Kingdom of Helcynn
The Helcynngae Peninsula extends from the southeastern coast of Akados for 1,000 miles and divides the Sinnar Ocean from Mother Oceanus and the deeper waters of the south. Dominated by high, rugged mountains, swift streams and rocky meadows, the peninsula has given birth to a people as hardy and, often, as unforgiving as the land. Though located on the southern end of the continent, the odd impact of the Tropic of Arden results in a much cooler clime along the peninsula than its latitude might otherwise suggest.
This harsh land is the home of the legendary — and feared — Heldring.
History and People
No records tell of a time before the Heldring lived on the Helcynngae Peninsula. Their own legends say that they were born in these lands, a warrior people in service to the ancient gods of their ancestors. According to their lore, long ago they were divided into seven different clans: the Baerroc (hailing from the region around Berrocburh), the Aelrich (from around Lichfield), the Uthael (near Uthelgardt), the Ochs (near Oxwain), the Waershael (about Warsley), the Woerc (near Wirric Bury) and the Suthca (near Suthgardt). Proof of the existence of such clans is limited since there are no written records from such days, though many noble families do claim long family trees showing descent from one cyning of a clan or another. Today, long years and intermarriage among the Heldring have made clan membership largely irrelevant to daily life.
Whatever the truth of the origin of the Heldring may be, they first enter the reckoning of history when the Hyperborean legions of Oerson, flush with their victory over the elves at the Battle of Crimmormere, swept the length and breadth of Akados as its new and unrivaled masters. In the barbarian tribes of the Helcynngae Peninsula, the polemarch met his match. The legions were unable to breach the neck of the peninsula, where they were faced with hordes of battle-hardened Heldring. The Hyperboreans ultimately decided that the cost in lives and treasure to take this land — particularly given the expanse of the empire already conquered — was too high, so they instead built a string of forts across the neck of the peninsula, connected by a wall called the Helwall, to contain the barbarian threat.
The Hyperboreans did not initially abandon their dreams of dominion over the peninsula, however, and from time to time sought to make inroads beyond the Helwall. Then in 288 I.R., the Heldring destroyed Strategos Verin and his legion in the Peninsular Campaign. Fearing that the barbarians would take the initiative and surge out to attack the newly settled Hyperborean lands, militias were raised from Helwall to Apothasalos, coastal forts were erected south of the Matagost Range to guard against sea invasion, and the forts of Albor Broce and Sylvos were expanded. Fortunately for the Hyperboreans, the Heldring did not attempt to move past the Helwall, and both sides settled into a status quo. And thereafter, for so long as the Hyperboreans ruled the rest of the lands and the seas, the Heldring remained behind the wall, living among their mountains, largely ignored by the rest of the world.
Then in 2496 I.R., the Tower of Oerson was destroyed, and wildfires ravaged Curgantium and spread across Akados, burning The Plains of Suilley and Matagost Forest. Within 20 years, the Hyperboreans withdrew to Libynos. In the chaos that followed, the Heldring finally crossed the Helwall in force and overran much of southeastern Akados. In 2516 I.R., their longships seized Ramthion Island, and the next year they invaded Southvale where they quickly took all of its lands other than the city of Penmorome (now known as Penmorgh), whose stout walls stood between the invaders and its inhabitants. Over the ensuing years, the Heldring settled lands as far as The Plains of Mayfurrow, and built new villages and towns and raised fortresses to protect their new domains. Some areas remained independent, such as the city of Freegate and the Forest Kingdoms (and the Ramithi of Ramthion Island were never pacified), but without any real threat to their dominance, the Heldring settled in as conquerors of an empire. In many places, they came to assimilate with the local populace, and to this day, many folk of eastern Akados claim descent from Heldring bloodlines.
