Lochlann is a major polity on the Continent, and the only one whose majority population does not follow Amunism.
Demonyms Lochlannis (the Lochlannis people, a Lochlannis longboat); Loch (a Loch berserker). Touchstones Pre-Christian Norse (geography, culture); Sengoku Japan (government, society). Ship Designation (“[Name] of Clan [Name]”, e.g. The Firebird of Clan Wulf). LanguageLoch, with a script reminiscent of the elder/newer Futhark (runes).
The Lochlannis people are rife with contradition, at least from many outside perspectives. They reside to the far north of the continent, astride the great Jotunbein mountains (“Giants Bone”). They fish the great fjords on the northern faces of these mountains, and despite the short summers and long winters of the Lochlannis heartland, they also enjoy great success in raising grain and other agricultural products.
The many Lochlannis clans recognize the head of their people in the form of the Wotan dynasty, the family apparently descended from the All-Sire himself, Wotan the One-Eyed of the Loch Pantheon. This dynasty has “ruled” Lochlann continuously—if the great Lochlannis sagas and histories are to be believed—for over two thousand years. However, the head of this family, the High Crown of Lochlann, is currently little more than a figurehead. They are worshiped as the descendant of a God; revered in holy rituals; respected as masters and guardians of the druidic arts of tempest, wind and beast; and wield some political power. However, a quirk of Lochlannis culture has kept them from wielding any real political or military power for the last two centuries at the least.
That is the religious taboo laid upon the Wotan clan from raising and commanding armies themselves. Instead, the great Clan Chiefs—nominally sworn to serve Clan Wotan—must dirty their hands with raising sworn bannermen and leading them in war. For many centuries, then, true political power lay in the Warlord, a Clan Chief invested with the military power of the High Crown. A succession crisis in 1078, however, spilled out into civil war, one that has engulfed the nearly seventy Clans of Lochlann ever since.
The Lochlannis people, then, are divided among these clans, with the famed berserkers waging these wars caught between the honor of serving their Clan Chief, and the harsh price of loyalty. Many berserkers have either been cast from their clan halls as disloyal, or have left of their own volition. These clanless warriors have become wanderering heroes at best, hired blades at worst.
Factions
The Blades of Ingwulf
The Blades of Ingwulf is a mercenary company and mercenary broker dealing primarily in the employ of Lochlannis berserkers.
The Blades are the result of a strong alliance between three otherwise minor Lochlannis clans: Clan Wulf, Clan Ingrime, and Clan Ingblott. The chiefs of these clans observed, in 1115 A.G., the hunger much of the south has for berserker warrior mercenaries. As the ongoing civil war between the clans kept many of these warriors from taking mercenary work abroad, they decided to exploit a gap in the market. Geographically isolated (and thus protected) from the rest of Lochlann, the three clan chiefs swore oaths of allegiance to each other, and then promptly began earning gold hand-over-fist through trade, plying the skill of their own clan warriors abroad.
Presently, about two thirds of all Loch berserkers or longboats for hire outside of Lochlann are either sworn directly to these clans, or otherwise have a contract managed by the Blades of Yngwulf.
The Red Tempest
The Red Tempest is a group of about two hundred berserkers sworn to the service of Sigrid the Red Hand (a.k.a Sigrid the Pretender), an exiled princess of the Wotan dynasty who has pressed a claim to wear the High Crown—even though, by blood, she is at best seventeenth in line.
She has broken the Lochlannis taboo of leading armies herself; she claims that seven years ago Wotan appeared to her in vision. Her god apparently lifted this taboo from her, and charged her with uniting her country once again.
It’s still early days yet, but her travels have seen her visit every corner of the map raising support for her claim. Currently, she seeks power and prestige sailing the Serpent Isles. She particularly sees the value in plundering the Isles shipping lanes, as continental trade in powerful magic artifacts, not to mention gold, will only make more certain her victory in the coming conquest of her beloved homeland.
The Hands of Tyr
The Hands of Tyr is a loose circle of druids claiming to preserve the druidic knowledge of Tyr, the one handed brother of Wotan in the Loch Pantheon.
Tyr lost his hand binding the apocalyptically-powerful wolf Fenrir; in emulation of him, the Hands of Tyr have dispersed themselves across the continent and beyond, oathbound to slay threats monstrous and dangerous, and keep powerful magic out of the wrong hands.
