Fjordnir

About the People of Fjordnir – Basic Information

This is the exact information contained in the introduction video on the Fjordnir. For more information as it is released, you can visit the wiki, or view other videos on the Fjordnir.

 

Note: information will only be added to the wiki and beastiary as (or later than) the information is being made publicly available.  

 

Intro:
Forged in the lava flows and the bitter cold of this raw land, the Fjordnir people desire to be left alone; they wish neither friend nor foe. This is the story of the children of the ash and the elm.

 

Part 1:
Folklore tells a somber tale of a people ravished by the cold North Sea who with babies on their backs, and only the bark of the trees that made their boats to eat, left to build a new life away from trolls and barbarians.

This is the story of the recent history of the Fjordnir people – once a fledgling group of refugees – now the most powerful fighters in this world. But they no longer fight, even if they are feared from the gates of Freesia to the badlands of Dandrin.

The land they inhabit is raw and beautiful with mountains that rise precipitously out of the jagged soil, and majestic trees which provide food and shelter for their people.

 

Part 2:
From the day that the traitorous Sigmund the oath breaker fled to the far west with the royal engineers (mechanics?), and the best minds of the kingdom, these people have committed to a life of isolationism. They are content with never again engaging in war, but they remain vigilant for the day when others would seek to push them under the thumb.

In the words of the last true king of Fjordnir:

“We wish not to take the souls of our brothers, but we will not hesitate to send them to reunite with the Gods, if they do not turn back.” – Egmund the fourth 1456

 

Part 3:
There is word of a coming war. Factions vying to take control of the major capital cities and lead a world engulfing battlefront from key strongholds. But the people who rely on mysterious and majestic timbers to provide their sustenance and their shelter – do not flinch. They are protected.

Their strength in numbers and their history of conflict has tempered them in the flames of affliction, and they remain wary of all visitors and all politicians.

The vast lands of Fjordnir provides a bucolic lifestyle for many of their people who wish simply to live out their lives working hard to hammer out a basic existence as a free and unencumbered people. There is enough space to build up large families and grow to moderate status in the lowlands of the country. And most of them desire that, lest they be kindled to anger when they envision the millions of their country folk and cousins whose bodies rot in the bogs that envelop the land.

No citizen of the Fjordlands wants for anything. Their ruling elites have ensured the trust will never run out. They are wealthy from the gold they mine and the contracts they keep as the hired soldiers and protectors of Tondo. Tondo lies just to the North East of Fjordnir, and is the defacto bank to the known world.

Tondo and Fjordnir enjoy excellent relations and as the sole provider of iron to the world and Freel meat to the Fjordnir, it’s unlikely that either of these two powerhouse civilizations will ever break their unique bonds with each other.

But we can talk about Tondo later.

 

Part 4:
Fjordnir is the most influential city state in the world as it is unquestionably the most capable and largest military anywhere under a single point of control. Their influence lies not in their wealth or politics, but in their ability to reign down death on any who would cross them on the seas or in any land they dwell upon. Power through capability is how they exert influence. And they have kept the rest of the world out of war for at least the last 2 centuries.

Their naval fleet and diversity of land units make them nearly unmatched on the battlefield, while their location and the difficulties that come with it, make them nearly impossible to invade. To fight a war at the shores of the raw land of the Fjordnir people would be to die a slow and deliberate death by a thousand cuts.

 

Part 5:
To the South the kraken makes its home. Feasting on ships and crewmen with reckless abandon. No foreign Navy has ever attempted to land on the beaches on the south and east of the Fjordlands because of this monstrosity. Thousands of lives have been lost to the depths of the oceans by way of the sea monster. And for those that are not eaten alive, the freezing ice and tumultuous seas leave little chance for success.

 

Part 6:
To the West the sacred bogs are patrolled by the world’s largest naval fleet made of impressive, hulking, wooden and iron ships that last 100 years in service. No fool would dare to try to land at the lowlands to the south.

The West is impenetrable because of the ice that bobs on the frigid surface of the North Side Sea. The war parties of the Fjordnir people could separate the foolish pirate crew from their heads in minutes as they try fruitlessly to navigate the treacherous icy waters of the West and North seas.

 

Part 7:
But the North Sea is the heritage of these people. It’s the way they arrived on this continent millennia ago. Through 100 meter waves and shark infested waters they dipped and dived, in boats that creaked and twisted so violently, that life beyond the next few moments was never guaranteed.

That is the story of the Fjordnir people – they work to live, and they put their heads down and fight for everything they have. Finally, they have achieved a level of comfort that is at the Apex of their historical levels.

 

Part 8:
Without going too deeply into the history of the great betrayal, it’s important to understand the position of the Fjordnir. They desire to be left alone. They desire to build their families and their communities without the outside world affecting them.

They have buried enough of their children. They desire to be buried by their children now, after long lives in this raw and beautiful country.

 

Part 9:
They enjoy the finer things in life, occasionally, but with the constant reminder that life can be easily taken away from them. It keeps them from gluttony and materialism. They barely associate with the Tonday people, even if they have an insatiable appetite for the deep cold water delicacy of Freel meat. It’s a far cry from the utilitarian calories of their staple foods of barley and bark.

If they never leave their land to conquer others – though they are certainly capable of such warlike success – they will never die or starve. The massive trees of the world’s densest forests provide the bulk of their food needs.

