#norrevik

[tedsies]

welcome to nordhavn! 🌲⚔️

hurrah, my new medieval-fantasy rotational hood is finally ready to play! i've been caught up in a building and planning frenzy these past few weeks, but now everything is complete eeee. its heavily inspired by the viking period, but with fantastical and generic-medieval elements to it too.

where is nordhavn?

nordhavn is a small town tucked away at the northernmost tip of the country of norrevik. whilst only a small harbour settlement, it is still of somewhat strategic significance to the crown due to the ease of access it provides to the nordik sea. the nearest large town to nordhavn is eldenberg, which is about half a day's ride away. drekigatt, the capital of norrevik, is a 3 day ride to the south.

who lives in nordhavn?

nordhavn is administered by its own jarl, a leader who oversees all matters of importance in the town. the position of jarl is not hereditary, but rather one collectively elected to by the townspeople, based on perceived strength and level of respect. it is a lifetime position, but it can be just as easily stripped away should the holder lose the favour of their people.

as nordhavn is only a small town, the jarl isn't of particular importance in the grand scheme of things. the neighboring jarl of eldenborg is far more powerful, for example. other than the jarl, there are households of various wealth and standing in nordhavn, and we'll meet them all very soon, but above is an overview of where some of these families live!

okay, now gimme the lore

so at this point i have already wrote 10+ pages of lore for this hood lol, but i won't share all of that now 😆 i can certainly give some of the highlights, though.

before nordhavn was founded down on the harbour, there was an ancient city that stood on the hills above the current town. it was known as nordfjall, and was a seat of one of the old dragon riders of times long gone. whats left of it now lies in complete ruins, but some lots such as the handfasting tree and the watcher's temple are still located up there (as shown below).

speaking of dragon riders, they ruled norrevik (and beyond!) for many millenia, but the last dragons died out centuries ago now. the descendants of the dragon riders still rule, however, with king hakon drekivaldr currently atop the throne of norrevik. his distant cousin, queen disa, rules the country of surrland directly to the south.

norrevik and surrland used to form one single kingdom, but after the last dragon riders died out, the realm was split into dozens of smaller kingdoms, each ruled by various drekivaldr descendants. these descendants fought amongst one another for hundreds of years, and it is only norrevik and surrland that remain now, having swallowed up all of their weaker neighbours over time. both king hakon and queen disa claim the full realm as rightfully their own, but the borders between the two countries have barely changed in the last 100 years, despite frequent skirmishes and wars. i have a loooot more to say on this history, but i won't bore you with any more detail just now 😅

a couple more final things to note - dragons used to be worshipped as gods in their day (and by some, they still are), but in present times it is mostly the almighty watcher to whom people pay homage. oh, and present times is specifically the year 325 (nearly 300 years before my vinterfjord legacy, which is set in the future kingdom of simdinavia 😉).

and heres a final picture because i couldn't decide which one to use

[tedsies]

nordhavn lore time!

meet the drekivaldr household, the royal family of norrevik.

king hakon is the reigning monarch, having inherited the throne from his father more than fifteen years ago. his first real test came within his first year on the throne, when neighbouring surrland attacked the realm. they had hoped to capitalise on hakon's inexperience on the throne, but failed. this was in large part due to hakon's ingenuitive military planning, but also his ability to rally and inspire his countrymen (it was in this war that nordhavn folk such as jarl tordis and ivarr also fought).

hakon married queen yrsa within a couple of months of the war ending, though it was not a marriage of love. in order to secure the alliegance of one his most powerful jarls, hakon had reluctantly promised to marry his eldest daughter should norrevik be victorious. still, the loveless marriage had provided two sons and heirs - prince gunnar and prince steffen. gunnar (right) is the eldest and therefore first in line, but his materalistic and rather apathetic nature have some worried for the crown's future.

the monarch holds their seat at drekivaldr keep (pictured above), perched up at the highest point of the large town of drekigatt (norrevik's capital). this is a three day ride from the small settlement of nordhavn.

there's a bit more information on all of this in my original introductory post to nordhavn and its lore, but one particular tidbit worth noting is that the drekivaldrs are direct descendants of the dragon riders, who used to rule the region and beyond as if by divine right.

i'm introducing the royal family now, because they will be starting to join the story in some capacity from the beginning of round 2 (which is inbound very soon!). i've also built out most of drekigatt already as a subhood to nordhavn, but thats a story for another day 😆