《Seidr》


 Chapter 1

    The title of Illr-frey, or evil-lord, was earned by Jan Throrson.


    The land he rules is known as Godazland, meaning good land in the old tongue, which is ironic because it is so cold that trees struggle to live here and very little of the land is suited for farming. It was named so as a marketing plow that convinced a few hundred people to move to the island by Jan''s great grandfather, a Eric the Black. Eric was a man with a well known temper, hence the Black moniker, that had murdered a man and -fearing a reprisal- fled his homeland. While sailing the seaways of the north he had discovered Godazland when his ship was blown off course. The land is very large but much of it is covered in a massive ice sheet the size of countries with only thin strips of land capable of holding any plant and animal life. Eric got it into his head to settle people there even though it was a harsh frozen hel hole. He was successful mostly due to the idea of free farmland and no taxes from the crown.


    Returning to Jan Throrson, he became the Illr-frey due to increasing conflict with savages to the north known as Scraelings. The Scraelings were not a warrior people but did now how to defend themselves and had been in Godazland much longer so they knew the land and how to deal with the more magical anomalies of the place. The raids were causing significant losses and since Jan came from the most powerful and wealthy family of the land, Eric had claimed the best land for himself and his family, and the fact he was a very powerful Seidrman, otherwise known as a wizard or sorcerer in other lands, made him the most logical choice. It wasn''t logical to everyone and a powerful warrior now known as Yoric the Broken challenged Jan for leadership. The two had decided on a holmgang, duel, to first blood or submission.


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    Seidrman unlike soft southerners derive there power from bodily strength as well as mental strength so Jan was a powerfully built man standing nearly as tall as a bear but Yoric was a well known duelist that had lead several successful raids on the Scraelings. The duel had started normally. Each man had a sword and shield with no armor and they had tested and struck at each other as well trained warriors. That was until Yoric had struck Jan on the arm. He had a large visible cut on his arm running from his wrist to his elbow but miraculously no blood flowed and the wound knitted closed before everyones eyes. Yoric cut Jan several more times and the wounds closed without a drop of blood being spilled. Jan waiting for his opportunity truck like a viper and cut Yoric''s hand cutting of two fingers and unlike Jan his blood flowed.


    The showcasing of such powerful seidr and skill had impressed everyone. A council of the local strongmen agreed to elect Jan Throrson as the Frey of the land as long as he respected the old laws. He would soon earn the Illr part of his name.

 The Scraelings

    The term Scraeling originated when the Norsi people first encountered the natives and described them as black haired, short and tanned skinned. It is unclear why they were called so due to the differing dialects at the time. Depending on how it is spoken Scraeling could mean barbarian, weakling, or dry skinned.


    Since the Scraelings did not farm, raise animals, or shape metal like the Norsi they were derided as ignorant and backwards. That the Norsi were considered barbarians themselves it is ironic that they would label another people so.


    The average Scraeling man stood on average five feet tall and were wiry in comparison to the Norsi who stood a head taller then them, hence weakling. They were not weak, fools just believe a small man is.


    The dry skinned interpretation has two theories. First is due to the weather worn features of the natives being seen like dry leather. The other is that all peoples in Scraeling society, from the oldest matron to the youngest babe, wore dry leather clothes lined with fur to survive the artic conditions. The leather they favored was seal skin since it was best at retaining heat. Most Norsi wore cotton clothes even though leather could hold heat better. The practice stemmed from a belief that cotton clothes were more civilized.


    The Scraelings did not call themselves Scraeling. The collective term they called themselves was Nuit, The People in their tongue. The origin of their people is hard to pin down but they do say they arrived in Godazland thousands of years before the Norsi. The Nuit had to abandon the land around three hundred years before the Norsi arrived due to harsh winters and a lack of game. The had only recently returned and reclaimed their ancestral lands and were fine with the Norsi claiming the warmer southern part of Godazland.


    They subsisted on the abundant fish and seal populations and occasionally hunted the local whales. The only plants they ate were summer berries and root plants. The only animals that the Nuit kept were large thick furred dogs that pulled sleds through the snow. The sled dogs served multiple purposes such as guarding, hunting companions, friendship, and spirit guides.


    The Nuit people were skilled rowers and sailors but had difficulty making ships due to the lack of trees so they used whale bone or drift wood and what tools they had were made from bone, stone, or wood. The Nuit did occasionally trade walrus tusks for the much desired iron weapons that the Norsi had. The spear being a Nuit''s favorite weapon of choice then the bow.


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    Their culture is hard to define since each wandering band will tell different creation myths and stories but broad generalizations can be made. Their religion could be categorized as animism, or the belief that humans, animals, plants, and natural land formations have a soul. Their religion was lead by shamans that served the dual purpose of priest and village doctor. Their gods are almost always animals of some kind that take on a human form when it suits them. The Great Bear, The Dread Wolf, The Mistress of the Sea are all examples of their gods. That gods are a real is not in question it is whether they are true gods or very powerful spirits that is in question.


    Since they were a hunter gatherer society they did not field large armies instead they lead small raiding groups that numbered no greater then twenty and no less then five. They would attack isolated farmsteads and carry away all the food, metal tools, and women they could carry. The men and livestock they would slaughter since they had no use for them.


    The Nuit were not a united group and were divided into three broad clans. The western Kalit, the eastern Tunu, and the northern Inuk. The Kalit were largely peaceful and traded frequently with the Norsi and the Inuk were so far north they couldn''t raid. It was the Tunu that were causing trouble. The Norsi had been hunting walrus for their tusks in Tunu lands, a important animal in their religion. The Tunu were not angry that the walrus was being hunted since they were a staple of their diet. They were angry that the walrus were being killed only for their tusks and that thousands of pounds of meat were being left to rot on their beaches. The shamans saw this as a grave sin. Wasting so much and taking so little would endanger the tribe, no doubt a lesson the Nuit people as a whole learned in order to not overhunt the local wildlife. The Tunu shamans and chieftains had a grand conference where they collectively agreed to go to war against the Norsi.


    The war started small. A missing hunter here, a sacked farm house there. It was when a young warrior, Amaqju, who was considered the most skilled hunter of his people rose to power that the raids became much more organized and devastating. Amaqju was the son of a chieftain and a shamaness. Since he had been a child his mother had layered protective magics around him and his father taught him how to fight and hunt since he could grip a spear. When he was a boy he had successfully killed an Amarok Wolf. Amarok''s are a much larger wolf species that hunt alone and even one of the Nuit gods is an Amarok. Magical abilities are attributed to them and their taste for man flesh is well known. That Amaqju had killed one alone was a major achievement. He had many more great hunts in his life. He was soon seen as a sort of royalty among the Tunu. He was given many honors and privileges and many young women - and some wives - carried his children. The man''s life was like the old stories of heroes. The Norsi were just the great enemy he needed for his tale.