The lands of Norsca

Norsca is often referred to as a nation, although the people are aware that the lands living on the brink of eternal winter is unlike the Empire or Bretonnia, it is still seen as a nation. This however slightly misses the true character of the lands that are called Norsca.
One can argue for hours what exactly constitutes a nation, whether it is a common cultural heritage, a unifying event in history, the political power of a government to protect and administrate a land and its people, Norsca always fails to fully fulfil any of these regular definitions. Norsca can best be described as a federation of villages and towns that no necessarily share many characteristics. Some of them are allies almost since the dawn of time, other have more animosity towards each other. Without the common threat of the chaos hordes, the lands known as Norsca would soon be caught in internal struggle. There are probably not more than a handful of people that would say they are Norscan. When they use this term it is always outside their homeland and even then they will add from which village or town they come.

Norsca is not so much defined through "blood" or "race", but through traditions and customs. In effect it is an accumulation of hundreds of families with a similar way of living. This also means that any alliance with Norscans is generally hard to form because they lack someone who is accepted by every family and settlement as their representative and those alliance that were formed can break up easily or some families and settlements may prefer to find their own allies.

The longboats

One of the few things they do have in common is that they are seafaring people. The land can only be ploughed for two or three months during the summer and can supply little more than poor crop. Most of the nourishment comes from fish, seals and whales. Originally little was traded, mostly through Erengrad. Every now and then some Norscans wandered into the ice plains in search for bears and other creatures to hunt or they traded with the men that inhabit this part of the world and sometimes come to the coast. When trading on the sea of claws began to increase the longboats of Norsca were also used for raiding, which in time was expanded on the settlements along the coasts of Kislev, the Empire, Albion and Bretonnia. The longboats have been sighted even as far south as Estalia and Tilea, although these were rare incidents. When the threat from the Chaos Wastes began to grow the people of the northern lands have decided to stop their undeclared war and turn against the outer enemy. Today most Norscans no longer raid ships from Kislev or the Empire. They sometimes raid ships from Marienburg and Bretonnia, but this is often initiated by the Empire. A few acts of piracy against ships from Kislev or the Empire are generally tolerated, since Norsca is a formidable ally in the war against chaos.

The longboat has, besides its function as a vehicle, a deep rooting in society and culture. The small settlements basically consist of the crew of a longboat. The chieftain of the village is the captain of the longboat. Larger settlements have more than one longboat. The crew of a longboat forms a community that can only be compared with a family, most people of the crew are related, but this is not a precondition. Migration within Norsca exists, but seldom happens and new crewmembers from outside the settlement are either those that marry into the village, although traditionally the woman moves to the man and not vice versa, or prisoners that were caught on some raid and later proved to be valuable members of community. Besides the women and children only the priest, should the settlement have one, do not belong to the crew of the longboat.

The building of a new longboat is matter of tradition and rituals. The boat is always built in the settlements. Although longboats can be built by a shipwright, this rarely happens. Most Norscan would not sail on a longboat not built by the settlements they come from. This applies at least to longboats used for warfare. Those used for trading are not associated with so much tradition. Longboats are often given from generation to generation. Although the boat is repaired and most parts may have exchanged, the crew can tell every battle, raid and episode of the boat's life. Every village and towns has its own design for the large square rigged sail and the figurehead. Although the longboat is often referred to as a dragonboat, most boats do not have dragons as a figurehead, but snakes, human statutes or imaginary creatures.

The society of Norsca

The crew of a longboat reflects the society of Norsca. The captain, who is generally the chieftain of the settlement, is the undisputed leader. Second in command is the navigator, who is also helmsman. The rest of the crew stands on the same level. The often complicated hierarchy on Bretonnian vessels is unknown in Norsca. Even though the captain is the leader in a Norscan war gang, almost any decision is discussed by the complete crew and except for the most powerful captains they will not command against the majority vote. This may give the Norscans the appearance of a demographic and slow moving force, but the crews are quick to reach an agreement and most will not avoid fight unless under exceptional circumstances.
This is also true for the settlements. Any important decision is agreed upon by the people of the villages, which include every free man and women over the age of sixteen. Only in urgent cases, the chieftain or head of a settlement will decide without deliberation among the villagers.

