The city of Harðhöm was founded several centuries ago by a people from across the sea, led by the semi-mythological figure Harn Loðarsson (Loðar is the name of the chief god of their religion, coincidentally). Their distant homeland is too far away for even the most skilled mariners to sail to, and oral tradition alleges that Loðar himself summoned a mighty storm to propel his chosen people further than any had yet sailed, to a new land ripe for plunder and conquest. Harn's party consisted almost entirely of men, whom took native women captive as wives. Modern Harðhömers are thus almost ethnically indistinguishable from full-blooded natives. The city of Harðhöm itself is near the mouth of a great river, barely an hour upstream from where it empties into the ocean in Harn's Bay. The Jarl of Harðhöm is descended from Harn Loðarsson himself.
Though Harðhömers look like natives, they have their own religion, language, and customs, all descended from the original settlers. Merchants and the nobility have some knowledge of other languages, as Harðhömers will trade as often as raid - usually with different people, of course. The Harðhöm religion is polytheistic, revering (often female) nature spirits and, above them, the principal deities, with Loðar chief among them all, the god of storms, strength, medicine, and virility. (It's basically
Germanic paganism, with Thor as the chief god, rather than Odin.) A small priestly caste - made up of both sexes - exists, to guide and maintain the Harðhömer faith (and drive out any other faiths that might temporarily take hold). The high priest(ess) annually sacrifies an animal for good fortune... or a highborn captive, if Harðhöm has gone to war, recently. Most prisoners can usually expect better treatment, as healthy slaves are worth more then corpses. Children of slaves are often taken from their parents and taught the "proper" way, and can through luck and proven faith in Loðar become regular citizens of Harðhöm (though the difference in medieval times is often nominal, at best).
The people of Harðhöm are skilled mariners and shipwrights, subsisting on the bounty of the sea as much as that of land. Their ships carry them great distances both up and down the coast, and they can navigate the larger rivers, as well. This has brought them into contact with many different peoples. The weak are raided, what wealth they possess taken as plunder, while the strong are traded with. Harðhömer maps are perhaps the most detailed, at least when it comes to waterways, though House Crowden's are likely superior when it comes to the land itself. The similarities with the Vargyags are striking, considering the distance the Harðhöm people traveled to be where they are. Some have even suggested that the world is round, and that the people of Harðhöm's distant homeland and the Vargyags were once one people, wandering the seas and land until some calamity or internal strife drove them apart. In any case, Vargyag wives are prized for their alleged similarity to the original settlers. The Harðhömer people are warlike, and view a leader who remains at peace for too long as weak or unambitious. Any able-bodied man who cannot hold his own in a fight, be he a nobleman or a common peasant, is shunned by his peers. Despite this, craftsmanship and some of the arts are highly respected, and even the most pacifist of men - or women - can find respect in the pursuit of those works.
In combat, Harðhömer warriors wield an array of weapons, ranging from two-handed double-headed battleaxes and mighty greatswords, to spears, mauls, and the respectable pike. While the larger weapons preclude the use of shields, those who carry lighter weapons will often have some manner of shield. The ruling family of Harðhöm own a great steel roundshield, originally belonging to Harn Loðarsson himself, though the preferred weapon of the Jarl of the time has varied. Archery is also a respected skill, with many warriors willingly devoting the lifetime of training required to wield the longbow effectively. Less skilled warriors will instead use a crossbow or a less difficult-to-use bow. The variety of weaponry in use is paralleled by the degree and type of armour worn; lighter armours like hardened leather, or scale mail are preferred by raiders, due to a fear of drowning, while those who fight primarily on land will often wear thicker mail armour, or even the prized plate armour, though very few warriors can afford to purchase or scrounge up a full suit, much less of quality metal. In practice, the armour of most warriors is a patchwork of various types, leather and scale and mail, with standardized uniforms mostly the realm of the Jarl's personal retinue or the veterans of the Harðhöm City Guard.
(The ð symbol is Alt+0240. The ö symbol is Alt+0246. "Å" is Alt+0197, though make sure you have Num lock on, or else your browser might send you to another page. Chrome sent me to Google.)
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Topic: The Art of War: Feudal Lord Simulator: OOC Thread (Read 40332 times)