The Heldring also turned to their neighbors on the island of Insula Extremis (known to the locals as Ynys Cymragh), whose population had long been protected by Hyperborean triremes and galleys. With no one to challenge them at sea, the Heldring landed on the shores of the island to seek land and plunder. Initially held off by warriors of the local tribes, the Heldring eventually seized a small kingdom when a chieftain hired them as mercenaries in a battle with his rivals. Using this foothold, the Heldring slowly increased their lands on the island until Daan, the son of a local chieftain who had served in the Hyperborean legions and a minor Hyperborean noblewoman, returned to Insula Extremis. Daan himself had been a hipparchos cavalry officer in the legions and served for long years in the Irkainian peninsula. Employing the skills he learned in service to Hyperborea, he united the petty kingdoms and broke the power of the Heldring in 2576 I.R. at the Battle of Agedium when he drove them back to the sea. Later, when Daan marched to Tircople to free the Sacred Table, he was able to rally many Heldring warriors to fight alongside him. But after his death, the people of Ynys Cymragh withdrew back to their island, and the alliance with the Helcynngae Peninsula collapsed. Whether due to the strength of the Daanites or out of respect to Daan, the Heldring have never since made a serious effort to invade Insula Extremis.
At a time when the cult of Hel, the Goddess of Death and the Lady of Pestilence, was waxing among the Heldring, one thegn by the name of Swein Sigurdson turned his back on the wicked ways of Hel and sought an escape for his people. In 2731 I.R., he and his folk began the trek along the so-called Neimbrall Trail, eventually coming to settle in the Northlands of Akados.
In the meantime, on the mainland of Akados, the Heldring remained largely unchallenged until the rise of Foere, which claimed the mantle of the Hyperboreans of old. As the Foerdewaith realm expanded, it came into increasing conflict with the Heldring settlements and territories along the Sinnar coast. In 2801 I.R., armies of Heldring from the peninsula began a series of attacks on Foere holdings along the March of Mountains, burning settlements and slaughtering inhabitants as they went. In response, Overking Osbert II gathered a large force of Knights of Macobert supported by heavy infantry and marched south from Courghais to meet the Heldring in battle. In a story now well-known, the god Mitra is said to have appeared to the overking while he was in the Heathglen and predicted that Foere would have victory over the Heldring. In response, Osbert built a shrine to the Sun Father, and in 2802 I.R. crossed the Helwall and met the shieldwall of the barbarians at Oescreheit Downs. The knights’ expert tactics in flanking and engaging the rear of the Heldring as the Foerdewaith shieldwall held the front of the lines in place proved disastrous to the Heldring, who fell in huge numbers on the field of battle. Although some skirmishing continued for a period, the Helcynngae Peninsula was for all intents and purposes pacified and brought under the banner of Foere.
The Foerdewaith did not, however, attempt a crossing of the Straits of Daan. The losses suffered by the Daanites in purging the Hyperborean Empire of its corruption was still fresh in the memory of the Foerdewaith, and Osbert and his successors chose to leave the island of Ynys Cymragh and its people in peace, reckoning they had endured enough.
Following the Foerdewaith conquest, many of the Heldring were converted to the worship of Thyr and Eostre (their name for Muir). However, not all Heldring renounced their old ways, and a significant sub-kingdom of Heldring who still follow Hel remain in the Cumorian Mountains. Shunned by others of their countrymen, they now exist as a bloodthirsty monotheistic theocracy with their primary stronghold at Thunderhelde.
During the Foerdewaith Wars of Succession, the overking’s representatives withdrew from the Helcynngae peninsula, presumably with the intention of returning once order was restored. They have yet to return. The Heldring have never felt it necessary to officially renounce their allegiance to the Court at Courghais, but they have in fact been independent now for several centuries.
In recent years, the ancient hostilities between the inhabitants of the Helcynngae Peninsula and their neighbors to the north have been replaced with a cautious détente, and trade is growing between the Heldring and Cerediun Province, and with many other ports on the coast of the Sinnar Ocean and even in the Crescent Sea. As a result, enclaves of Heldring can be found as far afield as Bard’s Gate, Freegate, and Castorhage.
Religion
Since time immemorial, the Heldring worshipped their own pantheon of gods. According to rumor and legend, the Heldring people’s unique ability to resist incursions by the Hyperboreans was the direct result of a pact they made with Hel, the Goddess of Death and the Lady of Pestilence, from whom their common name derives.
