The Frozen North

There is a land further to the north than even the domain of the Northmen. On the northern shore of the Tennurhaf, connected to the mainland by a chain of rocky islands, lies the Frozen North, or the Northern Wastes. Whatever one wishes to call them, the names this land has accrued describe it quite well. There is nothing that grows in these lands, even by the standards of the Tennurhaf. They are so far from the sun's path that its warmth scarcely touches them, and they are shrouded in darkness for half the year. Most land is buried beneath a thick glacier, but even what little is not is rough and unsuitable for growing anything - the barren soil and the frigid climes cannot sustain anything more than lichen.

The Frozen North was not settled by the Northmen until long after they charted the many islands of the Tennurhaf. It is unknown what led them to do so. Perhaps they were motivated by exile from more temperate lands, or merely driven by the challenge of taming such an inhospitable place. More likely, however, the Northmen established camps on the shores of the Northern Wastes on expeditions to hunt for seals and whales, and some of these camps, positioned at strategic locations and along important routes, proved to have staying power, growing into settlements of their own.

Those settlements are by no means great cities, of course. Even by the standards of the Tennurhaf, they are small. They have little in the way of chieftains - when each family must struggle to sustain themselves, they have no time for politics; instead, every homestead functions as an independent unit, with "villages" being more akin to several such homes clustered together due to families finding strength in numbers toward a common goal. Some feuds among those of the Frozen North run deep, but blood is not spilled - survival surpasses petty grudges. Even when a man hates his neighbor, he knows that he will not survive the winter without another spotter in his hunting party.

These buildings consist largely of sod houses or stone huts built to shield the inhabitants against the harsh winds; these are built around pits dug in the ground, as the people rely on the warmth of the earth itself to insulate them from the freezing cold. As there is nothing that grows in the Wastes, its inhabitants dine almost solely on meat - primarily that of fish, seals, and walruses, which can be found along the shores - and milk from the hardy sheep they raise. As resources are so scarce, the people must utilize every part of their kills, using hides and furs for clothing and bones and ivory to make tools. The only other source of goods they receive comes from trading furs, sealskins, and whale oil to the tribes to the south. Luckily, there is enough demand for such things to sustain their settlements. The most prized possession in the treeless Wastes is a longboat, which allows those who dwell there to venture forth to other islands and settlements for trade, or for raiding. Some tribes have a boat that they have bartered for; others have taken their ships by force. The raiders of the Frozen North are some of the most feared in all the Tennurhaf, for when their lives depend on the success of their raids, they will fight like demons to secure them.

Settlement in the Frozen North, as rudimentary as it is, is still limited to only a few small swathes of the southern coast. The interior of the Wastes are far too inhospitable, and remain uncharted by mortal men. Still, they must hold plenty of secrets waiting to be discovered. Some hunters have reported seeing gigantic white bears, big enough to tear a man in half with a single swipe of their paws, out in the glaciers. Other legends tell of stranger things yet - of castles of frost giants, of slumbering dragons, of pits in the earth that lead straight to Hell. And who knows what may be buried beneath the ice?

Friday Encounter: Thieves' Holmgang

This encounter is based on a real series of crimes noted in Viking age Iceland, offering a look into the fun that can be had in confronting your players with how people in history viewed and interacted with the world. It was written to be used in the North of the Lunar Lands, but with some tweaking, it can fit any setting where a culture of dueling exists. It is best suited to a road or settlement.

Background

The Northmen take great pride in a few things - and some of the most prominent among them are martial prowess and honor. It is no surprise, then, that they would have a formal system of arranging and adjudicating duels. The Northmen practice a particular dueling ritual known as the holmgang. These battles are fought to determine the outcome of a dispute over land, property, or personal honor; traditionally, if one person dies in battle, they forfeit all property to the victor, while if they surrender, they are obligated to pay a sum equal to half their weregild.

As victory in the holmgang means that the winner has the opportunity to advance their wealth and status, it was inevitable that the system would be abused. Some warriors were so skilled they took up challenging wealthy targets to duels they couldn't possibly win, demanding ransoms from their victims without fear of the law (as everything is, technically, within the rules of the practice). One such warrior is Osbjorn Steffanson. A fierce berserker, he is gripped by a primal warrior spirit in the heat of battle and feels no pain, tearing his enemies asunder with the blows of his enchanted axe. He has attracted a fearsome reputation among many in the area, and his name is spoken in whispers. But it is not only for his strength that Osbjorn is so feared - he has a habit of demanding wealth and land in holmgangs, and has accrued a small fortune this way. Few are able to oppose his strong arm.

