Nordenland
Politics isn’t the only thing the Norden are clannish about. They are also split in terms of magical education. Indeed, arcane education is the primary export of the province, with both sides relentlessly training their own brand of magic-users.
West Nordenland specializes in arcane magic. The city of Erlefurt began as a mage college, training wizards for many years before growing into a city. A total of eight wizard schools have since arisen in Nordenland, and while graduating from one is considered a great honor, Erlefurt’s Magister College is considered the foremost institution for arcane magic, rivalled only by the Ravencourt Sanctuary in Ostoya. Scrolls, spellbooks, and various magic items abound in the shops along Viternas Lane. Archduchess Maelfa and her magistrate focus on training more mages to cement her importance to the Imperial family and to hold the East in check.
Meanwhile, East Nordenland draws magic entirely from the natural world. The capital city of Ulmirac houses the Order of the Golden Bough, the most powerful druid sect in the Empire. Nearly everything worth learning about nature can be found in their Library of Trees. Potions, ingredients, and herbs of all kinds may be found in the Silverine Market.
Alfric, Patriarch of the Oaken Circle, maintains order while encouraging his citizens to live in harmony with the natural world. Thus, the Circle maintains protective magical boundaries on the forests of East Nordenland, but even these are failing due to the power of the Great Beast.
Indeed, the only thing keeping the Norden from all-out civil war is the ongoing threat of the Beast. The entity seems more active in Nordenland than in any other province, with large sections of forests having been turned into a twisted hellscape populated by corrupted monstrosities. Unlike Abendlanders, the Norden recognize the threat of the Beast and prioritize its destruction. To this end, they offer riches and magical secrets to any who can help recover the lost Imperial artifacts that have birthed this monstrosity.
Demographics
The mysterious forest dwellers of Nordenland are an ancient race with a strong kinship to magic and faerie folk. The Norden inhabit a region of lush woods, hills, narrow rivers, and sheer cliffs, all of which hide their own kind of secrets. The capital of the province is Erlefurt, a city in West Nordenland that houses various colleges devoted to each branch of magic.
Nordenland is a province divided. Those that hew to the Bürach Empire reside in the western region, where they have raised a city much like those in other provinces. Those who reside in the east have abandoned their oaths to the emperor and reverted to the Old Ways, living closer to nature. The forests and bogs of eastern Nordenland contain the roots, berries, and fruits that they use in their magic rituals.
Government
West Nordenland is ruled by an Arch-Duchess that has been loyal for centuries to the Imperial Family. They maintain order in Erlefurt and its surrounding country while declaring Easterners to be traitors to the crown. East Nordenland is ruled by the Patriarch and his Oaken Court. They keep the borders of their forest ensorcelled so that none may enter without their knowing. They do not recognize imperial authority and are willing to fight for their independence. The Empire has little to no influence on East Nordenland, as most of their forces are out fighting wars elsewhere.
The Norden armies are largely lightly armored, armed with wooden shields and broadswords. They deploy powerful druids and mages among their ranks. The Eastern Norden are known for employing giant war bears to aid them on the battlefield.
Industry & Trade
The Eastern Norden are mostly composed of outlanders of various races. They reside in the woods and swamps, forsaking complex technology and relying on their connection to nature to thrive. Most live in the forests, in treetop villages to keep away from the magical beasts that wander their domain. Tribes are led by chieftains, who themselves answer to their leader, the Patriarch. Their xenophobic tendencies have kept foreigners and trade away, though it is not unknown for their mages to take in foreign apprentices who swear fealty to East Norden.
The Westerners, on the other hand, insist that modernization is the way forward. They have adopted windmills, waterwheels, and farming tools. They use boats to ply the waterways and trade lumber and dry goods with the other provinces. The large number of coastal villages in their province provide access to saltwater fish that help support their food supply.
The Norden’s greatest talent, however, lies in magic. Any mage who aspires to a name in the Bürach Empire goes to Erlefurt in order to gain mastery at one of the famed Great Colleges there. Norden mages are renowned for their skill and intellect, and remain in demand throughout the Empire.
History
The ancient province of Nordenland sits on the threshold of a variety of other dimensions, including that of the faerie realm. The presence of otherworldly beings constantly exposes the Norden to magical events and creatures. As such, they have the largest number of mages and druids in the Empire. The god Ulmyr emerged from one of these interdimensional rifts. When he beheld the Norden, he saw a people he could call his own. He gathered the scattered tribes into one mighty clan and helped them to hone their arcane potential. When Emperor Indorious was crowned, Ulmyr joined with the other gods into a united pantheon. The Norden followed their god and Nordenland became a province of the fledgling Bürach Empire.
Many Norden had misgivings over this move, as they had preferred their ways to those of a foreign power. This simmering anger did not wane with time. As the towns and cities of the other provinces sprang up at their borders, the Norden found their territory shrinking and their influence diminishing. The neighboring province of Rauland’s need for timber lured loggers to the Norden forests, which in turn weakened the magic of the realm. Infuriated, the Norden fought a war to reclaim their lost territory but were outnumbered. Eventually, they were forced to accept an armistice and agree to new boundaries.
With the Gods’ End occurring, everything fell to chaos. Conflict broke out amongst the provinces as the gods ordered their followers to fight for their glory. Despite their love for Ulmyr, the wisest of the Norden knew that if they continued the war there would be nothing left of their once-proud realm. Thus, they conspired with like-minded individuals from the other provinces to assassinate the emperor.
With Leopold I dead, the assassins absconded with the four holy artifacts. They were supposed to bring these artifacts to Nordenland in the hope that the wizards could find a way to reverse the gods’ madness. But before the artifacts could reach Nordenland, old wounds reopened among the Norden. While the loyalists wanted to restore the Empire, some of the Norden remembered their past humiliations and wanted Nordenland free from imperial rule for good. Those who held the artifacts would have the power to steer the province’s future.
Fighting broke out over the treasures. Then, to everyone’s shock, the artifacts blazed with light, levitated into the air, and vanished. Without a chance to cure their insanity, the gods were left to fight to the death.
The strife split the Norden into two factions, each blaming the other for their downfall. Those who believed in the Old Ways gathered in the east. Those who wanted to remain in the Empire kept to the west. The people of East Norden view their Western brethren as blood traitors who abandoned their true family. The Westerners consider those of the East weak and behind the times.
Skirmishes have frequently erupted between the two factions, and it seems a new civil war is in the offing. Both sides continue to search for the missing artifacts in hopes of restoring their god and gaining the upper hand in the conflict.
A decade after the Gods’ End, woodland life in Nordenland began to change into hideous, deformed versions of themselves that attacked other life indiscriminately. Both sides accused the other of dark magic. Sighting of the towering antlered figure settled the matter. To this day, mages from both sides are struggling to stop the Beast from corrupting their land any further.
Location under
Comments