As a result of the Foerdewaith conquest, however, the faiths of Thyr and Muir (whom the Heldring refer to as Eostre) were introduced to the Helcynngae Peninsula and began to take hold as the major religion of that people, supplanting the worship of Hel and many of the older gods. Today, the Heldring have developed an almost-theocratic society devoted to Tyr and Eostre, to the extent that their hledwalda petitions annually for the High Altar of Thyr to be moved from Bard’s Gate to Kingsgardt. To date, Thyr’s clergy have remained silent on the subject of relocation, though patience wears thin among the Heldring nobility.
Some deities of the older Heldring pantheon, such as Odin, Thor, and Frey, continue to be worshipped — particularly in the countryside — but to a much lesser degree. The only ancient god whose worship is outlawed is Hel, though she remains venerated among the Heldring of the Cumorian Mountains around Thunderhelde.
Trade and Commerce
The conversion of the Heldring to the worship of Thyr and Eostre, and the decline of the veneration of Hel (except among the Cumorian peoples around Thunderhelde), have led to a substantial reduction in hostility between the Helcynngae Peninsula and the other folk of Akados. Regular caravans head north and south through Sessilbridge north of the Helwall as trade with Cerediun Province grows. Heldring longships are now common sights in many ports of Akados, particularly those on the Sinnar Coast that, as a result of prior Heldring conquests, have substantial populations that claim Heldring descent.
The Helcynngae Peninsula boasts many resources that form the basis of such trade, including copper, grain, fish, pitch, livestock, and the famous Heldring beer. The Heldring are also skilled shipbuilders, and the white pines of the Cumorians and Hatlus are highly sought after for their use as ship masts.
Loyalties and Diplomacy
For most of their history, the Heldring have been a people apart. This isolation started to break down following the departure of the Hyperboreans and the Heldring conquests of the eastern Sinnar Coast. Even then, however, they were little more than invaders and colonists, and disdained diplomatic entanglements. But after Oescreheit Downs and the introduction of the Foerdewaith pantheon, the Heldring were forced into interactions with other nations and peoples. Thus, the years following the disintegration of Foere saw a Heldring people much more open to trade and other relations with those beyond their borders.
Today, the kings of the Helcynn maintain good relationships with Cerediun Province and Exeter Province, and regularly trade with Southvale (where many of the people have Heldring blood), Freegate, and Bard’s Gate. Heldring longships can be seen in many of the ports of the Sinnar Coast, and as far as the Crescent Sea. Similarly, merchant vessels from around Akados make calls in the ports of Warsley and Suthgardt. The current king, the Hledwalda Aethelmark, has seen that commerce can be just as valuable as conquest, with a lot less risk. As a result, he has sent delegations to many of the provinces and kingdoms that trade with his folk, though he has established no permanent embassies outside the peninsula.
The Ramithi, however, have never ceased despising the Heldring for their years of occupation and would attack a longship on sight were one to attempt a landing on Ramthion Island.
The dwarves of Erodgrimm in their citadel in the Eorec Heights refuse any and all embassies and merchants from outside their realm, other than rare humans in Suthgardt who have performed some service for the dwarves. As a general matter, the Heldring are happy to leave the dwarves to themselves.
The Heldring continue to look longingly at Insula Extremis, but they have not been willing to try the defenses of the inhabitants of that island for many years. Occasional raids do occur, however, and it may only be a matter of time before hostilities once again rise to the fore.
Government
The king or queen of the Helcynn is known as the hledwalda, a position of authority both secular and religious, holding legal power as a hereditary monarch and also as the Heldring high priest of Thyr (if a male) or Eostre (Muir) (if female). The title of hledwalda passes to the eldest child of the prior hledwalda able to wield a sword and shield, whether son or daughter. If no such person exists, either a cousin, nephew, or uncle of the previous hledwalda is chosen by the Witan.
