Norscan

The Norscans are a distinctive race, forged of the hardiest of mortal stock and possessed of tall, broad frames and extremely muscular builds. The songs and legends of the world describe them as nigh unstoppable, and those who have borne witness to the fury of a berserking Norseman will carry the sight unto their graves. Towering in height and thick of bone and steely muscle, the strength of the Norscans is rightly regarded as legendary. The Norscans tend to keep long hair and almost universally cultivate large, wild beards, as they regard shaving as an effeminate practice. Norsemen tend to have pale, weather-beaten skin and red or blond hair, though darker hair colours such as black and brown are not rare amongst them.
Norscan warriors are known to festoon talismans and other arcane items upon their person. These include the fangs of mighty beasts, the heads of powerful enemies and runic talismans that are thought to invoke the power of the Dark Gods. Norscans also bear various tattoos and ritualistic scarifications that openly display their fanatical dedication to the Northern Gods. A superstitious and fiercely pious folk, the Northmen believe in all manner of portents, signs and omens. Every Norscan, from highest champion to simplest marauder, will carry a trinket or two to ward off the Evil Eye and bring about the favour of the Gods.
These trinkets range from simple, even innocuous talismans to rare items of grave and dire power. Simple charms like a rabbit's foot, a clump of hair from a sorcerous hag, or a raven's beak etched with magic runes are all examples of the fetishes the Northmen wear in order to ward off evil. Other, more esoteric items are thought to be far more powerful: it is said that the dried tongue of a Plague Bearer bestows one mastery over all disease, that the tooth of a Flesh Hound will grant a warrior great strength and bravery and that the eye of a Cockatrice will flood one's path with wealth and precious gems. Whether these charms truly possess such power is irrelevant, for the Norse find through them the strength to conquer, and what more can men ask of folklore and tradition? The people of the Empire know the Norse as those who sail their feared longships to attack the southern lands, clad in fur and steel. A fierce race whose sons love nothing better than to charge into battle wielding mighty axes.
When winter slackens its iron grip on the North the wolfships and dragonships of the Norse invariably set sail, raiding southwards, westwards and eastwards in search of glory. The only warning of the Norscans' attacks is the harsh blaring of warhorns and the shouted oaths to the Dark Gods whose names lesser men dare not speak. And so it has always been, as told by the fathers of the fathers of the eldest who now live. None can remember a time when the lands of the South were not ravaged by the men of the North. For centuries, these bloodthirsty marauders from the above the Sea of Claws have always targeted Kislev and the northernmost lands of the Empire. The raids of the Norsemen have become increasingly brutal and deadly as the taint of Chaos has spread across the northern wastes of their homelands. In times gone by, these battle-hardened Norsemen, alongside their Kurgan allies, would forcibly settle the lands they jointly conquered, often taking a local wife from amongst the conquered population, thus mixing their bloodlines with those of the Old World and extending the banner of Chaos ever southwards. Over time, as the grip of the Chaos Gods upon the world has increased, their influence in the northlands has increased exponentially.
The taint of Chaos is ever increasing and has ever been strongest in the North, due to its proximity to the gateway to the Realm of Chaos that lies at the northernmost point of the world. For this reason, the hard warriors of Norsca have ever worshipped the Dark Gods of Chaos, even if the names of these gods have been twisted and reflected through the lenses of the countless clans of the Norse. While all tribes recognise the Chaos Gods as their masters, they may pray and shout and perceive them by names different from those that scholars and sorcerers know them. Ultimately, however, it is always the Ruinous Powers who are listening and responding to their cries. Thus, raids from the north seek not only to take gold, women, and food for the sake of survival, but also to shed blood for the Gods. Whenever the fur-cloaked warriors of Norsca emerge from their dreaded longships, their objective may not be to simply pillage; but to kill, maim and destroy in the myriad names of the Chaos Gods.
The Norsemen are in a constant state of warfare, both amongst themselves and the other northern races. Most of all, they are in a perpetual state of war with the so-called 'civilised' lands of the south. Almost every aspect of Norscan belief and culture teaches them to hate the people and gods of the south, to know that their annihilation is their first and greatest duty to their own gods. As a result, the Norscans are known to their neighbours as a militant race -- constantly gearing and girding themselves for conflict.
In ice-bound Kislev, where the border is less constant than the sea, Norscan raids are never-ending and staggering in their unbridled ferocity, so much so that Tzarina Katarin has had to drastically reinforce the garrisons and defences of both Praag and Erengrad. Despite the dogged determination of the Kislevites, the Norse have blazed through the Realm of the Ice Queen on countless occasions, razing the cities of the Gospodars without fail. Worse, with rumours swirling in the icy north of a dark lord seeking to unite the tribes of Chaos into an indivisible whole, the peoples of the south huddle in frightened corners, dreading the terror the mighty Norsemen shall bring down upon them. Yet in spite of their unbridled savagery, a few facets of society remain. Namely honour and loyalty; particularly to one's kinsmen and elders. Few Northmen dare to displease their chieftains and tribal elders, for doing so risks being thrown into the wilds, with little hope of being accepted by another tribe, as anything other than a thrall, at any rate.
Battle and faith are at the heart of Norse society. The tribes live for war and the shedding of blood, and the rivalries between them provide ample opportunity for it. For instance, the Aeslings have long been foes to the Baersonlings to their south. It is the same between the Aesling and the Sarls, the latter blood feud eventually erupting into the legendary Battle of Skulls, where the Aesling king Torgald was slain by the legendary Chaos champion Wulfrik the Wanderer, of the Sarl tribe. Similarly,the Bjornlings are at regular loggerheads with the Graelings, and so on.
Men in Norse society earn standing by being great warriors, and thus earning the favour of the Dark Gods as a result. Raids from the north are thus undertaken in part so that young men may advance in honour in the eyes of their fellow tribesmen and, more importantly, the Chaos Gods. Slaying the weakling warriors of the south, despoiling the temples of southern gods, and carrying prisoners back to the north to be sacrificed upon pyres and altars dedicated to Chaos all serve to advance a Norseman's renown. Oral traditions and sagas are also important in Norscan society, deeply intertwined with the aforementioned need for social standing, renown and honour. It is the dream of nearly every Norseman to have the deeds of his life remembered and feared by all through their recording in the sagas sung by the skald-chanters. Most of the warriors commemorated in the sagas are legendary -- some even near mythical -- champions of Chaos. Some sagas are even written in the honour of whole tribes who committed glorious feats of strength -- such as the Saga of the Gorehunt tribe.
Personal and tribal honour are highly integral to most Norscans, and most feuds among the tribes can likely be traced back to a breach against a man's personal honour by a person from the other tribe, though who did what exactly will likely depend on which side of the conflict one asks. The Norsemen guard their prestige jealously and are even willing to endure horrific torture and long lasting injury if it means their honour is protected.

Encompassed species

• Human