The Vikingir Clans of Aldinnheimr
Structure
Aldinnheimr is a divided land and not unified. It is made up of many clans, who are ruled by a King or Queen. This King or Queen give out land and territory to Jarls, who rule the land they are given. These Jarls in turn bestow gifts and small bits of land to their most loyal and best warriors. There are the peasants who live under the Jarls, and then of course the Thralls who live a wretched existence as slaves to their masters.
While every Aldinian belongs to a clan, they also belong to a tribe, which is a small familial unit of a small collection of families who share some form of ancestry. While many live in land, many also take to roaming the land for battle and slaughter. It can be said that Aldinians are more loyal to their tribe first than their clan, which can hamper some of the unity that these Kings and Queens try to maintain. However, succession crises are handled quite simply, if the ruler is overthrown then they were simply unworthy and the victors ascend to rule.
In rare times of history, one man or woman will come to rule the clans under a brutal iron fist as High King/Queen. Such figures go down in history as absolutely legendary, feared across the world and amongst their subjects, as much as they are respected by the clans. Such leaders must always be aware of traitors and those scheming to bring them down, but such actions are easier said than done. Such a ruler has not been chosen in quite a long time, but it is ot impossible for one to reemarge...
Culture
The land of Aldinnheimr is a harsh land. Frost leviathans, undead legions, dire wolves, dinosaurs, and other horrifying creatures stalk the land. Vegetation can grow, but precious few bits of land can be harvested, the cold kills any who are not prepared, and the roaming demons and dinosaurs kill the rest. It is a land that should not be lived in, a land of unforgiving cold and death, and yet the Aldinians survive there anyway. In truth, much of Aldinnheimr culture is misunderstood or not well known. They are a people of contradictory nature, for while they are explores and traders, they are bloody reavers, with the weak as their crop to harvest who steal as they like and pillage the world. This is due to quite simply the land being so cold and unforgiving that few crop can grow. Only in the summer is there even the slightest chance of some vegetation being grown. They raid also because the gods and spirts of the land demand it, for blood and glory can be won in a raid.
It should be said that some scholars give them more credit then others do. In truth the opinion on the Northmen are diverse. For as much as they have raided and pillaged the lands and brought unspeakable suffering, they have also been reliable and good trade partners for the nations of the world. They have also been some of the most exploratory people in the world, and in truth much of the world map of the world was recorded thanks to the help of these very Aldinian explorers. They have a thriving culture around stories and song, with written history being a very recent thing the Aldinians have begun to employ in any serious degree. They embrace those in their tribe and clan as kin, and are utterly fearless in defending their own.
However though they are not mindless monsters, make no mistake that they are a brutal lot. They wear the skulls of their enemies as trophies, and they mount the bodies of those they have slain as grizzly battle standards. They take many as slaves for labor, or as grizzly sacrifices to their gods and ancestors by their druids under great trees and mountains. They are obsessed with death and battle, and the famous northern rage is not an exaggeration. They view the so called "Southlanders" as weak and pathetic folk, and as such they love to prove their worth against their so called "champions" and "warriors". They are a violent lot, for battle is the greatest form of honor, and to die in battle is to ascend to the place of ones ancestors. They are a people of great faith, where due to their proximity to the World Spear, their land is said to be inhabiited by spirts and their ancestors. Mutation is seen as a blessing of the spirits (in most cases anyway) and their every hungry primal spirts constantly hunger for the blood of their enemies. While they are a people that can be reasoned with, traded with, and even form friendships, make no mistake that they are a violent and bloodthirsty people, and their strength makes them able to survive in battle and in life. A good thing then that the people of Aldinninheimr are universally tall, strong, and perfectly willing to go into blood fueld beserk rages.
History
The clans maintain their history mostly through oral tradition, being told by parents to children and through skalds. However, during the Age of the the Axe, many skalds got together and made an effort to collect all of their history into one manuscript known as the Rosklide.