Three days ago, Osbjorn issued the challenge to Thorstein Armannsson, a farmer who owns a modest but productive homestead not far from here. If Thorstein loses the duel, Osbjorn demands the land and everything in it. Though he has fought his fair share of battles, Thorstein knows he can't possibly compete against Osbjorn - yet it is his livelihood that hangs in the balance. Time is running out, and he is growing desperate...

The Encounter

The party should come across Thorstein either traveling on the road, or at a public establishment such as a town square or tavern. If he sees the PCs are armed and look accomplished, or if their exploits are known in the area, he will seek them out, relaying the situation. If the PCs are unfamiliar with the rules of the holmgang, he will explain the custom. Even if the PCs are familiar, it may be helpful to use this moment to exposit to the players how this tradition works so they have context and can plan accordingly.

Thorstein cannot simply decline the offer for a duel, as doing so would make him a nithingr - a dishonorable outlaw who would be treated with scorn and derision wherever he went, if not outright hunted down. Some duelists are known to pronounce curses upon their opponents if they fail to show up, and Thorstein doesn't want to take a chance here. He had no choice but to agree to meet Osbjorn at the crossroads at the stroke of noon, laying his farm on the line.

Hoping that the PCs might stand a better chance against Osbjorn than he will, Thorstein begs the greatest warrior of the party to fight in his stead. If they agree, he will be thankful and offer to buy the party a round of mead as a show of his gratitude - but of course, it is no time for celebration now.

Once the chosen PC is ready, Thorstein will lead them to the crossroads where Osbjorn has challenged him. There, Osbjorn - a hulking, thick-bearded man in a bearskin cloak, clutching a wicked-looking axe engraved with runes - stands upon an ox hide spread out on the ground. No matter how imposing the chosen PC might seem, he remains cocky and mocks them before the battle, promising no mercy unless they beg for it.

According to the rules of the holmgang, the combatants may not leave a circumscribed area three feet from the ox hide. The ox hide is ten feet across on each side, so the arena is 13 feet on each side from the center of the hide. If anyone sets foot outside this zone, they are deemed to forfeit the duel. Osbjorn offers his opponent no more than three wooden shields (to have replacements if one breaks - you may want to use your favorite house rule for shield damage, like this one, if you want to take advantage of this), but any other gear they wish to use is to be provided by them.

Osbjorn has the stats of a berserker, with one exception - he has a magical axe that always tends to strike true (it scores a critical hit on an unmodified roll of 19 or 20). He will remain cocky as long as he holds the upper hand, but if he drops to half HP, he will start flying into a manic rage - he will make attacks whenever possible, and uses the reckless feature at the beginning of each turn (ie. he gains Advantage on all attack rolls, but all attack rolls made against him have Advantage).

Osbjorn will accept his opponent's surrender at any time, but doing so forfeits Thorstein's right to his farm. If they do not surrender, he is fully prepared to kill them! At any point, the PCs may offer surrender to Osbjorn; if they do, he must make a DC 10 Wisdom save. On a failed roll, he submits, while on a success, he keeps fighting. Osbjorn has Advantage on this save if he is at half HP, as he craves blood in the fervor of battle. You may also use your judgment as a DM - obviously, Osbjorn won't surrender if he has taken no damage.

Further Developments

Clever players might realize that their characters can exploit the rules of the holmgang just as Osbjorn has. If they choose to fight him to the death, it is more dangerous, but they also stand to gain legal right to everything he owns, including his magic axe. If Osbjorn dies, the PCs will win his property, which includes 5000 GP's worth of gold and jewels, a potion of supreme healing, a set of gauntlets of ogre power, and his axe (stats of a greataxe, with the aforementioned enchantment). In addition, he is in possession of a few steadings that the PCs can use as bases of operation; his treasure is spread between these locations. The DM should place these on the map as they see fit.

If the chosen PC forces Osbjorn to surrender, the berserker will begrudgingly pay a sum of 250 GP instead. The stories of their triumph over this fearsome foe will surely spread through the land, but Osbjorn will remember this defeat and plan his vengeance, holding a grudge over whoever bested him. Either way, Thorstein will be grateful to have Osbjorn dealt with, and will become a trusted ally of the party, offering them the right to stay with his family whenever they are in the area.

