Cracks Upon the Ice | Northern Intrigue RPG (READ DESC)

This story takes place in the continent of Cardouw on the planet of Mimaskali, which literally means "Mima's Field" in the Old Cardouwine Tongue. It is said that the world was made when Mima the Farmer plowed voidspace until, from the primordial nothingness, soil arose and the world was made. Mima, tired from his work, would then enter into an endless slumber and leave the world to his countless children, who became known as the gods (and indeed countless is right, for there is perhaps a god for every little thing in this world). The planets only natural moon is Kuuli, named after the lustful god of the moon, who eternally chases after the virgin maiden Peili, who is the sun.

Morianjää is an arctic tundra located in the Morianmaa region of the North, known for being the northernmost explored region in all of Cardouw. It earns its name from the harsh winds and icy storms that scour the landscape. The region is mainly populated by fishers, craftspeople, rangers, merchants, dwarves, and wild barbarian tribes. Others are outcasts or criminals, who make Morianjää their home in the hopes that their existence will be ignored if not condoned. The people of Morianjää consider community and determination to be virtues that are essential for their survival in the frigid north.

Although the lack of good forests in Morianjää means lumber often has to be imported, people still keep well and warm thanks to whale oil, the burning of which is the universally preferred method to heat hearth and home (aside from simply having houses insulated with thick furs), with whales being hunted in the Ice Sea west of Morianjää. Perhaps the biggest industry of Morianjää, however, is the fishing of whitehead trout. Many of the region's lakeside settlements rely entirely on the trout they fish and the goods they make from their ivory-like bones, which is known as scrimshaw and is very desired by traders from the south. Besides trout, one of the most unique natural riches that can be found here is a mineral known as jukiskuli, mined by the dwarves who sell the ore for great profit. This rare and brittle black stone absorbs spells and even ambient mana, which gets released when the mineral is crushed or destroyed, making it a very good material for storing magic (assuming one stores it properly and doesn't blow themselves up by accident). Although initially just seen as some northern oddity that was rarely heard of further south, after the Imperial Scholar Sophia von Langstadt released her book 'On the Applications of Jukiskuli: the Black Stone of the North' the southrons of the Holy Empire were put in a frenzy over it, with many countless mages and merchants heading north in the hopes of procuring it from the dwarves. This had only very recently started to slow down with the Nozoradi conquests, which scared some of the less enterprising travellers off (still leaving all the more riches for any foolhardy souls still making the route, whether that be by carriage, sled, or ship).

The stone-walled capital of Morianjää, Telliruu, is also its largest settlement having a population of around 1,200—admittedly a far cry from the city of Üliksne that long held primacy as the mightiest city in Morianmaa and once claimed kingship over all others in the region before its influence waned (but even it paled in comparison to the cities of the south), which unfortunately has now found itself in conflict with the armies of Nozorad.

Telliruu is the biggest of the Free-Towns, a loose confederation of human frontier villages, and is known for being the lifeline to the rest of civilisation to the south. It's located on a small hill in western Morianjää, with snowy plains stretching in all directions beyond, though the monotony of it is broken by a variety of craters that came about centuries ago when a demon cult worshipping the dark god Joumurri assailed the town seeking to sacrifice its inhabitants, only for their summoned god to be banished back to the Hellplane of the Abyss by an unknown dark elven hero. The caravan trail of the southwestern Free-Road connects directly to Telliruu, arriving directly from the rest of Morianmaa before continuing to the rest of the towns.

The other towns are huddled around the dales three famous mineral-laden lakes... The hamlets nestled around southern Mustavere Lake: Pikki Kivi, and Toivo's Hole. The three settlements located on the shores of eastern Lake Härmatis: Ittakodu, Lindanisi, and Voili. The four that encircle northern Lake Vellis: Eksituli, Raivi, Tervelaine, and the walled town of Tarho. Mustvere and Härmatis are both connected by the Mustajoki River, while Vellis connects to the Ice Sea thanks to the Issajoki River, being the only other major way to get into Morianjää besides the Free-Road (though mostly only during the summer), with many ships coming in to Tarho specifically, the second largest town up here with a population a thousand strong.

The towns are led by the Free Council, made up of a speaker from each town, which convenes in the Council Hall of Telliruu either once every month during the summer and once every three months during the winter. At the start of our story in the Spring of 1698, Common Era, the First Speaker (that being the Speaker of Telliruu and leader of the Council) is one Wilhamar "Half-Elf" Geldseehr, whose father was an exiled elven trader originally from the city of Wollendorf (one of many coastal republican cities in the southern Holy Empire) while his human mother was the well-respected city bailiff of Telliruu.

The main deities worshipped here are Peili & Kuuli, together called the Lightbringers. No churches or formal institutions of the sort exist here in Morianjää—people simply give praise and devotion in the comfort of their own homes, wishing for a better tomorrow. Other local deities often worshipped include Sepo the Craftsman, Heiko the Fisherman, and Anni the Spinstress. Since many outsiders also make their way here, it isn't uncommon to find people worshipping gods who are very distant and foreign to this land, and this is not looked upon with suspicion, as it is believed that all should be allowed to hold to their own gods as is right. Indeed, the people of this land are surprisingly welcoming, considering any brave enough to face the cold to be worthy of respect. Unfortunately, the "jukiskuli craze" put this under strain, but the blame would typically be put on mages, who were admittedly always mistrusted. It's always been said that these people would sooner find kinship with a dark elf than any mage, which might just be true.

