GossamerAndIce/Asgard

the History of Asgard

the First Age

During the First Age, the lands of Asgard were rough, and rugged. The land was filled with vicious predators, harsh weather, beautiful landscapes, plentiful game, and a solitary Lunar-aspected Manse. The few maps that bothered to mention the small mountainous land on the edge of the vast northern sea simply referred to it as a game preserve, for it's main purpose was to provide sport and privacy for one of the Solar Exalted and his Lunar mate. They would typically come during the late winetrs, living for several months from out of their reclusive manse, unbothered by the things of Creation. Yet during the rest of the year the land was not barren.

A small settlement of rangers, hunters, foresters, thaumaturgists, and their families dwelled deep in the wilds of the region. Their village was small, and their luxuries few, their entire existances revolving around the care of the land and the animals within it: ensuring that their Exalted masters would have this relaxing and vibrant land as their home away from home. News and messages passed frequently between these peoples and the heartlands of Creation, and though they lived on the frontiers, they still enjoyed many of the fruits of civilized living.

After the Usurpation, life grewer harder and more difficult. The civilization that they had existed on the fringes of was no more, and the Shogunate had little care for the remote backwater. Yet the people were hardy and used to self-reliance; they adapted to their new lives, and flourished under the harsh conditions. So impressive was the resolve of these people that it lent strength to Manan, Beloved of Luna, their once-master who had retreated to these lands after the death of his wife. He had come here in failure, to die alone in the wilds, but instead he found hope and strength. Under his wise guidance, the people prospered and grew strength, until their tribe was a thousand strong and their name known along the edges of Creation.

The Great Contagion, as it did all over Creation, cut a large swath through these people. Of their thousands, 97 survived. When the Fair Folk came, and cut down Manan, they hid as they could in caves and deep under the ground. The Wise still have stories of the Great Blizzard, it's howling winds and brutal force. They sing of how the storm rent their land, cutting it from the solid foundation of the world. Yet they remained, even when the Empress activated the defenses of the Realm and blasted the Hordes of the Fey into nothing.

The Foundings of Asgard

200 years after the land was ripped from Creation and cast into the middlemarches of the Wyld, the Fair Folk returned to the lands that would eventually bear the name Asgard. They found a land rich and glorious: strange beasts and terrible monsters, powerful demesnes and a ruined manse, and best of all a large tribe of brutal barbarians.

The first Noble to discover this prize was Sunthir Flameblade, a potent Raksha Cataphract who had ridden with Prince Balor during the Crusade. Once little more than a eddy of power, Sunthir had grown strong in the century since the Crusade, feasting on the souls and dreams of men. He had taken a shape of great size and power, fashioned himself as a fearsome warrior of the Mountain, and forged from the Grace of one of his enemies his mighty blade of fire. In his image he crafted his children, the Giants, and together they settled the lands of Asgard. The ruins of the great Manse that had been raised in the First Age were destroyed, and in their place was raised Jotunheim, the lair of the Giants.

Over two centuries, the Household of Sunthir Flameblade grew slowly yet steadily. He culled the tribes carefully, teaching them to fear him and culling from their dreams his children and pawns. There was the icy Thurm, dark-hearted Anboda, tempestous Aegilis, and the soft-spoken Mimir. They had children of their own and the Freehold of Jotunheim grew strong, and their dominance over Asgard grew. Yet Asgard was a rich land, and a strong land, and a large land. Thus it was that in the RY 427, a city of crystal and ice rose on the shores of the distant sea, and the Giants found that they now shared their land with another.

The Court of Vanaheim was founded by the Eshu Frejja and the Strategos Froi, who fashioned each other "brother and sister", along with their "Father", Jord, an Imperial Raksha with grand ambition and a certain low cunning. The great Fortress-City of Vanaheim was crafted before Sunthir even realized that he had interlopers in his land taking what he'd thought of as his own, and to add insult to injury several of his children and grandchildren had been lured away by the tempting offers of Jord or the beauty of fair Frejja. The Vanir started off strong, sealing their Household's founding with the creation of several Akshata Nobles.

Both Courts immediately fell into the pattern that they've maintained ever since: bold declarations of enmity, duels and fueding interrupted by treachery and cunning trickery on both sides. A few other Raksha have attempted to edge in on the action, but so far all have proven largely unsuccessful. Most end up absorbed by the larger courts or simply ignored and forgotten. The most successful was an Artisian named Minix, who sunk a freehold into the depths of the Mountain in RY 677. Though his Household is quite insular, their rivalries and romances scarcely noticed outside of their dour Stone Halls, the Court is none the less known for the workmanship and efficiency of its Makers.

An Overview of Asgard

A Discussion of Giants and Vanir

Though both are ultimately Raksha, and have intermingled for the past several centuries, the two primary types of Fae found in Asgard are still worth a bit of examination as they differ from each other in some interesting ways. These differences are ultimately matters of shape, introduced through the creation of Nobles by members of the Court and the subtle taint of human dreams.

the Vanir
Much of the nature of the Vanir can be guessed at through observations of their home, Vanaheim. A glorious city of twisting spires, shining crystal and brilliant ice radiant in the sun's llight, Vanaheim is a thing of beauty visible throughout most of Asgard. Yet for all it's beauty, it is a Fortress-City, and ultimately as cold and warlike as the Nobles that dwell within. Vanir tend toward the Warrior or the Entertainer caste, with Eshu and Xia both being quite common among the Nobles of the Household. The warrior ethic is particularly strong among the Nobles of the Court, and those without the Sword are often viewed as pitifully weak and pathetic. The Vanir often have Warrior abilities as Caste or Favored, and tend toward high values in these abilities as well.

The Vanir are more than thugs, however. They aspire to beauty and elegance of form in all things, both their bodies and their implements of war. It is rare for one of the Vanir to have an Appearance of lower than 5, and the greatest of them surpass even the limits of most Nobles. Abjurations that demand beauty and elegance are not uncommon among the Court, often taking the form of thin gossamer blades or various items of jewelry. So compelling is the Vanir love of beauty that it tends to even infest those who spend too much time around them.

the Giants
The Children of Sunthir are a breed apart from the elegant warrior-ethic of the Vanir, and the Raksha of Jotunheim tend to be more flexible than their rivals in the glorious city of crystal and ice. When their father crafted them from the dreams of the Barbarians and his own wishes, he sought to create a balanced family that could entertain him and rule over the land he saw as belonging fully and wholely to him. Thus, unlike the Vanir, the Giants do not overly favor any one caste over the others. They do, however, have quite a propensity for the Style background -- their hearts are strong, and their self-assurance iron.

The one common theme among the Giants is, perhaps unsurprisingly, size. Sunthir built his children along a greater mold than common man, and the greatest of them tower over the vast lands that he promised as their birthright. Thus, mutations of Size are almost universal among the children of Sunthir. The Affliction of Huge and the Blight of Giant are about equally common, but even the smallest of Giants tends to have the Large Pox. Most, but not all, of Sunthir's children take these as permanent mutations.