If Osbjorn's opponent falls in battle, he will claim his right to all of their belongings, including any magic items they possess. This, too, would set him up well as a recurring adversary. Now the party not only has a reason to seek revenge, the loss will hit them in their wallet just as much as their hearts. Plus, should they seek another battle with the warrior, they may see their fallen friend's gear being used against them!

The Northmen

Among the most fearsome barbarians of the known world are the Northmen. Just about everywhere close to the coast has heard legends of their ferocity - if not experienced it face to face. As expert mariners, their ships have traveled far and wide across every sea, and they are merciless fighters in battle. Their name has passed into legends that speak of an invincible race of giants that descend from the coast and lay waste to everything in their path, burning villages, massacring townspeople, and carrying off riches. Although these tales are exaggerations of the truth - the Northmen are very much normal humans, if tall of stature - it speaks to the imprint these warriors have made on the world.

Traditionally, the lands of the Northmen are held to encompass anything north of the Kvessian city of Mordregaard and west of Ukiah. The true boundaries are fuzzier if one wishes to split hairs - the Kvessian ruling class is of Northmen descent, after all, and their progeny can be found further south yet - but it is these lands where the Northmen practice the way of life that has sustained their ancestors for generations.

Art by Jack Keay

The North has never been ruled under a single crown. It is the domain of countless kings, jarls, and tribes that hold stead over a few villages - some rulers are more powerful than others, but none have united the realm, and to do so would be a task not even the gods could perform, according to Northman tradition. Despite this, they share a common culture, and their languages are mutually intelligible. What unites the Northman clans are their belief in honor, martial valor, and their culture of raiding.

While they pay homage to Kerne and Kord, and while Old Faith practices are common, the Northmen hold Olmo, the god of the sea, as their chief deity, fearing him as a wrathful bringer of storms who must be appeased and placated. Many clans attempt to do so by human sacrifice, and many an unfortunate captive of the Northmen has met their end beneath the icy waters, where it is believed their soul will take the place of a Northman's in Olmo's quota so that the Northmen will not be harried at sea.

One of the most influential - and the most infamous - aspects of Northern life is the tradition of raiding. The lands of the North are poor in resources, with rocky soil and frigid winters; as such, the growing season is short and temperamental. In order to supplement their wealth, the Northmen turned to raiding along the coast during the summer months (taking advantage of warmer temperatures and longer days to navigate more comfortably), attacking seaside settlements and hoarding their treasure. The Northmen do not see such actions as immoral, as long as they do not bring harm upon one's own family.

Art by David Lozeau

As such, the Northmen began to value strength and bravery in battle to succeed in their bloody business. They became renowned as great warriors, some of them even channeling mystic power to shrug off pain in the heat of battle. It also became a point of pride for the Northmen to commit great deeds of bravery in combat, and to boast of them to advance their own status. In some Northman clans, strength alone determines authority, but even among those with traditions of nobility, it is expected that kings reward their most accomplished warriors with wealth and power. Many of these exploits pass into legend, and the Northmen are proud to count a storied hero among their ancestry, recounting familial sagas through a rich oral tradition.

In fact, the Northman tradition of raiding has led them to travel quite far from home. Most commonly, their targets are other Northman clans, or cities on the coasts of the Sea of Bartel and western Vardessy down to Sonderlund. But many Northmen, driven by greed, wanderlust, exile, or any combination of the three, have captained ships far afield. Their legacy is storied along the City-States and even as far as Quel'Ahma, and Northman treasure hoards have turned up in unexpected places.

The Northmen have a reputation in foreign ports - not entirely undeserved - as figures of terror and destruction. However, it should be noted that not all Northmen travel with hostile intent. Their expertise in seamanship and navigation has also made them great traders, and their longboats are a frequent sight at some of the richest harbors in the land. When their ships display shields on their sides, that is an indication that the Northmen have come peacefully to trade. But if there are no shields, that signals they are being held by the warriors on board - and that they have come to shed blood. That is a sight that strikes fear into many a heart.

Background: Northman

Suggested Names: Old Norse or Anglo-Saxon names.

Skill Proficiencies: History, Intimidation

Tool Proficiencies: Navigator's Tools, Vehicles (Water).

Languages: Northern

Starting Equipment: A drinking horn, a tunic and fur-lined boots, a seax (stats of a dagger), 50 feet of rope, and a pouch with 25 GP.

