[center][h1][color=2cbfc9]Kingdom of Norshao
[sup][sub][i]The Wintermen Clans[/i][/sub][/sup][/color][/h1][img]https://www.honga.net/totalwar/warhammer2/images/warhammer2/flags/wh_main_dwf_kraka_drak/mon_256.png[/img]

[i][indent][indent][indent]At the very edge of the world, where the cold freezes blood and nightmares roam wild, are the towering Pillar Cities of Norshao. They live in a harsh land that would break lesser peoples for in Norshao, the Rifts never fully closed. Fresh horrors and beasts regularly slip into the icy mountains and for a thousand years, everything from mythical beasts to mechanic constructs and from apex predators to eldritch horrors. 

And for each one of those thousand years, Norshao hunted them all like prey.[/indent][/indent][/indent][/i] [/center]

[color=27d0db][h3]Government[/h3][/color]
[hider=The Dragon Throne and the Council Court]
[quote]Norshao is an elective monarchy that rules over a confederation of lords. Mountains and monsters present significant dangers that force a decentralized form of leadership with Clans allowed a significant degree of autonomy. These Clanmasters are expected to swear oaths to the High King in Meikagard while also protecting their own holdings. Leaders who fail to do so risk being ousted by both the High King and their own subjects as weak leaders are unfit to rule in Norshao. The monarchy, also called the Dragon Throne, is constantly juggling the competing interests and politics of their vassal clans, ensuring they all stay strong enough to defend themselves but not strong enough to challenge them.

Under the Dragon Throne is the Council Court, an assembly of all rulers, from the shallowest Hill Hold to the tallest Pillar City. Human Clanmasters, Dwarven Princes and Ikarin Matriarchs gather to advise the king and also to vote for an heir, selected from among those with royal blood or titles. While ignoring the suggestions of the Court is seen a sign of stubborn pride or even tyranny, if the Dragon Throne becomes too suggestable, chaos will inevitably follow as the power of the High King wanes.

The Dragon Throne is located in the capital pillar city of Meikagard, a city so large that it expands over and connects four different pillars and several surrounding mountain holds. Right now, the young King Youmyr Volian sits upon the throne, 28 years of age and still unmarried. He is a descendant of the legendary War Mother Sighan and while unproven in politics, has proven himself a capable monster hunter with his most notable achievement of the defense the city of Voragard.

Youmyr's full title is: High King Yuomyr Volian of Clan Suetior, Blood of Sighan, Defender of Voragard and Snowbreaker.[/quote][/hider]
[color=27d0db][h3]Society[/h3][/color]
[hider=Stereotypes and Culture]
When Norshao is mentioned by outsider, two things immediately come to mind: freezing cold and monster hunting. To outsiders, the Norshoans are often stereotyped as being brutish, glory seeking, predatory, boorish, immune to the cold and exhibit behaviors that most would consider "recklessly suicidal".  These views are gained from the most visible aspect of Norshao, namely the seaborn raiders and (in more modern times) the monster hunting mercenaries. Having faced everything from the deadliest predators and eldritch nightmares from beyond, they are without a doubt the greatest hunters of magical or unnatural creatures and constructs as well as decent mercenary warriors in general. The coldest temperatures these mercenaries face are often considered warmer than what they are used to in Norshao, thus earning them the nickname of "Wintermen" and being known for wearing little insulation. 

To themselves, the Norshao are a proud people who have conquered the most inhospitable and hostile land on the Riftworld. They value strong will, martial prowess and humility as despite their pride, they know the dangers of hubris all too well. More than one Clan Master have been killed by their own arrogance and more than one Pillar City has fallen because its residents thought themselves indestructible. While they may not look like it on the outside, Norshao also values "skilled restraint" when it comes to dealing with other people since anyone can lodge an axe in someone's head, but real skill comes in being able to stop the blade just before their neck to send a message.
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[hider=Races]
[b]Humans[/b]

Humanity makes up the largest portion of the population, living between the more urban Pillar Cities and the more "rural" mountain holds. Pillar Cities are huge, vertical cities built on top of, on the sides of and inside huge white pillars found across Norshao. A single pillar can hold hundreds of levels with a surprising amount of space inside, capable of housing millions with careful planning. Some pillar cities even stretch over multiple nearby pillars and connected by enclosed platforms and sealed walkways, such as the capital of Meikagard which is actually four pillars connected to form a single city that is also connected to the nearby mountain holds. At the base of each pillar are massive arcane generators that provide the heat and power for the whole pillar and can be fueled by anything from chemically enhanced jet fuel to fresh cut trees. But dark rumors suggest that it is people which produce the most power and heat by burning their souls to ash. Such rumors vary in believability but being sentenced to burn remains a common capital punishment in many cities.

