Roleplay: [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/164187-children-of-the-greatfather/ooc]Children of the Greatfather[/url] (RIP, we hardly knew ye.)

[hider=The Realm of Steindahl will remain forever unfinished]
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[indent]Like the rest of the Masters, the history of the Stein begins at the origin of the world, when the Greatfather and the first of the Born roamed prehistoric Magnar. Much like his father, Steinar, eldest of the brothers, left his home after Nystra's disappearance. Rather than search the world for his mother, Steinar chose to hunt down those he thought had stolen her: the Trolls. During his battles against the Trolls, Steinar is said to have crafted a suit of armor and a massive warhammer within the heart of Magnar's central mountain.

After years of nearly unending combat throughout Magnar, Steinar was called home by the Greatfather, and was mortified to see that his beloved siblings had fallen to infighting and corruption. As he was not there to protect or guide his brothers as he should've been, when it came time for the brothers to be banished to the far reaches of Magnar, Steinar all but exiled himself to the northern wastes, the native territory of Magnar's Trolls. If he could not protect his family from themselves, he would ensure they would never fall to the children of Shebalog.

Unlike his brothers, Steinar was never wed, as he was consumed by his quest to safeguard Magnar from the northern Trolls. As the second generation of the Born spread across the Realms, three of Steinar's nephews and two of his nieces, one for each his brothers, would seek him out at his northern fortress. Weary of their cousins' infighting, the five sought to become Steinar's children. Touched by their dedication and loyalty, Steinar would fill a drinking horn with his own blood and have them drink from it, and thus these five would become the first of the Stein.

Steinar's war against the Trolls would continue for the rest of his life, shaping the landscape and traditions of the Realm he was given providence over. Eventually, he fought his way to the peak of the Troll King's mountain and slew him in personal combat. He had taken many wounds however, and Steinar breathed his last and fell from the colossal mountain fortress. The shockwave when he hit ground was felt throughout all of Magnar, and the mountains that sprang from the impact now serve as Magnar's natural border with the land of Trolls. 

Ever since, the Realm was known as Steindahl, and the mountain renamed Steinar's Peak.

There is only one known instance of a Stein Master waging war against his fellow Born, approppriately enough, at the tail end of the Age of Strife. Under the pretense of unifying the Bornic Realms as his forbear would have, Agnar Stein all but left his Realm's mountain forts for the Trolls, bringing the full strength of Steindahl to bear against the chaos in the South. Due to their cousins' weakened states and their own superior equipment, the Stein advanced very swiftly. It was only when one Isvald Lastrund called for a feast on neutral ground that Agnar ceased his campaign, believing that the other Masters were going to bend the knee. Instead, Agnar was outraged at the proposal of a rotating Mastery of Magnar. He would not leave the feasting hall alive, and the Stein, despite being the eldest of the Born, found themselves last in the line of Magnar's Mastery.

Following Agnar's execution and Isvald's coronation as Master of Magnar, Stein history becomes rather one note. While their cousins reaped the benefits of peace in the South, The Stein returned to their home, carving forts out of the sides of mountains and raising villages in the valleys, all in a never ending effort to tame the land and eradicate the sons of Shebalog. Because of this eternal campaign and their endless supply of stone and metal, the Stein mastered the art of construction and blacksmithing.  It was not until the Thalasan Invasion that Magnar would know better weapons or fortifications than those in Steindahl.  

[sub]• Heimgard, like most of the Realm's major settlements, is situated at the source of one of the Northern rivers, theirs being the Gnifri, east of Steinar's Peak. While it has its origins as one of the many Stein fortresses built to defend Magnar from Trolls in ancient history, Heimgard now serves as Steindahl's capital and one of its two primary trading ports. The Old Fort makes up roughly twenty percent of the city's landscape and acts as the quarters for Steindahl's ruling family and visiting nobles.

• Steinar's hatred of Trolls has seeped into the very identity of his descendants. Within Steindahl there exists a class of slaves known as the Dolbri, or "Troll Bloods" that are said to originate from the icy plains north of Magnar. They are considered to be unworthy of all save the most unsavory tasks in the Realm, and serve at the behest of their Bornic overlords. To call someone a "Troll Lover" is a grave insult.

• Because of Steinar's adoption of many of his wayward nieces and nephews, Steindahl has a diverse population of various Bornic ethnic groups, making Steindahl at once an isolated Realm removed from the majority of Magnar's internal problems and a melting pot of various traditions. In short, any peaceful Born are welcome within Steindahl and may find a home amongst its people. Crime against a citizen, however, is severely punished.

• Accordingly, if a Stein noble is childless, it is not uncommon for one to adopt an heir via Blood Oath. If this ritual is completed, the participants are considered parent and child as far as anyone in Steindahl is concerned, and receive all the expectations therein. Adopted children are considered just as legitimate as biological children in terms of Stein law and general attitude.

• Only Steinar's armor remains in his Realm's possession, as their ancestral hammer was stolen by a descendant of Shebalog many centuries ago. While this adds fuel to the fires of hatred the Stein feel for Shebalog's children, it has also turned the warhammer into a symbol and signature weapon of the region, with many Stein smiths aspiring to craft a hammer to rival Steinar's own.[/sub][/indent]

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Born at the onset of one of the harshest winters in Magnar's history, Halvar Stein has personally seen the effects of starvation and desolation on his Realm's populace, and for the first time in many centuries, the Stein have begun raiding their Bornic neighbors.

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This is Andar. He's Halvar's uncle. He is weary of his nephew's abandonment of Steindahl's tradition of non-aggression against their fellow Born, but with winter hitting the Stein in full force, he sees no way to dissuade his Master. Until that call to cross the Sturmsee where Halvar's obviously gunna go for it and everything's gonna be awesome.
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