Northwind - River Jarl Steading (8)

The furthest south of all the River Jarl Steadings, Northwind is further south than the King's Highway, almost half the distance between the King's Highway and the Great River.  Some way south along the river, is the great ferry crossing of the Greywater, marking the point where the road between the baronies of Huygen and Na Kram cross the Greywater river.

The great ferry (there are actually two vessels, the service back and forth across the river is simply referred to as "the great ferry" although the individual boats are called "Azano Runner" and "Byloo Swift") is operated from a great walled keep, and watch tower, high up on a rocky cliff of the western bank of the river.  This keep and tower are named the Lisman Keep after the builder.  It is manned by a group of mostly Westeroner men at arms, drawn from Huygen, Na Kram, and further baronies.

Lisman Keep

The far side of the river, across from Lisman Keep, is the Storm King village of Eidelthorpe.  It is a small town, and only serves to house the guards for the slave rowers of the ferries (see below), and as a source of horses, and sleeping quarters, for travelers.

Eidelthorpe

The two vessels, the Azano Runner and the Byloo Swift, are propelled by slave rowers, taken from the prisons at Huygen.  The vessels themselves are considered off-grounds (a point of honor for the captains and huscarls of Northwind, and elsewhere) for viking raids, and other attacks.

Westroner image of the ferries, from the Book of Huygen

Northwind is a steading that boasts a very large, and powerful, fleet of dragon ships.  It is in a position to challenge attack from any small group of other Steadings, not to mention the single freebooters on the river, or even the large turtle ships and battle barges to be found along the Great river, somewhat more to the south.

The current Jarl of Northwind, Finndar Hatholsson, has turned over the organization of the Huscarls and dragon ships for the annual raids to his son, Rolfar Finndarsson.  Finndar himself has selected a hand picked band of his twenty favored huscarls, some skalds and a wizard (Amsil Uropp), and has traveled west to the lands of the Furlingga Tribes.  There he wages war against the strongest chiefs among the Furlingga, and is attempting to make a great name for himself and his men, all the while attempting to break up the Furlingga.  His original band has grown, attracting a number of other warriors, both from Northwind and also from Mead Hall (heroes from Mead Hall are never reluctant to join such a venture).  The war they are waging against the Furlingga gnolls has met with some success, but the complete difference in numbers is daunting to an outsider.

Finndar Hatholsson and his men, searching for Furlingga gnolls

The write up of the Flooded Keep of the Astromancer was originally part of this article, but it has been removed and made into its own blog entry.  It was originally part of the Week of Adventure Locations.

Mead Hall - River Jarl Steading (7)

There is a skald's song that starts out "Mead Hall, Mead Hall - Home of Heroes Brave and Tall!"  And it has, indeed, been a home for many heroes over the years.  If there is a Steading of Storm King barbarians that fits the stereotypes that Westroners believe in - it is definitely Mead Hall.

Interior of Mead Hall, preparing for the nightly hero's feast

Mead Hall is structured with a great hall at the center of the settlement, surrounded by huge long houses in a double thick circle around the central hall, and then small plots of artisans, craftsman, and houses of huscarls, etc, out to the edge of the central settlement (which is about a mile across, a little over three miles around the perimeter).  It is all protected by a very tall wooden palisade, and a deep ditch, and a wall of spikes outside the ditch.

The great hall (itself properly referred to as Mead Hall, the rest of it referred to simply as The Steading) is home to the Jarl, his (extended) family, huscarls, women, travelers, wandering warriors, and lots and lots of skalds.  The favorite past-time in Mead Hall is to have warriors go out on adventures, and then come back and have skalds sing of them.

The Jarl and his men, enjoying the tales of the skalds

The current Jarl is Snorri Halftrollsson.  His father, old Halftroll, was the Jarl before, and ruled the hall for some four decades, before being killed on a hunt for giant wooly boar.  Snorri has a wife, and a dozen proper children, not to mention a large number of young women attached to the settlement, who all have children with the curious Snorri twinkle in their eye.  His band of Huscarls numbers close to three hundred, although at any one time more than half of them will be out on adventures, or viking raids.  Snorri's favorite skald, named Alvin Lyremaker, often sings a series of sagas that compare Mead Hall to the great hall in the Storm King's castle at Windkeep.

Windkeep - home of the Storm King

What is commonly known, but not talked about, is that Snorri's sister, perhaps showing more of the troll side of the family, from old Halftroll, is a witch.  She lives in a hovel, outside of the steading, in a marshy place beyond the poorest of peasant farms, but frequently comes into Mead Hall for the nightly feasts, in disguise.  She has a long and burning hatred for Snorri, his men, the steading, and most things from the world of men.  She scorns the religion and culture of her fathers, finding even the worship of Helgor (the Black Chieftain) to be too close to the family of the Storm King.