Creation of the Realms - 0EC
According to legend, there was nothing, an absolute abyss of pure black known as the Ginnungagap. This abyss was surrounded by the elemental planes of earth, wind, water, and fire. As these elements leaked into each other, the sizzling and the boiling lead to the creation of the Wyrm. The Wyrm would float in this endless darkness until he went insane from this infinite darkness, and started to sweat profusely form the agony of nothingness. However, the sweat droplets would turn morph and turn into the Bear. The Bear would comfort the Wyrm,, and then through his clever thinking, he would give the Wyrm an idea. The Wyrm would tear off 2 of his bones, and cover them in a strip of his flesh, and strike at the point where the elements were mixing. This sudden strike would scatter elemental energy and the energy of the Wyrm and create the realms, from there he would regrow and then tear out more bones and strips of flesh and use them to create the world, from the ocean floors to the snowy wastes to the green lands of the south. After this he would, with the bears help, by grapping a mix of elements and spitting in the mix, thus creating the first animals and people. After this, he realized they needed to eat and so created the third, the Wolf, to help them hunt and fight for food. Then he realized some of the mortals wished to know where they came from, and so he created the final one, the Crow. So it was that the Wyrm and his creations would retire from the mortal realm, but always staying close by to help guide the mortals, and more specifically those mortals who inhabited AldinnheimrThe Saga of Hrosskel - 25EC
The land was scatterted and in its infacy. Dinosaurs, which had been wiped out effectively everywhere else, had come in droves to Aldinnheimr, adding even more death and danger to an already dangerous land. Its believed in the early years of mortals inhabiting the continent of Nilush, many tribes heard the call of the many gods of theirpantheons, and headed into the north, passing the uncaring lands of Rustil and Ustaria, into the bones and spine of Aldinnheimr. The land was inhospitable, but the beasts that roamed the land proved good game, and brought glory to those who hunted them. However, it is said a dreaded frost beast, an amalgamation of Tarrasque and Dragon, known as a Tarasgon. To the Aldinn they know him as Fafnir the Nightmare, for his size alone could blot out the already faint sun across the snowy land, and he brought about a dreaded new thing known as Ice Fire. It was a blue type of flame that could burn on ice, snow, and any living material. When it came into contact with living material, it burnt like oil, and water cannot douse it. Only hot fire magic could overpower the Ice Fire and cancel it out. Spires of blue crystals would form in his wake, and the tribes wept under its horror.
That was when the tale of Hrosskel and his companions began. Hailing from diffrent tribes, Hrosskel gathered a party of mighty and dreaded champions: Vadul the Fang, Tarr the Wanderer, Svanvir Thrice Mourned, Gunder the Bloody, Ulfric the Wolf, and Tyrkald Iron Handed. These champions are said to be the first chosen, those warriors marked for greatness by their ancestors spirits and told to bathe the world in red. They sought out a master dwarf known as Aradrum within the volcano of Helgrindur, and preformed great deeds of strength and hunt for Aradrum to forge weapons of legend for them. Using these weapons, they rode atop dinosaurs such as the Nanuqsaurus and other such beasts and fought the dreaded Fafnir. The battle thundered across the sky and heavens for months, before finally Fafnir was brought low, said to fall into the land in the mountains, never to be seen again. Just as the 7 warriors arrived, they vanished, but allowered the tribes to consolidate their own powers and form the many tribes and clans of the land. Thus the lands of Aldinnheimr and the Northmen were born.
