Nordlog
SOCIETY
Utaran society is organized into three classes: freepeople, who are landowners; jarls, who were wealthy nobles tasked with maintaining the well being of their subjects; and thralls, who are bondspeople, the latter having to work for other Utaran’s until they could pay their debts. The Kingdom of Utara is made up of landowning chieftains and clan heads, their retainers, freepeople, and any energetic young clan members who sought adventure and booty overseas. At home these people were independent farmers, but at sea they were raiders and pillagers. During the early raiding period the Utaran tribes and clans seem to have possessed a practically inexhaustible surplus of manpower, and leaders of ability, who could organize groups of warriors into conquering bands and armies, were seldom lacking. These bands would negotiate the seas in their longships and mount hit-and-run raids at cities and towns along the coasts of Alteria and Pallidon. Now, the people are very much focused (for now) on trade and exploration.
Government
Monarchy (Kingdom of Utara)
Defences
The Syd is about 30 kilometres (19 mi) long overall, with a height varying between 3.6 and 6 metres (12 and 20 ft). The structure was reinforced with palisades and masonry walls, and was used by Utaran kings as a gathering point for military excursions, including a series of raids against the peoples of Pallidon and Alteria.
The Ring Fort, or Utara-type fortress, is a type of circular fort of a special design, built near the coast during the Raider Age. This fortress has a strictly circular shape, with roads and gates pointing in the four cardinal directions. It is partially encircled by advanced ramparts houses at least 200 fully equipped warriors. The fort is set on the western portion of Nordlog.
Industry & Trade
IMPORTS
Livestock, grain, silks, linens, and alchemy/medicines.
EXPORTS
Furs, various metal ores, pottery, weapons, armor
TRADE AND COMMERCE
Nordlog is the commerce heart of the Kingdom of Utara. Each household produces most of what its members need to sustain themselves, and the average person possessed few luxury items. Even before the Raider Age, however, a limited degree of domestic trade existed as well, primarily in the form of seasonal rural markets. Now, bought goods and materials such as silver, silk, spices, wine, jewelry, glass and pottery are displayed in the massive Trade Square of the city. Vendors here sell a variety of items like honey, tin, wheat, wool, wood, iron, fur, leather, fish and walrus ivory.
Nordlog traders tend to carry a set of folding scales which they used to weigh coins to make sure they got a fair deal. Cheating any Utaran is a good way to be violently assaulted.
Guilds and Factions
Tibers – Are members of a high-ranking class in Utaran cultures. Tibers are societal leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Their name may have come from a Celtic word meaning “knower of the oak tree.” The Tibers generally leave no written accounts. While many are literate, they are believed to show preference toward a spoken history compared to recording their knowledge in written form. All Tibers can cast Earth Magic and strive to better their abilities for the betterment of those around them. Elder Tibers are considered som of the most powerful users of Earth magic on the shard. They also tend to an active role in the development of many young people, who go to them for instruction. If difficult situations or matters, Utaran leaders with go to Tibers and request they judge public and private quarrels, to include the decree penalties.
History
Originally started as a trading settlement near the southern end of the island continent of Utara. According to local legend, Bearkin chronicler Abrastrit visited what is now Nordlog and described it as, "a very large city at the very end of the world's ocean." The settlement developed as a trading centre at the head of a narrow, navigable inlet known as the Heinriholm, which connects to the Arin Sea. The location was favorable because there is a short portage of less than 15 km to the Jýgo River, which flows into the Nörnsá with its Frozen Basin estuary, making it a convenient place where goods and ships could be pulled on a trade road overland for an almost uninterrupted seaway between the Arin and the North Sea and avoid a dangerous and time-consuming circumnavigation of entire Island. Nordlog is the second largest settlement in the Kingdom of Utara, after the capital of Nor’Hold. Nordlog Harbor houses a great number of Longships and other merchant vessels. It also garrisons a massive number of warriors that reside with the Ring Fort on the western portion of the city.
Along the shore, to include the city, is a system of fortifications called the Syd. This historically important linear defensive earthwork has made any waterborne invasion nearly impossible. It has been expanded multiple times during Kingdom’s growth. The Syd consists of several walls, trenches, and stone obstacles. The walls stretch for 30 km, from the center of Nordlog, and have a dark reddish appearance from a distance.
Points of interest
The Dragon Pottery - The workshop of a female human potter named Thoreya Horkidotr, built within a large dragon-shaped kiln. Thoreya spends several months filling the shop with thrown pots, then bricks in the door and spends several days firing it. The opening of the fired kiln is a local festival.
Thilde's Woodwork - A modest woodcarver's workshop, said to be protected by fey creatures.
The Hungry Trickster - A large commoner's tavern, said to be a front for the Assassin's Guild.
Ring Fort – The circular fortress, or Utara-type fortress, is a type of circular fort of a special design, built near the coast during the Raider Age. This fortress has a strictly circular shape, with roads and gates pointing in the four cardinal directions. It is partially encircled by advanced ramparts houses at least 200 fully equipped warriors.
Geography
Nordlog is situated in the northern region of mistshard, being the situated between both the continents of Pallidon and Alteria. The city itself is located in the southern portion of the Utaran continent and is slightly southeast of Nor’hold. It normally maintains frigid temperatures throughout the year.
Type
City
Population
1074
Inhabitant Demonym
Majority Human, Oathsworn, and Wylderkin
Owner/Ruler
Owning Organization
Characters in Location
Comments