Jarl Birger av Summerhelm

Jarl Summerhelm is a man of misery. Despite his position of power, he has no desire to actually rule. Instead, he seeks glory and respect from others, and is easily swayed by those who flatter and court his affections. This makes the jarl sadly easy to manipulate, particularly by the spies and thieves within his own Clan.
In fact, Clan Morgöng so despises Jarl Summerhelm, it has become a game to see who among them can play the greatest prank on the man, without destabilizing their hold on Summerhelm itself. The position of the city and its black market are far too useful to the clan to be lost. Thus, Jarl Summerhelm has been “invited” to banquets in cities to the south, only to discover that the leaders there never sent such a request for his presence—if they even exist at all. Undeterred, Jarl Summerhelm believes that such pranks are mere opportunities for him to cement goodwill among other leaders, and a surprising number of those attempts bring him exactly what he wants: respect in the moment, if not long term.
The rulers of Runeheim have taken notice of Jarl Summerhelm’s easily-swayed nature, and intend to expand their influence further north. Whether this is to expand their control over the Dream Leaves market in the southern lands or to eliminate the flow of Dream Leaves into their city depends on the results of that adventure. Other black-market merchants have interests in keeping Jarl Summerhelm in power, if only because a shift in power would upset their operations in the city. Clan Völgr, on the other hand, see Summerhelm as a strategic outpost from which they could expand their reach into Kandar.
The interests in his city have done little to deter Jarl Summerhelm’s traveling, however; he has even refused Clan Mithra’s offer to help guard the city against incursions, instead relying on mercenaries and adventurers to defend the city. Where he gets such impressive funding is unclear, though Jarl Summerhelm often appears to be an idiot, it’s possible he has motives—and resources—no one else is yet aware of.