Introduction

The game takes place in a northern land. To the south is a Europe-sized continent, dominated by The Empire. A cold sea separates the northern land from this continent. The northern land is comprised of many fjords--i.e. rivers with narrow valleys bordered by alpine highlands. Not much farmland. The native people are Viking-style raiders, recently pacified by the Empire.

The Empire, which is grecoroman (imagine if the center of Rome was actually Crete, and also Rome incorporated Germany and spawned a third capital there, then lasted an extra 5-6 centuries), failed to conquer another northern land which is defended by Celt-inspired people and their faerie allies. So they turned to this land, source of annoying raiders who've been harassing their northern subjects for centuries. Defeating them wasn't easy; they had to ally with the Elves--no friends of the Empire, but even more baneful to the northerners--and do battle with the northern gods themselves. Unsurprisingly, Ragnarok ensued.

With peace achieved, the Empire formally vassalized the individual jarls of the individual tribes, installing governors and liaisons to make sure none of them try to form an alliance to throw off Imperial rule. They've sprinkled in a few fancy builds and roads, but mostly they leave them alone. The true economic value of the northern conquest was simply to stop the raiding. They aren't very interested in fish and furs. The Empire keeps raiding off the table by recruiting all the young warriors into their legions and sending them to far-flung corners where they can war to their heart's content. Those who survive and return home are given titles and lands, which come with privileges, as well as sworn oaths to the Empire's peace and obligations (i.e. tax and levies).

It's been a generation since the war, and peace remains--for now. However, the old gods were not fibbing when they claimed to have brought order to the land, allowing for human settlement. It seems that, in their absence, old threats are stirring. Monsters and magic are becoming problems at a rate not seen before the war. To that end, the Empire has formed a special legion of irregulars and specialists, who bring the Empire's peace to the remotest corners of the land. They travel in small groups, or even on their own, and are equipped and trained to battle trolls, rogue shamans, draugr, and other such evils. They carry the weight and might of the Empire's justice, albeit far from logistical supply lines and possible reinforcements, and deep into territory filled with folk who may not be sympathetic to their cause.

Though it is not known to many, the uprising of monsters and magic is no coincidence. The Twilight of the Gods claimed the core of the old pantheon, but not every single one of them. Old gods remain, and some seek vengeance--even without hope or care to restoring sovereignty to the land. The monsters and magic once anathema to the old gods is now wielded by their followers. Trolls and giants who once fought the northern men are now unleashed on their conquerors to avenge them (not that anyone asked the trolls their opinion). Powerful scions of the Old Gods, hell-bent on vengeance, conspire to destroy the Empire's Peace, even at the cost of the very people those gods used to reign over. It seems only the Empire's trusted agents stand between the northern folk and their demise, in the final chapter of their Twilight.

The Party

All PCs are members of the Argent Legion, based in Pax Argentum--the first and largest Imperial fortress built in the northlands, and the base of its power. The Argent Legion is a formal army, but its members are irregulars (read: adventurers) that range in small units deep inside "enemy territory". The party is one such unit; they are trusted to bring the Empire's Justice to every corner of the realm, despite having little to no logistical support. They are trusted with a high degree of autonomy. They have the authority to investigate crimes, and even make arrests (not that they have a convenient prison or anything), but are much more likely to be dealing with magical or monstrous problems than mundane criminals.

Some example quests:

• A remote village complains of wolves that ravage their livestock. Curiously, they only do so once per month, on the full moon. They seem far more intelligent than normal wolves and have evaded the village's hunters.
• A band of highwaymen based on the highlands has somehow happened upon some Old Magic. They've been waylaying traders and peaceful folk, but nobody can find their lair. It seems every cave entrance known to exist has strangely been replaced with stone walls, and known mountain passes have suddenly become sheer chasms.
• A local lord's son, long thought dead, has been announced to be in fact alive and well. He isn't seen by many, but those who've seen him say his skin has a deathly pallor, that he never eats, and shuns the sunlight. He also seems to be more or less exactly as old as when he disappeared three years ago, having failed to grow into his age. His father insists his only son is quite well, and there need be no succession crisis over his throne.

The Campaign

At first, the party will take on jobs as required, protecting the people from monsters and evil magic, and the occasional mundane threat. As the campaign evolves, they will learn more of the identity and motivation of the threats they've been facing. They may decide the malcontents have a point, or perhaps will decide the locals deserve more autonomy. Then again, they can be staunch Imperials who choose to tighten the Empire's control, or even opportunists who seek to install themselves as lords...or, given the magicks at play, even gods.

Setting Details

The setting wiki (TBD) will hold far more detail, but for a high-level overview:

Lands

Main setting: northern land with fjords, alpine forests, snowy mountains, somewhat sparse population.

To the south, a cold, dangerous sea. Across that, the Imperial Continent: vast, less foreboding than the north, heavily populated, safe.

To the west, the same sea, and eventually a series of islands populated by independent people (and faeries) that rejected Imperial rule.

To the east, a forest veiled in fog and magic. Somewhere within or beyond that lies the adopted homeland of the Elves.