The First Raid - 50EC
It is said that the first raids began as the Aldinnians discovered how to make longships, and thus began the Age of the Axe. This age was known mainly for the frequent and suprising raids and pillages that Aldinnheimr tribes and clans would launch against effectively the entire known world. Such attacks were random and scatterted, but the results were devestating. It is said they were even able to sail all the way to Catai and launch plundering raids against the great golden cities of Catai and even Al-Hinoso. Something the elves of Iadith deny fervently is the great raid against their island of Iadith, for they claim that no force on the world has ever launched a sucessful naval invasion of the Iadith mainland. Either way, the Age would continue for some time, until the year 2586, as while the raids did not stop entirely, they lowered in frequency, allowing the world to breathe a sigh of relief.The War of Bitter Cold - 3280EC
The nieghbors of Aldinnheimr, the Rustil people of the nation of Ustaria, had always been enemies to the Aldinians. However such tensions came to a head when a particurarly violent raid led to outrage as the people then called for war. They sent the heads of captured northmen to the recently arisen High King (Vikhech The Wicked) one being his own son. A message was sent with: Come then, and taste our blades of ice. Thus began the War of Bitter Cold, or as the Aldinians know it as Striith ór bitter kaldr. This war would last for hundreds of years, with entire bloodlines being wiped out in battle on both sides, however, the battle of Kulikovo would break the Aldinians as the King traveled at the head of the army with his entire family save his wife and infant child. This battle would be fierce, with both sides losing hundreds, but eventually, the great warlord and his entire tribe were wiped out, and the Aldinians routed. The tensions between clans would explode as the vikingir retreated from the war back to Aldinnheimr to try and secure the position of greatest warlord for themselves. In the end, no clan could secure the position of Warlord for themselves, and so the clans remain divided amongst the lands of Aldinnheimr, fighting each other in petty wars when they aren't raiding their neighbors for resources, as they have always done.The Age of Darkness - 4230EC
To this day vikingir raids still occasionally occur, as the quest for loot is without end, and the Wrym always hungers for more blood. However strange occurrences have occurred as of late. Massive hordes of undead and many other monstrosities now stalk the lands, consuming whole tribes in days, large earthquakes and other horrific weather related phenomena, and a strange plague of madness sweeping some of the tribes known as "The Great Eye Madness". This strange disease infects ones very mind and soul and causes them to go insane, with some believing one of the great arch demons of madness has blighted the land. These insane tribes become worshippers of demonic gods, and try to kill any who get in their way. However, worst of all is that somehow, Ice Fire has returned for the first time since Fafnir had been slain. Crystals are forming across the land, and ravaging the snowy wastes. It corrupts and breaks what it touches, meaning entire tribes have been wiped out wholesale. With all of these happenings, many Aldinians believe Ragnarök, the prophesized end of the world, has come at last, and that the Aldinians now must weather the storm as the they, the spirits, and the very ground itself now seek to swallow the world whole. Thus they now paint their lands and the shores of other lands more bloody than ever, for to stall Ragnarök, the Wyrm must be fed blood. They will paint the world red if need be, in order to save the world from being devoured, and all fear that a new age of Vikingir raids are now upon us, where the world shall fear the blares of their warhorns, and the swing of their axes.Demography and Population
Due to how many thralls across the world and simply the tribes that move to live in the land, basically every race can be found as parts of tribes and clans. Frost giants and half frost giants can be found in the mountainous lands, and all the tribes people scream and howl out bellows for blood and death.
Military
There is no standing army, as each clan will simply raise any man and woman that's not in an absolutely necessary job and is willing to fight for their clan. If a family has a kid, the parents will discuss who should go to fight or raid, and who should stay behind to protect the child. Those who do fight in raids are considered to be heroes, and great honor is afforded to those who fight in a raid, even if they die in it. Much of the raids purpose is to secure slaves, and resources to help the northlanders survive in the harsh lands and also for sacrifices for their gods. Indeed, blood spilled honors their many spirts and ancestors, and so there is a constant need to spill blood. That is why their raids are so infamous, and even though they are not nearly as common as they used to be, it is not an unheard sight for tribes to unite to ravage and pillage the lands of the unsuspecting.
The Aldinians are also master monster hunters and beast masters, and regurarly march to war with war dinosaurs, trolls, ogres and even drakes. Massive Wolly Mammoths march to war, as other horrifying and monsterous creatures thought extinct roar onto the field of battle, transported by large long ships or even summoned by powerful warlocks and shamans.
