I have to warn you that this version of Norwold is mostly based on canon material; in an attempt to stay as canonical as possible, we’ve reduced to the minimum any “fanonical” addition – mostly the ones that seemed to us inconsistent with the canonical description of the land; so you’ll find no large and unified kingdoms north of the Great Bay (i.e. no Kaarjala or Littonia). Be it clear that this is by no means an attempt to criticize or despise the good work many of you have done to improve this region.
We’ve indeed filled the wide gaps left in this region by lack of canon material with new cultures – most of them barbarian cultures – we deemed well-fitting with the wilderness character of the whole Norwold.
Last but not least, I’ve kept or taken many of the names for places and land features some of you have created for the Mystaran Almanac line or other contributions to the Vaults of Pandius (some palce-names are taken from one of OldDawg’s gazetteers).
First of all I’ll post the map I’ve assembled with the help of the other contributors on the Italian MMB. Regarding the Heldann-Norwold border solution (i.e. discrepancies found among canon maps of the region), I’ve chosen the solution proposed months ago by LoZompatore in this forum also; regarding the terrain types, we’ve added some forested hills in the narrower valleys and near some mountain ranges, and followed some hints of the DotE 72-miles-per-hex large map (especially for the area north of the Great Bay). Forests have been placed on the map according to what was shown in the map of Norwold featured in the PWAs. After the map (which takes into account the situation of AC1000), I’ll describe some of the features it contains:
What follows is a brief description of cultures, realms and places you find on the map. Some people and places have had a longer description, so if you’re interested ask me and I’ll translate it in English as soon as possible.
POLITICAL ENTITIES:
Evedotardom of Stormhaven
This is the most famous dwarf clan of Norwold, from CM1. I’ve called it an “evedotardom” becouse it’s likely ruled by the clanhead (evedotar in dwarven language, see GAZ6) of the Stormhaven clan. Becouse these dwarves can muster up to 1,000 soldiers in time of war (according to CM1), we’ve supposed that many dwarven families, and not only one, lived under the rule of the Stormhaven clanhead – and so we’ve given this “evedotardom” three mountain hexes.
Kingdom of Ghyr
This land lays outside of the Kingdom of Norwold, and you can see it in a different position from the one you see in OldDawg’s gazetteer. We’ve put this kingdom in the north-east corner of the Denagothian plateau becouse we traced its history back to the Essurian colonization of the northern areas of the plateau; later, the campaign of Henadin against King Landryn Teriak of Essuria caused a riot among the Essurian noblemen; the northern ones (i.e. those who had lands in the Ghyr area) kept themselves indipendent from the Shadow Lord in later years and were next unified under the banner of Qasmar, Baron of Ghyr, who was then crowned King of Ghyr. Becouse we’ve followed canon hints about the placing of X11 (JA says that Gylharen was crowned King of Wendar in AC901, and from X11 we know that this happens after the Wizard’s War and the defeat of Landryn Teriak), in our version X11 takes place in AC898-899 and XL1 in AC950.
Kingdom of Norwold
The huge unnamed nation you can see in the map is the Alphatian Kingdom of Norwold, ruled by King Ericall. Its borders are shown in the 72-miles-per-hex map of DotE. Within it, you can see the borders of the Royal Estate, which corresponds more or less to the land area listed as Kingdom of Alpha in the PWAs.
Kingdom of Oceansend
Another largely known kingdom. Its borders reflect the land area listed in its entry in the PWAs, and have been extended toward nearby mountains and forests becouse: 1) we know from PWAs and CM1 that a number of dwarves and elves live within the border of the kingdom, and not all of them reside in the city proper; 2) 700 of the 1,200 elves that are listed in the PWAs as inhabitants of the Kingdom of Oceansend are likely to be Shiye elves belonging to one of the Foresthomes, allies or subjects of King Yarrvik – the other 500 urban elves are probably foreigner or sea elf traders from Minrothad; 3) CM1 and the PWAs also list many dwarves as subjects of Oceansend, which live in the nearby mountains but are different from the Stormhaven clan – so we’ve supposed that these dwarven communities laid in the foothills of the Ironroot Mountains (as we’ve called this section of the Final Range). Moreover, following infos given in CM1, we’ve traced some roads within Oceansend’s territory, which link the city with the rural villages present in its territory and with dwarven communities in the said foothills.
Shire of Leeha
This is the halfling shire we all know about. While tracing its borders, I’ve taken into account the position of its clanholds and the land area listed in ‘Leeha’ entry in the PWAs. The names of individual clanholds (Fort Divotfoot, Merrybrook, and the like) are borrowed from Dan Eustace’s “Leehashire” article, at the Vaults.
CULTURES AND PEOPLES:
HELDANNERS
These are the descendants of Heldanner folks who settled south-central Norwold (south and east of the Final Range) starting from 1st century AC (see DotE). These settlers brought with them the customs of their motherland (Norduland – as we’ve called Heldann Freeholds before the deeds of Heldann the Brave gave the region his name): they’re farmers, fishermen and herders, ruled by clanheads assembling yearly to decide important questions and squabbling among themselves most of the other time. By AC1000, they should have settled the whole area from Oceansend to the south, up to the Final Range. Heldland region should be the most populated area within the region settled by Heldanner peoples. Landfall was originally an Heldanner town, which in about AC930 freed herself from the Heldanner lord’s rule and became a haven for foreigners, smugglers, thieves, pirates and the like; it fell under Alphatian control after AC985.
The “free” area standing between the borders of the Kingdom of Norwold and those of the Heldannic Territories should be occupied by the surviving Heldanner domains that still haven’t been conquered by the knights. These domains squabble among themselves but are also allied to keep the Heldannic presence south of the Altenwald. These Heldanner lords are allied with the Kingdom of Norwold, which supports them as buffer states against the Heldannic Knights; the knights have abstained from an invasion of these domains, thinking such an action could stir up the wrath of the Alphatians and open a war. The domains extends from this area up to the Kingdom of Ghyr, beyond the Eastern Mengul range.
[b]J
Following some requests posted in the “Future Gazetteers” thread, I’ll post here some of the work I and my friends on the Italian MMB (some of whom you should probably already know – DM, LoZompatore, Agathokles, Morgoth, etc.)
Ahem, just for the record, note that my view of Norwold is very, very different from the one you're proposing here ;)
Specifically, I don't agree on removing/changing James' and Geoff's works, nor on inserting all the (IMO useless and incoherent with the setting) fiefs and pregenerated PCs from the Master modules.
GP
Ahem, just for the record, note that my view of Norwold is very, very different from the one you're proposing here ;)
You're right. I had included you in the list of the contributors only becouse you proposed the name "Skaufskogr" and the position of the Foxfolk lupin clans.
I see in effect your Norwold is different from this one; so I'll delete you from the list of contributors. ;)
I admit that I've been lurking on the Italian MMB for a little while, and had been hoping the map would be placed over here.
Granted that your version of Norwold is different, would you folks mind if I borrowed some place names and other info for my own work?
Geoff
And thanks for providing the quick lits of location explainations. That kind of list is often just as useful as longer descriptions, though I would be interested in seeing those as well!
Would you consider making alternate versions of your map to take into account the different views of Norwold?
Ahem, just for the record, note that my view of Norwold is very, very different from the one you're proposing here ;)
Specifically, I don't agree on removing/changing James' and Geoff's works, nor on inserting all the (IMO useless and incoherent with the setting) fiefs and pregenerated PCs from the Master modules.
I would like to see a map that took into account the materials of James, Geoff and OldDawg.
Which Master module NPC fiefs have been inserted?
Havard
Which Master module NPC fiefs have been inserted?
At a glance, I see Stamtral and Vyolstagrad (from CM4: Earthshaker!), Lighthall (from M4: Five Coins for a Kingdom).
Granted that your version of Norwold is different, would you folks mind if I borrowed some place names and other info for my own work?
Of course you can!
I've posted the map here so thay everyone could take what they wanted from our version of Norwold - as I have done with the material found at the Vaults. ;)
Would you consider making alternate versions of your map to take into account the different views of Norwold?