Clan Wotan has always maintained a precarious relationship with the Hands, as their beliefs verge on the heretical at best. The Hands often harbor violent distrust of any magical traditions not their own; many perceive them as religious zealots, with ample justification.
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The Clans of Lochlann
Lochlann is a major polity on the Continent, and the only one whose majority population does not follow Amunism.
The Lochlannis people are rife with contradition, at least from many outside perspectives. They reside to the far north of the continent, astride the great Jotunbein mountains (“Giants Bone”). They fish the great fjords on the northern faces of these mountains, and despite the short summers and long winters of the Lochlannis heartland, they also enjoy great success in raising grain and other agricultural products.
The many Lochlannis clans recognize the head of their people in the form of the Wotan dynasty, the family apparently descended from the All-Sire himself, Wotan the One-Eyed of the Loch Pantheon. This dynasty has “ruled” Lochlann continuously—if the great Lochlannis sagas and histories are to be believed—for over two thousand years. However, the head of this family, the High Crown of Lochlann, is currently little more than a figurehead. They are worshiped as the descendant of a God; revered in holy rituals; respected as masters and guardians of the druidic arts of tempest, wind and beast; and wield some political power. However, a quirk of Lochlannis culture has kept them from wielding any real political or military power for the last two centuries at the least.
That is the religious taboo laid upon the Wotan clan from raising and commanding armies themselves. Instead, the great Clan Chiefs—nominally sworn to serve Clan Wotan—must dirty their hands with raising sworn bannermen and leading them in war. For many centuries, then, true political power lay in the Warlord, a Clan Chief invested with the military power of the High Crown. A succession crisis in 1078, however, spilled out into civil war, one that has engulfed the nearly seventy Clans of Lochlann ever since.
The Lochlannis people, then, are divided among these clans, with the famed berserkers waging these wars caught between the honor of serving their Clan Chief, and the harsh price of loyalty. Many berserkers have either been cast from their clan halls as disloyal, or have left of their own volition. These clanless warriors have become wanderering heroes at best, hired blades at worst.
Factions
The Blades of Ingwulf
The Blades of Ingwulf is a mercenary company and mercenary broker dealing primarily in the employ of Lochlannis berserkers.
The Blades are the result of a strong alliance between three otherwise minor Lochlannis clans: Clan Wulf, Clan Ingrime, and Clan Ingblott. The chiefs of these clans observed, in 1115 A.G., the hunger much of the south has for berserker warrior mercenaries. As the ongoing civil war between the clans kept many of these warriors from taking mercenary work abroad, they decided to exploit a gap in the market. Geographically isolated (and thus protected) from the rest of Lochlann, the three clan chiefs swore oaths of allegiance to each other, and then promptly began earning gold hand-over-fist through trade, plying the skill of their own clan warriors abroad.
Presently, about two thirds of all Loch berserkers or longboats for hire outside of Lochlann are either sworn directly to these clans, or otherwise have a contract managed by the Blades of Yngwulf.
The Red Tempest
The Red Tempest is a group of about two hundred berserkers sworn to the service of Sigrid the Red Hand (a.k.a Sigrid the Pretender), an exiled princess of the Wotan dynasty who has pressed a claim to wear the High Crown—even though, by blood, she is at best seventeenth in line.
She has broken the Lochlannis taboo of leading armies herself; she claims that seven years ago Wotan appeared to her in vision. Her god apparently lifted this taboo from her, and charged her with uniting her country once again.
It’s still early days yet, but her travels have seen her visit every corner of the map raising support for her claim. Currently, she seeks power and prestige sailing the Serpent Isles. She particularly sees the value in plundering the Isles shipping lanes, as continental trade in powerful magic artifacts, not to mention gold, will only make more certain her victory in the coming conquest of her beloved homeland.
The Hands of Tyr
The Hands of Tyr is a loose circle of druids claiming to preserve the druidic knowledge of Tyr, the one handed brother of Wotan in the Loch Pantheon.
Tyr lost his hand binding the apocalyptically-powerful wolf Fenrir; in emulation of him, the Hands of Tyr have dispersed themselves across the continent and beyond, oathbound to slay threats monstrous and dangerous, and keep powerful magic out of the wrong hands.
Clan Wotan has always maintained a precarious relationship with the Hands, as their beliefs verge on the heretical at best. The Hands often harbor violent distrust of any magical traditions not their own; many perceive them as religious zealots, with ample justification.