Religion
The Vikingir have a shamanistic religion where they worship animals who they believe take on the qualities of gods. The four main animals are: The Wyrm, the Wolf, the Bear, and the Crow.
The Wrym is the creator who created all of the world, and will one day destroy it for it is said if he is not given proper reverence or sacrifice, he will go mad and destroy the world, and then create a new one when he recovers from his madness. This is what the vikingir call "Ragnarök". This is why the northmen fight and kill any they see as lesser to give as sacrifice to the ever yawning maw of the Wrym, and keep it fed.
The Wolf is war, honor, death, and the hunt. Through his gaze is sustenance provided from hunting, and through his howl does the drums of war boom. He is watching every battle no matter how small, and he who sends the Valkyries down to collect the worthy souls to transcend into Vallhalla. He is also the one who maintains honor among men, popularizing a saying that with a dishonorable man "The Wolf has left him". It should be noted that honor is different for the Aldinians, and mostly revolves around proving one's strength then being "polite" or "fair" in battle. The Wolf also demands human sacrifice to appease its bloody rage.
The Bear is healing, strength, courage, wisdom, and family. Woe be onto those who harm someone's family, for they earn the wrath of the bear, and the bear gives strength and determination to those who have lost family, or those who need to honor their family through deeds. He is also one of the eldest spirits, and helped consul the Wrym during the creation of the world, and as such he represents the wisdom of ancestors. He also gives healing to those in need and for those to recover their strength so they may fight even more.
Then there is the Crow, who is poetry, sorcery, runes, loyalty, and knowledge. While the Bear has wisdom with age, the Crow the crow is learned knowledge through books and history. He helped give man the ability to record history, and to make epic poetry of their great deeds and the epics of their ancestors and jarls. He also represents the magical runes the northlanders use as well as a source of magic for the many shamans and spell casters within the land of Aldinnheimr
All animals are to be respected, especially when hunting them. While the many other animals do not have traits associated with them, they are still creations of the Wrym, and should be respected for their sacrifice of the flesh to feed the hunter.
The Vikingir also worship the spirits of the world, believing they inhabit all things, and can be found in every where one looks. They also worship the ancestors that go to Valhalla, as they are to be looked upon with awe and reverence for their ability to die gloriously in battle. These spirits and interaction with the other world is handled by shamans and village mystics, and so these individuals occupy a crucial role for the Aldinians. Indeed the Seers are able to interact with the spiritual world more than others, for this spirt world is inhabited by strange spirits and demons alike, and can bring both great wisdom and great danger.
It is also observed that ancestor worship is highly common in the lands of the northmen. Ancestors are believed to have been great heroes who ascended to be god like figures through their deeds, and so each clan and tribe has their own sort of miniature pantheon. These ancestors are to be shown reverence not in prayer, but in deed. Thus the northmen honor their ancestors through bloody combat, in this way they give honor to the Wolf, great deeds for their ancestors to witness, and sacrifice to the Wyrm. This need to honor many spirts and "gods" leads the northmen to fight with maddened rage and bloodlust. Indeed, it seems that every tribe and clan has their own pantheon of heroes, ancestors, and spirts that they worship and give honor to. However they all still give reverence to the four primal animals.
Foreign Relations
Due to the many raids they have committed, most of the outside world views them as barbaric savages with no sense of civilization or class. While more scholarly folk will recognize this as not entirely true and cite the "rugged beauty" of Aldinnheimr. However even the scholarly folk realize that they are still very dangerous and in many cases bloodthirsty men and women, and the stories of the famous Northman blood rage are not entirely wrong.
"Valhalla!"
Maps
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Aldinnheimr
The land of the dreaded sea raiders and the most primal of champions
Type
Geopolitical, Clan
Alternative Names
"Land of the Northmen" "The Frozen North" "
Demonym
Aldinians, though many foreigners call them "Northlanders" or "Northmen"
Government System
Monarchy, Theocratic
Power Structure
Feudal state
Location
Official Languages
Neighboring Nations
Notable Members