To say the truth, that was not on my list of things to do. :P Nevertheless, if someone gives me a map accurate enough I can convert that to this format and try to put inside it whatever you prefer. ;)
Which Master module NPC fiefs have been inserted?
Apart from Vyolstagrad (CM4), Stamtral (CM4) and Lighthall (M4), none in the map above (it's that Agathokles has seen the complete version in the Italian MMB and perhaps he's referring to that).
In the complete version of "our" Norwold we've inserted all the canon fiefdoms from the CM and M modules, i.e. those of:
From CM1:
Alak Dool
Allisa Patrician
Brogahn of the Steppes
Claransa the Seer
Ernest Day
Fergus the Justifier
Geoffrey of Heldann
Longtooth
Max I
Quillan Elm-Grower
Rutger Dag
Sandralane of Glantri
Weston the High
From CM2:
Maltus Fharo (Twolakes Vale)
From CM3:
"The Count" (identified with James Essex, see below)
From CM4:
Aethelwulf
Nevik (Vyolstagrad)
Sovanya
Stano (Stamtral)
From M2:
Adik de Chevas
Bardeen Longwalker
Delsel Oaktree
Lucci Dhay
Trent the White
Winnefred of the Lake
From M4:
Theobold Redbeard (Lighthall)
From M5:
Ethendril h'Caramore
Knolimer Knolin & Unice (Yskelb)
Shebb Woolsey
Tralkar Fenn
We've also put in some canon material that has never been placed anywhere - the counties and the barony mentioned in the D&D Companion Set adventure The Golden Dagger:
Count James Essex (Garette - identified with "the Count" from CM3)
Baron Mark Acres
Count Niles Douglass
These three small fiefdoms constitute all the "useless and incoherent" non-strictly-canonical additions to the setting.
;)language. You've done a nice job. But as a Finn I can't resist pointing out just
a couple of things. But this is really not meant to be nitpicking or complaint, just faint suggestions.
But first I have to say that I loved Kesäjoki, Summer River! I mean, it flows straight out from the glaciers, and sure enough such a river with its seasonal flood would be associated with the coming summer. Nice touch.
Autuusmaa
- would translate into Land of Bliss or the Blessed Land
("autuas" is also an adjective that is used of christian saints and such figures.)
- Any Finn will recognise Autuusmaa, but if you wish a less artificial form, "Autuasmaa" might have a nicer ring.
People of Ice
- This would be "Jääkansa", not Kansajää
Pohjoinen Lake
- with rivers you have used full finnish names (Fish River - Kalajoki), so you might include "järvi" (lake) here. Then I'd suggest Pohjanjärvi, there are dozens of them in Finland
Rannivaara
- I couldn't open this. What did you have in mind? The only thing that comes to mind is "Ränni", rainwater drain - but this is a very modern word.
Hallasmaa river
- "Hallamaa" (Frostland?) would be better. The "s" is genetive in most scandic languages, but we never picked it up from our neighbours
Kavelka river
- This is not a Finnish word (again, who cares if you are not looking for exact matches). The only word that comes close is "Kalavelka" (literally "Fish Debt"), which means that you have score to settle with someone. Someone has insulted you and you have some "kalavelkoja" (pl.) to settle.
Anyway, it was nice to see some Finns on the map.
You've done a nice job. But as a Finn I can't resist pointing out just a couple of things. But this is really not meant to be nitpicking or complaint, just faint suggestions.
I'm glad you liked our work, and I'm ready to accept suggestion to improve it.
As you've surely understood, our little knowledge of Finnish language has generated some mistakes in the translation of the names. Our idea was only to give the place-names of this region a Finnish name.
Autuusmaa
- would translate into Land of Bliss or the Blessed Land
("autuas" is also an adjective that is used of christian saints and such figures.)
- Any Finn will recognise Autuusmaa, but if you wish a less artificial form, "Autuasmaa" might have a nicer ring.
Good, I love the form "Autuasmaa"!
People of Ice
- This would be "Jääkansa", not Kansajää
One of our aforementioned mistakes, owed to the fact that none of us had familiarity with Finnish grammar.
I have to say that I preferred the sound of "Kansajaa", but I think nevertheless I'll change it to "Jaakansa".
Pohjoinen Lake
- with rivers you have used full finnish names (Fish River - Kalajoki), so you might include "järvi" (lake) here. Then I'd suggest Pohjanjärvi, there are dozens of them in Finland.
Another good suggestion, thank you! ;)
Rannivaara
- I couldn't open this. What did you have in mind? The only thing that comes to mind is "Ränni", rainwater drain - but this is a very modern word.
This was only a name coming from one of my past campaigns set in Norwold. Time ago I thought it had a Finnish sound, but reading it again calls to my mind Ireland...
:embarrass Do you have naming suggestion for this lonely mountain range?
Hallasmaa river
- "Hallamaa" (Frostland?) would be better. The "s" is genetive in most scandic languages, but we never picked it up from our neighbours
On the map I wrote "Haljasmaa". The idea was a translation of "Landsplit" River in Finnish; looking at some net-dictionaries we found "split" = "haljas", or something similar. So we thought that "Haljas-maa" could well mean "Land-split". Even here I'm glad to accept suggestions. ;)
Kavelka river
- This is not a Finnish word (again, who cares if you are not looking for exact matches). The only word that comes close is "Kalavelka" (literally "Fish Debt"), which means that you have score to settle with someone. Someone has insulted you and you have some "kalavelkoja" (pl.) to settle.
Another name that sound Finnish to our ears, but don't have a precise meaning in RW-Finnish.
Thanks for your help!
Rannivaara
- I couldn't open this. What did you have in mind? The only thing that comes to mind is "Ränni", rainwater drain - but this is a very modern word.
Here I thought this was supposed to be a reference to Ranivorus! Guess my Finnish isn't very good! :p
- Sininenjoki --> "Sinijoki" might be easier to pronounce to a non-Finn, and it is more correct
- Rannivaara?? - Chtulhudrew was going for Ranivorus. How about "Raatovaarat"? "Raato" is carrion, "vaara" is a northern Finnish hill/mountain (and also "danger"). There's a link to the Skulls and perhaps still a hint of Ranivorus?
- "Hämäräjärvi" is okay (lake of shade, dusk and twilight)
- Frozen Moors - If you want to add a M-Finn name, how about "Routajängät" (Routa is frozen soil, "jängät" is plural of "jänkä" a swamp with sparse trees)
- Kavelka? Since there's no hint of meaning, I had to go blind. How about "Tukkijoki" (Log River)? There are trees upstream, so maybe the Autuas people transport logs by the river and trade them?
- Landsplit? "Maanselkä" would literally be "the back of the land" (back as in the back of a human), and "selkä" with the allusion to the spine is often used to this effect.
- Everwinter Lands - if you want a M-Finn version, its "Ikitalven Maat"
Apart from Vyolstagrad (CM4), Stamtral (CM4) and Lighthall (M4), none in the map above (it's that Agathokles has seen the complete version in the Italian MMB and perhaps he's referring to that).
Yes. I'd consider only those three fiefs (though we've different views on the position of Stamtral and Vyolstagrad, and in general on the position of the Vatski and Viaskoda cultures, which OTOH I think are the best elements of your Norwold work), plus a few of those from CM1 (Quillan, Claransa and Weston don't have a fief or don't keep it for long; some others have names inconsistent with their origin and should be dropped, namely Allisa Patrician) and Malthus Fharo (and then only because his fief was described in such depth).
Those from M2 and M5 are especially bad, IMO (Knolimer, Unice and their unnamed, pink-dressed Immortal come to mind), and are those I was referring too as "useless and incoherent" -- I had entirely forgotten that you went on to include the NPCs (named for TSR people of the time...) from the generic tournament setting from the Companion rules.
Obviously, that's another difference between my Norwold and yours ;)
I've also seen that the material of the first post has already been published in the Vaults. Please Stanles could you substitute the map and text put in the Vaults with the edited version? Thank you very much!
For the sake of completeness, I post here also the political map of Norwold, which shows where we've placed the various canonical (or so) fiefdoms. Some of the names of these domains are taken from the Vaults, while a few other are canonical (those in italic in the list below).