Norshao's humans have a mixed heritage from several different dimensions. The three groups that are commonly seen as the descendants of the modern Norshao were: The Great Pagan Army, Nordic warriors who were blown off course in their quest to carve their own kingdom out in Roman Britannia; Site 44 of the UN's Department of Paranormal Anomalies, a shadowy agency who was studying the Rifts when they appeared in their own world; and a Pacific Pact task force made up of the 131st Imperial Chinese Mechanized and the 88th Shogunate Armored Corp, declared lost at sea when they sailed into a mysterious storm while en route to the Australian front of the Second Pacific War.

They take inspiration and lineage from all three, having fair skin, smooth hair and almond eyes while also preferring tattoos and face and body painting. Likely due to the proximity to the Rifts however, mutations are also not uncommon. While there are some truly hideous mutations like sporting and additional lump of a head on the neck or possessing a deformed claw arm, the most common are more begin. Famous this has affected their eye colors with all kinds of unnatural colors, gradients and even patters; heterochromia is also quite common to the point its basically treated as being left handed, an interesting quirk and nothing else.

[b]Eidolon[/b]

To an outsider, Eidolons conjures up images of necromancy and black magic. In reality however, Mystics make use of Spirit Runes to summon them. They carve or draw runic patterns on armor, clothes or crystals, drawing spirits to the vessel to possess them. Weaker willed, less distinguished or criminal souls (or those of foreigners) are cobbled together to form a spirt that then possess the chosen vessel. These "lesser" Eidolons are used as cannon fodder/distractions in battle or as unceasing laborers to power special "Eidolon Enterprises".

However, souls of those who are more distinguished and renowned cannot and are not forced into a vessel after being recombined. Instead the souls who form "greater" Eidolons have to be petitioned from the afterlife and the Celestial Court. Much more elaborate armors and vessels are made for them in the hopes that they will accept it and possess them. Greater Eidolons are sometimes summoned only for a few words of advice or a great battle while other times some have been summoned to guard a king or leader for their reigns. In battle they form a ghostly vanguard that inspires Norshao's warriors to fight harder in the name of their ancestors while terrifying the enemies with their haunting visage.

Attempts to use Eidolons in machinery have proven unsuccessful as they either find the bodies too restrictive compared to the bits of armor they otherwise possess or are constantly fighting for control with the machine's own AI or controller.

[b]Ikarin[/b]

The insectoid Ikarins were born on a distant world, enslaved by cruel alien masters and saved by the humans. They were originally a hivemind species that was enslaved by an interstellar empire who destroyed their singular hivemind: the Ikarin Empress. When a ship carrying a number of their hives crashed into the Rift, they leapt at the chance and devoured their captors with a vengeance they didn’t know they could feel. None of it would have matter though as the Ikarins are ill-suited for the cold blizzards of Norshao. They would have all frozen to death had it not been for the ancient Norshaon humans who offered them a seat beside their own meager fires. Since then, the Ikarin have sworn many oaths to the Norshao, to Clan Masters and High Kings as repayment of their debt.

There are five ranks to the Ikarin: Matriarchs lead them, Princesses birth them, Princes protect them, Warriors defend them and Drones do the work. The free will gained from the destruction of their hivemind gets weaker the lower down an Ikarin is, a Prince may be able to defy his Matriarch but a Drone would never be able to defy a Warrior. They are divided into different Hives, just like how humans organize themselves into Clans. Most clans can find the support of at least one hive sworn to them. Their matriarchs while united in survival, have developed more and more personal ambitions and goals over the years, each new generation more independent than the last. When the clans go to war with each other, their hives will often follow and fight one another.

Ikarins are always concentrated around the warmest place of any given area. They make nests near the generators that power and heat pillar cities or geothermal vents in mountain holds. As they do not fare well in the cold, rarely are they seen outside without exceptional protection. They thus often form the backbone of industry and labor in Norshao, cheap compared to the summoning rituals of even simple Eidolon. While they do not engage in the hunts so central to Norshao's culture, their Princes and Warriors are formidable foes and stout soldiers. Many times in their history, they have accepted human refugees seeking shelter, fleeing monster attacks and inter-clan conflicts
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Norshao's military, just like the realm, is highly decentralized. It is the responsibility of each Clan Master to raise, train and equip their own Banners of warriors and their own Thaneguard retinue. Each banner is typically around a thousand men, broken down by tens until you get a ten man squad. The quality and type of Bannermen can vary from professional soliders to levied guards to hired mercenaries but it is the duty for each warlord to keep soldiers around at all times to defend his lands. It is illegal to have inadequate defenders but the punishment is rarely enforced by the Throne; the land will enforce that rule on its own. Thaneguards however are best seen as sworn knights committed to the protection of their warlords.