Gjallarhorn

*The Gjallarhorns are proud, dedicated and pragmatic. They are protectors born and raised, they are ready to go any length to shield their companions, guiding them to fight as single, cohesive force. While they carry weapons clothes and armors of vastly superior quality to the Odhinn’s Eye, the Gjallarhorns tend to favor dark and simple design over lavish and shiny ones. In everyday life and on the battlefield, a Gjallarhorn favor actions over words. While every Gjallarhorn desires to show her valor in a raid, they are all dedicated to protecting their homeland first. A true Gjallarhorn is always ready to abandon any task to rush back and defend the homeland when it’s in peril.*

## ***Blood of the First Vikingar Konungr***

The Gjallarhorn clan, formed by the descendants of the first *Vikingar* *Konungr*, rules uncontested upon the peninsula and the islands of the **Jutland**. Despite the constant threat of an invasion, the kingdom of Jutland is, probably, the richest and most stable of the North. Because of this, the royal family is very much loved by both the nobles and the population. This state of “peace” was born from many years of bloody and brutal war that drove the opponents of the royal family almost to extinction. The cheerful and kind ways, typical of the Gjallahorn clan, are misleading. A visitor should not think that the clan lacks resolve, the royal family is ready to use the iron first when needed.

## *Defenders of the Northern Lands*

The ruling family didn’t become legend just because of its strength and wealth, it also built the Danevirke, a great and ingenious fortification system that stretch across the entire peninsula, protecting it from the assaults from the nearby Fallen Kingdom, Frost Giants and the Svyelunarri. The first queen herself ordered the construction of this great fortification and, to honor her memory, a force of Gjallarhorn’s shield maidens choose to fight on the borders, all worthy descendent of the great heroine of ancient times.The clan itself is named after the gigantic horn that sits in the capital. If the Danevirke should fall, a system of lighthouses across the peninsula would immediately alert the capital and the great horn will be heard loud and clear. According to legend, the horn was sounded once and it’s so powerful that it can be heard in all of Nimetre. The Gjallarhorns are very faithful to the gods and, according to legend, the clan descend from the god Iuna and the clan took the name of her warhorn. This belief gives their chosen task a divine aura, they protect the North like a mother defends her cubs.

## ***Rich and Humble***

Beside the political stability and more fertile lands, compared to other regions of the North, the main source of wealth of the inhabitants of the Jutland are the raids. The peninsula is perfect to send ships against the coasts and toward those inhabited by the strange people of the East. While today the sea are under the control of the Odhinn’s Eye, it’s still possible to find good sailors and shipyards in the peninsula and the nearby islands. There is also the historical alliance between these two clans that created many terrifying raider fleets that terrorized all the seas of Nimetre. Almost every important village of the Jutland has stone buildings and the quality of life is far higher than the rest of the North Men. In spite of all this prosperity, the nobles of the Jutland tend not to boast their wealth, especially compared to the Odhinn’s Eye. Ever since Fimbulvetr hit the Jutland the situation has changed dramatically and most of the population wouldn’t have survived the first years without the help of the royal family and the great stashes of supplies.

## ***The Queen of Legends***

During the last year, a great tragedy stroke the royal family: a furious sea storm destroyed the ship of King Horik Gottfredson, killing the King and his firstborn Erik Barn (“the Child”), while they were sailing toward Heill Hofn to meet their ally Asbjørn the Red. Apparently, nobody survived the shipwreck. The population feared a time of political turmoil, because the only living descendant was the king’s daughter, princess Thorunn. The young princess didn’t give up, showing to be a true Gjallarhorn, she summoned her faithful men of women and, in a single night, eliminated all the nobles and leaders that conspired against her. After this show of strength, it was simple to convince all the remaining sages to crown her Queen. She took a second name in honor of her late father becoming Queen Thorunn Horikdottir. After establishing her power, the Queen took up sword and shield and marched to Danevirke with her elite guard, fighting on the forefront against the Frost Giants’ invasion. According to many rumors, the Great Winter hit the lands beyond the wall with incredible ferocity, causing a spike in the number of Giants attacks. The enemy hopes to invade the Jutland to raid its resources. Covered in the blood of the enemies and surrounded by the superb warriors of the elite guard, the Queen demonstrated her great skills as a leader, earning her spot in legends and tales. It didn’t take long for the Skalds to start comparing Thorunn with the first queen of legends, she who started the construction of the Danevirke. Today, the people of Jutland, in spite of the extreme poverty, see it's warrior queen as a sign of hope. Thorunn has become the incarnation of the faith and hopes of her people. While the Queen keeps a strict control over the Jutland, she know that tradition is against her and the court nobles, who never fully supported her, push so that she find a husband worthy of the crown. Thorunn isn’t happy with this perspective, but she also knows that an alliance might help the Jutland rise again.

## ***Beyond the Danevirke***

It’s not just the dreadful weather that bother the Gjallarhorns. While the Frost Giants attacks suddenly stopped, those few spies that returned from the enemy lands have gone mad. They keep blathering about a terrible disease, green lights and a terror that will soon arrive from the South. Thorunn made sure that these men could find an honorable death and that their ravings didn’t circulate among the people. The Queen doesn’t have resources to spare to discover what is really happening beyond the Danevirke, right now the only course of action is to keep the realm stable and survive the Great Winter. In spite of these precautions, the rumors have spread among the commoners fueling the collective hy