First the map, then a quick legend:
http://www.gruppoludico.it/naga/Norwold/Norwold_Region_24-m_v1.5_political.png
List of the Domains of Norwold (AC1000):
Alpha (Royal Estate). Ruler: Ericall, King of Norwold. [CM1 and later products]
Blakyst (Barony of). Ruler: Bardeen Longstrider. [M2]
Demistra (Barony of). Ruler: Mark Acres. [D&D Companion Set]
Ellikavki (Barony of). Ruler: Ethendril h’Caramore. [M5]
Fjskevik (County of). Ruler: Niles Douglass. [D&D Compaion Set]
Free Plains (Barony of the). Ruler: Allisa Patrician. [CM1 and M2]
Garette (County of). Ruler: James Essex. [D&D Companion Set]
Glumicagora (Barony of). Ruler: Claransa the Seer. [CM1 and later products]
Havkulle (Barony of). Ruler: Rutger Dag. [CM1 and later products]
Hopeland (Barony of). Ruler: Ernest Day. [CM1 and M2]
Hvittland (Barony of). Ruler: Trent ‘il Bianco’. [M2]
Lalmetaure (Barony of). Ruler: Quillan Elmgrower. [CM1 and later products]
Landfall (Duchy of). Ruler: Lernal the Swill. [CM1 and later products]
Latela (Barony of). Ruler: Longtooth. [CM1 and M2]
Lausthorp (Barony of). Ruler: Geoffrey of Heldann. [CM1 and later products]
Lighthall (Duchy of). Ruler: Theobold Redbeard. [M4]
Moonland (Barony of). Ruler: Sandralane of Glantri. [CM1]
Morkheim (Barony of). Ruler: Alak Dool. [CM1 and M2]
Nyslott (Barony of). Ruler: Shebb Woolsey. [M5]
Obaladosk (Barony of). Ruler: Lucci Dhay. [M2]
Solvhavne (Barony of). Ruler: Max I. [CM1 and M2]
Sommerplass (County of). Ruler: Tralkar Fenn. [M5]
Sonnenfeld (Barony of). Ruler: Fergus the Justifier. [CM1 and later products]
Stamtral (Duchy of). Ruler: Stano. [CM4]
Taulenilda (Barony of). Ruler: Delsel Oaktree. [M2]
Ublaat-nor (Barony of). Ruler: Brogahn of the Steppes. [CM1 and later products]
Twolakes Vale (Barony of). Ruler: Maltus Fharo. [CM2]
Veived (Barony of). Ruler: Winnefred of the Lake. [M2]
Vyolstagrad (Duchy of). Ruler: Nevik. [CM4]
Westria (Barony of). Ruler: Weston the High. [CM1 and later products]
Whitetower (Barony of). Ruler: Adik de Chevas. [M2]
Yskelb (Barony of). Rulers: Knolimer Knolin and Unice. [M5]
soon be making a grab for Landfall and Freiburg, and this map will work
nicely as a playing aid. It's not too crowded and will thus fit our campaign well.
Just one more language note: "the Wanderers" would be "Vaeltajat",
not "Vaeltajää" ("jää" = ice). Singular "Vaeltaja", plural "Vaeltajat"
I've edited the M-Finnish place-names in the first post (both in the map and in the text) as suggested by Twin Campaigns. ;)
I've also seen that the material of the first post has already been published in the Vaults. Please Stanles could you substitute the map and text put in the Vaults with the edited version? Thank you very much!
yes of course, it'll go up next update.
If I haven't already said this: thanks for the map. IMC the Alphatians will soon be making a grab for Landfall and Freiburg, and this map will work nicely as a playing aid. It's not too crowded and will thus fit our campaign well.
You're welcome, I'm glad you find it useful somwhow.
Just one more language note: "the Wanderers" would be "Vaeltajat", not "Vaeltajää" ("jää" = ice). Singular "Vaeltaja", plural "Vaeltajat"
Thank you, I've already edited the text in the first post. ;)
yes of course, it'll go up next update.
Wonderful, thank you.
many thanks to you and the other members of the Italian MMB for posting this. I lurk over there on ocassion, but my language skills have atrophied to the point where I can interpret into English but not into another tongue without great difficulty, or Babelfish ;) And I don't always know how to properly judge the level of "beh"-ness:P
Aside from certain fundamental issues like the disposition of Ghyr, I see no reason why what you've put together cannot be used as a working template for the Gaz F trip through Norwold. In fact, we were in agreement on things like Stormhaven and the Ironroot Mountains.
a few questions/remarks though:
1) you introduced a river system that runs parallel to the coast before emptying at Oceansend. Why not have the water come from the mountains northwest of Oceansend? It seems the water isn't flowing down viable potential energy paths.
2) What was the thought process in gluing in Denagoth, Heldann, and the Isle of Dawn? This is the major cartographic difference as I see it, with a slight offset between your project and the maps I've done. I used X11 to fix Wendar and Denagoth relative to Glantri, and the 8mph Eastern Trail Map to fix Isle of Dawn relative to Ostland, then overlaying the updated 24mph IoD. After fixing Alphatia in place relative to the Isle of Dawn and using the Known World 24mph maps with Heldann's rocky thumb, Norwold's positioning was set by preserving the old Helskir to Oceansend distance with the new IoD map. It appears your work built from the north downward.
3) Based on Ghyr/Western Alliance maps, I'd place the Loark Pass below what you call
the Goddess' Diadem (the southwestern-most light pine looks about route) since that corresponds to the location of the "Leehan Trail," but that's only if you wanted to keep topographic keypoints the same in the two versions.
4) What is the timeline for the political boundaries? Are the duchies at that political level in 1000 AC?, or does Lighthall (for example) start as a barony (1000AC) and reach duchy-dom say post WOTI?
Cheers,
OldDawg
Zendrolion,
many thanks to you and the other members of the Italian MMB for posting this. I lurk over there on ocassion, but my language skills have atrophied to the point where I can interpret into English but not into another tongue without great difficulty, or Babelfish ;) And I don't always know how to properly judge the level of "beh"-ness:P
What a pity!
Unfortunately I'm not as active here as in the Italian MMB. Nevertheless, I love your work with the GAZ Fs (even if something doesn't match with my version of certain places, like Ghyr) and I'm going to use some of their contents for my Mystaran campaign. ;) I'll be glad if you want to use some of my material in your Norwold GAZ F series; feel free to use names or whatever you want.
Now I'll try to answer your questions:
1) you introduced a river system that runs parallel to the coast before emptying at Oceansend. Why not have the water come from the mountains northwest of Oceansend? It seems the water isn't flowing down viable potential energy paths.
We've introduced this river becouse part of it is shown in the map of lower Norwold featured in the JA. The map shows a river going north from the southern Final Range, and disappearing over the upper edge of the map (which doesn't feature Oceansend); so we thought that said river could empty into the sea in the Oceansend area. This explains the direction of the river course.
2) What was the thought process in gluing in Denagoth, Heldann, and the Isle of Dawn? This is the major cartographic difference as I see it, with a slight offset between your project and the maps I've done. I used X11 to fix Wendar and Denagoth relative to Glantri, and the 8mph Eastern Trail Map to fix Isle of Dawn relative to Ostland, then overlaying the updated 24mph IoD. After fixing Alphatia in place relative to the Isle of Dawn and using the Known World 24mph maps with Heldann's rocky thumb, Norwold's positioning was set by preserving the old Helskir to Oceansend distance with the new IoD map. It appears your work built from the north downward.
This is a little too long to explain here, but I posted time ago on these boards a message that should give you some advices regarding our thought concept for the map; there's the link (it's my message of 06-14-06): http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=652201
3) Based on Ghyr/Western Alliance maps, I'd place the Loark Pass below what you call
the Goddess' Diadem (the southwestern-most light pine looks about route) since that corresponds to the location of the "Leehan Trail," but that's only if you wanted to keep topographic keypoints the same in the two versions.
It's another possibility, and not a great problem to change the position of Loak Pass in my map. We put it north of the Goddess' Diadem becouse this would have bought easily more humanoids north of the Great Bay (if they had found themselves in front of the Great Bay since the beginning of the Norwold invasion, it would have been less likely that many tribes would have migrated north of the Great Bay in a colder and less hospitable climate when they had milder and richer region south to pullage).
