welcome to nordhavn!

welcome to nordhavn!

hurrah, my new medieval-fantasy rotational hood is finally ready to play! i've been caught up in a building and planning frenzy these past few weeks, but now everything is complete eeee. its heavily inspired by the viking period, but with fantastical and generic-medieval elements to it too.

where is nordhavn?

nordhavn is a small town tucked away at the northernmost tip of the country of norrevik. whilst only a small harbour settlement, it is still of somewhat strategic significance to the crown due to the ease of access it provides to the nordik sea. the nearest large town to nordhavn is eldenberg, which is about half a day's ride away. drekkstad, the capital of norrevik, is a 3 day ride to the south.

who lives in nordhavn?

nordhavn is administered by its own jarl, a leader who oversees all matters of importance in the town. the position of jarl is not hereditary, but rather one collectively elected to by the townspeople, based on perceived strength and level of respect. it is a lifetime position, but it can be just as easily stripped away should the holder lose the favour of their people.

as nordhavn is only a small town, the jarl isn't of particular importance in the grand scheme of things. the neighboring jarl of eldenborg is far more powerful, for example. other than the jarl, there are households of various wealth and standing in nordhavn, and we'll meet them all very soon, but above is an overview of where some of these families live!

okay, now gimme the lore

so at this point i have already wrote 10+ pages of lore for this hood lol, but i won't share all of that now. i can certainly give some of the highlights, though.

before nordhavn was founded down on the harbour, there was an ancient city that stood on the hills above the current town. it was known as nordfjall, and was a seat of one of the old dragon riders of times long gone. whats left of it now lies in complete ruins, but some lots such as the handfasting tree and the watcher's temple are still located up there (as shown below).



speaking of dragon riders, they ruled norrevik (and beyond!) for many millenia, but the last dragons died out centuries ago now. the descendants of the dragon riders still rule, however, with king hakon drekivaldr currently atop the throne of norrevik. his distant cousin, queen disa, rules the country of surrland directly to the south.

norrevik and surrland used to form one single kingdom, but after the last dragon riders died out, the realm was split into dozens of smaller kingdoms, each ruled by various drekivaldr descendants. these descendants fought amongst one another for hundreds of years, and it is only norrevik and surrland that remain now, having swallowed up all of their weaker neighbours over time. both king hakon and queen disa claim the full realm as rightfully their own, but the borders between the two countries have barely changed in the last 100 years, despite frequent skirmishes and wars. i have a loooot more to say on this history, but i won't bore you with any more detail just now.

a couple more final things to note - dragons used to be worshipped as gods in their day (and by some, they still are), but in present times it is increasingly the almighty watcher to whom people pay homage. oh, and present times is specifically the year 325 (nearly 300 years before my vinterfjord legacy, which is set in the future kingdom of simdinavia).



and heres a final picture of nordhavn because i couldn't decide which one to use

1.0 meet the residents of nordhavn!

1.0 meet the residents of nordhavn!

below are short introductory summaries for each family i'll be playing in nordhavn! to begin with, we have eight households in the rotation. i'd been aiming to start with five or six, but here we are.

recommended: introduction to nordhavn

the jarl’s hall (the vetrbrok household)

(l-r, erik vetrbrok, yoren vetrbrok, tordis vetrbrok, noma vetrbrok)

it was seven years ago that tordis vetrbrok took on the position of jarl of nordhavn, following the sudden death of her mother, jarl tora. whilst not uncommon for a son or daughter to succeed as jarl after a parent, it is far from a given, and tordis had certainly not been seeking out the job. still, she seemed to be making a good go of it, and for reasons unbeknownst to her, the people of nordhavn appeared to unwaveringly respect her leadership and judgement. tordis' husband, yoren, is the town's physician/surgeon/healer all wrapped into one, and together they have an 8 year-old daughter, noma. tordis' nephew, erik, also lives at the jarl's hall, following the death of his mother (tordis' sister, olia) when he was but a young child. the poor boy never even knew who his father was, and so it had been left to his aunt and uncle to raise him as their own.

round 1

the sumar household

(l-r, kai mori, alf sumar)

one year had now passed since alf moved to nordhavn from the larger town of eldenberg. it had been a move that he had not been keen on making, but one his father had demanded. his family appeared to hold hope that some time spent with his (far more) responsible cousin, jarl tordis, would do him some good. it was true that alf wasn't quite sure of his place in the world yet, but he didn't understand why that was such a big deal. perhaps it had something to do with the prestige and status that the sumar name still held, and the expectations that inevitably came with that. alf's best friend, kai, had also joined him on this new journey to nordhavn. there had been nothing keeping kai in eldenberg anyway, though if they'd known just how small nordhavn was, they'd have maybe thought twice about agreeing to come here...

