What I want out of the players:

At least ONE of you must come from the north and be the child of a jarl. The rest of you can also be children of the jarl or you can be whatever. The jarlchild has been sent down to Krotis to work with their Mothers third cousin for some time. Maybe the rest of the party are friends gained down south?

The game will have a main plot but otherwise be rather sandboxy.

The World: Sonelith

The North The people of The North have little to no unity, aside from sharing their culture and gods. Every free man is utterly independent (in theory) and owes allegiance to no one but whom he chooses to give it to. Particularly rich and powerful men can gather up lots of support and these men (and sometimes even women) are known as jarls. Seafaring is very important to the Northmen and they build the fastest ships in the world, allowing them to go Viking all the way down in Hargot and back again in one season. They worship a number of gods and sacrifice to them for favour. The more valuable to you personally the sacrifice is the more favour you gain. In their faith, the moon is associated with their great wolf god Vargest (and canines in general), who they think they are descendants of. Other gods include: Shogo the ram-horned thunder god who makes thunder and lightning with his axe Krakanova, he is also a god of protection, justice, battle, poetry and song. Ira, goddess of spring, love, childbirth, children and fertility. Her brother Aron, god of fall, crops, food and fertility. Tunoella, goddess of winter and keeper of the hall of the dead. Arkon, god of summer, glory, battle and victory. Vargest, wolf god, god of plunder, strife, battle, ferocity, death and ancestor of the northmen. There are several other gods and goddesses but these are the most prominent.

Opposed to the moon there is the sun. The sun tries to scorch the earth and rid it of life, thus the sun is evil and bad. But the gods caged the sun, so it could not burn the world up but occasionally it manages to make gaps in its prison and make droughts. Likewise, fire is considered an evil and uncontrollable thing. You can put it in a cage, but you are never its master. Cats are associated with the sun and thus no true northman keeps cats (they bring bad magic) using small terriers instead to keep mouse population low. In the north, one is allowed to NOT believe in the gods, but if you do you will be considered very foolish as you gain no good magic from the gods and leave yourself open to attack by evil magic. You might even bring bad luck to people around you. Homosexuality is not illegal in the north, but it is considered shameful to be on the receiving end. Northmen make their own laws, these are the laws of mortals and are up for debate, but there are three divine laws that can never be erased, debated or ignored. ONE: Death by fire is the worst possible way to die. No northman should burn another human to death unless or they shall be refused entry to the afterlife. The Northman has a chance at redemption, but until then he or she is an outlaw in the eyes of all, even the gods and bad magic will seek them out. TWO: One must not rape. When a rape is committed the child borne from it will not have a human soul. Its fate is to kill its parents and it will bring bad magic with it wherever it goes. THREE: Temple laws must be respected. Each god has a law that reigns in their temples and shrines, breaking these laws means you have to face the god you offended in the afterlife and receive their punishment. Northern priests are called Goder

Vosjo. In the north they practice something called vosjo which translates to martial art. The practice comes from the early bronze age when King Pine had a dream. In the dream he saw men of iron walk over the great sea, trying to get away from a great fire. When the iron men reached his land a wolf spoke to him saying that he could take them as family or melt their bones for weapons that would win him his next battle. One day over the glaciers that existed in those days there came refugees, people with hard faces and slanted eyes, which spoke no proper language and carried no weapons. They were utterly at the mercy of king Pine. The king then spoke these words You can lose a battle but win the war. Come and be family for we will not put you in our forges. As time went, the refugees assimilated with the northerners and their knowledge of fighting spread, and in time three chief schools of Vosjo emerged in the north.

Hardaskjold the art of defence

Krakaks the art of the axe fighting Krakahand the art of hand fighting

Northmen prefer to fight on foot and will often fight dirty to win. They are best known for their round shield, mail shirts and BIG axes. They are also one of the cultures that practice berserkergange.