But we can also explain this saying that a split occurred in the Great Horde before the crossing of Loark Pass: one leader of the "Hyborian" humanoid subspecies led his fellows through "XXX Pass" (XXX being the name of this leader), while most of the Great Horde followed Loark through your "Leehan Trail". ;)
4) What is the timeline for the political boundaries? Are the duchies at that political level in 1000 AC?, or does Lighthall (for example) start as a barony (1000AC) and reach duchy-dom say post WOTI?
The time of the political map is AC1000. I set all my works in AC1000 becouse I don't like WotI and its events (which IMHO were especially bad and undesiderable in their consequence - this includes the PWAs).
Regarding the duchies, their status is such in AC1000, as indicated on the map. Some explanations:
Fjskevik, Garette and Sommerplass: These counties were given to three important leaders that were instrumental in bringing Norwold under Alphatian control (in AC985 and subsequent years).
Landfall: The city and sourrounding area has been created into a duchy to give a title to Lernal (such as "Prince of Galles" in England); the city was planned to be more or less the center of Alphatian control in southern Norwold, but it become more a center of corruption and robbery.
Lighthall: Theobold Redbeard was one of the Alphatian commanders that led the Norwold campaign in AC985 and subsequent years, when Norwold was only a protectorate of Alphatia. He was then given the lands of Lighthall and the title of duke, to guard the Helskir Channel against possible Thyatian assaults and keep in check that hot-head of Eruul Zaar. Later (AC992) his fiefdom was put under Ericall's crown.
Stamtral and Vyolstagrad: These lands, as the whole Ransarn River valley, are inhabited by a sedentary branch of the Vatski people (see the first post). These people are ruled by a landowner noble cast, the boyars, which are dominion rulers in their own right. When the Alphatian came in Norwold (AC985), most of them tried to stay indipendend from the foreigners, but slowly they saw the whole southern Norwold (settled by Heldanner people) fall into Alphatian hands; they thought they'd be the next target of Alphatian conquest.
But then, Ericall took the crown and the Alphatian control revealed to be itself rather far and weak; the Vatski boyars decided it would be best to come to good terms with Ericall: the king didn't want to wage a costly war against them, but an open defiement of Ericall's authority could draw too much imperial attention (and armies) toward Norwold. On the other hand, if the boyars sent some tributes to Alpha, the king would have regarded them as vassals and would have protected them (but not controlled them, being so far from their lands). So, many boyars began to befriend the Alphan court, giving advice, tribute and vassallage and receiving in turn titles (the boyars Stano of Stamtral and Nevik of Vyolstagrad received the title of duke) and charges (one Viktor Zucharnov became the Treasure Minister of Ericall - see CM4).
since the Goddess' Diadem came about from your home campaign, could you share some background on the Alphatian sorceress and these northern Amazons?
There seems to be a common thread in Norwold with female sorceresses, witches and hags, and I'd like to see if there's anything mineable in that.
Thanks,
-OldDawg
Zendrolion,
since the Goddess' Diadem came about from your home campaign, could you share some background on the Alphatian sorceress and these northern Amazons?
Of course I can!
Just be a little patient: I'm translating the whole thing into English but, since I'm very busy at the moment, I don't know when the work'll be finished.
The Nainartas (the northern amazons you're asking about) are simply a small community of women descended from former slaves. Their tiny town, Bekereva, stands in the Goddess' Diadem and holds influence over five surrounding barbarian tribes (Viaskodas of the White Banner IMC). The Nainartas are rather advanced (both in crafts and magic) in regard to the Viaskodas. Their queen is at the moment (AC 1000) Ishenya, a former Alphatian princess who bears a curse on herself and who has lost memory of her past life.
You'll read more when I post the complete version (which is rather long). I don't know if you'll find anything useful in all this work, but feel free to use any part of it! ;)
Here it is (and is quite long). If you have any suggestion to improve the description, or any idea about something you'd like to see introduced of modified, post it! ;)
Some additional notes:
1) All reference to Norwold are linked to the map posted in the first post of this thread. The Viaskodas mentioned below are the Viaskodas you find in the first post.
2) I'm still developing a 3.5 list of arcane spells available among Nainartas; I'll update this part as soon as possible.
3) The religion issue has been written with Marco Dalmonte's Codex Immortalis in mind; the goddesses you'll find below and their names are taken from his version of the Antalian pantheon (the so-called 'Asatru').
4) Some references in the history part could seem misleading; they're linked with our (mine and of some friend of mine on the Italian MMB) version of the history of Norwold (again, I can post it also if you're interested).
That's all, good reading!
==========================================================
THE NAINARTAS
The Nainartas are a female culture that rule an alliance of barbarian tribes from a small community located high in the Goddess’ Diadem.
http://www.gruppoludico.it/naga/Norwold/Nainartas.PNG
History
The origin of this people goes back some hundred of years to the events following the failure of the second Alphatian attempt at colonizing Norwold (the first was Alinor’s attempt). This happened under Emperor Volospin III, and eventually failed becouse of the opposition of the Wyrmsteeth dragons (according to the events of Dragonlord Trilogy, when the Alphatian war fleet is destroyed by dragons - which should happen around AC 510).
After the Alphatians’ defeat, the lands they had conquered in the region around the Sabre River were occupied by barbarian Norse and Vatski tribes. The land fragmented into many small petty kingdoms where a small number of Alphatian immigrants lived alongside the barbarian conquerors. In some of these petty kingdoms (mostly located in central-western Norwold, from the Pierced Crown range to the Giants’ Mountains) the barbarians assimilated some cultural traits of the Alphatians, settling down in their surviving communities and villages. Within years some of these kingdoms had crumbled, others had stabilized.
In the following two centuries, these kingdoms had to fight the surrounding barbarian tribes and the humanoid hordes which coveted the riches and the slaves of their villages and keeps. The battles became increasingly hard, until a great umanoid invasion launched by a great ogre chief coming from the east broke the defences of the small kingdoms and led to their fall. The ogre leader wanted to build his own realm upon the ruins of these kingdoms; to keep local ruling families from rising against him and to break the morale of the conquered peoples, he took female hostages from local noble families to form a sort of personal harem. After some years of undisputed rule and continuous military campaigns against other barbarian tribes, the ogre chief was killed and his “kingdom” crumbled, giving way to another wave of barbarian conquerors. Their goods plundered, their warriors killed or enslaved, the people of the small kingdoms reverted to the barbaric way of life within years. All vestiges of Alphatian civilization disappeared shortly after; only some ruins stood as an hint of a past Alphatian occupation.
When the humanoid horde shattered, the harem of the ogre chief managed to flee the barbarian conquerors together with other former female slaves taken by the humanoids. These women were born in civilized villages and towns and preferred to find peace away from their homeland, which was reverting to barbarism. Being mostly daughters, wives or cousins of noblemen, these women were rather cultured and some of them were able to use magic in Alphatian tradition. After a difficult trip, they hid in a secluded mountain range in the Icereach Range.
In the Icereach Range, through the use of enchantment spells known to those of them that were wizards, this group of women managed to obtain the alliance of some Viaskoda tribes. These tribes, whose chiefs had been charmed by these women, allowed this female community to settle in an ancient complex of dwarven ruins, upon which the Viaskoda helped them to built a new village. In turn, they received help from the women, which possessed more advanced knowledge (like magic, writing, and so on).
This community of women came to be known as the Nainartas (perhaps a corruption of the Viaskoda word nainirtä (which means “free women”). The small fortified town they had built was called Berekeva (“peaceful house”) and was inhabited only by women. The Nainartas finally elected a queen, that was to rule on Berekeva, helped by six Councillors.
Only women were permitted to get inside the town; only in a given time of the year the Nainartas consented to the Viaskoda tribes to send in Berekeva their most beautiful and healthy warriors, among which these women would have chosen their mates. Each mate could stay in Berekeva for six months at most, before returning to his tribe. Giving a child to a Nainarta was considered a great honor among the Viaskoda tribes. The Nainartas raised all their sons, then kepts among them only some of the females and sent the other to their fathers among the Viaskoda tribes.