round 1

the borgen household

(ivarr borgen)

ivarr had fought and gained glory in the last great war between norrevik and its southern neighbour, surrland, almost 15 years ago. it was there that he'd forged a close bond with his friend, and now senior, jarl tordis. yet he was getting older now, and as such was starting to think about stepping back from his role as tordis' deputy, a role putting him in charge of the town's defences and recruits. perhaps he'd become a carpenter instead, or maybe even a blacksmith? with a divorce to his ex-wife also recently (rather controversially) granted by both the jarl and the watcher faithful, his life was certainly going through a transitionary period.

round 1

eydis’ lodgings (the lodgings household)

(l-r, astra langr, eydis varanhuus)

as live-in owner of nordhavn's lodging house, eydis has seen many a face come and go over the years. the townsfolk often wonder why such a grumpy and reclusive lady like eydis would want to welcome strangers into her home like she does, for she certainly didn't need the extra money atop her well-established pottery business, but perhaps she's softer than people give her credit for. her most recent lodger is astra, a young highborn lady from the capital, who had recently been cast out of the city for making an enemy of a powerful merchant's wife there. renting a tiny room at eydis' place was certainly going to be a shock to the poor girl's system.

the mermaids (the hafsaer household)

(l-r, edda hafsaer, maya hafsaer (in the front), tove hafsaer)

the hafsaer women are also a fairly new addition to nordhavn, though most wouldn't even know they were here. they rarely ever left their cabin on the outskirts of town by the water's edge, and seemed to do all they could to avoid contact with absolutely anyone at any given time. edda had faced enough persecution over the years to know that mermaids are best to keep to themselves, and she didn't want to have to uproot her young daughter's life yet again. her sister, tove, on the other hand, had a less cynical view of the world, and was desperate to venture further from their lonely cabin. maybe people would be nicer here, after all.

the singasven household

(l-r, magnus singasven, sylvi singasven, fierzo singasven, tyrella singasven)

fierzo and sylvi had been an unlikely match when they'd first met 30 years ago, but their marriage has persisted despite everyone's expectations. fierzo had grown up far from the cold harshness of norrevik, but his travels had brought him to the high north back in his youth. the charismatic and lovable trader had at first been taken aback by the quick-wit and sharp tongue of young sylvi, but somehow things between them had just clicked, and the rest was history. their two children were now adults, and fierzo hoped his son magnus would one day take over his successful fishing business. tyrella, on the other hand, is still mourning the end of her marriage to the jarl's deputy, ivarr borgen. rarely permitted, divorce was still a rather scandalous affair in these parts, and it would make it rather difficult for her to find another husband. ah, and she had been so ready to start a family of her own...

the seer’s hut (the seer household)

(l-r, gisli rodtoppen, volund the seer)

whilst many joke eydis is the oldest resident of nordhavn, it is actually volund, the seer, who has lived longer than a century. despite this, so little is actually known about the mysterious shaman, other than that he somehow knows much of what has already occurred, what is happening right now, and what is still yet to come. he is rarely seen beyond his hut, for it is to him that people visit when they have a question to ask, and beyond that he has absolutely no interest in seeking out their company. then there is poor 14-year old gisli. the boy had recently been roped into becoming the seer's apprentice by jarl tordis and his parents. he hated everything about the arrangement, and couldn't understand why the seer even needed an apprentice. he certainly didn't seem to want one, that was obvious enough, and the old man was surely going to live forever anyway, right?

the farm (the rodtoppen household)

(l-r, espen rodtoppen, alsa rodtoppen, una rodtoppen, leif rodtoppen)

the rodtoppens have run their little farm on the same land in nordhavn for generations now, though they are just as famous for their vibrant red hair as they are for their turnips. cousins leif and alsa had their first child, gisli, when they were but teenagers themselves, and with him now off on his new apprenticeship, they are focused on raising their twin toddlers while attempting to keep the farm in check. they didn't mind much being near the bottom of nordhavn's social ladder, for the town needed the rodtoppens' annual harvests more than the rodtoppens needed the town!

begin reading round 1 here!