Feature: Ancestral Saga. You have been taught of the heroic deeds of your forefathers throughout the North and beyond. If the DM mentions a location, you can declare (with the DM's permission) that your ancestors have visited that place before; the DM will tell you any relevant information you would have gleaned from the sagas. This feature can be used for three locations in the North and one location beyond the North per campaign.

The Sea of Teeth

One bold enough to sail far to the north, beyond even the coasts of the Northmen, will look upon the Tennurhaf - a term in the Northern tongues that translates to "the Sea of Teeth." No one knows exactly where the name comes from. Some claim that the many rocky islands in the Tennurhaf are like the teeth of a great beast, while others believe that the name comes from the many-toothed sea monsters that call the place their home. Nevertheless, it is a frightful name, and the locale lives up to the reputation.

Life in the Tennurhaf is a brutal one. The winters are icy cold, and it is so far to the north that the sun
never rises for months on end. The dark waters of the sea are tossed by storms, with chilling winds and heavy rain and snow a constant sight. There are many small islands scattered throughout the sea, ranging from those large enough to be kingdoms in their own right to those that are little more than jagged rocks jutting from the water, with many a ship meeting its end splintered upon the stones. Some are so far north that nothing grows there. And that is not even getting into the beasts of the Tennurhaf - great serpents, grasping krakens, and whales that swallow entire ships whole. On many southern maps, the Tennurhaf is marked "here there be dragons" - and not without good reason.

Yet, men are nothing if not tenacious creatures. Even here, in this most inhospitable of lands, some semblance of civilization reigns. The seas of the Tennurhaf are too unpredictable for large, organized empires or merchant companies to emerge, but there are many clans, fiefs, and petty kingdoms scattered across the islands and the coast. The Northmen have charted routes across the Sea of Teeth and established colonies reaching as far as the great northern wastes, and they rule their lands fiercely. Due to the unpredictable climate and the rocky soil, farming is a tricky business in the Tennurhaf, and much of the wealth that flows through these kingdoms comes in the form of plunder raided from settlements to the south.

Art by ScenesbyColleen

Of all the Northmen, those of the Tennurhaf are most feared, for they have been hardened by their rough homeland and show no mercy. In the Sea of Teeth, it is only the strong who survive, let alone hold power. If there is any consolation for the settled folk of the south, it is that the Northmen are just as wont to turn their axes upon each other - kin-strife and blood feuds have marred the annals of the North for generations upon generations, and these quarrelsome folk war among one another just as often as they attack foreign shores.

Many southerners would never dream of setting foot anywhere near the Tennurhaf. To do so would be tantamount to suicide. There is nothing of value there, and too much hardship to face for the trouble. Yet, to some, that danger is its own reward, and one man's fear is another's opportunity...

Green Downs Hex Map

Another month of the Year of the Gazetteer is behind us, and you know what that means. This is a smaller map than the last few; I missed being able to key one of these in a single afternoon. But there's still plenty of adventure to be found in the Green Downs - or if you'd rather use this for an unusually Amish-flavored session of Under Hill, By Water, be my guest.

Note that, due to halfling settlement patterns, the population of the Green Downs is sparse and decentralized. Every farmland hex (light green) can thus be assumed to contain multiple homesteads even if not detailed in the key.

Click here to enlarge

Each hex equals three miles.

Friday Encounter: Poaching in the Lord's Forest

Here's another encounter from the infinite font of difficult moral dilemmas to present your players with. It is best suited to a settled area, ideally in a feudal society; some things may need to be tweaked to fit other settings.

The local lord (for maximum player engagement, this should be a noble the PCs have worked with before, and one they have a positive rapport with) has had a problem dealing with poachers in the woods on his estate. Like many nobles, he owns a tract of wilderness that he uses for his hunts, but as of late, guards have reported seeing figures flitting between the trees and bushes, and spent arrows have been found scattered among the ground and in the tree trunks. What brought things to a head was when a deer was found dead, with arrows sticking out of its flank - apparently, it was wounded, but got away, only to succumb to its injuries, proving that poachers were afoot. This is, of course, a gross violation of the lord's noble privileges, and he intends to see this devious act punished.

Depending on your party's relationship with the lord, they may be personally invited to deal with the poachers, or they may hear of the problem secondhand, either through wanted posters set up in the area or rumors from NPCs. Whatever the case, they should find out that the lord has promised to reward such service handsomely. Anyone who manages to apprehend the poachers will be knighted, with all the privileges that entails - in addition to receiving more social clout, the PCs will be granted a manor house, which may prove useful as a base of operations for further adventures.

