The History of Mordia

The history of the land known as Mordia nowadays is quite old, and even those that know it tell the stories as myths of an ancient past. These stories dating back before the arrival of the Mordians have been told and retold by Mordians over the years. Although there are myths, poems and stories dating back to the stories of creation, the history of Mordia as we know it today starts with the erratic reign of Vanir in the land.

The nomads that travelled from the east found the abandoned lands of Mordia, which had been claimed by the wild and were in ruins, so they settled across them. They took refuge from the winter chasing them and found protection in the great mountain range that surrounded them, Ymir’s Lash.
This land had no name known to its new inhabitants and so they gave it a new one; calling it Mordia. With the naming of their new home, the first age began and was followed by two more.

Before Mordia

People of strong faith, zealots, drunkards and traumatized sailors all tell the story of an old war, of the oldest war there was. From the black depths of the deepest ocean to the end of the highest sky, from the peak of the tallest mountain to the plains of an even land; the war spread all across worlds from the roots and branches of Yggdrasil. This savage war was fought between the Aesir and the Vanir without any apparent reason; ages-long rivalry turning into an ages-long war. One thing that is certain is the victory of the Aesir and the banishment of the Vanir.
There were some from both sides that opposed the war but their petty efforts were no match for the passion and the will of the spear bearer, the battle wolf, the ruler of the Gods, the Allfather, Odin. The Aesir fought under the absolute command of Odin until their enemies were broken. One Vanir, named Freyja, sacrificed her body and soul to the Aesir in order to end the war and save what was left from her people. The Aesir accepted her as their equal and exiled the Vanir from their lands, towards the south, to The Arenian Empire.
After the war, a new threat arose and caught the attention of the Aesir. A frost jotunn named Marr rallied tribes together before he met his end at Thor’s hands. Marr’s son, Odd, succeeded his father and started his crusade against the Aesir, finally ending up near Mordia. He was imprisoned by a spear created by dvergrs in the name of Balder, and used by Odd’s adopted brother Volli. Yet, the black winter that came out of Odd’s breath lingered.
Eventually, the Gods and Goddesses abandoned Mordia, but valor, bravery, and war never left the land. Many years passed and many people lived and died. The new ages came in three.

Ages of Mordia

The Mordians experienced different times, all with their own hardships and joys. For three ages, they have lived in Mordia.

First Age

Sages of old describe this age as an age of the Gods and Goddesses, of myths, of courage and of strength. This age began when Black Winter struck the boundaries of the land of Mordia, humanity's last haven. The tyrant frost jotunn Odd was impaled and left in chains in an eternal slumber. Still, the northern shores of Mordia began to freeze and harsh cold winds battered Ymir’s Lash from the west.
Black Winter was relentless. The spiritual leaders of the natives made the peaks of Ymir’s Lash their home and erected wooden totems to ward off the freezing howling storms. At the same time, Mordians learned to use the resources of the land. They built longhouses, ships, temples, and armed themselves with better tools and weapons. First, they spread all across the land and then got together to form kingdoms. The first kingdoms emerged and with them, new cultures and conflicts arose.
The most tragic event in all the realms occurred in the First Age. Loki tricked the blind god Hodr into killing Balder with a spear made of mistletoe. The fall of Balder caused the spear that had impaled Odd to lose its power, and Black Winter grew stronger. Half of Balder’s followers fell into madness and the other half barely managed to preserve their sanity and benevolence; yet, all of them lost their beauty and charm as their God did. A one-day massacre shook the honest people of the land to their core and undid an entire age of good deeds by Balder and his followers. This bloodshed also led to the founding of Tyr’s Judges, which changed the course of history for all Mordians.
One morning, Ymir’s Lash was battered by sudden, cold winds. The unexpected impact of the largest snowstorm ever seen shattered and destroyed the totems that warded off Black Winter. New roads and new, stronger shelters were built across the mountain range. The broken totems were replaced with black ice obelisks, which were intended to host more powerful spirits for the purpose of holding back the freezing storms. It is said that these fabled obelisks have survived to this day, although not many have seen them.

