Glorium

Life's all blood and thunder here, glory or death. What else is a berk supposed to try for in the shadow of Ysgard, after all? Here's a burg where a cutter's word's his honor, and folks don't take insults lightly.

Demographics

Most sods in Glorium spend their lives fishing and hunting. Some farming gets thrown in, but it's not enough to stake a living on. They conduct only a little business with the dwarf realm, mostly because the track leading to the mountains is too difficult to traverse and carry much in the way of trade. In general, the local petitioners are a proud lot, touchy about things like courtesy and respect. While they're not as battle-crazed as the bashers on Ysgard (their resurrection's not a possibility), they'll not eagerly turn the other cheek either. Most of the time in Glorium, a sod gets challenged to duel until first blood is drawn or unconsciousness occurs — it does make for lively visits.
Folks in Glorium know their town's drifting toward Ysgard as they pick up more and more of the habits of that plane. Still, knowing that doesn't seem to matter to them. In fact, Ysgard looks appealing to most of the Glorium residents.

Infrastructure

Glorium's gate situation is a bit more unusual than most. First off, it's got two. The best known one leads out of town, near the mouth of the fjord. There, a berk'll find a big swirling maelstrom, an arch of sorts. To get to Ysgard, all a cutter's got to do is sail his ship right down its maw. Twice a day the Watergate (as the locals call it) reverses itself and a cutter can then come through from the other side. Glorium's other gate is one of Yggdrasil's roots. This path's found in the mountains behind the town. There, a cutter'll find the arching gap of a cave mouth, and somewhere inside the cavern is one of Yggdrasil's plane-spanning roots. The problem is there's lots of side passages, some of which lead to unpleasant places like Ilsensine's realm or Gzemnid's Maze.

Architecture

Glorium's nestled on the shore of a great fjord, with its back to the craggy peaks that lead to the Dwarven Mountain. All told, the burg's pretty backwater -just a collection of longhouses, smokehouses, workshops, and shipsheds of the folks that live here. Glorium doesn't bother with walls or stockades, as nature forms a natural defense in the walls of the fjord. There's only one road out, a rough track that leads into the mountains. That trail crosses glaciers and skirts cliffs to get to a back door of the dwarf realm, and it doesn't see much traffic. The only other way into Glorium is by sailing a ship up a little known tributary of the River Oceanus.

Type

Large town

Location under

Outlands