 

Part 10:
The towering elms, and spruce, oak, and ash trees are long enchanted in this land with some mystical aura that makes the bark sweet and digestible. The tree’s flesh heals quickly, and they never need to be felled to provide subsistence. While tree bark and pulp may be an acquired taste to outsiders, the Fjordnir people have learned to lean upon its abundance to grow their strength. A small slice of this bark is enough to satiate the largest appetite. And outsiders are rare anywhere in the Fjordlands, anyway. To the outside world, the Fjordnir are complex and frightening people, larger than average, and strong, smart and thoughtful. Their culture rewards patience and hard work, and their most glaring downfall is the intensity and rapidity of their tempers. Most outsiders recognize that the isolationist stance taken by the Fjordnir is best for all people.

Tondo provides iron to the Fjordnir, and they enjoy a much larger reserve of the precious metal than any other trading partner for the Tonday. Tondo maintains its ability to control the politics and capabilities of other civilizations through its judicious control of the iron supply. The rulers of the Fjordlands gladly provide protection for the Tonday for the reciprocal iron trade, and the abundance of Freel – a coldwater serpent that is particularly delicious.

 

Part 11:
There are places in the less traveled areas of the Fjordlands where the natural elements and inhabitants strike fear into the hearts of not only the listeners of the bard, but also the most battle-hardened Fjordnir warriors. One such place is the cavern that leads to the Troll city, where massive ancient trolls feast upon venison and elk meat. These caverns are dark and dank, and filled with bats of massive size. The bat guano is used in large quantities in Tondo, and brave miners of Fjordnir descent collect this waste product that is turned to precious military propellent. The supply is tightly controlled by the Fjordnir, and the methods and refinement processes are controlled by the Tonday. In these caves, bats eat whole animals and grow to the size of cranes.

 

Part 12:
Another such place is the island Volcano Steppenvallen to the south of the Fjordlands – where rock made from lava flows is turned into important gems and tools because of its beauty and hardness. In these wastelands there exist spiders of epic proportions – mutant freaks of the natural world, that are the size of mammoths and have venomous spit that decays flesh and even iron. Few are the Fjordnir who desire to work amongst these spiders, but they must keep the numbers in check to avoid the spiders overrunning the entirety of the Fjordlands.

 

Part 13:
The souls who inhabit the Fjordlands are a unique and hardened people. In preparation for battle they train in archery – their legion of archers is the largest in the known world. They rain down arrows made of enchanted elm, and iron, and blot out the sun with flurries of steel and wood that strike down enemies from afar.

They are also famous for their ax and hammer wielding strongmen – but men are not the only ones who fight for their united cause. Too many mothers have buried too many children, and the women of the Fjordlands are equally invested in the war-like arts. There are tales of heroines like Glenda the Merciful, who could fell an ancient oak with a single slicing movement of her greatsword. Her legacy covered both civil wars with the traitors – and she was buried in the Hall of the Gods taking her place among the most famous figures in Fjordnirian Culture.

 

Part 14:
Tombs and catacombs of exceptional grandeur exist beneath the ruling family’s residence – a massive hilltop compound that overlooks the Northern Passage, above the sheer cliffs that rise 1200 meters straight out of the ocean. This unique defensive complement of the northern boundaries of the Fjordlands is no doubt brought on by cataclysmic tumult between the Gods, which resulted in a rift so intense that it caused the raging ocean to be calmed for the distance as far as a human can see. The protected bay is an alluring sight for potential usurpers – those of course, who can make it through the 100 meter waves of the North Sea that almost magically die on the edge of the rift that causes the sheer cliffs and calm waters – some 40 kilometers out to sea.

 

Part 15:
The greatest minds were stolen by Sigmund the Oathbreaker when he was finally driven out of the lowlands and fled West. The Fjordnir would accept those engineers and alchemists, and mages back without hesitation, but they exist, it seems under control of the Oathbreaker, and far away. Scattered remnants of the descendents of those great minds still dot the isles of the Fjordlands, and make homes on the mainlands of Fjordnir. They long to reunite with their ancestors, only a few generations removed.

Well-known blacksmiths and leathercrafters live in the larger cityscapes of the Fjordlands, and those cities grow larger every season. But the vast majority of the people that call themselves Fjordnir live in the hamlets and dot the countryside, carving out their living by farming, with a small grove of giant elm, or oak trees, and growing a field of barley, raising domesticated elk and deer. These animals are taxed and used to feed the giant bats of the cavernous areas to ensure that trade of the Guano continues. The propellant made by Tondo is used in the fearsome cannons of the Naval fleet of the Fjordnir – no other nation has such weapons of destruction.

 

 

Part 16:
Deer and elk also roam throughout the southlands near uncanny outcroppings of rock and among the badlands, where trolls also partake in their flesh. The long-standing truce between the native Trolls of the Fjordlands and the Fjordnir people allows for the peaceful coexistence of man and trollkind. Though, in plan terms, it seems clear that the Trolls are aware of their inferiority in battle to the massive numbers and weapons and technology of the Fjordnir.

Still, there are occasional clashes with the Trollkind, and the Fjordnir trust them very little.

This is the short version of the last few centuries of the Fjordnir People. A people that live beyond the age of 300 typically.

 

Part 17:
But, it is true, the history books tell a more robust version of the Fjordnir people – the Children of Ash and Elm. Elm because of the trees they eat. Ash because of the coexistence they enjoy with the ancient dragon from which they take their name – Fjordnir the Bearded – a dragon of legendary stature, who is capable of turning whole cities to ashen wastelands in only a few great flaps of his wings and jets of his fiery breath… He sits atop the craggy outcroppings to the south – a testament of the majesty and mystery of the Fjordlands.