Vanir

Starting Languages

When a player selects a culture, they automatically gain ability in the primary language associated with that culture. This language represents the common tongue or dominant language spoken in that cultural region. Each culture provides a pool of additional languages that players can choose from. This pool should include languages associated with neighboring regions, historical influences, or significant trade partners of that culture. The number of additional languages in the pool can vary based on the diversity and historical context of the culture. For example, a culture with extensive trade routes or a history of conquest might have a larger pool. You may select an additional language from this pool for each point of edge you have in Intellect, and another for each additional point you gain as you level up in your adventures.

Starting Arms & Armor

Players are afforded their starting weapons, clothing, & tool proficiencies by the age associated with their homeland. So Stone Age cultures and Dark Age cultures might both grant ability with a mace for example, but only the Dark Age culture would grant ability with guns, for example. Over the course of your adventures you may choose to use your progression to gain proficiency in a different age's tools.

Vanaheim- Home of the Vanir

Vanaheim is one of the nations in the Far North, lying west of Asgard and north of Cimmeria. The citizens are red-haired ravagers or raiders in longships, with ring mail, horsehide shields, metal spears, and swords.
Vanaheim is westernmost of the kingdom in the Far North, lying west of Asgard and north of Cimmeria. The Vanir are a red-haired barbarian people, worshippers of the god Ymir, Lord of the Giants. It's Ymir who gives them strength in battle and fuels their drive for conquest.
Vanaheim is a somber country, mostly forested steppe that is snow-covered through the long winters. Swampy taiga forests cover the southern regions of Vanaheim. Glaciers crept down from the Eiglophian Mountains in the south and the Blue Mountains on the frontier with Asgard. Far to the north are more mountains, crowned with a permanent ice cap which grows larger as the climate changes. Fierce storms come from the Western Ocean as well as the icy north.
The most felicitous part of Vanaheim, as far as human needs are concerned, lies along the western coast. This stretch of shoreline is the only densely inhabited region of Vanaheim. There are numerous villages where the people seeked out a living by beachcombing, fishing, and hunting marine or land mammals. Their children collect seabird eggs from the rugged cliffs near the coast. The terrain here is less barren of life compared to the interior, since the sea moderated the climate.
The Eiglophian uplands of southern Vanaheim evidently harbor a considerable population, because both the Cimmerians and Aesir conduct raids there.

Vanir History

At the time of the Cataclysm, a band of progenitors of the Hyborians, whose development was not much above that of the Neanderthal, fled to the north to escape destruction. They found the snow-countries inhabited only by a species of ferocious snow-apes—huge shaggy white animals, apparently native to that climate. These they fought and drove beyond the Arctic circle, to perish, as the savages thought. The latter, then, adapted themselves to their hardy new environment and throve.
Many centuries later, the more northern tribes of Hyboria were beginning to be harried by the gigantic blond savages, not much more advanced than ape-men.
A thousand years after this, golden-haired, blue-eyed barbarians, descendants of the blond arctic savages, have driven the remaining Hyborian tribes out of the snow countries, except in the ancient kingdom of Hyperborea, which resists their onslaught. Their country is called Nordheim, and they are divided into the red-haired Vanir of Vanaheim, and the yellow-haired Aesir of Asgard.
Vanaheim is a part of Nordheim, the area north of Cimmeria which includes Asgard. The Vanir are a numerous people, estimated at nearly five million red-haired northerners in all. However, they are not as numerous as their foes, the Æsir. Like the Æsir, Vanaheim is not a unified kingdom serving one supreme king. Essentially, the Vanir are a village-based people who are bound by a common way of life, nothing else.

