Norsca

Norsca, land of savagery and ice

Standing within the Empire

The Norscans, due to their ancient alliance with Sigmar Heldenhammer, are considered civilized, but only barely. For the first few hundred years after the Great War, trade with the northerners was almost nonexsistent. Recently, concerted efforts by Marienburg have led to increased trade from Norsca, mostly in furs and marine oils.

The governance of Norsca has essentially been a hands-off affair from the point of view of the Emperor; the Allied Clans, while not actively hostile to the Empire, are certainly unruly. Recently, a Norscan jarl educated and raised in Altdorf, Lief Hrothgar, was appointed Ranger-General of Norland, to better pacify the clans, who seem to have been growing restless. Veygir Arildson, the man Hrothgar chose as his aide-de-camp is widely suspected of being a subversive.

People

It is a common misconception that the Norscans are a large mob of savages and brutes. In fact, they are a diverse collection of tribes, with varying degrees of hostility and honor.

The Allied Clans

The name given to the aggregate of Norscans that occupy the bulk of the Norscan Peninsula, the Allied Clans are those who united under Hakkon Bitterblade and allied with Sigmar Heldenhammer in the face of the Lord of the End Times' assault.

Norse Hospitality

Norscan culture is based on the idea of fair exchange and safe harbor; all negotiations must end fairly, and a man's house is sacred. Inviting another into his own house, a Norscan is promising that he will not harm that person while under his roof. A similar promise is expected of the person invited. All fights are to be settled honorably, outside the home.

Norscans do not freely give hospitality; some fair recompense is expected. Traditionally, this amounts to stories and information of the outside world, or gifts of fur or fuel. A gift of weapons is tantamount to a pledge of service, while a gift of food implies you intend to provide what the host cannot, and by extension take what is his. Marienburg merchants have learned this the hard way, as gifts of food are often taken as assaults upon the host's dignity. Such exchanges invariably end in bloodshed.

The Pact of Hakkon Bitterblade

"Hakkon Bitterblade bent the knee," as the saying goes; in exchange for sparing the Norscans his holy wrath, Sigmar demanded absolute loyalty from them, as the first defense against the Chaos Wastes to the north. Since then, no Norscan has successfully taken up arms against the Empire, and only the boldest and strongest still raid the northern provinces.

Many Norscan historians do not understand why Hakkon submitted to Sigmar; by all accounts he was a fearsome warrior, perhaps more fearsome than Sigmar himself. However, the vassal nature of the Allied Clans has had an indelible effect on the Norsemen; their gods no longer reference the Dark Four, and, at least for the southern tribes, their savagery has been somewhat muted by productive trading relationships with Marienburg and Erengraad.

The Savage Clans

There are those Norscan clans that did not submit to Sigmar, and were driven back by his armies as a result. Staunchly opposed to the Empire, and open in their worship of the Dark Gods, these men are savage, fierce warriors who stand for the ultimate destruction of the world of men.

The Kurgan

Eastern steppe-wanderers, the Kurgan grow large and strong. They are masters of hit-and-run horse warfare, and it is only through the valiant opposition of Praag and the eastern Norscan tribes that they are repelled.

The Vakan

It is rumored that in the center of Norsca, a great fiery mountain stands, called Vak the Flame-Crested, and that there is a tribe of brutal warriors there who make their seat in its shadow. The Vakan they are called, and they are said to all bear hair as red as the top of their mountain.

Of course, no traveller has successfully sought Mount Vak and lived, so the rumors are impossible to confirm.

Places

Eishoff

A small Imperial settlement in Skaeling country, Eishoff is often the only stop that skittish Imperial traders make. Here, intrepid, hardy merchants from the empire gather after visiting the other Allied Clans, and sell their wares at a huge profit to risk-averse sailors from other parts of the Empire. Most travellers to Norsca never leave this settlement, as Norse customs are as lethal as they are strange, and at least in Eishoff, the word of Sigmar is law.