Instead, this witch, Heizelnag, chooses to worship the demigoddess of the underworld, Noxecatt, a foul creature related to the pantheon of the Westroner Church (the three Goddesses).  In the understanding of Heizelnag, however, Noxecatt is actually a daughter of the Old One deity, the Earth Weaver.  Sufficient understanding of the nature of the Earth Weaver is not known, so that this can be confirmed, however it is suspected among some of the Archivists at Parn Tandalorn. 

Many a hero from Mead Hall has come to a dark, grisly ending due to the magics and summonings worked by Heizelnag against all those allied to her brother, Snorri.

The writeup of the Roaming House of the Elkmen King was originally an adventure location that was part of this article.  It was part of the Week of Adventure Locations, but has been removed to make its own article.

Clearwater - River Jarl Steading (6)

Near the point where the Greywater River passes under a great arch, to run beneath the King's Highway, there stands two fascinating structures. The first, of course is the tall, wide raised up artificial ridge that the King's Highway is built on.  As detailed elsewhere, this artificiality was built by the Old Ones, probably by Ba'a Zarn the Builder.  Up against this raised up ridgeline rises the small castle (steading) of Clearwater.  It is a small castle (measured against the Westroner standard for such things - even a wealthy knight in one of the Baronies might have a larger castle), but it's location (right up against the King's Highway) makes it notable.  Add to this the facts that the upper levels of the steading have a commanding view of the highway up on the ridge, and that the rocky knob that the steading is built on is surrounded by a pool, requiring small (defensible) foot bridges for access, and it is a very important (and defensible - at least against attack by ground forces) strong hold.

Clearwater, surrounded by its protective pool,
and built in the shadow of the King's Highway

But it was pointed out that there are two fascinating structures here - the first being the Clearwater steading (called simply, Clearwater), but the other is the Gazing House.  Up on the raised up mound that the King's Highway runs along, in this area, there is a peculiar structure built of Amberstone.  It is very much like an open-balcony'd and terraced villa, similar to those built in the southern country, but it is ancient.  Certainly built by the Old Ones, it is not known what its original function is.

In the center of the Gazing House, which consists of apartments and balconies, built in a square, around a central open plaza - there is a large (12 feet across) brazier with a pool of water in it that always seems to be catching a drip of water in the center.  There is no source for the drip, just a constant trickle outward from where such would fall.  It has been noted that the brazier, and its contents of water, have magical properties, and once every two months, when all three moons are visible within the water of the brazier, the dripping temporarily halts, and it is said that you can see the future by gazing into the smooth clear pool of water.  In the dug out halls and chambers deep into the mound of the King's Highway that the Gazing House is built on, there are fissures and cracks that open up to deep underground caverns and stretch endlessly.  Here, there seems to be a large culture of lizard men that have a curious rite of shamans worshiping the One Beneath the Waves, and seeking to bring him up out of his slumber to destroy the surface world.

Gazing House, looking down on Sordling,
and the northern run of the Greywater from up on the King's Highway.

The current Jarl of Clearwater is Tewar Dorfsson.  There is a nearby port town called Sordling, built along the Greywater, that serves as the home of the dragon ship fleet of the Clearwater steading. The Huscarls, and many leading members of the household and even fyrd leaders all live (with their families) in the Clearwater stronghold, but most of the rest of the steading's population live in small agricultural communities around the steading and Sordling.  All of them, however, are north of the King's Highway.  There is an uneasy truce with Rookroost, and almost a constant state of feuding with viking parties from Mead Hall

The description of the City of Ohn Ohnan was originally part of this article, when it was written during the Week of Adventure Locations.

Posting update and Schedule

The eight Steadings of the River Jarls are still being posted.  The first five have been done, only three remain:  Clearwater, Mead Hall, and Northwind.  All three of these offer interesting setting descriptions, I think, and they each have an associated Adventure Location (which continues, and will finish, the Week of Adventure Locations).


In generating the Adventure Locations, references were made to locales, encounters, monsters and other elements.  These are planned to be detailed in the next week or two, so more content is on the way.

Further out, the three cities of Khomaes (home of the Diamond Villas, and the Glamor Hall for Bewitchment and Entrancement, and near the Purple Marsh), Werms (location of the Demesne of Planar Knowledge and Magical Petitioning), and Huygen (site of the wretched Black Prison of Volvedma) will need to be detailed with their own postings, and a little bit more about the other features of the Darkearth Plains (aside from what has already been done).  Then it is on to the next in the inter-river regions, between the Greywater and Fa'Ars River.  That area, the Sildur Reaches, includes the two cities of Botts (including the Bardic College of Brandismore, and the Grand Lyceum of Abjurative Sorcery) and Na Kram.  Also the Shadow Woods, Craggy Hills, Fire Mountain, and the curious Tears of Heaven (which is also Giant country).

Still working on the ValleyWiki idea...