However, if the PCs enter the lord's woods and track down the poachers, they will be able to do so easily - a DC 10 Survival check is all that is needed to find tracks from boots and trace them to their source (you can also add additional encounters in the woods while the PCs are following the trail, if you want to throw in more complications). But there, they will discover the truth.

The poacher, as it turns out, is a poor, starving peasant - again, this encounter will work best if this is a preestablished NPC the party has a good relationship with, so they have good reasons for aiding either side. He explains that this has been a bad harvest for him, and he barely has enough food to support his family. But a holiday feast is coming up, and his relatives are visiting. He knew that he wouldn't have enough to feed all of them, and sought to poach game from the lord's woods to fill his larder. The poacher admits to his crime, but begs the PCs not to turn him in, stating that it was desperation that drove him to such lengths.

Now the party has a choice. They could turn the poacher in to the lord and seek the reward, or they could heed his pleas and let him go free. Both options have consequences that will impact the PCs' relationships with the world around them. If they let the poacher go free, the lord will spurn them as ineffectual, and will not seek their aid in the future, potentially costing the PCs their access to a powerful patron; he may even spread the word of their failures, making it harder for them to ingratiate themselves with other nobles. But, on the flip side, if the poacher is turned in, he will decry the PCs as cruel and greedy, and place a curse upon their estate, causing bad luck to fall on the manor and those who inhabit it - accidents will keep happening around the fief, things will go missing, crops will fail, and servants will be afflicted with malaise and disease.

The optimal solution may be to try and convince the lord to show mercy on his people, and to deal with whatever famine caused such acts in the first place. But that might not be so easy, either...

Law in the Green Downs

The Green Downs has little in the way of centralized authority or a code of law. It has no real need for it - the halflings mostly keep to themselves and mind their own business, and the fertile soil and the agrarian livelihoods of most Hinnisch folk means that life is generally sustainable, so individual people have little reason to turn to crime. So too, there is no real governing body to make or enforce laws. While some halfling families may be wealthier than others, any real authority this comes from is mostly in name, and halflings consider it gauche to brag of such things. Generally, legal matters in the Green Downs are an ad hoc affair. If there is truly an issue that needs to be addressed, the community will decide on how to handle it in a community meeting.

The closest thing to a legal system among the Hinnisch people is not in the form of official edicts, but cultural practices. The halflings have held onto their own peculiar traditions through the years, some even being practiced in halfling communities far from the Green Downs - traditions that stem from philosophy, practicality, and folk wisdom, in many cases, but sometimes from more spiritual principles.

One of these beliefs is that a halfling may never take up arms against his neighbor, no matter the circumstances. Most halflings interpret this to mean that a halfling should never cause another halfling harm or inflict injury upon them. To this end, only a few villages in the Green Downs have anything resembling a militia, and those that do are strictly tasked with defending the village from outside threats; halflings will never war among themselves. Most of these are on the frontiers of the region, but in the case of the village of Breetschtaab, which sits in a valley that was once menaced by goblins, the threat has long since abated, and the militia is only kept as a matter of formality. The village has never faced an attack in years, and mostly all the militia does is train in weaponry as a hobby - which has won Breetschtaab many victories at harvest festival archery contests.

This rule also means that halflings do not believe in corporal or capital punishment. In the Hinnisch mindset, to sentence a murderer to execution would carry the same moral burden as the murder itself. Instead, the gravest punishment in Hinnisch society is that of exile. This is a serious sentence indeed, and is not one to be taken lightly. When a halfling is exiled from their community, their family holds a funeral for them even though they are alive, and all in the village are to ignore their presence, treating them as though they were dead. They do not speak to them, nor do business with them, and refer to them in the past tense. To deal with an exile invites bad luck, much as being haunted would.

Art by Campaign Command

This almost always leads to the exile leaving their village and striking it out on their own. In some cases, exiled halflings have been able to find a new life in other villages, and sometimes even settle down in new families there, but word travels quickly at markets, and to be exiled carries a great stigma even outside of one's immediate circle. In other cases, exiles leave the Green Downs entirely, sometimes settling among humans or establishing new steadings of their own. The spread of halflings throughout the known world can be attributed just as much to this practice as it can to the tradition of tolerating the youth's tendency to wander.