Within time, some Viaskoda tribes developed a stable relationships with the Nainarta without the need of magical suggestions. The Viaskodas were often helped by the Nainartas against the barbarian tribes ruled by the white dragon Quesa and against the humanoid hordes. The Nainartas taught magic to the Viaskoda women that seemed more skilled, and eventually invited many of them to live in Berekeva herself. In turn, the Nainartas bought from the clans the basic food and goods they needed.
As the years passed, the queens of the Nainartas came to be considered the she-protectors of the allied Viaskoda tribes, a sort of ruler both of the Nainartas and of the tribes. The Nainartas’ queens tried to enforce and preserve a seeming of superiority and divine purity around their people, by choosing only beautiful females to join them in Berekeva, sending the old to live with the clans and keeping some crafts secret to the Viaskodas. So far, this policy has been successful and has been instrumental in the creation of this small realm, formed by a number of barbarian tribes allied with an all-women town.
Recently, a young but fierce white dragon of the Icereach Range gathered around him enough humanoid support to launch an offensive on the Viaskoda tribes of the White Banner. The Nainartas under Queen Kalaya entered the fray on the Viaskodas’ side and fought a number of bloody battles against the humanoid foes. Kalaya herself died battling the humanoids. When hope seemed lost, a sorceress and warrior of outsider heritage came from the east, putting her skills in service of the Nainartas: she was Ishenya, an exhiled Alphatian princess who had begun to wander the north some years before. Thanks to her skills the Nainartas managed to forge an alliance with some rakasta clans, and with the help of these allies, of Ishenya’s magic and of her personal valor, the Nainartas and their Viaskoda allies fought back and defeated the humanoids. Ishenya personally slew the dragon leader of the humanoids and was acclaimed as heroine and then as queen of the Nainartas. Thanks to her sorcerous and fighting skills, Ishenya was not only made queen of the Nainartas, but received a sort of worship from the allied Viaskoda tribes, who regarded her as an heroine sent by the gods to save them in their darkest hour; they began to call her “Sonya the Golden” (for in their tongue they can’t properly speak her name ‘Ishenya’, and becouse of her golden hair and armour). Since then, Ishenya has ruled well as Queen Sonta the Golden over Viaskoda tribes and Nainartas alike.
Appearance
Nainartas are all human females descended from an old mix of Common Alphatians and Norse peoples; in the past centuries their heritage has also mixed with Viaskoda blood.
Nainartas tend to be rather healthy, strong and beautiful due to birth control policies praticated by their rulers. A Nainarta is rather tall for a woman (from 5’8” to 5’15” tall), slim but generally well-muscled (weighing about from 120 to 190 lbs.). Their skin tone is generally light, but some individuals with stronger Common Alphatian blood in their veins have a bronze complexion. Their hair are usually fair, blonde, red or light brown, but there are also darker hair colours. Their eyes can be of any colour, most often blue or dark brown.
Nainartas are educated from birth to preserve a standard of beauty, and they dedicate to the cures of the body a good portion of their free time: they keep themselves clean, shave their body hair, use various herbal concotions to preserve their skin and regularly keep their hair well-washed and done. Some of them make also use of cosmetics created from certains stones and plants.
Nainartas’ clothes are rather well-done if confronted with those of nearby Viaskodas. They dress with shirts, blouses, loincloths and trousers made of wool or animal skin, covered by pelt surcoats and fur mantles in winter. Gloves and boots are common in winter, as are saldals in summer.
In combat, Nainartas use stout spears, short bows and short curved swords. The most powerful warriors don a metal or scale breastplate, while others rely on chain mail and studded leather, generally with a wooden or metallic round shield. All Nainartas don plumed steel helmets in battle, that cover their head and partly or wholly also their face. Nainartas don’t use horses in battle; only their leaders do, but usually dismount when entering a fight. Nainartas’ armors and weapons tend to be rather elaborate, carved with ritual blessings and engraved with silver symbols and stories of the past.
Berekeva
This small town hosts about 500 inhabitants; at any given moment, about one quarter of the population is composed by adult Viaskoda men, the rest are females of Nainarta ethnicity. The town is located on the southern slopes of the Goddess’ Diadem, and climbs the mountain up to the top of one of the lesser peaks of the range, where the Hall of the Queen is set.
The town is protected on two side by the mountain slopes and on the other two by a stout stone and wood wall. From the southern gate the town rises up to the mountaintop. The roads through the town and between the homes are few, but their floor is made of hard rock. There is a small pond at the center of the town, generated by a tiny waterfall that springs from the mountainside; the pond’s water is canalized also in a few wells and cisterns. Few meadows here and there separate the Nainartas’ homes in the lowest areas of the town.
Within the town, houses are made of stone and most of them are digged partly within the mountainside and underground, with slate roofs. All the houses are fitted with a large place for the fire and the chimney, and have one or two floors with generally one to three small rooms each. Nainartas make full use of civilized furniture, beds, carpets, tapestries, and the like, which they manufacture themselves. No glass is used here – windows are covered by a thick layer of tapestry in autumn and spring, or shut with wooden panels in winter.
Important sites in Berekeva are the Holy Shrine (see ‘Religion’, below), the House of the Silver Seal (a sort of local mages’ guild, see ‘Magic’, below), and the Queen’s Hall. The latter building sits atop a large stone stair that goes up from the town to the mountain top, about 50’ above the upper town. It’s basically a stout square building with two floors and a round tower above it, with four smaller towers on its corners. This is where the Queen, her six Councillors and their guards and attendants live. The Hall is well-built and its interior is decorated with many sculptures and filled with wall paintings, tapestries and other fine works of art. The Queen resides in her own quarters in the higher tower, above the throne room where audiences are held.
ACTIVITIES AND TRADES
Activities in town range around the manufacture of raw materials (potters, seamstresses, jewellers, wood-carvers, blacksmiths, etc.), while Nainartas involved in hunting, goat or sheep herding, gathering, wood-cutting, and so on are quite rare. In fact, most of the pelts, the game, and the animal of agricoltural goods are bought from the Viaskoda clans and exhanged with the fine pottery, jewelry, tools, crafted items and weapons of the Nainarta. Metal and stone supplies are taken from nearby mines with the aid of tough Viaskoda labourers. So, while the Nainartas’ crafts and works are rather specialized ones, those of the Viaskodas are rather basic; and so these two peoples are well-joined from the trading point of view.
All in all, the Nainartas lead a pleasant life, being always stuffed of all they need by their Viaskoda followers. They represent a sort of “elite” class in Viaskoda society, attending mostly to the rulership of the tribes, and to the providement of otherwise unaffordable crafts, knowledges and roles.
Society and Government
THE ARDRAVAS
There isn’t anything like family in the life of Nainartas. Each woman regards other Nainartas as sisters and friends: the individual is not important to the Nainartas, the community is.
Therefore, Nainartas are grouped into ardravas (“bonded companies”) of two or four adult (14 years old or more) members each. Each ardrava is a sort of family and represent a woman’s circle of nearest friends and loved ones. Each ardrava lives in a house in Berekeva. The queens have always tried to discourage the formation of larger ardravas, and the current custom is that every ardrava which includes more than four adult members splits into two different ardravas. Exceptions exist, but must be confirmed by the queen.
Each ardrava is required to have at least one of his components to be part of the Queen’s Guard or to the Order of the Silver Seal (see below for both). Moreover, at least one member of each ardrava must be employed in a craft or activity of some sort (artisan, hunter, and so on). This is due to preserve the autonomous sustenance of the Nainartas, and to make sure that all Nainartas take part to the main activities and to the defense of their people. Note that taking part in the two above mentioned orders isn’t an activity that excludes other types of work; one Nainarta can be member of the Queen’s Guard and still practice a craft in her spare time.
The ardravas cooperate to the greater good of the Nainartas, helping each other every time they need, offering goods and food to other ardravas in distress and in general receiving strong support by the rulers themselves. In times of crisis, the Nainartas can call on the Viaskoda tribes for help, but this is considered the last resource as more than often they’re the Viaskoda tribes which need the Nainartas’ assistance.
