Northern Freehold

## The Northern Freehold

The sigil of House Norwyn

> In the lands of night, men are free. That cannot be taken; only granted by us to the worthy.
>
> Eadric Northwind, first Jarl of the Freehold

The Northern Freehold is both a region and free kingdom on the continent of Talamhor. Occupying the far northern stretches, the Freehold's reach extends from the fringes of the Everfen, and ends just short of the Widdonwoods. Formally founded thirty years prior to the Witching Hour & the Great Unification, the Freehold is ruled by House Norwyn, a Human house whose head take the title of 'Jarl', the southern-equivalent of a King.

The Norwyn seat and the capital of the Freehold is the Icespire, a magnificent great tower built into an old, stagnate glacier. The Icespire is considered barely-hospitable to guests, and it's a common saying that 'a Norwyn's blood is ice itself to be able to withstand the chill'. The Icespire has only been assaulted once; during the Witching Hour, where it fell to the Witchmen and was the heart of their wicked sleeping curse across the Freehold. Ever since, repairs to the Icespire have been few and far between, as many builders have forgotten the ancient spells that built the fortress in the first place. In fact, the majority of the Icespire's residents live within the secondary stone keep built within the heart of the castle; they hardly reside in chambers of pure ice, now.

While most of the Nightland's population is condensed near the Norwyn seat, one will find many longhouses and minor settlements dotting the land, as 'Thanes' are landed by the Norwyns and given dominion over slivers of territory. For the most part, the folk of the Freehold are considered truly free, as there are few laws to restrict their living, and they lead very traditional lives. Slavery is known to be an issue among the more traditionalist folk of the Freehold, though more reformist tendencies have attempted to curb the practice, and it was officially outlawed under the rule of Jarl Halvard III Norwyn.

One of the Freehold's most infamous practices is the Vellatorum, lycanthrope-warriors said to be blessed by the northern god Bolin, the three-headed wolf. Vellators are considered defenders of the Freehold and are created by passing through the Hellym Well, one of the most sacred religious sites in all Talamhor. The Vellatorum and the Freehold are very closely-linked, as Northern druids are who are responsible for the creation of new Vellators. As a result of growing stigma against the average 'Vellator', the Vellatorum has mostly relocated to the Widdonwoods.

The Norwyns themselves carry great magical lineage; claiming descendance from the great hero Eadric Northwind, who first united the Freehold in the Old Age. Eadric is also considered a powerful old druidic figure and his bride was said to be a Fey, tying the Norwyns to some of the oldest and strangest magic in Magmell. Heirs of House Norwyn are expected to become a Vellator when they come of age, to be blessed by their family's patron spirit, Bolin.

The Freehold is split into two nominal territories; the Nightlands, named for how, during winter, the sun will not rise that far north for many months; and the Fey Woodlands, named for its religious proximity to the Feywild. The population of the Freehold is squarely divided between these two regions, more-or-less.

The Freehold was one of the founding regions within the Kingdom of Talamhor, united through the marriage of Loreth Norwyn to the first High King, Arthyr Talhor. The Freehold remained a vassal region of Talamhor for just over a century, when they broke from Talamhor in the Northern Fracture. Ever since, the Freehold has been a truly free and independant region.

## History

### The First Age

The Freehold was not founded until the Old Age, but known history of the Freehold stretches back further; a millennia before the Great Unification, it is said that Jorvandik raiders sail from the Jorvandik Raider-Clans in Tethryr, and they land in northern Talamhor. They decide to settle in lands familiar to their own, and according to oral traditions it is where these ancient raiders would meet the Fey, and intermingle with them and the local Human populations. This is what would give way to the modern Northmen of the Freehold, Humans prone to strong, old magic.

The rest of the Freehold's early history is, for the most part, unknown. Prior to the Freehold's consolidation under Eadric Northwind, the populace was decentralized and mostly self-ruled.

### The Old Age (30 BGU—76) AGU

Thirty years prior to the Witching Hour, Eadric Northwind, a powerful Northern druid, would unite the people of the north to found one nation, the Northern Freehold. He would found House Norwyn with his Fey wife, known only to history as 'Irevyre', and what descriptions of her that have survived, say she was a red-haired woman, cloaked in raven feathers, who was 'the fire to Eadric's ice'.

Together, they would see the Freehold unified from scattered communities into a feudal structure, appointing Thanes to enforce the law of the first Jarl of the Freehold. Whilst Irevyre and Eadric would only have two children, one of them, Loreth Norwyn, would become infamous in Talamhor for her part in the legend of Talamhorian unification.

