Halmgard
No specific national symbol or colors. Instead, each of the Jarls has their own livery and colors.
68% Human (Nordic Ethnic Backgrounds)
20% Dwarf
10% Gnome
2% Halfling
80% Pantheon
20% Ancestor Worship
(Feudal Confederacy System of Government) Highland governance is a decentralized confederation of provinces. Each province is run by a Jarl who has complete control over his or her respective state. Jarls usually delegate most laws and military affairs to trusted Housecarls and administration and trade functions to trusted advisors and middle classmen called Karls. In times where the nation is threatened, the Jarls band together and appoint a High Chieftain to oversee the defense of the nation, usually selected from the strongest Jarl with the largest army at the time. The entire society is merit based and individual citizens have a lot of personal freedoms compared to most other countries.
Badlands: Hostile
Cenovia: Friendly
Commonwealth of Dail: Neutral
Eldarian Union: Neutral
Elven Triumvirate: Neutral
Empire of Grundar: Neutral
Golden Dwarves: Friendly
Grand Duchy of Montia: Neutral
Granelian Protectorate: Neutral
Hassarian Oligarchy: Hostile
Ichi Shogunate: Hostile
Idelan Republic: Neutral
Iron Dwarves: Friendly
Kingdom of Aldania: Neutral
Naga’s Landing: Hostile
Orc Horde: Hostile
Sahalan Sultanate: Neutral
Shaneier Elves: Hostile
Steel Dwarves: Friendly
Taisan Khanate: Hostile
The Dark Covenant: Hostile
Theocracy of Vespa: Neutral
Undying Lands: Hostile
Wolven Marches: Hostile
Currency is minted with a Nordic Fehu Rune icon on it
Gold (gp) is used to buy luxury goods and high-end services
Silver (sp) is used to buy common quality goods and skilled labor
Copper (cp) is used to buy basic supplies goods and food
Average costs
Basic Food items: 1-3 copper
Luxury Food items: 10-15 copper
Basic Drinks: 1-3 copper
Luxury Drinks: 5-10 copper
Basic clothing: 25-50 copper
Average clothing: 25-50 silver
Luxury/High End clothing: 10-15 gold
Basic Lodging (Common Inn): 5-10 silver per night
Comfortable Lodging (High End Inn): 20-25 silver per night
Luxury Lodging (Private room with bath): 50-100 silver per night
Opulent/Noble Lodging (Private suite with multiple rooms): 10-15 gold per night
Transportation (Rented wagon/carriage): 10-15 silver per km
Weapons and Armor: Use Item costs
Due to the higher terrain, mountains, and colder environments Highland architecture can be best described as Viking in design. Timber frames with wattle-and-daub walls are common. Insulated turf-and-stone walls are also popular. The wealthier Jarls usually construct large stone keeps and longhouses with distinct dragon, eagle, wolf, or bear designs carved into the wood. Towns and villages heavily use stone, earth, and wood materials where insulation and function are the most important features.
Highland clothing heavily centers around furs and leathers. Cloth material is primarily sheep’s wool and almost all clothing is either white or brown or gray in color. The wealthier Highlanders prefer to use jewelry to showcase their wealth. Citizens and warriors alike will often times wear cloaks, hats, or sashes in the color of their Jarl’s banner to demonstrate which lord they serve and which province they are from.
Typical Highland cuisine includes heavy use of livestock meats, dairy, cheeses, mushrooms and herbs that are usually prepared in stews or soups. Goats, sheep, pigs and chickens, animals that don’t seem to mind the mountains or being indoors often. Highland diet revolves heavily around them as there is not a lot of room for farmland. Drinks are usually dairy or herbal leaf based, and alcohol favors fermented dairy spirits and imported ales from other countries.
Music: Highland music is heavy on horns. There are several different styles of horn they use for music but deeper bass sounding horns are the most popular. Combined with singing most Highland music ranges from rousing a drunken ballad to somber a reflective ode. Highlanders are particularly fond of female voices and a good female singer is treated with reverence as a sign from the gods.
Literature: Most Highlanders are illiterate and don’t care to learn. A vast majority of their society is merit based or achieved through strength of arms. And knowledge is passed through the generations through apprenticeships. Most of the people who are literate are in the upper class or in a Jarl’s personal service. This makes books and literature scarce in the country.
Entertainment/Theater: Highlanders are most entertained by events showcasing physical prowess and sports. Wrestling, brawling, log tosses, and other such activities are considered great fun. Highlanders with wealth and status like board games like chess for its strategic thinking. A particular popular form of entertainment involves a game where individuals take turns insulting each other in verse or rhyme until the opponent can’t think of any more. Stage performances are rare, but when they happen, they are usually from traveling performers, not from native works.
Technology is not widely in use or available in the Highlands. Despite friendly relations with nearby dwarves it is not their machinery Highlanders are interested in, but instead Highlanders value finely crafted weapons and tools. Magic is also not widely in use and most people who use magic are treated as suspicious shamans or wizards. Some are even shunned as outsiders to live a life of hermetism or isolation if their powers are strong enough to pose a threat.
Deep within the remote Highland mountains a small tribe of humans took residence in the shadows of the great mountain. Nestled in secluded valleys they prospered despite the harsh conditions, scarcely aware of the world around them. When they did finally reach another civilization it was dwarven. Taking a liking to their shared stubborn resolves and hard work, the Highlanders and Dwarves quickly became allies and many of the cultural background for Highlanders is heavily rooted in dwarven beliefs and practices. During the great war the dwarves very fiercely protected the mountains, and so Highlanders were relatively sheltered during the upheaval that took place. Afterwards, due to dwindled dwarf populations, and large regions of the mountains now being empty, the Highlanders began to move south out of the mountains and expand. That expansion eventually turned hostile with the Taisan Khanate and Ichi Shogunate due to language barriers and neither nation wanted to give up any territory to them. Highlanders have fewer population numbers, and were finding it increasingly difficult to march large armies and claim land, having no experience in such things and little in the way of resources to maintain a campaign. So they eventually adopted more of a raiding culture that has lasted to this day. Highlanders would rally behind skilled raiding leaders that would become the Jarls and built a society based mostly on merits and deeds. When the Hessarian Oligarchy tried to take over the eastern half of the continent, the Highlanders were building their longhouses mostly out of wood and pitch. But after the Hessarian army burned much of it to the ground on their way out west, the Highlanders started seeing the value in stone keeps. Leaning on their alliance with the dwarves, the Jarls started building fortifications, and towns now spring up underneath their protective watch. The Highlands as it stands now, is a strong warrior nation, who protect their mountains and believe staunchly in might and merit.