[CHAR] Children of the Greatfather

[gorgenmast]

Evar Varvudda

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Master's Biography: Evar Varvudda, nephew of Valmar Hrolfangr, never expected to become master of anything, let alone all of Magnar. Born to a somewhat noble family within the Realm of Hrolfangr, he was trained to rear cattle - one of the main forms of wealth in Magnar. Evar found the life of a cattleowner to be terribly dull, and at the age of 15, he left home for the Seolhi Islands. There, Evar enlisted as a sailor aboard a merchant vessel that regularly crossed the Sturmsee. During his time as a sailor, Evar saw much of the southern lands and gained some experience in mercantile endeavors. Evar eventually saved enough of his earnings to buy his own longboat, and began his own trading outfit. His preferred route went from the fishing villages of the sons of Shebalog, where he bought seal pelts and walrus ivory for a pittance; to the great city of Apiranth in the south where the exotic northern goods fetched a fortune. Evar continually purchased more boats and operated a trade cartel whose vessels went far and wide across the southern lands. With the fabulous wealth he acquired from his trading enterprise Evar purchased his own harborside compound within the great city complete with a warehouse and an opulent villa.

Evar had nearly forgotten all about Magnar when a longboat from the old country arrived at Evar's compound in Apiranth. The ship bore couriers from Magnar, who informed Evar of the master's death and of the dreadful cold that had befallen the land. As the new Master of Magnar, Evar was expected to return home to assume rule over the five realms.

Evar loathed the idea of returning to his frigid and depauperate homeland, and nearly refused. But Evar has since come around to the idea of ruling as Master of Magnar. He has boarded his longboat and gathered his flotilla of ships and now sails from the crowded harbors of Apiranth to the Sturmsee - to Magnar.
Seat: Draath
Realm Boundaries/Location:

[Little Bill]

Realm Information

As long as they have existed, the Seolhi have been on the outskirts of Magnar. The Seolhi isles run along Magnar's Western shores, making up an archipelago whose craggy mountains breaks apart sea storms, sparing their Eastern neighbors the damp winds the Seolhi isles are known for. Their harsh, stormy homelands are not by chance or choice; In the earliest years, the Greatfather granted his son Seolh domain of a small, barren formation of islands as punishment for blinding his brother Eshkag in an unarmed duel of strength. Believed to be born from the line of the wickedest of the Greatfather's sons, Seolhi culture has been inherently hard-hearted since its inception -- Children's tales from the isles tend to incorporate grim, straightforward lessons, funerals involve little more than rifling through the pockets and disposing of a corpse, and the societal expectation of the elderly and enfeebled to unburden their families through suicide is so strong that there is a specific Seolhi holiday for it, known as "Raft's Day."

Since Seolh was cast out to the Western isles, the reputation of the area has managed to improve very little, as it has bred a people known for little more than their clannish, territorial nature and their use of ships as year-round homes to escape their homeland's foul weather. They are stereotypically seen as untrustworthy for their insular customs, though this is also because of the multiple instances of cannibalism and shore raiding in times of famine. For their muddy homeland, territorial ways, and the belief that they routinely "eat their own eggs", they are often referred to as "The Turtle-People" by their Born brethren. They have taken this as a nationalistic symbol, particularly due to the prevalence of aggressive snapping turtles in the brackish rivers of the isles, and the supposed medicinal effect of powdered turtle shell on a man's virility.

Following recent weather anomalies, the Seolhi were among the first to unanimously agree to the great migration, as they stand to have the most to gain. They are a maritime culture through and through, favoring seamanship over war or art, and have high expectations of their people's new place in a new Magnar. The Seolhi, after all, are able to take their prized homes with them, while the neighbors who they believe to have spat down on them from their stone towers cannot.

<sub>• The ancient seat of the Seolhi monarchy is located in the southernmost tip of the isles, in a short cliffside castle known as Urchin's Reach. It is squat, dark grey, and walled off on all sides, with a sole tunnel entrance through a cove underneath the castle -- this is a protective measure, making the fortress only accessible during low tide, once at daybreak and once again at dusk.