To the north, a foreboding mountain range ruled by trolls and giants, and perhaps dragons. Legend has it the gods live there too, and that beyond it lies an endless ocean of ice.

Alfheim

Known in the local tongue as Alfheim, the legendary home of the elves is a mystery to all: even the elves. To understand how that can be, one must know their story. The short version: long ago, they lived at peace in Alfheim. The Allfather visited their realm, and offered many things in exchange for their wisdom; they shared what they were willing to share, but he wanted more. He wanted the secret of their immortality. They could not share it, but he interpreted that as they refused to share it, and so he invaded their realm...and conquered it.

They do not much speak of life in conquered Alfheim. This may be because they cannot bear to do so, but it may simply be because they do not know. Many left in search of other realms in which they could live peacefully. One such realm was Midgard. It is not known how long they lived here before the Allfather claimed it as well, but per their stories, there was a long period of peace without the Aesir.

In recent times, the Empire entreated the elves of Midgard to join their war against the Aesir, and with their help, the Allfather and his kin were defeated. One may presume that the elves could return home to Alfheim, free of his rule. And while they speak with great joy to know their homeland is once again free, they speak with profound sadness as well, for those of Midgard can never return to Alfheim. It is difficult to convince and elf to speak of why this may be, but the matter seems to be settled.

Then again, that's all from the perspective of humans.

The truth--and it must be stressed, this is not for humans to know--is that they do not know how to return, or if they are welcome there, or if even there is a home to return to. They do not know if the Aesir were truly defeated, or just sent from this world, possibly to return. They do not know if their home was destroyed in the mean time, before the Aesir's fall.

This truth is not known even to young elves. The time before the Allfather was over 5,000 years ago, so only the eldest remember the early days, and there may not even be a single elf who actually remembers Alfheim itself, at least as a grown adult. The most common version of what younger elves are taught is that being on Midgard has, to some extent, "sullied" the elves, and they cannot return, lest they infect their home with the lesser essence of this realm. Different traditions differ on just how this stain can be cleansed, and their paradise can be regained. Indeed, some factions hold that defeating the Aesir was the necessary step, and they are ready to return. Others contend that it was indeed necessary, but they must also cleanse his works--including the realms of Man that he shepherded--and only then can they return.

As for the realm itself--it is known even to elves only in story. But according to said story, it is an island, or perhaps several island, alone in an endless sea of night. Some say it's an ordinary--if infinite--sea, peaceful and beautiful like some tropical lagoon. Others say it is more like an Astral Sea--abstract and magical, with things stranger than fish inside.

While no sun nor moon dots its sky, the stars are innumerable. And there is much light besides--the Light of Creation dwells in certain places, filling the trees, the rocks, and water, illuminating and warming the land. All there live in endless peace and contentment, enjoying the music of creation and the fruits of paradise, with nary a conflict nor concern.

This is to say, not how elves live in Midgard.

The "True" Alfheim

There is, perhaps, maybe even likely, an Alfheim somewhere in the cosmos. A paradise from which all elves come, and to which they hope someday to return.

But here in Midgard, they have an adopted home. And it is not another plane, nor an island in the sky, nor anything so magical. They have simply colonized several regions of the earth.

The physical, very much real elven realms of Midgard are as follows:

Realm	Location (relative to the North)	Populace	Government/Society
The Great Forest / Ljósálfheimr / Suoma	East, across the Veiled Sea	Dense, light elves	Feudal monarchy
The Yr Tribes	Deep forests of the North	Sparse, wild elves	Tribal
Ard Vuolie / Svartalfheim	Underground	Matron-oriented clans
Hibernia / Albion	West, across the Cold Sea	Aos Si, some in exclusive lands, others mixed with humans	Various

Factions

Imperial Government

Within the civilized lands, the Empire is the offical governing body. They are represented by several officials:

• The legions stationed through the land ultimately report to the Strategos, the highest-ranking general in the province.
• Each of the eight provinces has an Eparchos, a civil administrator, who liaises with the local jarl and ensures the Empire's law is obeyed.
• Normally the Eparchoi would report to an Archon, a civil governor of the entire region, but by the peace compact, the office has not been established. This is a compromise to placate the locals, to whom a unified administrative government is in many ways more alien than foreign rule. Given the natural need for such a position, there are those who seek this power in all but name: the foremost Eparchos, and the Strategos, both acting somewhat outside their domain, wherever they can find the justification to do so.

Local Government

Per ancient custom, each of the eight tribes is ruled by a Jarl. The southerners tend to confused Jarls for kings, but they have much less legislative and administrative power than that, serving primarily as military commanders. And of course, given the occupation, they have less power still; most have their hands tied, doing as the Empire demands, acting as puppet leaders to appease the locals.

The difference of opinion in the meaning of Jarl, and the Empire's focus on larger settlements, means that in the more rural parts of a realm, traditional local government tends to be more present and relevant than Imperial. That being that each village typically has a council of elders who ultimately hold legislative and judicial power, but by tradition grant power to an executive, usually an accomplished middle-aged father or mother. This executive is generally not a military position--although they may have battle experience--but rather they see to more administrative needs, something like a mayor and magistrate in one. (Although larger settlements will often have their own Imperial magistrate).

