[quote=TJByrum]
My general idea for a character goes something like this:He and his people were forced to flee their homeland years ago and settled these 'new lands'. These people are pagans with a warrior-ethos and simply want to raid, pillage, and loot everyone around them (similar to the Vikings). Their leader, however, is more level-headed. He wants his people to remain at peace, build up his forces and economy, and simply try to survive in this new land. He is also trying to convert his pagan people over to the church, but like an old habit their beliefs can be hard to push away. But how long before his practices cause unrest amongst his people?
[/quote]It appears you have an interest in Viking history and intend to create a nation replete not with one solitary King, but with several small groups, clans or enclaves who may all get along at some times but not all times. That does make for an interesting set up. The Vikings or Northmen cooperated with other clans on many of their raids, but it wasn't always peace and cooperation. I like nations that build in an internal opposition to the majority. It does make for a more interesting story.

I have been thinking about where I want to take my nation. My ancestry is English and French. My mother's family emigrated from Shropshire, England which would have been Mercia in the 10th century, but was then became part of the Kingdom of England in 927. My father's family emigrated to Canada from Normandy in the 17th century. By the 12th Century, the Normans were a mix of Romans, Gauls, Danes, Norwegians, Hiberno-Norse, Orkney Viking, and Anglo-Danish. Maybe something along the lines of the Duchy of Normandy. Although, I may just go with a Feudal Japan theme, the Byzantine empire or something altogether different.