Hidden 7 yrs ago 7 yrs ago Post by Oak7ree
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The Ouroboros – A Viking-inspired RP


"It's my belief that history is a wheel. 'Inconstancy is my very essence,' says the wheel. Rise up on my spokes if you like but don't complain when you're cast back down into the depths. Good time pass away, but then so do the bad. Mutability is our tragedy, but it's also our hope. The worst of time, like the best, are always passing away."

--- Boëthius, a Roman philosopher.

An Introduction

Welcome to my new RP, which is inspired by the Norse, Nordic and other mythologies of the world. There will be references to different mythologies and real-life history, but the RP follows a certain viking vibe.

The RP is set in the world of Midgard, where the feared nightmen of old legends are resurfacing and threatening the kingdom of Borrland. Only brave heroes can save the world.

I am still writing more material for the RP, and will be refining and polishing the writing. Feedback, comments and questions are always welcome, though.

A Bit of Background

Midgard is the world of the humans, goblins and giants, riddled with conflicts and opportunities. As one of the nine realms of the Circle, Midgard has been a battleground between the different creatures and entities of the Circle.

The Circle is the name used for the nine worlds that form the world tree Yggdrasil. Yggdrasil keeps the Circle intact, and if it falls, so does the Circle.

The Kingdom of Borrland is one of the major countries in Midgard, named after its first High King, Borri the Giant. He bent the tribes of modern day Borrland under one banner to fight the threatening "nightmen". The nightmen were men-like monsters from the darkness between the realms of the Circle, seeking death and destruction of the realms. They are described in ancient tales as shadowy figures, as dark as starless sky and cold as a deep winter night.

The kingdom was founded over eight hundred years ago, when High King Borri united the rivalring human tribes under one banner. The year is now 871 after the war agaisnt the nightmen. The curent high king of Borrland is King Jorvi the Elder.

Valkyries are famed female warriors from Asgard, who hare known to choose those who die in battle. They are sometimes sent by Odin to aid humans to battle otherworldly threats, Odin is one of the gods of the human pantheon. He is revered as the god of wisdom, mysteries and warfare, among other things. He is the king of Asgard, and the father to many other gods and heroes of the past.

Skara the Raven was a renowned valkyrie during the days of Borri the Giant. She was sent by Odin, and is said to have been Odin's daughter by a human mother. She was trained in Asgard and cast down to Midgard without her memory. She fought agaisnt the nightmen and married Borri the Giant after he became the first High King. The nightmen were defeated and driven into near extinction by the humans. She gained the nickname "the Raven" for her coal-black hair and a raven wing tattoo on her back.

It is said that the spirits of the dead wander to the lands beyond the northern sea. They then meet the ferryman Gwynewhyr, who takes them to the underworld for a certain prize. The spirits have to tell the ferryman a secret. The ravens of Gwynewhyr then take the secret to Leofri, the keeper of secrets and the scribe of the gods.

Important feasts of Midgard's calendar are the midsummer and midwinter's Yule, alongside others. There are twelve months in a year, and around 364 days in a year. The calendar is upheld by the sages, who decipher the movements of the celestial bodies and are said to commune with the gods of Asgard. They are respectede by the community and their advice are sought after. They often speak quite cryptically, when they give advice, though – listerners be wary!

Borrland's terrain is mountainous and wooded. To the north are the Isles of Hjorska, named after the famed explorer Hjorska, who sailed to the north and to the south, mapping the shores and coastlines of Midgard. The isles are under Borrland's control, even if in name only. The earl of the isles is highly autonomous and often applies his own laws and customs to the isles. The isles include Orkney, Hedemark and Karlehamn, alongside countless smaller islands and rocks. Orkney is the largest one, and houses Gulftown, a large harbour and market town. To the south of Borrland lies its neighbour, the kingdom of Taranis. It has expanded after the founding of its capital Taran, and has made overtures northwards. Borrland itself is surrounded by sea on two sides – to the west and the north. In the east, lie the tall mountains known as the Grimnir Mountains – a place infested with many monsters and dragons, according to tales and legends. Borrland's "capital" is Beornhall - a town built on the coast between the Black Forest to the north and the great Kingswood to the south, and the River Orn flows through it. It is mostly built on wood, but stone has risen is popularity, as the people have grown more wealthy in recent decades. There are many guilds and merchants in the town, and about twelve thousand permanent residents. Beornhall is a trade hub for the kingdom, and many guilds, both new and old, have quarters there. Other small settlements of Sparrowton, Kirk's Watch and Ornspool lie nearby. The major products of the region are dried meat and fish, honey, tar, beer and wood. Only Beornhall and two other towns in the kingdom have staple rights, or the freedom to trade with the outside world.

