Expanding the Northern Reaches: Artificers
by Marc SaindonBesides drinking mead, going on raids, and setting up vast commercial networks, the Norse are noted as craftsmen and metalsmith (which I actually got to see when a Denmark exhibit came to Montreal about a few years ago). Now in a fantasy setting Mystara, Viking craftsmen could hone their talents to even higher levels, blending runes and metallurgy in emulation of Volundr (the Immortal Wayland)
Artificers in the north mix 3 core components: exotic ingredients (see Gleipnir), mundane but secret craftsmanship techniques, and their own understanding of the runes.
The Forge of Volundr, located in Zeaburg (Ostland), would be the oldest school of Artificers, and they call themselves 'Runesmiths' or 'High Artisans' rather than Artificers, although they are not limited to simply mark blades and armors with runes: a lot of them are inventors, working to improve mundane items like the compass, or even working on crazy contraption like mechanical wings for flight (like in the legend of Volundr). They integrate the worship of Wayland, so their school also trains Clerics, as the Great Forge is also a temple.
The House of Ivaldi is a Modriswerg (Rot Dwarf) association. Although rarely active these days (as surviving members are paranoid of each other), the craftsmen's marks of Ivaldi is used by other Artificers to detect if something is potentially dangerous. Their abandoned guildhall could be a potential Dungeon, when filled with loot, but also traps, golems, and other automated defences. (Ivaldi is a guise of the Immortal Atzanteotl). Even the loot might be potentially dangerous (think of Hellraiser's rubik cube, or any Blackmoor tech with a big red button).
The Falun Institute of Techmonancy (F.I.T.) is a gnomish affair, centered in Soderfjord, although it sends its members throughout the Northern Reaches, with armed guards, to seek lost technology from the Falun civilization. It is paradoxically both the newest association and has access to the oldest advanced technology. Their understanding of Falun's technology is quirky at times (a mundane golf club might be perceived as a 'scepter used for ceremonial reasons'). F.I.T. Gnomes call themselves 'Artificers' or 'Wondermakers', and probably have a vast correspondence networks with gnome communities elsewhere, like Serraine and Highforge. F.I.T. is also a political force, seeking to re-create the Falun Kingdom.
Finally, Vestland has the Hall of Sindri (or just 'The Sindri') a Dwarf-dominated school as well (maybe locate it in Rhoona near the Rockhome border). These immigrants of Rockhome fled to escape the restriction on work and choose their own careers regardless of clan affiliation, and thus they're the most "chaotic" of Dwarves, although still very conservative by Norse standards. They manufacture weapons and armors for Vestlanders who can afford it, but since they're cut off from Rockhome (they're seen as turncoats and anarchists), they often have to patch their few secret dwarven techniques with methods from the Northern Reaches. The Hall has a shrine to Kagyar. Despite being known as a Dwarf association, many humans and even gnomes work within the Sindri.