Magic in the north. Three types of magic is done in the north and the practioneers have their own unique names. Magic/practioner Lunar Ulfsark Foresight Volve Healing - seidmann

Krotis The island kingdom of Krotis was conquered and vanquished by Vikings many years ago. The land was then split up between the leaders and their descendants have ruled there ever since. Many in the north thinks that living in the south have made the Krotis northmen (often referred to as southmen or krots) soft and weird. While it is true that the Krots have adopted some foreign customs they are still fearsome warriors who still controls Krotis despite the powerful nations around them. Their rebuttal is that the Northmen are just jealous of their wealth. Zendet Zendet is a vast land of mountains, hills, lakes and huge tracts of pine forests. The people are nomadic elk-riding tribes whose chief livelihood is herding various animals. The tribes has a complex alliance system based on marriages and marriage in general is very important in their culture. They are also known for being excellent throwers and have some very distinctive throwing knives and hatchets that are only underestimated by the foolish or the far-away. Their religion has deities for every animal and they see the sun and the moon as ram and elk deities. Magic. Healing. Nakyton

The people of Nakyton are said to learn how to ride before they learn to walk, and it is true that they are superb horsemen and archers too. Very much a warrior culture, every man and woman can shoot a bow and their full-time warriors are renowned for their utter devotion, loyalty and honour. Their dedication to their liege is so great that there has never been a recorded case of treason from a warrior. This does not mean that they will not use foul tactics and sneaky maneuvers as their honour extends to their leaders only. Anyone else is fair game. Another point of note is that their culture is matriarchal, meaning that women are the leaders of the tribes. There are a few great tribes with some undertribes in them. Their religion got plenty of gods but their Chief deity is the great horse goddess. Magic. Equine. Foresight.

Wutesh The people of Wutesh are known for two things: being unseen and shooting people in the back. They are experts at navigating their forested hill-lands without being seen and think that a fair fight is a foolish fight. Another thing that makes them dangerous in the eyes of foreigners is their lack of understanding for the concept of glory. A normal warrior would give a champion a challenge for the chance of increasing his own fame and recognition, but a Wutesh would just burn down his house while he slept and shoot him as he tried to get out, he is impervious to shaming from outsiders and indifferent to his reputation. A typical Wutesh is calm, collected and makes decisions rationally, based on logic and reason, with little malice nor compassion. Their god is a undefinable and unreachable cosmic dice-roller who affects the world by random chance, and indeed, dice hold importance in their culture as both sacred tools that can gleam into and affect the very fabric of reality, and as welldice! For playing games. It is their belief that everything happens by random chance, with slight modifiers brought on by free will, which is where their lack of personal glory comes from. If complimented by outsiders on a great feat it is very common to hear the Wutesh respond with I just rolled highly. Mode of leadership varies from clan to clan, but most commonly they are led by a council of elders. Even though they see god as an unreachable entity, they still believe in spirits and do various things to appease them or drive them away. Disease spirits, for example, are believed to enter the body via the openings in the head, so people who are afraid to get sick will cover their entire head. Another interesting bit of culture is their head-wrappings. A Wutesh always keep his or her head under wraps, or otherwise obscured, and let their hair flow only in the privacy of their home when they are alone with their family or with VERY dear friends. Magic.

Foresight. Healing. Herbal.

Asgulia A brutal people with brutal gods. Much human blood flows in their temples as they hang, behead and burn sacrifices to the sound of a thousand warriors singing with religious zeal. They are ruled by their priests (known as druids) who are very strong advocates of the might makes right philosophy. The main exports of Asgulia is rape and pillage often with free fire as a bonus. They are one of the few cultures that practice berserkergange. A typical Asgulian is hot headed, stubborn, brutal and competitive. Magic. Soulforging. Healing. Paskia Paskians are famous for three things: stealing cattle, throwing spears and knowing how to party. Ruled by several minor kings (with an occasional high king) who constantly bicker, feud and steal cattle from one another. Spear throwing is considered to be the national sport and the paskiards have several creative ways of competing in it. A typical Paskiard is very passionate and hot blooded and give everything they got in whatever task is at hand. They work hard and party harder, having several holy days, customs and general excuses to make peace with their neighbours and dance, drink, play, eat and sing for a few days. Their chief god is a great bull. Magic. Foresight. Bull magic.

Rolskland To the Rolski, family is very important, to the point that a small feud between two families can blossom into a full scale war between hundreds of them. While they are quick to start a fight (specially over family and honour) and slow to forgive, they really do forgive fully when forgiveness is extended. Keep in mind that forgiveness does not come easy and vendettas are inherited, meaning that your great great great grandson can be stabbed over something YOU did to a Rolski turnip juggler.

While technically men rule, much of the power in Rolski society lies with the old mothers, the wizened old matrons with more grandchildren than you can shake a stick at, and they are hard as nails with minds of iron. Sneakiness and underhandedness is highly valued in Rolski society although they have to balance it with their honour, for example: lying is a valued skill but one is expected to keep ones promises. When a Rolski marries he or she adds the family name of his or her new family behind their own. You never know how many knives a Rolski man has on him, but you know that he always has at least one hidden somewhere. Magic. Foresight. Bargaining.

