Living in the harshest region in the empire the cold of the north prevents almost all forms of agriculture save from some species of berry bushes, fruit trees, and tubers.
They sustain their merger population by fishing, both the rivers and seas, and hunting, the wilds of the north are home to many beasts 3 species of wolves including direwolves, bears, elks, deers, and kyloes a breed of cattle with long fur and horns, and many more.
The north is also home to many monsters, the scarce human population proving a meager deterrent to their existence, trolls both of the ice and mountain varieties, artic wyverns, ettins, yetis ogres, and owlbears are some of the more common in the region, some tell the tale of fire and ice giants roaming the wilds of the north but such tales could not be confirmed.
The harsh reality of the region means that almost everyone is a skilled hunter, most do not dare to brave the wilds alone and a hunting group may be composed of five to twelve persons.
Coming of Age Rites
Once an agderian is 16 or older they may go on a navnejakt (name hunt), if they fail but are still alive they may try another 2 times, this ancient tradition sees the young hunter hunt a beast or monster alone to earn their third and most important name. Killing a wolf would earn names such as Ulvedreper (wolf slayer) or Ulvarr (wolf scar) if the individual suffered a wound in the hunt. Obviously the fiercer the beast or monster the more impressive the name. This hunt does not end with the slaying of the target, the hunter is expected to bring the entire carcass of the prey to their village so they may share the bounty, in their mythology, Jarl Ragnar Biorson Jotunslakter (the butcher of giants) having hunted a giant and finding impossible to bring its carcass back in one trip butchered the monster and moved every piece by 10 m at a time taking two weeks to return to the village and having to live of wild berries and fend of wolves that wanted to eat his prey. After earning their name agderians who completed their navnejakt have a smith forge a weapon that includes part of the prey as the material, this weapon gains the same name earned by the hunter and becomes as important to the agderian as a limb or an organ, these weapons are collectively known as sjelvapen (soul weapon).
Funerary and Memorial customs
Once an agderian dies if they died fighting with a weapon in hand their soul goes to Valhalla a paradise with endless halls full of mead and meat and endless forests to hunt in, if they died peacefully without a weapon in hand they go to Nifelheim a frozen desolate place where giant man-eating wolf stalk the recently dead as prey, if they commit a terrible act in life such as the murder of a family member or treason against a friend they are sent to Helheim where Hela a half giantess daughter of Loki with a half-burned body nightmare-inducing face will torture them for eternity.
The body is buried in ritual grounds and their favorite weapon or their sjelvapen if they have one is affixed on the tombstone, it is believed that they will have use for the weapon either for their glorious hunts in Valhalla or to defend themselves in Nifelheim.
People committing a crime that is worthy of going to Helheim are exiled once the crime is discovered and for this reason, are not usually buried.
Related Organizations