Second Age

There are elderly people who witnessed the end of the second age and who tell stories of it. They also tell the stories of their parents and of their parents’ parents. The age of the Eastern Horn and the Bear King. The heartbreaking tales of a massacre that could be justified by none. At the beginning of the second age, two kingdoms emerged and dominated the abandoned ancient Vanir settlements.
They were the people of the kingdom of Eastern Horn, the only political authority in the lands. They had many skirmishes with the scattered tribes of the west but saw no threat in them. The power scale was disturbed when an orphan named Slon started to unite the western tribes against a mountain jotunn threat; a quest which he was unable to complete as another orphan bested him in a duel and finished what Slon had started. He was called the Bear King.
At the same time, the High Seidr Council was assembled to prevent Black Winter from taking hold over Mordia any more than it had already done. Lots of seidrs settled close to the obelisks of the Ymir’s Lash. The High Seidr Council met every six months in a congregation near Onvik, the attendance of which was strictly forbidden to others. This consortium gave important decisions about the errands of the north.
The Awakening
The weakened power of Balder’s spear could no longer contain the might of Odd and the frost jotunn was awakened in its chains. Black Winter grew even stronger and the High Seidr Council started to fail in their task of warding it off. The influence of the freezing cold began to reach the south.
The Bear King respected seidrs. Thus, he turned his attention to them when they began to fail. One night, without notice, he marched to Onvik and murdered everyone in the High Seidr Council and in Onvik. He delusionally thought this to be a great sacrifice to the Aesir. For this madman, it was the way to succeed in what the seidrs failed to do; to end Black Winter. The tension between Eastern Horn and the Bear King was already immense. After the massacre, Eastern Horn made its move to end the reign of the blasphemous Bear King. Thus, the War of Hooves and Claws started.
The War
Like two faces of the same coin, these two kingdoms shared a common heritage. However, they had different manners. Both wanted things that the other had, however, they settled their differences with small skirmishes until the massacre.
The war began and Eastern Horn started its military campaign deep into the Bear King’s territories. They tried to end the war before it got out of control and miserably failed when they encountered the army of the Bear King.
The war continued for many years; countless soldiers and civilians died, and many hamlets, villages, and castles were destroyed. The civilization in Mordia was on the brink of annihilation.
Eventually, Eastern Horn put an end to the Bear King and stood victorious. Yet, none was actually victorious. Both kingdoms collapsed and the scarred people of the war scattered across Mordia to find or build new homes. Households were filled with orphans, Black Winter was stronger, and there was no authority to turn to.

Third Age

After the great war between the east and west and the arrival of the dvergrs in Mordia, the third age began with the emergence of the new kingdoms. Mordia was divided into three regions. Great winds of the north started to sweep the borders of three kingdoms; Nionaem, Alsvartr, and Green Lights of the East.
Nionaem
The west united under Klakkr and became Nionaem. He was a strong soldier, who followed the ways of the Bear King, and a respected leader. His middle child Ingmar succeeded to the throne.
He followed the ways of the Bear King but was quite the visionary in his own right. He ordered the construction of walls and castles just like Eastern Horn had done. He thought that it was necessary for survival against the raids on the borders from Alsvartr.
Unlike his father, Ingmar was a cruel tyrant. He used the power he possessed to get anything he wanted from his people without mercy or hesitation. Eventually, his reign came to an end at the hands of a boatmaker who returned from the dead; Aleson the Arisen.
Green Lights of the East
The east united under strong clans and were ruled by Denil, a famous Thor gothi and a member of the ruling clans. He took the throne despite the intense competition and earned the respect of the people.
After his sudden death, his eldest child Sturjorn succeeded to the throne. However, his fate was the same; he suddenly died at a young age. His brother Orrin succeeded to the throne and was followed by his daughter. All who succeeded to the throne thereafter were from Denil’s bloodline, and the family became known as the ruler of the kingdom.
The rulers of the kingdom were always talented and well-educated, and they almost always died at a young age. Some believed the throne was cursed, however, it didn’t stop the Denil family. Currently, Bergljot Denildottir sits on the throne.
Alsvartr
The land between Nionaem and Green Lights of the East was united under Hazur. He was a young and strong warlord of the Eastern Horn. After his death, his brother Hanlon took the throne. Similar to Hazur, Hanlon was loved and respected by many people. However, his demeanour is known to change when someone mentions his late brother.
Gudrick, the son of Hazur, didn’t accept his uncle’s claim on the throne and left the capital. He travelled across the land, gathering folks’ sympathy, and building on his notorious strength. He took the name Moonbearer, murdered his own mother, and revolted against his uncle.
This conflict divided Alsvartr in two. Hanlon gained control over the majority of Alsvartr and has been ruling from Onvik. Gudrick escaped to the east and formed the North Assembly which he has been ruling from Gopastad.

