The Valikan Unification

Founding

Thorgard of Völgr unified the Valikans Clans and drove away the invaders from the south.

One of the many notable heroes in the Lord Edda is Thorgard, a figure of such epic tales that some believe he is an amalgamation of various chieftains and heroes throughout Valikan oral history. A thousand years since the fall of the Great Wyrm, the various Valikan clans were at each other’s throats over territory and resources. Split by numerous petty wars, the Northerners were easy pickings for colonisers from the southern empires. The half-orc hero Thorgard is said to have originated from Clan Völgr on the island of Holgar. Seeing the chaos and suffering brought about by Valikan disunity, he sought the help of a hag who could see into the future. The hag told him that he could unite the clans by taking on the role of their war chief and leading them on a campaign against the foreign invaders. The hag advised Thorgard to tell the clans that he was the reincarnation of Kentigern, First Hero of the North. To help with the tale, he needed to find an artifact similar to Kentigern’s legendary weapon Bane-Slayer, a magical double-bladed sword— one blade covered in frost, the other in flames. Thorgard went on a quest for such a weapon and did manage to find it. What he did not realise for some time was that he had discovered Kentigern’s real weapon, the Bane-Slayer. Thus the legend of Thorgard began with a self-fulfilling prophecy. With the weapon in hand, he traveled throughout Grarjord, facing each clan and bringing them into his steadily growing army. Some leaders he convinced through diplomacy, others through acts of service. With his mortal enemy, the Sarvif of the Sýr Clan, he fought a duel to the death that lasted three days and nights. With that victory, all six clans united under Thorgard’s banner, their swords and axes sharpened, and their longships lining each harbor. With his army, Thorgard moved against the foreign invaders. He raided their coastal settlements and drew out their armies into the field. A great battle was fought in the tundra, and within a season, the foreigners were driven south, their colonies abandoned. The North was free once more. His victory complete, Thorgard decided to expand the borders of the Valikan. He took a fleet of longboats and headed west to look for more lands to conquer. He was not heard from since.