Harkland's "capital" is called Serpentstone. It is a walled town on the top of an easily defendable hill, which rises in the middle of great central plains of Harkland. It's walls turn and twist like a snake around the town. It boasts stone walls as high as thirty feet, and it is Earl Hjalmar's base of power, as it provides him much needed revenue. On the lands ascadent are rich gold and silver mines and many smaller villages and farms. On Harkland's western coast lies the important town of Colsgrave, providing a harbour and an access to the wider market.

Harkland's terrain is dominated by open plains, tall hills and deep forests of pine, aspen and spruce. The villages of the region suffer from frequent goblin attacks, though many common folk can also defend their households quite effectively. Women acting as warriors aren't frowned upon as much as in other regions.

Borrland is a feudal society ruled by a high king. Below him is the landed nobility, mostly earls, barons and landed thanes. Thanes are warriors, who have pledged their service to a noble, and are often rewarded with weapons, money, jewellery and other such gifts. Thanes form the backbone of Borrland's armies, as they are often well-versed in the arts of warfare. They often form warbands, that go on raids. Peasant levies can bolster the numbers of an army. Some of the thanes have been given a patch of land to farm and protect, and in times of war, to follow a baron or an earl. Thanes are often recruited from the lowes classes, and they can raise quite high in the society despite their humble origins. Below the nobility is the common folk - the peasants, the merchants, the artisans and other such people who don't have a noble bloodline.

Laws govern the daily acts of commerce, criminal justice and government. Horse theft and murder are punishable by death, if a blood money isn't cannot be paid. Thievery - the thief usually loses the hand, if he cannot pay back the owner the stolen item with interest. All crimes, small and great, must be judged before a tribunal, often consisting a judge, a notary and a jury to counsel the judge, but in the rural backwaters, lynching and justice by the mob are commonplace, when a proper tribunal cannot be held. The nobility are bound by law to uphold the law on their domains and fiefs, to protect the innocent and counsel the king on stately matters when needed. Also, they need to bring their thanes and levies to war when called.

Giants wander around Midgard in nomadic tribes and clans, migrating and herding mammoths. They are mostly peaceful creatures, though aggressive and protective of their own when threatened and provoked. They wield archaic weapons, armour and tools, often made made from mammoth bone and tusks, or from other materials, like stone and wood. They are between ten and fifteen feet tall.

Goblins pose a threat to remote settlements by attacking quickly and retreating quickly, relying on ambushes and deception. They are small, but numerous in the many woods of the world. They are primitive, but also unorganised, though great numbers can easily overwhelm unprepared humans.

A runic alphabet is used in Borrland.

There are three monetary units in use; coppers, marks and crowns. Coppers, as the name implies, are made mostly of copper, but often some other metals are added when they are minted. Marks are silver coins, often used by the merchants when buying or selling to each other, while crowns, gold coins, are rarely used by the common populace.

Most people follow the old gods, such as Odin, Balder, Týr and others, who live in Asgard. The gods affect all aspects of human life, but often they are cautious on influencing Midgard's life. Ravens are seen as sacred animals.

As a GM, I have only two rules: act nicely, and don't use coloured text. And I will not most likely flesh out every little detail in the world, as it would take quite a while, but if you have questions, hopes, comments or doubts if something would work, just ask, and I try to answer it.

Character sheet

Name: What is this human being called?
Occupation: How does the character earn his or her living?
Height: Is he or she short or tall? Measured in feet and inches.
Weight: Is he or she lean or stockier than usual?
Appearence: What does he or she look like?
Personality: What makes you tick?
Background history: What made you? Where did you grow up? How about family? What did your parents do for a living? Et cetera.
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Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by omni023
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omni023

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there are elves and dwarves mentioned in the old myths. will you allow these? will they be more like the myths describe them as misshapen and weird or more like the dwarves of fantasy such as Tolkien describes?
Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Oak7ree
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@omni023 Probably not, but I will not rule them out completely yet. We'll see.
Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Lurking Krog
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This looks pretty interesting. I'll try to put up a sheet soon.
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Hidden 7 yrs ago 7 yrs ago Post by Lurking Krog
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Name: Bóthilda Sørensdotter

Occupation: Trader/warrior

Height: 5’11”

Weight: 164

Appearance: Long red (a bit dirty as well) hair drawn back into a braid, she has more smaller braids on the sides of her head held in place with different beads, bright blue eyes, pale white skin, high cheek bones and slight widow's peak, wiry build, long legged and long arms.