From the Widdonwoods in the far north, the Witchmen, said to be a race of near-Human creatures, invade the Freehold. In a single night they seize the Icespire, the glacier-carved home of the Norwyns, and from its icy heart they cast a spell that plunges the North into a deep, eternal slumber. With the Freehold vulnerable, the monsters spread across the land, taking territory and killing helpless folk as they went.

It is said resistance was only mounted by the Beastlings, shifters who are more beast than man, and who were unaffected by the Witchmen spell. But scattered beast-shifters could not stop the Witchmen alone.

The act that would save the Freehold was the very same that would see it united with southern Talamhor; High King Arthyr Talhor, the First King, would hear of the Northern plight and would raise his new army to ride north to liberate the Freehold of the Witchmen. Southron men were unaffected by the Witchmen's curse, and under the banner of Talhor the North would be freed. It is said that Arthyr's infatuation with the sleeping Loreth, trapped in her tower in the Icespire, is what ultimately broke the Witching Hour's curse.

In gratitude for saving the north from the grips of the Witchmen, Jarl Eadric Northwind bends the knee to Arthyr and sees his daughter married to him, making Loreth the first Queen Consort of Talamhor. Eadric would live to the old age of eighty, and ruled over fifty years of peace in the Freehold after it became a vassal of Talamhor. He would outlive his daughter Loreth, and his own son and heir, Torgeir Norwyn, would only live for five years after his father's passing. Eadric famously lived to the age of 100, almost un-heard of, but the belief is that his magical potency lent him a long life to rule the Freehold with. The ultimate fate of Irevyre is unknown. Regardless, Eadric is very fondly remembered in the Freehold, and there are many carvings and statues depicting him with his legendary hammer, Icespawn.

Jarl Torgeir Norwyn spent most of his life ruling in his father's stead, and he only sat as Jarl for five years before he passed himself. He strove to continue his father's legacy of solidarity and peace, and whilst his reign was short, he too is fondly remembered. But Torgeir's most-notable work was done during his father's reign, where he with other Northern druids would found the Vellatorum to ensure the Freehold's defense from threats like the Witchmen returning.

Also born during his father's reign would be Torgeir's children, and the eventual Jarl to follow after Torgeir, Eadric II Norwyn. Named for his grandfather, Eadric II was a curious sort, said to be a quiet child who didn't much care for violence. Still, in line with Torgeir's new traditions, Eadric II was the first Norwyn heir to be consecrated at the Hellym Well by undergoing the Vellator Trial his father had crafted. Unfortunately for Eadric II, the trial was unkind to him, and though he emerged from the well a Vellator, he had also lost an arm in the Feywild. Eadric II would experience lifelong complications due to his missing limb, and would die at a young age because of it; though he reigned for nineteen years after the death of his father, Eadric II would die at the age of fifty-two, leaving behind only one son to take his place.

Eadric II was succeeded by Jarl Agnar Norwyn, though little is recorded of him, as his rule seemed to be rather unremarkable. There were fears that with the dwindling Norwyn bloodline that the house risked extinction, though Agnar ensured its survival by siring two healthy sons, Halir Norwyn and Halvard I Norwyn. Furthermore, Agnar thought to have been a well-off diplomat, as he negotiated a betrothal between Princess Loreth Talhor, the daughter of High Queen Athella Talhor, and his eldest son Halir. Unfortunately, Halir would die in battle before he could marry his Talhor princess, leaving the duties of being heir and the duties of marriage to his younger brother Halvard.

Halvard and Loreth's story would bring peace and prosperity to the Freehold; as the daughter of Athella the Great, Princess Loreth was said to be educated but not gentle, and she took to the Northern ways fiercely. There are even rumours that when Halvard was made a Vellator, Loreth joined him in the trial, and became a she-wolf-warrior, though there is no evidence of Loreth, nor any woman, successfully becoming a Vellator. What is known is that they were a love match— despite Halir's death being what brought them together —and when Agnar Norwyn passed, Halvard and his southern princess became the rulers of the Freehold, to guide it into the new Dark Age.

## Regions

### The Nightlands

> Main Article: Nightlands
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The Nightlands are a tundra-like swath of land above the Fey Woodlands. Sparsely-wooded, most villages and thaneholds located here live in wood-walled forts, with longhouses acting as communal meeting grounds. As they are neighbours to the Widdonwoods, the Nightlands are no stranger to monsters and witchery, and the people of the Nightlands have grown accustomed to dealing with their kind.

The Icespire is located near the heart of the Nightlands, along the jutting bay where many glaciers have rested for thousands of years. The Icespire itself was carved from one of these glaciers by the strange magic of Eadric Northwind and his hammer Icespawn, and has been the core of the Freehold ever since.

### The Fey Woodlands

> Main Article: Fey Woodlands
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The Fey Woodlands is the main swath of forests in the Freehold.