The ardravas are also the basic cells of the Nainartas’ political structure. Each ardrava must choose one of its components to be the group’s speaker at the Nainartas’ Assembly; each ardrava choses its speaker with the means its components consider more useful – the speaker is usually the older member of that ardrava. The speaker of each ardrava is also responsible for watching the behaviour of its members, and he must report to the Queen or to the priestesses if someone among them is guilt of some crime. A speaker of another ardrava can report to the Queen a misdeed of a Nainarta also if the guilty isn’t a member of her ardrava. The Queen, with the advice of her Councillors and that of the priestesses, judges the case, exhamins the tests and finally emits the sentence.
THE QUEEN AND THE RULERSHIP
The Nainartas are ruled by a Queen elected by one adult speaker (14 or more years old) sent from each ardrava to the Nainartas’ Assembly. The Queen stays in charge for life, but can abdicate (another election is held) or be deposed by the Nainartas’ Assembly if unworthy. The Queen chooses six Royal Councillors to receive help and advice in political matters; these Councillors are instead chosen by the queen herself, even if a new Queen tends to leave in charge at least one or two Councillors of her predecessor, if they’ve been capable. The Queen and her Councillors are chosen out of their past deeds, their courage, skill in battle or lore or magic, and of their beauty.
To present a protest of discontentment, at least 50 members of the Nainartas’ Assembly must gather and ask an election to remove the Queen and/or one or more of her Councillors. If they manage to be at least 50, a new election is held or the Queen is forced to remove the indicated Councillor or Councillors.
The Nainartas’ Assembly isn’t a standing political body. It’s gathered only every given time, when something of great importance for the whole people is about to be decided by the Queen. Even if the Queen theoretically holds quite absolute power, it’s custom that every important decision by the Queen (wars, relevant judgments, and the like) be approved with a 2/3 majority vote of the Nainartas’ Assembly.
THE LAW
There aren’t written laws in Berekeva, only a code of conduct for the Nainartas, engraved in some stone tablets inside the Holy Shrine. This code sets some general principles to which each Nainarta must obey (i.e. regard other Nainartas as daughters, sisters or mothers depending on their age; be generous toward the community and its members; be always courageous in service of the people and in defense of the Nainartas; obey the word of those elected to rule the Nainartas, as they’re more acknowledged than you; be strong as a bear, keen as an eagle, swift as a deer and beautiful as a swan; and so on). These principles are enforced through suggestions and advices by the priests. Those who don’t obey them are politely invited to leave Berekeva.
If some Nainarta does a deplorable act – killing an outsider without reason, stealing from them, etc. – she’s usually given for the punishment to the Viaskoda tribes. If a Nainarta breaks the abovementioned principles in a severe way – killing another Nainarta, stealing from the community or disobeying orders with severe consequences – she is usually subject to the judgment of the priestesses and to that of the Queen’s Councillors and of the Queen herself. Exhile is usually the penalty for non-lethal offense, while more serious ones are punished with death. This is often done throwing the guilty down a mountain slope or abandoning her tied in the dangerous Plain of Skulls.
Customs and ways of life
CHARACTER
The Nainartas have always preserved a seeming of superiority in front of the Viaskoda tribes; these in fact consider themselves more backward of the Nainartas and needing guidance and assistance from them. In order to preserve this relationship, Nainartas are required by their customs to hold an upright character, be corageous and generous when facing Viaskodas and outsiders in general, and those who don’t are kindly asked by the Queen to leave Berekeva and go to live with the Viaskodas or elsewhere. To preserve these standards, the past Queens have also tried to make the Nainartas more healthy, proud and beautiful by allowing only women of at most 45 years of apparent age to reside in Berekeva. Older ones are sent to live with the Viaskoda tribes, providing advice and knowledge and receiving help and sustenance from them.
BIRTH CONTROL AND CHILDREN EDUCATION
Another way to control the health, strenght and beauty of the Nainartas has been the birth control. Berekeva is to be small if it wants to survive. Whenever a Nainarta has a female child, the baby is educated and trained as a daughter by all components of her mother’s ardrava, and of the whole people in general. After two or three years the baby is passed to another ardrava who take care of her, and this goes on each year until the child reaches age fourteen, which among Nainartas means adulthood. Then the Nainartas’ Assembly - in a special gathering held once per year in which they are presented with the Nainartas that have reached adulthood since the past year - decides if the child will live among the Nainartas or will be sent to live with the Viaskoda tribes. A child’s strenght, wisdom, intelligence and beauty are what’s important when the Assembly makes her decision. Generally only a small fraction of the female childs is allowed to live in Berekeva.
Male children are instead sent to live with the Viaskoda tribes a few months after birth; they’re given generally to the father’s family, or to some relatives if he’s dead or missing. Refusing to host a Nainartas’ children is a severe offense among these Viaskodas and is punishable with exhile or worst. Male sons of the Nainartas are not allowed to mate and give childs to other Nainartas; they must marry with Viaskodas or outsiders.
MALES AND MATING
No males are allowed permanently into Berekeva; only some individuals are selected as eligible to stay in town, and even so they can stay only for six months, during which they generally become mates of one or more Nainartas and often give children to them. These males are selected among the most healthy and beautiful of Viaskodas.
Each year the Nainartas visit the Viaskoda tribes and select a few eligible males to follow them into Berekeva; those of them who really wish to go with them (refusing isn’t an offense) are hosted in the town, where they can stay for up to six months, but can leave whenever they want.
These males help the Nainartas in the day to day activities and mate with some of them. They’re hosted by various ardravas, who receive support from the community to take care of them. Living six months among the Nainartas is an important experience for many Viaskoda warriors, who have the chance of learning advanced knowledge, fine fighting tactics and useful crafts. Many of the males that return to their tribe from Berekeva after months passed among the Nainartas often acquire prominence within their tribe.
WANDERING AND ADVENTURE
Nainartas are allowed to wander freely outside their town and visit the places they want in their spare time. If they want to embark in a longer voyage, they must communicate this decision to the Queen, which usually gives her permission; this is done to avoid an excessive weakening of the town in a given time. Until that person returns, she is considered gone in all regards; her place in her ardrava and her role in the town are filled as soon as possible by another Nainarta.
It can also happen that a Nainarta feels his life in Berekeva too constricting – perhaps she’s hungry of experiences and adventure, has fallen in love with an outsider, and so on. The Nainarta must communicate to the Queen her wish to abandon the Nainartas’ society and go along her way. The Queen sets the time for this to happen, usually a time when someone else can replace the person that’ll leave. Then, in a cerimony, the Queen and a priestess break the link between that Nainarta and the community, giving her all their blessings for her life to come.
Many of these former Nainartas settle among the Viaskoda tribes, where they live honourably and revered; others seek adventure in far lands, and some eventually go back to Berekeva, asking to rejoin the Nainartas to share with them their experiences and riches.
In times of high death-rate or crisis, the Queens can invite former Nainartas living among the Viaskodas to rejoin their fellows in Berekeva. Very rarely, this invitation is also made to worthy women of outsider heritage (Viaskoda or other), who have shown their virtues in battle, knowledge or magic use.
Religion
Old Alphatian religious practices disappeared soon after what survived of Alphatian colonization was conquered by the Norse tribes in early 6th century AC, and were replaced with the Asatru, the religion of all Antalian-descended peoples. The Nainartas, at the time of their flight from that region, took with them these religious practices, beginning to pray only to female Immortals and invoking protection and blessings from them only. With time, the cult of some Immortals dwindled, and only eight Immortals are still revered today as members of the Nainarta pantheon; these, in order of importance, are (with their real names and portfolios):
Freyja (-): love, sexuality, fertility, beauty, magic;
Sjofn (Valerias): love, sexuality, beauty, passion, peace;
Sif (Madarua): courage, battle, strenght in arms;
Idunn (the Spring Maiden, one of the Korrigans): youth, spring, eternal beauty;
Gna (Arnlee): travel, hunters, adventure, departed Nainartas;
Eir (the Wise Healer, one of the Korrigans): health, healing, medicine, herbs and philters;
Saga (the Mistress of Lore, one of the Korrigans): lore, knowledge, legends, memory;
Erda (Djaea): nature, animals, plants.