The nobility generally are not involved directly with towns and villages. Rather, accomplished warriors would traditionally establish their own Hall, where they and their followers dwell when they are not raiding. Their collective thralls work their land to keep them fed, and they generally took no wives, only bedding as they please and occasionally claiming offpsring as future warriors. It wasn't unheard of for such warrior clans to act almost as gangs, terrorizing nearby villagers, or shaking them down for protection, especially if raiding hadn't been profitable. These days, however, the traditional warrior's hall has evolved into a nobility similar to the continent's, with villages springing up around them, making them not unlike fuedal settlements of the south. However, a key difference is that traditional settlements not based around a warrior's hall tend to be proudly independent, neither desiring nor suffering any ill for the lack of a fortified keep and local lord whose boots need licking.

Vagabonds and Wildlings

There have always been those who do not keep to towns and villages. The most affable of them are woodsmen and hermits, who might offer friendship or at least neutrality to a traveler, and typically don't pose a threat to society. Then there are the rogues and vagabonds, who make what homes they can in forests, hills, ruins, and the like, forming bands to rob law-abiding people of their hard-earned treasure. Those who fail out of polite society often fall in with this lot.

Their worse cousins are the Wildlings--those born and raised outside of civilization, who've never known anything but disdain for its ways. They form tribes of their own, living off the land to some extent, and raiding and pillaging for the rest. They tend to do the latter in proportion to how poorly their prey's lands are policed...and one of the consequences of crushing the armies and spirits of the North is that the Empire has inherited a poorly-policed land where such clans have been emboldened to new heights of depravity.

Most Wildling clans are relatively small, and they fight with each other more fiercely than they raid towns and villages. However, some are larger than others, including the Forsaken Clans--the five tribes who refused to make any peace with the Empire, and chose exile into the wilds instead. More populous and better-armed than the traditional Wildlings, they have had some success bending others to their will and forming pseudo-fuedal barbarian states.

Nonhuman Sentients

There are always been many "folk" in the wilds besides humans. Sylvan people of every sort have lived in the wild lands since before man could walk, after all. And while civilization tends to push Sylvans out of their land, it hasn't typically been widespread and built-up enough in the North to do so, at least not universally. There are whole (albeit smallish) realms within the Deep Wilds that are home to ancient Sylvan tribes. Some of them are almost civilized in their own way--and some are most certainly not.

Some of the Sylvan folk:

• Huldrefolk
• Trolls
• Kobolds
• Wild elves
• Dark elves

Technology

Typical 11th-century tech, such as:

• Agriculture: southern farming tools and techniques have been imported, greatly improving yield, such as the heavy plow, crop rotation, and water/wind mills
• Smithing: ironworking is an ancient art, steel is relatively new. Mail and long blades have been common for a while; plate armor and more sophisticated weapons like the halbern are recently becoming available.
• Maritime: the local ships are arguably of higher-quality than the Imperials', whose ancient vessels like the trireme are ill-suited to the north sea. The longship retains its supreme position as a troop-mover, with larger, more sail-oriented ships taking over in shipping cargo. Magnetic compasses are not available, but there are several tools for wayfinding besides dead reckoning and astral navigation.
• Construction: traditional architecture is all timber and thatch, even the greatest halls of wealthy warriors. However, with the Imperial presence, quarried stone masonry is becoming much more common in cities and in noble keeps. The Empire's famously well-built roads are not adapting as well in the North, due to the geography, soil conditions, and moisture, but they are improving rapidly in the lowlands.
• Civic Services: unheard of until recent times, larger cities now typically have bathhouses, courthouses, proper organized sanitation houses, etc.
• Textiles: traditional, hand-woven wool dominates the textile trade, except among the wealthiest metropolitans, who can afford imported linen or even silk.
• Writing: the traditional runic writing system was never in much use by the general public. It remains useful for magic-users, and its symbols are often used as a shorthand, as certain symbols are known to stand for "tavern" or "safehouse" or "horses" or the like. The Imperials have brought books and writing in great abundance, although rarely are peasants literate enough to read any of it. The Imperial tongue, however, is even less popular than its letters, so the writing most commonly encountered outside of libraries and noble estates uses Imperial lettering, but the local language, which is helping the adoption of literacy to some degree.
• Medicine: traditional medicine is almost entirely in the realm of magic--and since magic is real, it does work, provided you know who to trust and can afford a proper cure. For centuries, wealthy warriors and jarls have been able to afford proper medicine from trusted practitioners, while the poor contend with ill-trained hedgecrafters or just plain charlatans. It isn't that magical medicine doesn't work--it's that ordinary people are unlikely to recognize the good from the bad, and can't afford the good anyway. In the current era, more advanced surgical techniques have been imported from the south. The "doctors" trained in the Empire can perform all kinds of slicing and dicing, which, depending on what you are willing to suffer through (both during the procedure and for the rest of your life) may actually have a higher survival rate than the traditional cures. In modern terms, Imperial surgeons understand surgery surprisingly well: if cutting it out is the right move, they can probably do it. Of course, they don't understand germ theory all that much, so mileage may vary.