Vanir Religion

Legends said that Ymir, the frost giant, lives in the northern mountains of Vanaheim. He's considered the prime deity of the nation. He is the Lord of Storm and War, who lives (according to legend), in Valhalla, his castle far in northern Vanaheim. Ymir rules over a myriad of lesser deities including his own children. Ymir is a dark and war-like god, and the only way for the Nordheimer to honor him is in battle, by killing their foes or conquering lands in his name. This philosophy of battle is more than likely the main cause of the incessant warring between the Vanir and the Aesir, though over the centuries many feuds and vendettas have grown to sustain the hatred between the two sides. Life in Nordheim is meant to be embraced with savage enthusiasm, and death is to be met in the same manner. The Vanir believe in an afterlife, and the afterlife often mirrors how one lives life and meets one’s death. For the common folk, the afterlife is dull and dreary, a life spent gathering and serving the warriors. For valiant warriors, the afterlife is filled with fighting or feasting in the snowy plains and halls of Valhalla. This belief makes Nordheimer warriors terribly fierce in battle, and they often fight with no regard for their own safety.

Vanir Relationship with other Countries

The red-haired Vanir are isolated in the northwest and their mailed swordsmen therefore vent their warlike natures on their Asgardian kin to the east, the savage Picts to the south, or less often upon grim Cimmeria in the southeast. Many a hero of the Hyborian Age are the Vanir and warriors of Vanaheim are known to be utterly fearless in combat.
Born of hardy northern stock in the land known as Vanaheim, the Vanir share similarities with the Cimmerians: both peoples are considered barbaric by most other nations or live in a tribal existence where the males train almost exclusively to make war and hunt for food.
The Vanir live in the far north and are winter-bound throughout much of the year. During the warmer season, they venture from their homes to prey upon the barbarian tribes around them. In this fashion, they believe, year by bloody year, they will eventually purge the world of their blood enemies, the Aesir and Hyperboreans. They despise each race with equal passion.
However, if there is a force attacking both men of Nordheim, the Vanir will fight with the Aesir, as seen when the Hyperboreans were attacking both the Aesir and Vanir after a battle.

Vanir Society

The Vanir are fierce warriors, proud and honorable, valuing honor, loyalty, and reputation above all else. They inhabit harsh, near-arctic conditions and engage in almost constant warfare with neighboring tribes like the Æsir, Cimmerians, Hyperboreans, and Picts. Despite the harsh environment, the Vanir pursue life with intense enthusiasm, often singing songs even as they face death fearlessly.

Vanir Warriors

The Vanir are renowned for their immense size and strength, with even their women exhibiting formidable strength. Though the Nordheimir women typically do not fight alongside men in war, they are responsible for managing and defending their longhouses while the warriors are away. They are known for their skill with broadswords and battle-axes, adorned with ornate designs depicting ferocious creatures like dragons, bears, and birds. Horned helmets and wooden shields covered in leather are common among Vanir warriors.

Vanir Lifestyle and Economy

Vanir settlements are typically built near animal trails and water sources to support their hunting-based livelihood. Limited farming and extensive hunting, including hunting mammoths, are central to their economy. Mammoths provide food, fur, and precious ivory, which is used for various purposes including weapon handles and jewelry. The Vanir are also known for their fierce raids, swift and brutal, where they burn what they cannot carry away.

Vanir Culture and Status

Status among the Vanir is achieved through combat prowess or wealth. They display their wealth openly, considering it cowardly to hide it out of fear of thieves. Coins are sewn onto clothes and armor, and precious items are melted down and recast as wearable items. Each village is ruled by a local warrior referred to as a "king," who leads his men into battle and holds onto power through income and honor. Vanir names tend to be Germanic and Scandinavian.

Vanir Warfare and Battle Tactics

In battle, the Vanir are known for their ferocity and courage, fighting to the very end even when outnumbered and far from home. They favor weapons like spears, axes, and swords, and are adept at mounted combat. Vanir raids are swift and brutal, often targeting neighboring settlements and leaving destruction in their wake. They have a strong belief in death in battle as a path to paradise, but will also exercise caution in the face of formidable opponents or supernatural creatures.

Playing an Vanir adventurer

Starting Arms & Armor: Dark Ages
Automatic Languages: Nordheimer, Trade Tongue
Favoured Tropes: Barbarian
Bonus Languages: Cimmerian, Aquilonian, Pictish, Hyperborean