The Nainartas acknowledge the existence of male gods, of the patrons of the Viaskodas and of other deities of the Asatru, but pray only the Immortals listed above, as they consider them their patrons and the forces they need to prosper and live in happiness. Freyja and Sjofn are considered sisters and share quite the same portfolio; they’re the heads of the Nainartas’ pantheon.
Religious cerimonies are held in the Holy Shrine of Berekeva, one rather large stone building carved within the side of the mountain just below the stair that leads to the Queen’s Hall. The temple hosts shrines to all Immortals of the Nainartas’ pantheon.
The Holy Shrine is administered by a group of six Holy Priestesses (one for each lesser Immortal) under the guidance of the two High Chosen Ones of Freyja and Sjofn. The Queen herself, who need not to be a cleric in her own right, is considered the head of the religion as she’s the one of the town. Under the guidance of the six Holy Priestesses and of the two High Chosen Ones, the church includes another 15-20 Adepts that worship the pantheon as a whole. Each priestess worships the whole pantheon, but carries on especially the practices used to receive blessings from the Immortal she’s cleric of. Generally, High Chosen Ones and Holy Priestesses are clerics of 4th to 9th level, while Adepts are of 1st to 3rd level. Note that the role of priestess (whichever her rank) isn’t exclusive: many of them are employed in other works in Berekeva during their spare time.
Nainartas are deeply in tune with their deities, and the town frequently helds a religious festival or a public cerimony at which most Nainartas are expected to take part as an important moment of the life of the community.
Arcane Magic
ARCANE TRADITION AMONG NAINARTAS
The Nainartas have a long standing tradition of arcane magic-use; when their slave ancestors fled their home kingdoms overrun by Norse barbarians, among them there where many mages. This was due to the fact that, after the formation of the petty barbarian kingdoms in the area of the former Alphatian colonies of the Sabre River, magic was only practiced by non-fighting peoples, and these were most of all women belonging to the upper classes, which had the time and money to study arcane arts without being worried with works of lower station.
Arcane magic, mostly enchantment, abjuration and divination magic, was useful to the Nainartas during their first encounters with the Viaskoda tribes, when these female sorceresses used their charm and suggestion spells to obtain the alliance and friendship of Viaskoda chiefs. Magic was also useful to defend themselves against beasts and hostile human and humanoid tribes, to help building their town and to shield them from the cold weather of the Icereach Range.
These types of protection and persuasion magic with time were appreciated also by the Viaskoda tribes – traditionally distrustful of arcane magic – which considered them “good” magic coming from the lore and blessings of the Nainartas’ goddesses. In fact, Nainartas resented the use of offensive or dangerous magic and made use of these spells only when dealing with monsters and fiercer foes. They became known as wielder of nature, weather, divination and enchantment magic to the Viaskodas, who in turn received teaching in these types of magic and took advantage of the alliance with these magic-using women.
Since then, among Nainartas the teaching of magic has become very important and each generation has its share of magic-users, which are taught the ways of arcane spells. Today, this tradition goes on; Nainartas’ Queens have always watched closely the number of magic-using people among their people, trying to make sure it don’t decrease. The Queens themselves are often chosen among the ranks of magic-users.
THE ORDER OF THE SILVER SEAL
All magic-using Nainartas belong by law decree to the Order of the Silver Seal, a sort of magic-users guild that provides teaching and training in the ways of magic, and holds an important role in the defense of Berekeva and in preserving the influence that the Nainartas exert on their Viaskoda allies. The Order is led traditionally by the Queen (even if she isn’t a magic-user) and must have always at least 50 magic-able members.
Apprenticeship
Each year some members of the Order go examining young Nainarta females (age 6 to 12) to see if they hold some potential for the learning of arcane magic. Those judged worthy are carried to the Silver Seal House in Berekeva and begin the training with senior members of the order. The training goes on continuously for the first three years – that are very exacting for the student -, during which the skills of the girl are tested more deeply. Then, when the student becomes able to cast her first cantrips, the training goes on more slowly for another five years, during which the student continues to learn magic but is also required to learn the tasks needed to the life of the Nainartas, like a craft, fighting and so on. After these eight years, a student usually becomes a 1st level wizard.
While it’s very difficult for the Order to include more than fifty members, it often happens that some members die or leave on long journeys; in general the new members tend to be fewer than those who have died or departed. Whenever this happens, the Order’s members go to the Viaskoda allies and offer them to train the most able women of the tribes the art of magic-using. Young Viaskoda women that want to pursue that path are examined by the Order’s members and, if worthy, taken to Berekeva for their training. From this moment on, these Viaskoda women are required to abandon their old customs and to become part of the Nainartas, and are considered as such by other Nainartas for the time to come.
Duties of the Order
The Order of the Silver Seal take its name from a magical amulet that belonged to Ekajra, a long-dead Queen of the Nainartas who was also the founder of this association of magic-users. The amulet, known as the Silver Seal is passed from Queen to Queen after the death or the abdication of the former one. Each member of the Order is required to carry a smaller copy of the Silver Seal visible on her person, as badge of membership.
The Order has some very important and specific duties:
- Craft magic items: The Order must create magic items for the elite warriors, mages and priestesses of the Nainartas. These are usually potions, magical herbs, oils and charms which help the wearer in various tasks, but sometimes a weapon, armor or another powerful item is created for the Queen or a great warrior.
- Defend the Nainartas: The Order represents one of the cause of Nainartas’ superiority over the surrounding tribes. Its members must take the battlefield when required and help whenever needed to defend Berekeva, fellow Nainartas and their allies.
- Preserve Nainartas’ virtues: The mages of the Order are in many ways the iconic Nainartas; therefore they are required to obey the laws, respect Nainartas’ customs, worship Nainartas’ Immortals regularly, cure their beauty and so on.
- Teach the arcane arts: The Order must ensure that the number of magic-using Nainartas doesn’t fall below fifty. This implies researching and examining potential new members both among the Nainartas and their Viaskoda allies.
- Upholding Nainartas’ influence among Viaskoda tribes: As said, arcane magic is one of the main reasons that keep the Viaskoda tribes under Nainartas’ banner. The Order must uphold the influence of the Nainartas among the allied tribes, both with advice and the use of enchantment spells; this is often done periodically by sending one or two members of the Order among an allied tribe, to offer advice, divination and training.
Organization
The head of the Order, as said, is the Queen herself; this can be a cerimonial title (if she’s not a magic-user herself) or an effective rulership over lower-rank members.
The most powerful (9th level or more) members of the Order are awarded the rank of Keepers of the Seal; these are usually only three to five in the whole order and are those who really administer the Order’s day-to-day activities and report to the Queen.
Under these are the Silver Hands (level 6th to 8th), usually 5-10 in number; then come the Seal Mages (level 3rd to 5th), generally about twenty in number; and finally the Seal Students (level 1st or 2nd), who are a sort of apprendists in the Order, often still in training. Note that members of the Order aren’t required to follow the Order’s duties to the exclusion of all other tasks; most of them are instead encouraged to pursue the development of other skills, like hunting, craftsmanship, fighting and so on. A member of the Order will most often be a multi-class wizard than a wizard only; this means that among Nainardas you will not find many high-level wizards, but most of the lower-level ones will be wizard/fighters, wizards/rangers, wizards/rogues and so on.
Lore of the Order
Basically, the Order doesn’t teach many spells to its members; a Nainarta who has learned magic from the Order of the Silver Seal will start at a rather high level, will receive assistance and help from fellow members, will be respected and honored among the Nainartas and their Viaskoda allies, but will also know not too many spells. Arcane tradition of the Order is in fact based upon few useful spells, and given the isolated position of Berekeva and the relative aloofness of the Nainarta people, it’s difficult for it to acquire new knowledge. That is not to say that sometimes a new spell isn’t discovered, but this is more often done when a traveling Nainarta comes back to Berekeva sharing with other members of the Order what she has discovered in the outside world.
Here’s a brief list of the spell taken from Player’s Handbook v. 3.5 known to the Order of the Silver Seal:
- 0 Level (Cantrips): Arcane Mark, Dancing Lights, Daze, Detect Magic, Detect Poison, Flare, Light, Mage Hand, Mending, Message, Read Magic, Resistance.
