History of the Northern community
History Long Past
Historically the North was, as all of Thiusland, the domain of elemental beings of gigantic stature, the element of water being predominant in the area. Dwarves walked the lands in the time of the elementals but their numbers were few. Their creations and exploits still can be found in the depths of the earth. In the grand arc of time, it was relatively recently that humans ever set foot on the shores of the North, 260 years from the current histories. The first to arrive were humans and humanoids fleeing the war ravaging their home continent of Saian, they were the only ones brave or stupid enough to travel into the frozen wastes to escape. Their gamble paid off, and although losing many of the refugees during the passage, they were able to make it to the harsh but hospitable shores of the northern sea. They brought their boat inland along the river to a defensible ridge, thinking like those accustomed to war and brought the boat into the safety of a rock-shelter before settling on the ridge.This would be built over the next 16 years into Godrindell, the first settlement of the North.
The Recent Past
From the refugees of Saian, and their home in Gondrindell, much of what came to be the Northern people grew. They were the first to implement the governance system of Elders, as the eldest woman of their crew had been their stalwart guide from Saian. They also started the tradition of honouring those who travelled far off the land to return, as it was a dangerous unknown to go into and yet there was so much to learn about their new home. New settlements first started in this pursuit of the unknown, shelters and waystations to allow those who explored to rest and feel safe.
It wasn’t until Vollfahdell and Hologall that a settlement was started by other people than the descendants of the original refugees; Vollfahdell was built by druids travelling from the central plains and Hologall by explorers from the eastern bogs. Each settlement started as self sufficient entities and the readily available resources of the area played a large role in their unique construct, industry and palettes. The one thing that united the scattered peoples was the sea, it provided all of them with food and purpose, sailors being synonymous with all communities of the north. On the water was where communities would meet and friends would be made, the sea making all equal on its waves, and from these early meetings and trading between sailors the seeds of what would become the greater northern community was born.
The God’s North
It was soon after this, nearly ninety years, that the lives of the people of the north would be irrevocably changed. The news came first from a Fisher in Tontindell; As she recounts it, she had made camp near a shrine of the God of the ocean tides after being forced off the sea by a fierce storm, praying to the god for safety she went to rest but was awoke by a thunderous boom that sounded as if it touched down on her very tent. As she went to look she found a naked and shivering child with no hair, and bright ice blue eyes. She called out and the person looked confused and in pain, so she brought her fur lined blanket to them and as she approached felt deeply in her soul the want, no, the need to protect and care for this entity. The entity was brought to Tontindell by her and was the idolization of the town. The people could tell there was something special to them, even if they could not yet communicate fully. Word spread to star seers and mystics of the far corners of the north and when they came to see this mysterious child was when the reality was unveiled, that a God stood before the north in the flesh. Under the care of the mystics the God learned to speak, and to command. By this time word was coming from the slow over land routes rarely tread: Gods of all kinds have been found in Thiusland.
It was a strange symbiosis for the people, to see the holy but to care for it like one does a child. The mystics and elders of the North decided it would be a community effort to raise the God, and built a home for it near the shrine it was originally found at. During their growth the God seems ever curious, watching the ways of those around them and crying out demanding things when the need struck them, but otherwise stayed silent. The people around them tried to keep their curious skepticism of this God and their divine power and many disagreed how best to treat them. At the turn of their 15th year on Thiusland the God awoke and started making proclamations.
All northerns must be one, no arguments or second thoughts were to be had, only the order of the god.
All comforts and warmth the world of Thiusland had to offer would be brought to their home, which would be rebuilt to house such splendor.
All shrines to the sea, the storms, the moon and were to be remade to them, as they were the true God.
In step with this they demanded they meet the other Gods on Thiusland and determine if they were false or not. Thus began the changing of relationship to the Northerns to the God, who they now saw meant to rule them and not all were happy to be ruled. The meeting of the Gods happened on the 25th anniversary of their coming to Thiusland, it solidified their bonds, and their dominion, from then on the Gods saw themselves as allies and the true rulers of their own clearly defined sliced of Thiusland. Trade deals, economics, and hierarchy grew rapidly in the next years of the Gods’ rule and transformed the landscape, and at first it seemed for the best. New oddities, delicious foods, art and people were able to spread more freely in the land as infrastructure was built to support quickly interweaving settlements. Any who opposed this new focus of development were labeled as antisocial, heretical and troublesome. Whole families and settlements were forced to the fringes by ostracization for not believing as the rest of the world seemed to march blindly towards a shared goal. As the supporters and the powers closest to the gods grew in wealth they took from others in order to feed their greed, and the imbalance inherent in the hierarchy began to become all too apparent and as the people stood up to this injustice they were met by increasing oppression. For the first time armed “security” forces were established in Thiusland and the war their ancestors fled long ago seemed to become an approaching reality for the Northerns.