It is said that in the distant past, the folk of the Helcynngae Peninsula were divided into seven clans. Each clan was led by a cyning, a kingling, and many Heldring nobles to this day boast genealogical tables that show their descent from one such ruler or another. Other than that, the concept of clan holds no power in Heldring society. Instead, most cities and towns (and the surrounding countryside) are now held by landed nobles known as ealdorman (or sometimes earls) who owe fealty to the hledwalda under a complex set of traditions defining their co-dependent relationship. Rulership of local shires is usually granted by the related ealdorman to a reeve. All such positions of nobility are usually hereditary and pass down to the eldest child. In certain circumstances with the consent of the liege, a domain could be split among siblings or other heirs. On rare occasions, the liege may strip a family of its inheritance to enable a supporting noble or other worthy individual to acquire the lands.
The lowest class of nobility among the Heldring are thegns, sometimes landed and sometimes landless warriors, who may serve a reeve or ealdorman, or may be granted rights directly by the hledwalda. Some thegns are based in coastal cities and instead of land count their holdings in longships; which, depending on the nature of the thegn, may make their coin either in trade or through raiding the lands of other folk.
Above the power of the Heldring nobility, including the hledwalda, is the authority of Thyr and Eostre. Church law on the Helcynngae Peninsula is supreme. The hledwalda is the high priest of one of these gods, depending on whether he or she is male or female. But for ecclesiastical purposes, the high priest or priestess of the other god is granted pre-eminence over the hledwalda. In part, this makes sense since the kings and queens are seldom educated to the extent of a true priest, but more importantly this ensures that at least some division of power is maintained.
Other than the hledwalda, those who swear themselves to the service of Thyr or Eostre are deemed removed from the domain of the nobility and become solely subject to the authority of the church. Monasteries and shrines are held in the name of the gods and are also outside the control of any nobles. The most senior priest or priestess assigned to that location holds religious and secular power over that location, as well as certain surrounding lands.
The greatest of the ealdormen, along with several members of the Heldring clergy, sit on the Witan, a council that meets in Kingsgardt four times a year and provides advice to the hledwalda concerning issues of importance. The opinions of the council are only advisory, however, and the decision of the hledwalda is final. However, many traditions in effect place boundaries on the scope of the king’s or queen’s authority, as does the fact that many of the nobles on the Witan have substantial holdings as well as warriors at their command.
Military
The Heldring continue to maintain a strict military tradition handed down to them over millennia. To this day, their bards sing songs of their ancestors’ defeat of the Hyperboreans and the conquests of the Sinnar Coast, a standard to which all Heldring aspire. All children are taught to fight from a young age, and most also spend a number of their adolescent years onboard longships, even if they have no intention of becoming sailors. As a result, nearly the entire population of the peninsula can fight or man a ship if necessary.
Each ealdorman maintains a sizable house guard and can call upon the folk of their domain (including reeves and thegns) at any time in a moment of need. The hledwalda, who also boasts a large house guard, has the right to demand service from the ealdormen, though the traditions and customs around doing so limit such circumstances to either defense of the realm or for the purposes of raiding or conquering the lands of others. Since the Foerdewaith conquest of Helcynn, no king or queen has called upon the nobles for either purpose.
Major Threats
No nations of Akados pose any real threat to the Heldring. Their reputation as fierce and indomitable warriors remains, despite their defeat at Oescreheit Downs. There is some limited risk of piracy to their longships, but most sensible pirates avoid taking on Heldring ships, both because their sailors are uniformly excellent warriors but also because any gain would amost certainly be outweighed by the consequences of incurring the wrath of the Heldring.
The Helcynngae Peninsula itself, however, harbors dangers to those who venture too far from lands controlled by the various settlements. Orcs, goblins, trolls, and worse inhabit the Cumorian Mountains and the Hatlu Peaks, the latter of which are also prowled by dangerous lycanthropes. The depths of the forests and fens harbor creatures that thrive in darkness, and dragons and other wyrms are known to fly out of the Eorec Heights.
Region
Kingdom of Helcynn
Subsidiary Organizations
Controlled Territories
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