• The Seolhi have contributed relatively few inventions to Magnar's history, instead spending most of their history preoccupied with infighting, though there are three creations that the isles rightfully take credit for; the lobster crate, the galley, and a style of somber eight-lined poem known as "Sküvosa". Aside from their original creations, the Seolhi isles supply the rest of Magnar through their trades with firstly with salt, as well as pearls and cured meats. Though it is not a true export, the backbone of the Seolhi economy is made up of money sent home by Seolhi sailors and fishermen living in other realms.

• Due to the poor farmland and comparatively high rate of death in the isles, be it through murder, drowning, or the most common killer of the West -- respiratory infections -- the Seolhi isles have the lowest population of any realm, and highest number of immigrants living abroad. "Wandering Seolhi" who have left the isles for one reason or another typically live nomadically, running aground to cook meals or gather supplies wherever they have sailed.</sub>

Realm Rulers

The Master of Seolhi, Einar Seolhi, is a man of seven-and-eighty. Though once known for his cunning intellect and shadowy diplomatic tactics -- namely bribery, intimidation, and extortion -- his once-devious mind is now a cloud of fragmented memories and nameless faces. These days, he is lucky if he remembers to wear his crown to court, much less the intricacies of ruling the realm. In fact, it is a well-kept secret within the walls of Urchin's Reach that Einar is unaware of the great migration taking place. For the last three years, he has believed it to be the last month of winter. In his stead, the realm is almost entirely lead by his remaining children, Dag and Suriah Seolhi.

In his youth, Einar Seolhi was known as "The Cloak of The West" for his reliance on secretive dealings and intrigue to rule the isles. His son Dag, on the other hand, is known by his men as "The Hammer of the West". After an attempt at Einar's life some thirty-odd years ago, he sent his only child to be sired as far from the Seolhi isles as possible, being raised by the ruling family of Steindahl for a sizable coffer of gold. Among the northerners, Dag grew as harsh and cold as the land, focusing his waking hours avoiding the torment of his many foster brothers and honing his skill with the hinterlander's weapon of choice; the Morningstar. In his solitude, Dag grew into a fearsome, cruel combatant.

Dag returned ten years later, half-blind and covered in a patchwork of scars, but quicker and stronger for having earned them. He is a warrior before he is a prince of the Seolhi court, and having never learned so much as how to rig a sail, his identity as a warrior is paramount in establishing dominance in his interactions. Though his father eagerly awaited his return, gifting him a sizable longboat and ancestral sword upon his arrival, there has always been a sense of bitterness on Dag's end for his father's abandonment, as well as for his return home coinciding with his father's slow descent into delirium. Having spent the last decade in his native isles, Dag has accrued a crew of two dozen loyal cronies despite his inability to sail, spending most of his time in his captain's quarters.

Of the five children sired by Einar Seolhi, Suriah is the only one to have survived growing up in the isles. Considering the circumstances of her birth, this is nearly miraculous; Delivered a month early and through a breech birth that killed her mother during delivery -- three separate but equally poor omens in Seolhi culture -- Suriah was called only "The Girl" by her wetnurses until she was two, out of the Seolhi custom to not name children who seem small or sickly. In spite of her mercurial health as an infant Suriah grew up like a weed, embracing both the princess's matters of royal court, and the seafaring customs of her people. Despite the slight inferiority complex garnered from vying for her father's attention amidst the death and disappearance of her older brothers, Suriah's life was easily the easiest following her ill health as a child, until a fateful birthday.

On the seventeenth anniversary of her birth, Suriah fainted in the halls of Urchin's Reach and began to shake violently, as if possessed by spirits. For a fortnight, she slept with a breath so faint her father feared to put a blanket over her chest. After all known medicines failed, Einar turned to the spiritual world, sending for priests, healers, and miracle workers throughout all of Magner. His quest ended shortly after meeting the witch Vasvalya, who breathed life into Suriah with a blessed sealskin pouch. From there, it is rumored among the low Seolhi lords and other enemies of the Seolhi crown that Suriah would go on to study the denomination of the witch who healed her, cursing her enemies to gain swift victories in her father's name.