Nentsun
by Marco Dalmonte English translation by Gary DaviesHel - Reincarnation, corruption, death, darkness and cold energy, evil shapechangers, creatures of ice and shadow
Orcus - Violent death, sadism, mass destruction, undead, cannibalism, evil lycanthropes
Bartziluth - Bugbears, fury, battle, bravery, strength
Jammudaru - Ogres, evil giants, vengeance, torture, fear, violence
Ka - Wisdom, protection, magic, healing, rakasta, giants
White Claw (Ninfangle) - Rakasta, hunting, bravery, travel, adventure, battle
Surt (Zugzul) - Power, conquest, fire, necromancy, darkness, war
Wotan (Odin) - Authority, sky, storms, winds, guile, knowledge, magic
Tyr (Ixion) - War, strength, heroism
Frigg (Terra) - Creation and protection of all life forms, balance of the life cycle, birth, prosperity, fertility
Zalaj - Cloud and mountain giants, knowledge, magic, strength
Nyx - Necromancy, undead, darkness and obscurity, night, secrets
Gorrziok - Storm and sea giants, oceans, extreme natural phenomena, creation and destruction
Great One - Dragons and lizardkin, creation, justice, knowledge, magic
Notes:
1. In ancient times the region of Nentsun was inhabited by the Thonians, and comprised of fertile, temperate valleys and thriving forests. After the Great Rain of Fire and the rotational change of the planet, horrible earthquakes and the shift of latitude has modified not only the morphologic composition of the land (made to sink into the sea the fertile Thonian valleys and changed the eastern coast) but also the characteristic climates of the region, which had in large part become barren and mountainous. Nentsun comprises the central northern part of the eastern Skotharian coast, and running from the North Pole until the centre of Skothar, touching the Tangor Chain at the southernmost point. There is no other certain information on Nentsun, if it isn’t the homeland of ferocious pirates that hunt in the Skotharian waters. Because of this it is thought that Nentsun is in large part uninhabited and wild, and that especially the northern part (all the Nentsunian Peninsula that is found in the polar circle and the bordering lowlands, or the nearest area to Blackmoor) has remained uninhabited for about a thousand years after the catastrophe because of the deadly radiations absorbed by the land following the radioactive fallout. The few survivors (humans, giants and rakasta) of the Great Rain of Fire that lived sufficiently distant from Blackmoor could have built refuges in the mountains and in the innermost valleys for survival, where they lived isolated for centuries until the arrival of the great humanoid hordes originating from Brun. These humanoids in 1700 BC left Urzud moving westwards in search of land to colonise and dominate, and across the arctic polar cap successfully penetrated into the cold northern regions of Skothar, later moving southwards in less hostile environment. Here the humanoids would compete for centuries with humans, giants and rakasta for survival, without being able to expand southwards because of the presence of the belligerent Kingdom of Thonia and of the mountains garrisoned by the tagh rakasta and by a powerful clan of white dragons. So before the humanoids, and also afterwards made clans of humans resort to piracy and raiding as their own reasons for life. The situation is still totally unstable and anarchy reigns in Nentsun, where the daily fight for survival pushes hundreds of creatures to kill themselves in order to pillage in turn.
2. The rakasta population is spread both in the Polar Regions (snow pardasta and lynxmen) and in the southern area, where tribes of tagh sherkasta live close to the Tangor Chain. All the rakasta worship White Claw (Ninfangle) and in small measure Ka, patron of security, healing and knowledge.
3. The humanoid tribes (orcs, ogres, bugbears and trolls) are divided amongst themselves and are constantly at war. Everyone worships a different patron among those known here: Hel (who holds a large part of the consent), Orcus, Bartziluth, Jammudaru and Zugzul.
4. The tribes of Nentsunian giants number the frost giants devotees to Hel, the cloud and mountain giant followers to Zalaj, the storm giants to Gorrziok and those of fire lean to the cult of Surt (Zugzul).
5. The human Nentsunians are the descendents of the Skandaharians and of the ancient Peshwah who fled southwards but never passed over the Nentsunian Plateau. The predominant cults among the Nentsunians are those of Wotan (Odin), Tyr (Ixion), Frigg (Terra) and Hel (this last among the most ruthless and cruel raiders).
6. A numerous clan of white dragons have lived for millennia in the heart of the northern Nentsunian mountains, which no one from the fall of Blackmoor has ever been able to scale. These dragons have created an extremely advanced civilisation and collected some ancient Blackmoorian and Thonian artefacts, which were guards in the cities of ice (a legendary place in which it is said are united invaluable treasures). The dragons protect their territories in a fierce manner, have an extremely lawful social structure and all worship the Great One.
7. In the Nentsunian Plateau and in the Nentsunian Lowlands (the tundra situated in the north-easternmost region of tundra Skothar, in the area in which the Plateau descends close to the artic polar circle) abound the undead, errant spirits going back to the Great Rain of Fire and successive radiation, which often poured into the nearby regions (Thonia, Jen and Thorin) in search of sustenance or simply for pure destructive instinct. This has helped to give to region the nickname of Land of the Dead (a popular epithet both with the Thonians and the Jennites), and because of this there exists lines of defence predisposed by the neighbouring civilisations in order to face these incursions (the Infernal Keepers with the Thonians and the Guardians of Death among the Jennites). The majority of the undead have an animal intelligence and simply follow their own instincts, but their movements are always watched both by Nyx and by Hel, who use them for their own aims.
8. Many creatures of the ice, among which are a large number of cryons, inhabit the northern land of the Nentsunian Peninsula and are devotees of Stodos, lord of the ice, even if they haven’t erected temples to worship him.