The Vanir

After their exile to the south, the surviving Vanir found new homes on the continent of what would become the Arenian Empire. It seemed as though they were not the only elves to have been exiled here, leading to centuries of new history to be written upon its sands.
Few Mordians were even aware that such a place existed, until the beginning of the Era of Champions, early in the Third Age. The Vanir were holding a tournament to honour the gods where only the finest warriors in the world could compete and the winners would be granted godhood and a chance to meet their gods as equals.
They called it The Arenian Games and when news of this tournament reached Mordia, thousands began training, confident that Mordians were the finest warriors in the world. Later they would gather the largest fleet ever assembled on Mordian shores to sail across the sea and battle for the glory of godhood.
Because those fleets were carrying the finest warriors in Mordia, and because many did not return, Mordia felt a bitter sense of defeat after the first Great Games. Their armies were weakened, their homes vulnerable to attack and their food stores running ever thinner. Their pride, however, remained strong.
As revenge for their defeat and to ensure that it never happened again, Mordia began raiding the shores of the Arenian Empire, even establishing settlements along the coast and claiming them as Mordian territory. These Mordians have changed over the years due to the influence of Arenian culture and weather patterns, but they would never admit it. Their gods are with them, their blood is vikingr. This will always be.

Dvergrs

Dvergrs are also known as Dark Elves in Mordia. Their home realm is Svartalfheim in Austris, or “Nidavellir’’ in their language, Dvergmer (a variation of elvish). They are the crafters of the legendary spear Oddbane, and the heroes of countless stories in Mordia. The rest of the world, however, refers to them as dwarves. To play a dvergr is to play a dwarf. They are one in the same.
Crafters from Another Realm
Dvergrs are famous for their blacksmithing, stone masonry, and runic knowledge. They are masters of armor and weapons, builders of cities, and creators of many runic spells.
The great dvergr ancestors, Brokkr & Eitri, are the blacksmiths of the Gods and Goddesses. They crafted the legendary spear, Oddbane, that struck down Odd, the frost jotunn who was powerful enough to try to defy the Gods and Goddesses. In return, they demanded a gate from Balder, through which they could travel to Mordia and then go back to Svartalfheim.
They knew that there was an immense amount of black ice, a highly valuable and very rare material, under the mountains called Ymir’s Lash. They also knew that dvergrs are immune to its effects. Balder accepted the deal and built the gate under Ymir’s Lash. The gate worked perfectly until Balder’s death, which was due to Loki’s trickeries. When Balder died, the power of the gate also vanished and it stopped working.
A New World, A New Life
When the gate was closed, three dvergr clans were trapped in Mordia: Clan Goldglance, masters of the gold; Clan Runebearer, masters of knowledge and runes; and Clan Stoneborn, masters of stones. They decided to live according to their traditions in Svartalfheim and keep following their quest until they find a way to return to their realm.
The dvergr tradition demands that no clan is more important than the others and that there must always be two rulers. So, the dvergrs in Mordia chose two rulers and gave them a new clan name; Goldhammers. This name was also changed along with the rulers and became Bronzehead.
The dvergrs lived a life full of danger and prosperity under the mountains. For years, they sought new ways of returning back to Svartalfheim, which they failed to do countless times, and kept mining the black ice while battling the monsters and the spirits of the mountain.
The New Calling
When the Bear King massacred the High Seidr Council, the spirits within Ymir’s Lash entered a state of frenzy and started to kill all the living, including the dvergrs. The spirits saw their friends be massacred mercilessly, and transformed into creatures of evil and shadow. After the great battle called the Dark Battle, the dvergrs succeeded in repulsing the dark spirits’ attacks thanks to great sacrifices and the intervention of a Valkyrie. The same Valkyrie gave a prophecy to the dvergrs before leaving with the worthy souls. Go deep or go out Either way will result in another
The dvergrs divided into two groups after this event. Those below chose to stay in the mountains and dug deeper, either to find more black ice or to find a way to Helheim to save Balder. Those above wanted to go out of the mountains and explore Mordia with the hope of discovering a new method to return to their realm. Although the two groups went their separate ways, all of them knew that the other side would welcome them with open arms upon their return.
Those above built the most beautiful stone city, Vodindyr, and started a new life. Their techniques of working stone, runic teachings, and different traditions certainly changed over the course of history in Mordia. Now, dvergrs can be found anywhere on Mordia.