On the Northmen's Origin

A quick foray into how the Northmen originated

A momentary deviation from my story, I wanted to give you context for the Northmen and their way of life, and how the tribes came to be.

This first part will cover their creation from the earliest time of Aath.

Northmen Beginnings

Sklal, a very real deity of Aath in the Times of Darkness, formed the Northmen when the One began to pull him, and the other gods, back into Aath. Each of the gods wanted their presence to remain upon the face of the planet, and so Sklal made the people of the north as he was.

Brutal and wild like the land itself these first people were, and larger even than they are now. Listening to Sklal’s voice, which at that time was strong and present, they roved the northern lands at his command.

The One’s influence

None of the lesser gods could form true life without some spark of him, and so it was even with the giants in the north. Sklal was ferocious, wild, and devouring like a fire; impersonal yet unreasonable.

Yet the Northmen, ‘barbarians’ as those in the south called them, despite their proclivities to battle, and structure enforced entirely through strength, held honor and family as virtues next to strength and revenge.

Sklal’s Judgement

Even as Sklal weakened, so too did the other deities, and the wildness within him sought their domains. At his urging, the people in the north grew restless, and they went down for spoil.

The southern lands were fertile, its people soft and small; Sklal hungered and pushed recklessly to devour. When Alsedor, who loved the turning of thoughts in his head, saw that ruin was close upon him, he sacrificed himself, joining the One at once, at giving his knowledge to the land.

At that time, his people listened to the land.

Sklal then thought his victory at hand, for without Alsedor to guide those of the south, it seemed they would fall to his ravenings.

But in truth they listened to the last gift of Alsedor, and they felt the strength he gave them, strength running deep within Aath itself. The Northmen encountered, rather than weakness, magic of powerful workings.

Runecasters, with power that the Northmen could not match, drove them back and saved the midlands of Aath from destruction. And this, they felt, was not enough. What was to stop these barbarians from coming down again? No, rebuffing them was insufficient.

Then it was that Sklal began to fear, for even in the North the Runecaster’s power did not fade; it was blessed of the One that Alsedor answered his call, and in it he had granted his petition.

Back and back Sklal’s people were driven, until they made their last stand around the tallest peak in the north. In the dead of night, desperate and dying, a great man took to the top of the mountain, and there made plea to Sklal that he save them.

Sklal, who’s power there was greatest, desired then that he would infuse a man invoking such a ritual with all strength and send him out as his champion. He bargained then with him who called him back; would it not be fair that his wish be granted too?

And so the One called him back, and established that upon that mountain, when an one would call upon Sklal, that power would fill him, increasing him in every way. Yet in this, Sklal had not foreseen all ends, for the One was wise, and knew the way of Sklal and his wildness.

It had been a great man that climbed the mount that night, and an even greater man he returned, in strength and power of which the Northmen had never seen. He swept away the Runecasters, for they could not match him. On then Sklal’s people marched, on and on until they came to the place where Sklal had first urged them into the south.

Deep within the earth, Sklal rejoiced, and he waited gleefully for their warring to continue and devour, for he could no longer speak and urge them so directly, but in whispers goaded what people he could.

Yet it was a great man that had climbed that mount.

Upon the boarder, he threw down his axe, and with a Runecaster made peace. Sklal sorrowed, knowing then his error, for in making all a man was more, he increased too that which was from the One.

So it was that out of the Times of Darkness began the Age of Mortals.

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