- 1st Level: Alarm, Burning Hands, Charm Person, Comprehend Languages, Endure Elements, Expeditious Retreat, Feather Fall, Hypnotism, Identify, Jump, Mage Armor, Magic Weapon, Obscuring Mist, Protection from Evil, Shield, Sleep, True Strike, Unseen Servant.
- 2nd Level: Alter Self, Bear’s Endurance, Blur, Bull’s Strenght, Cat’s Grace, Continual Flame, Darkvision, Daze Monster, Detect Thoughts, Eagle’s Splendor, Fog Cloud, Fox’s Cunning, Glitterdust, Gust of Wind, Locate Object, Obscure Object, Owl’s Wisdom, Protection From Arrows, Pyrotechnics, Resist Energy, Scorching Ray, See Invisibility, Spider Climb, Summon Swarm, Touch of Idiocy, Whispering Wind.
- 3rd Level: Arcane Sight, Clairaudience/Clairvoyance, Daylight, Deep Slumber, Dispel Magic, Displacement, Fireball, Flame Arrow, Gaseous Form, Greater Magic Weapon, Haste, Heroism, Hold Person, Keen Edge, Magic Circle Against Evil, Protection from Energy, Sleet Storm, Slow, Suggestion, Tongues, Water Breathing, Wind Wall.
- 4th Level: Arcane Eye, Charm Monster, Confusion, Fire Shield, Ice Storm, Lesser Geas, Lesser Globe of Invulnerability, Locate Creature, Polymorph, Rainbow Pattern, Remove Curse, Scrying, Solid Fog, Stone Shape, Stoneskin, Wall of Fire, Wall of Ice.
- 5th Level: Animal Growth, Baleful Polymorph, Break Enchantment, Cone of Cold, Dismissal, Dominate Person, Dream, Fabricate, Feeblemind, Hold Monster, Mind Fog, Permanency, Prying Eyes, Rary’s Telepathic Bond, Sending, Telekinesis, Transmute Rock to Mud.
- 6th Level: Analyze Dweomer, Antimagic Field, Control Water, Geas/Quest, Globe of Invulnerability, Greater Dispel Magic, Greater Heroism, Legend Lore, Mass Bear’s Endurance, Mass Bull’s Strenght, Mass Cat’s Grace, Mass Eagle’s Splendor, Mass Fox’s Cunning, Mass Owl’s Wisdom, Mass Suggestion, Move Earth, Repulsion, True Seeing, Veil.
- 7th Level: Banishment, Control Weather, Greater Arcane Sight, Greater Scrying, Insanity, Limited Wish, Mass Hold Person, Power Word Blind, Prismatic Spray, Spell Turning, Vision.
- 8th Level: None.
- 9th Level: None.
A Nainarta wizard usually is taught spells according to the progression indicated for the wizard core class in Player’s Handbook v. 3.5. The new spells she learns are chosen by tha Nainarta’s master and tend to be always the same for each apprentice; the reasoning behind this is that all Nainarta wizards must be able to perform the basic duties required by the Order.
Nainartas and Viaskodas
Among the Viaskoda tribes, Nainartas’ children and older Nainartas are well-treated, respected and given positions of importance within the tribes: they generally become councillors, chiefs, great warriors, sorcerers, shamans, great hunters and so on. For a Viaskoda tribe it’s an honor to have a Nainarta’s child within its ranks, and also to give child to a Nainarta.
The Nainartas have developed a steady and friendly relationship with some Viaskoda tribes of the White Banner. The Viaskodas of this Banner are quite divided and, unlike those of the Azure and Red Banner, their tribes often war among themselves. In particular, many tribes worship, fear and obey the will of the powerful and ancient white dragon Quesa, whose lair is found in Quesa’s Massif. This old dragon has been an ally of the long-dead Witch Queen Akra, and now he’s cursed to stay near the former lair of Akra, the Ice Cave which is also Quesa’s lair. From the top of his mountain, Quesa commands nearby tribes of Viaskodas and humanoids, using them to protect his lair and enslave his enemies.
The other tribes of Viaskodas viciously fight these renegade tribes who follow Quesa’s commands. Among these, five tribes follow the leadership of the Nainartas’ Queen. Each of these tribes has its chief, and each chief considers the Nainartas’ Queen his ultimate ruler and the other chiefs as friends and allies. These Viaskoda tribes have their own customs and worship their Immortals, but once every six months they send a rich offer to the Nainartas’ Immortal patrons at the temple of Berekeva, to renew the friendship with the Nainartas and to receive blessings from their goddesses.
The five Viaskoda tribes allied with the Nainartas live in the huge forested valleys that lay south and north of the Goddess’ Diadem and around the upper course of the White Bear River. They’re mostly hunters and gatherers, but practice also a lot of agricolture – the product of which is partly sent also to the Nainartas. These tribes don’t have nomad customs; instead, they’ve settled in small villages made of wooden huts and fur tents, that only very rarely are moved in a nearby, more favorable area. The old, the sick, the too young and the too weak stay always at the village, crafting items, gathering, farming and tending animals and herds. The hunters, warriors and healthier peoples periodically go hunting beasts and animals in the woods, fishing in the rivers, and descending the White Bear River in stour canoes, catching fish and trading with other tribes.
Contrary to other Viaskoda tribes, these five tribes don’t fear nor distrust the arcane magic practiced by the Nainartas. Some women of these tribes have been trained by Nainarta sorceresses to wield the arcane power and are honored and appreciated for their skill by their fellow tribe members. Other types of wizardly magic, in particular those wielded by outsiders, are however equally distrusted; only the Nainartas benefit of enough faith on these tribes’ part to use arcane magic without being frowned upon.
The five Viaskoda tribes allied with the Nainartas are:
- Horned Helm Tribe: This tribe has 900 members and is so named becouse of the deer horns that the tribe’s most famed and powerful warriors and chiefs put on their iron caps. The tribe lives north of Berekeva and has many great warriors who benefit of the Nainartas’ support in crafting better weapons and armours.
- Eagle Friends Tribe: This 940 members tribe is the largest, more powerful tribe and that friendlier to the Nainartas. Its families are all extremely faithful to the Nainartas’ Queen and do their best in every way to defend Berekeva. This tribe holds the eagle as a sacred animal; eagle-trainers are most often chiefs or important figures in this tribe. The Eagle Friends live in the valley to the south of Berekeva.
- River Stalkers Tribe: This smaller (550 members) tribe occupies the lands around the course of the White Bear River and some nearby plains and woods, south-east of Berekeva. Great fishermen and boaters, its warriors go often down the river’s course to fish, trade with other Viaskoda tribes and fight the clans subservient to the white dragon Quesa.
- Scarlet Axe Tribe: The smaller of the allied tribes (430 members), this tribe lives south of the Eagle Friends Tribe and is so named for the custom of colouring the blades of their axes with a red dye obtained from resins and crushed red stones. The same dye is often used to picture ritual marks on the warriors’ bodies before entering battles. This tribe often fights the fiery beings that come from the Arch of Fire.
- Squirrel Tail Tribe Another allied tribe (630 members), living north of the Horned Helm one, this tribe is composed by very skilled rangers and woodfolks, excellent trackers, trappers and hunters. Their favoured animal is the squirrel, with whom they make valuable furs; adult members of this tribe often show quirrel tails in various fashions (on hats, for example), hence the tribe’s name. The Squirrel Tail Tribe fears the old crones of Mount Crystykk and avoids that mountain’s slopes.
Moreover I've added the spell list and a small map to the Nainartas' description, in one of the last posts.
As always, comments are welcame!
And, again, I have to ask Shawn if he can please exchange the version of these works found at the Vaults with the updated version (the two Norwold maps, the quick list in the first post and the whole Nainartas description). Thanks! ;)
Another update: I've made some minor changes to the Norwold map in the first post (the IoD position was slightly wrong, and the Kingdom of Helskir border was too stretched to the south).
Moreover I've added the spell list and a small map to the Nainartas' description, in one of the last posts.
As always, comments are welcame!
And, again, I have to ask Shawn if he can please exchange the version of these works found at the Vaults with the updated version (the two Norwold maps, the quick list in the first post and the whole Nainartas description). Thanks! ;)
no problems ... next update