Hemsk The nation of Hemsk is based around the fortress city of Himusha, built atop of a mountain with the thickest and strongest walls in this corner of Sonelith. There are no kings or nobles in Hemsk, everyone are free citizens and are ruled by democracy. Slow, tedious, bureaucratic and somewhat inefficient democracy, but democracy none the less. A typical Hemsk is opinionated, independent and quarrelsome. They take their religion very seriously and worship two genderless gods who are two sides of the same coin. Duality is a very strong theme in their culture. Their weapons of choice are bows, slings, clubs/maces and chariots. Magic. Healing. Contracting. Menkolia The menkolians live in city states constantly jockeying for position as top dog, though they stand united against outsiders. Some city states are ruled by kings, some by queens, some democracy and some by theocracy. They each have their own laws but share culture and religion (at large). They have a pantheon of primary gods with a wide variety of lesser deities. They have good heads for trade and pride themselves on their caravans and trading vessels. They fight with a mixture of horse archers and spearmen. Magic.

Foresight.

Nabachia After many wars all but one of the ruling families have been vanquished and their king now holds all of Nabachia in an iron grip. The nation is pretty much divided into those that supported the ruling family and those who did not. Guess which group is saddled with all the hard work and which one does the overseeing and warrioring? Yeah In their religion blood is important and people sacrifice their own blood to their gods for their favour. Blood spilled in battle appease only a few gods and blood given willingly has more value. The priesthood is exclusively female and the queen is initiated as a priestess. In war the Nabachians are brutal and favour heavy infantry with large swords and large units of lightfooted archers. Nobles ride and use bows, lances and swords. Burial is important both culturally and religiously and there are several sacred valleys in the land where people can be buried without the risk of them coming back as vampires (or so they believe). The church make sure that there is always enough crypts in the valleys to accommodate the deceased. There is a special valley where only nobles are buried and the grandest crypts are reserved for the Kings and the Queens, a prime target for looting but the valley is protected by powerful curses and no one ever returned from a looting trip alive. Magic. Necromancy (talking to the dead, not making them move) Twiss Slavery is very common in Sonelith, but it seems Twiss did not get the memo on slavery and had to improvise. Slaves can hold very high positions and gain lots of power while still belonging to someone else. The line between slaves and free people are so blurred that you can find a male slave married to a free woman! Slaves can themselves own slaves and they are even trusted with arms and armour and fight in Twisss wars. The confederacy has NO fear of a slave rebellion. Twiss is ruled by a confederacy that came into power some hundred years ago when the nation was split between three kings who then got offed by rebels. The rebels figured that instead of fighting each other over the crown they would melt it down and sign the confederate treaty on a golden plate. That plate still stands in the holiest of places in Twiss. Twiss is a lush land surrounded by enemies and would probably be overrun if it was not for some very lucky natural features. To the south is a massive mountain range, to the west a fierce river with no crossing points save for a single bridge, to the north there is so many cliffs that horses cant travel through it and the east is a desolate swamp that could eat up an entire army. One must stay vigilant though, and Twiss does this by having some very quick and skilled border patrols who make sure that no one manages to sneak an army in while no one is watching. The main

armies of Twiss is slow moving, relying on long spears with archers behind them, supported by light cavalry and skirmishers with javelins and slings. Their God is a wise and benevolent sky-king who protects his people from evil with great justice and holy lightning. He is a peace loving god and his priests try to preach non-violence and solidarity wherever they go. High in the mountains, in tall towers reaching for the sky, there are mystic ascets who through meditation and various trance inducing techniques learn great wisdom and can gain contact with the divine, giving them great power and understanding. Magic. Wing of words. Healing. Asgypt Culturally speaking, they are closely related to Asgulia but differ in that they are ruled by kings and dont practice human sacrifice that often. It does happen, but only on special occasions. Though militarily weaker than Asgulia, they are much more diplomatic and shrewd, using politics to keep their larger neighbours from crushing them. A typical Asgyptian is observant, calculating and stubborn. An Asgulian warrior relies on his strength and ferocity to win, but an Asgyptian rely on his head and skill. Soul forging. Healing.