Personality: Seeks to become renown enough as a warrior to be personally invited to the Earl Hjalmar’s hall to be named a Thane. Operates as a trader when there is not much going on in the means of raiding or defending her home.

Background history: Growing up in the Harkland region Bóthilda started learning from a young age the craft of trade from her mother and father.

Her father, aside from being a trader, was also a warrior for the village guard and taught his daughter how to fight with shield and axe.

To her mother's displeasure she started taking to ways of the warrior. One of the first major factors was the tales she heard of the valkyries. Another of the major factors came is from seeing a procession of shield maidens with a Thane of Harkland pass through their village when she was ten. Since then she has trained with both boys and girls to hone her skills as a warrior. She has also in recent years aided in defending the village from wild beasts as well as goblins.

Now, on her sixteenth nameday, she sets out from her village to see the world beyond her village. Before she left her father gave Her his old pine shield and axe. Her mother gave her an amulet engraved with the symbol for the valkyries. Both of them gave her enough provisions to make it to the Harkland main town and enough gold and silver to buy more.

Her first destination is Serpentstone and from there she isn't sure where she will go next.

--------

Here she is. If need be I will put more into her backstory.

*Edit 1*

Changing her surname though might leave it out altogether.

*Edit 2*

Added a patronym for her.

*Edit 3*

Added some more to her backstory and appearance.
Hidden 7 yrs ago 7 yrs ago Post by Master
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Name: Hrolfr Bergfalk

Occupation: Hunter/Archer

Height: 6 ft

Weight: 190 lbs.

Appearance: Light blonde shoulder-length hair, with a beard just beginning to start on his face. His eyes are pale blue and his skin is pale. Broad shoulders and defined muscles, wearing furs and skins that he made himself. Has numerous tattoos of prayers dedicated to the gods, mostly on his torso and on his arms.

Background History: His family home is in Beornhall, but he and his father spent most their days camping in Kingswood just south of the town. Raised off the land, his had father taught everything he knew about hunting to Hrolfr. His father would often tell of Hrolfr's marksmanship, believing Ull himself aids in his kills. At least, that's how it was when he was a youth.

Hrolfr's mother had died when he was young, during childbirth. Hjori, the little brother Hrolfr would have had, also died. For years his father was devastated and had turned to drink, leaving him to fend for the family.

His sister Kelda lives in the family house in Beornhall. She helps with keeping up the house while he's gone, and crafting clothing and preparing the meat from their kills to sell at market. Despite still loving their father, both Kelda and Hrolfr have grown bitter towards him; rarely ever seeing him. He makes his ritualistic claim of the coin his children earn at the market to feed his thirst.

Unknown to their father, they had been putting away most of their earnings from the last season - claiming that Hrolfr's had bad luck in the Kingswood; planning to leave the village and their father behind one day and starting a new life.

Personality: Loves his family and has a dedication to the gods. Due to his skill with the bow, Hrolfr is convinced he was given a gift by the gods and seeks to find a sign for his purpose. He believes that life should made easy and simple, and just doesn't understand highborns.

He has always enjoyed the traveling bards that he's come across, and often daydreams of learning the music and all the stories in their trade. He always bugs his sister to sing when he's home, jealous of her talent at it.

@Oak7ree
Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Oak7ree
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@Lurking Krog, @Master An idea: we could use patronyms, for example, as their surnames, if you like, as has been done in Scandinavia. But your sheets look promising. If you can or like, you still can expand them.
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@Oak7ree

I've added some to the backstory of my character.
Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Lurking Krog
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That works for me just had to do a little bit of research.
Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Lurking Krog
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@Oak7ree

When where planning to start this?
Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Oak7ree
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@Lurking Krog By weekend most likely, but we'll see. I just started my university studies.
Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Lurking Krog
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Ok, I'll probably be adding more to her backstory after I get off work.
Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Oak7ree
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@Lurking Krog I've done some updating for Harkland.
Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Lurking Krog
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@Oak7ree Thanks, that will help a lot.
Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Oak7ree
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@Lurking Krog & @Master Both of you can put your characters ro the characters tabs, by the way.
Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Master
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@Oak7ree

'Kay, I've added my character to the other tab, and also added a surname.

IT MEANS MOUNTAIN FALCON!

Did I just win the game?
Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Lurking Krog
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@Master Mayhaps you have.
Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Lurking Krog
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Are we going to need to wait for more people or will the two of us plus the GM/DM be enough?
Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Master
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Are we going to need to wait for more people or will the two of us plus the GM/DM be enough?


I am fine with starting now, or waiting for more people. No problems here with either decision.
Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Lurking Krog
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I am fine with starting now. Just wasn't sure if Oak was wanting to wait for more.
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