LightBlackHawke Part 2 - They Came from the Land of the Ice and Snow

The Barbarians

To hear the priests of the Sun Lord speak, the northern people who rule the north-eastern peninsula are violent, heathen baby-eaters who are the enemy of all civilization. The truth is somewhat different. The Ihmiset, as they call themselves, are hardy seafarers from the cold lands across the eastern sea. Their wolf-headed longships have visited the eastern coast for many years, as raiders and traders in equal measure, plundering the rich lands of the Great Kingdom, and trading amber, ivory, silks, and spices from across the sea for furs, timber, tin, and bronze.

In the time of grandmothers, the Ihmiset warlord Sirkku Honeyhanded gathered a host of wolfships that became known as the Great Heathen Army and invaded in earnest. They crushed the twin Combrigantes kingdoms on the north-east peninsula and then moved south against the Great Kingdom. The orca banners of the Ihmiset penetrated deep into the southlands before being turned back. Sirkku was slain, and her three children divided the conquered lands to the north between them.

The Ihmiset now rule almost uncontested in their new realms, intermarrying with and integrating the Combrigantes folk. More wolfships arrive every spring, brought by the prospect of good farmlands and glory.

The most powerful of the Ihmiset kingdoms is Uusivuono, called the Snow Barbarians by the southerners. The kingdom was founded by Sirkku’s eldest son Jarkko Blackfish and dominantes sea traffic in the Grendep Bay and the rich tin mines of the Corusk Mountains.

The Frost Barbarians, actually the kingdom of Viljmaa, is ruled by the descendents of Inka the Clever, daughter of Sirkku. They have made peace with the mountain folk of the Griff Mountains and farm the good lands north of the Timberway.

The cold lands of the Ice Barbarians are possibly less hospitable than the Ihmiset homelands across the sea. Here the children of Sirkku’s youngest son rule over the lands he claimed and called Karhea. The cult of oksi, bear-worship considered taboo by most Ihmiset, flourishes here and Karkean warriors war constantly with the peoples to the east and even their cousins to the south.

Generating a Barbarian Background

You are from

1 - Viljmaa, 2 - Uusivono, 3 - Karhea

Your family’s patron deity is:

1 - The Thunderer, 2 - The Blackfish, 3 - The Earth Mother, 4 - The Huntress, 5 - A demi-god ancestor, 6 - The Bear

Before becoming an adventurer, you were:

1 - A seawolf, plying the sea as a raider and trader.

2 - A shieldbearer in a lord’s retinue

3 - A farmer

4 - An artisan

5 - A hunter

6 - A priest of the Ihmiset gods

You became an adventurer because:

1 - Your lord converted to the worship of the Sun Lord and banished anyone who would not convert

2 - A family member was revealed as a worshipper of the Bear, and you had to flee or be caught in an over-zealous purge

3 - A priestess of the Thunderer prophesied that your destiny lay in the wider world.

4 - Your ship was wrecked on a distant shore.

5 - You hired out to a southern lord as a mercenary and were left far from home when she died.

6 - A loved one was lost on a voyage south and you have sworn never to return until you find them.

7 - You tried to sell fraudulent goods to a lord and had to flee when the scam was revealed.

8 - You converted to the Sun Lord and were pressured to leave by your family.