Katal states Long ago the Katals were ravaging barbarians axing each other in the back over gold and power, then someone injected them with a little bit of civilization and now they are well dressed gentlemen stabbing each other in the back over gold and power. The country consist of several nation states, each of which are controlled by powerful families, some that can trace their line far back to the time of barbarism and some that are completely fresh. Power has a tendency to shift in this politically unstable climate of double crosses, back stabbings secret alliances and the occasional war. Nobles display their wealth and power through elaborate jewellery and chariots. Wealth is gained in a number of ways, from war to trade to the national sport: piracy. Katals are famous for being the scourge of the south seas and for as long as they have existed they have been plundering ships and shores. They have a sizeable pantheon of gods and have adopted several foreign gods into it. As far as they are concerned, gods are like employers, if your boss does not pay you, you change job. Magic.

Ironbone runes. Sacred kingdom of Berbylem Berbylem is a monarchy where the king is elected by and among the top nobles. One could say that they live with their head in the clouds, almost literally. They follow the words of their first prophet Tokk Amra As above, so below and they take this to mean that all answers lie with the stars. Spirituality is widespread among their people, even simple farmers know how to meditate and will spend many an evening staring at the sky while introspecting. Even their gods are considered more to be spiritual guides and teachers rather than cosmic kings to be grovelled to. In battle their nobles ride heavy chariots or just a horse if they are less wealthy. Commoners are either men-at-arms or archers. A typical Berbylemer might seem a bit detached and can be a bit tricky to understand, but they are also insightful and controlled.

Magic Foresight. Astral projection.

Amerge flatlands The Amerge tribes are very varied, though they share culture and religion between each other they do differ somewhat between them. They have a large number of gods and spirits that they worship in different ways. The tribes are ruled by a chief and his (or hers) tribal council. Personal glory is very important for warriors and they when in battle they will take great risks, even preform stunts, to increase their fame ever higher. They do, however, have the self-restraint to not let their thirst for glory compromise their war plan. While they love ambushes and other sneaky tactics they are not adverse to charging dead on in a frenzy of blood and glory. Warriors typically use spears, bows and axes. With a couple of knives to be on the safe side. They are not great smiths so armour is usually looted or traded for. Warriors also paint their skin, decorate and customize their arms and armour. Amerge are also known to be able to go into berserkergange. A typical Amerge tribesman is brave, stoic and untameable. The women are somewhat more submissive but are as hard as their land requires them to be. Magic.

Ironbone runes. Healing.

The civilized world

Hargot They see themselves as the most northern bit of civilization in the world. Everything further up is all barbarians. The Hargot empire used to control the north of the southern continent but was pushed further north by Watantanopel, whom they are at war with nearly constantly. Hargot looks very differently from the rest of the Northern continent cultures, with their high brick walls, paved roads and painted houses. The people themselves are very dark skinned, though not as much as the people of Watantanopel, with black, curled hair. Some would describe them as decadent and depraved, and they would not be far off. The general consensus in Hargot seems to be that if it feels good, do it. The Hargoti have a single god of light and fire. Priests initiated into the inner mysteries of the cult gain power of fire, at the cost of becoming sterile. Despite seeing everyone on the northern continent as sub-human barbarians the Hargoti are not above being the channel between the north and the south in terms of trade. Lots of money in that.

A typical Hargoti man is slightly arrogant, jubilant, confident and headstrong. Quick to make friends (if they can stand the arrogance) and easy-going but always ready for serious business mode. The woman is supposed to be subservient to the man but for the past decades they have grown freer and more independent. They are charming and manipulative and unless you are as clever as they are you seldom know where you stand with them.

In battle the Hargoti make use of armoured carriages with mounted ballistae that fling rocks or bolts at the enemy. They also shoot a deadly southern weapon called a crossbow. They wear the best armour on the continent and fight with medium shields and curved swords or flails. Less wealthy troops use polearms or slings. Rulership: Monarchy Magic. Fire dance.

Watantanopel The great empire in the south. Not much about it is known to the northern continent. Their skin is very dark and they ride strange, tall horses with thin legs. Any goods from their empire is highly valuable in the north. Magic: unknown Blue Jungle The blue jungle is named after the skytrees, the most numerous treesort in the jungle, its canopy has a subtle blue shine to it. There is nothing for the Watantanopel empire to extract from the jungle so the tribals living there gets left alone. Magic. Herbal Kai Koro The north has the Vikings, the south has the Kai Koro. With elaborate tattoos and warpaint, with stone and shark toothed clubs, their goal: Plunder and blood for the shark god. Magic. Shark.