Today large parts of Norsca are centred on warfare. The longboats are formidable opponents in naval warfare. Although most lack any kind of armament, they are fast and manoeuvrable sailing and rowing ships that can get into boarding distance before larger warships have even made their weapons ready. The crews cooperate very well, since they have stayed together for a long time. Pressed sailors, as they can be found on almost any warship of the Old World, cannot be found on Norscan longboats and mutiny is a rare occurrence. Even without a longboat, a crew makes a formidable opponent. Norscan fighters are not as much restricted as Imperial or Bretonnian troops and most can fight with almost any weapon, from a simple club, to a two-handed sword, equally good. On the other hand they have almost no fighters that are specialised in any kind of weapon and warfare. This makes the fighters very flexible, but when compared with specialised soldiers only average. The biggest advantage is that they know each other very well, what makes them a tight and well working force.

Although the Norscan society is, on the outside, as patriarchal as most societies in the Old World, women are seen as integral part of all elements of society. Female warriors can be seen quite often. When they marry, they generally stay in the villages, but the social pressure for them to marry and bear children is much weaker than the pressure on women from other parts of the Old World. The men and women have a very relaxed attitude towards each other, none finds it noteworthy, when women are part of a longboat crew, participate in raids or lead warriors.

Norscans can be found all over the Old World, but most that leave their homeland settle in Kislev, the Empire or Albion. Those that migrated from Norsca to other realms, still feel loyalty towards their family and settlement. This is especially true, when they migrated from Norsca after their adolescence. Over the years the Norscans have built settlements outside their homeland. Some of these developed from strongholds, which were used as basis for raids, while others were trading ports or small quarters of cities. The Norscans born outside Norsca, share many characteristics with native Norscans, but they are not as strongly tied to their settlements. Although most try to keep alive their family heritage, their relations are looser.

Climate

Even though people in the Empire believe that Norsca is clad in darkness for the whole of winter, this is only true for the few settlements miles north of the coastline. But it is true that the winter is much longer in Norsca than elsewhere and that at winter solstice the sunlight does not shine more than three hours. During winter, life in Norsca comes almost to a standstill. The people have brought in food and wood and rarely do leave the houses. The few things that need to be done take place during the few daylight hours.
The sea of claws often freezes completely during winter; the longboats are either pulled ashore in autumn or the boats and its crew over winter outside Norsca.
The winter solstice is also one of a major day for festivities. The days become longer again and the grip of Ulric becomes weaker. A common saying is that although Norscans love Ulric, he does not need to cuddle them so tightly.

The summer is the direct opposite of the winter. Inland the conditions can be almost unbearable, with mosquitoes torturing the wanderer. On the coast the winds from the sea of claws make it tolerable, but generally summer in Norsca is very humid and often hot.
The longest days of summer, around summer solstice, are called white nights, since the sun does leave the horizon only for a short time and even then casting a diffuse light. This is another day of festivities and almost every citizen of Norsca will be on the streets in these days. Traditionally agreements between clans are closed on these days and marriages made during the white nights are said to be especially long lasting and children born are considered to be blessed. Almost immediately after the white nights, the people of Norsca begin their preparations for the long winter, which will soon take over the land.

A very peculiar phenomenon of Norsca is the night light. White, green and blue streams of light seem to pour over the sky. Flashing and swirling they are an object of folklore. Most people from outside Norsca will associate the lights with some dark influence, but Norscan will tell that the lights existed before chaos raised its ugly head and will probably exist after the sunset of humanity. Their origin was never revealed. Some adventurers have ventured far into the lands north of Norsca to find their source, but few returned and they brought back nothing more than stories of desperation and hunger. Some wizards say that the lights are especially dense forms of magic that pour in from the north, but contrary to the expectations, magic does not work differently when the lights are visible.

Physique

The people of Norsca are often, but not always, taller than the people of the southern parts of the Old World. Their skin and hair is lighter and their build much heavier. Even Norscan women often tower above men from Estalia and Tilea. This makes them easily recognizable outside their homeland.

Reddish hair can be found quite often, although it is generally mixed with blond. In the Empire and the lands of the south, reddish hair is often associated with witchcraft, but in Norsca it is considered a sign of luck, if it is noticed at all.
The Norscans prefer to use fur instead of leather, but they hardly have something of a traditional dress. Many of them, even men, wear earrings and decorate their often long hair and beards. Tattoos are common, but have little significance other than an aesthetic value. Besides tattoos, many Norscans, especially the fighters and crews of longboat, have signs burned into their skin that reflects their connection with a clan, settlement or ship.

Note: For further information on ships and navigation refer to my manuscript "Under the Sails", available for download at http://leif.schrader-germany.de/roleplay/uts.htm.