Jomsburg Island

The lair of the feared Jomsvikings, Jomsburg is a fortress-city perched high above the North Sea. Tall, thick walls surround the city, even on the seaward side, and the Jomsvikings spared no expense in the construction of their defenses, even going so far as to import priceless siege equipment from the Southlands. These siege engines throw stones large enough to sink a ship or shatter a shieldwall. The city proper is on the cliffs; however, a second city exists in a network of caves that lead from the main fortress through the cliffs to the sea caves below. It is in these sea caves that the Jomsvikings bring their longships and beach them in safety. The sea caves are strongly defended with underground fortifications and massive chains that can be stretched across their mouths in order to block attacking ships. A further defense is the nature of the caves themselves, for their entrances are difficult to spot and their passages are a maze of narrow winding watery tunnels. They are also allegedly home to the mysterious Jomsbeast.
The Jomsvikings themselves are notorious vikings and mercenaries who terrorize the Northlands and beyond with impunity. They are a tightknit brotherhood that swear blood oaths to each other and to their master, Jarl Ut the Fat. These pirates and cutthroats refuse to abide by any law but their own and live a life of debauchery and slaughter, taking what they want and crafting no goods, growing no food, and providing no useful services themselves — other than rapine and slaughter. Only the most desperate jarl would dare hire the Jomsvikings, and so most of the brotherhood spends at least part of the year in the service to the nobles of the Southlands or the distant Ammuyad Caliphate.
The Jomsburg is home to more than just the Jomsvikings and the Jomsbeast, for in a series of caverns on the southern cliffs of the island lives Old Meg, one of the three daughters of the Norn Skuld. Old Meg is a wizened, insane hag who offers deadly challenges to prove the mettle of those who come to her seeking aid. Those who pass receive information, items of magical potency, and respect from a half-divine entity. Those who fail are never heard from again, for not only do they lose their lives, but their very souls as well.

Type

Island