Slavery isn't illegal in Morianjää, or the rest of Morianmaa for that matter, but it's typically something more often reserved for criminals or ne'er-do-wells, those who dare break the codes of community which bind everyone together up here in the north. Buying or selling slaves isn't allowed, but rather those who commit an offence against another person may be made a slave of them should the crime be deemed terrible enough and the offender cannot pay recompense another way.

Besides the Free-Towns, smaller villages and tribes exist throughout the region. Of note, however, are the migratory people known as the Noliaiti, who are believed to be the original inhabitants of the North before the arrival of others. They herd reindeer across the frozen tundra and speak their own language, thought unrelated to all others. The Noliaiti were once known to raid the Free-Towns, but this was largely brought to an end after the dwarves and northmen of Morianjää allied with each other to crush the Noliaiti, after which they steer well clear of any outsiders and remain highly insular. In 1698 CE, there are but three tribes remaining: the Wyrm Tribe, the Wolf Tribe, and the Bear Tribe. All the others have either died out or slowly integrated with the northmen of the Free-Towns, desperate for any chance at survival. Though these Noliaiti worshipped the animal spirits which their tribes were named after, their worship in modern times has fallen to the entity known as Joumurri, who promised them vengeance in return for their obedience when the time came.

Other settlements in Morianjää include Karmohullu (an ancient black prison-fort built by mages of the old Cardouwine Empire but now inhabited by multiple tribes of goblins led by their chieftain who brought them from over the mountains), nestled within the foothills of the World-Spine (a mountain range southeast of the Free Towns that separates them from the rest of Morianmaa, also home to many white wyverns—distant cousins of true dragons which are long extinct in Cardouw but are believed to exist elsewhere), as well as Talâraš, the only semi-permanent settlement of the Noliaiti where the leaders of the tribes meet to discuss pressing matters, situated far to the north on a cliff overlooking the Ice Sea and the Issajoki River. One also can't forget Kelli's Cairn, a massive mountain located between Härmatis and Vellis which houses a complex network of tunnels and mines that compose the home of Morianjää's jukiskuli-mining dwarves, particularly those from Clan Sukkajali (who got their name for their incredibly hairy legs). It's tall enough that its peak can be seen no matter where in Morianjää one is, to the point where it's often used as a navigation tool that helps travellers make sense of where in the tundra they are.

ADDITIONAL ROLEPLAY INFO: ALTHOUGH THIS IS A FICTIONAL SETTING, CULTURES TAKE VAGUE INSPIRATION FROM IRL ONES AND CHARACTERS OF THOSE CULTURES SHOULD BE NAMED ACCORDINGLY.

DWARVES — FINNIC INSPIRED ; MORIANMAA HUMANS — FINNIC (DWARVEN-INFLUENCE) INSPIRED ; NOLIAITI HUMANS — SÁMI INSPIRED ; VAULĶAZ HUMANS — BALTIC INSPIRED ; RUSALKY HUMANS — RUSSIAN INSPIRED ; CATMEN — HUNGARIAN & TURKIC (NATIVE) OR RUSSIAN (RUSALKY-INFLUENCE) INSPIRED ; HIGH ELVES OF THE HOLY EMPIRE — GERMAN INSPIRED ; DARK ELVES OF THE GREAT KINGDOMS OF THE SOUTHERN ISLE — ALBANIAN INSPIRED ; WOOD ELVES OF THE EASTERN FORESTS — GAELIC INSPIRED ; HOLY EMPIRE HUMANS — WEST SLAVIC (NATIVE) OR GERMAN (ELVEN-INFLUENCE) INSPIRED.

OTHER CULTURES AND RACES ALSO EXIST ELSEWHERE BUT ARE MUCH RARER IN CARDOUW.

TECHNOLOGY IS GENERALLY EARLY MODERN, WITH NORTHERN REGIONS BEING MORE TECHNOLOGICALLY BACKWARDS. BLACKPOWDER WEAPONRY SUCH AS FLINTLOCKS ARE COMMON IN THE SOUTH, THOUGH ARMOUR REMAINS QUITE A FREQUENT SIGHT IN ARMIES (IN FAMED UNITS SUCH AS THE EMPEROR'S OWN GRYPHON RIDERS OR THE TSARITSA'S DRUZHINA), SINCE THESE STILL WELL PROTECT AGAINST MELEE WEAPONS AND EVEN GUNFIRE SOMEWHAT. LITERACY RATES ARE STEADILY GROWING IN CITIES, BUT HAVE OTHERWISE REMAINED LOW. ORAL TRADITIONS AND RUNIC SINGING ARE INSTEAD MOST COMMON IN THE NORTH.