The Unbroken Covenant, The Wandering Nation
"A chain, however grand, is still a prison. Our strength is in our choice to stand together."
The Collective's spirit was born in the fires of the War of Broken Oaths, but its body was forged in its devastating conclusion. They were the giants and small folk who believed in the unity promised by Mokkur's Gift and the library of Haugaeldr. They fought not for dominance, but for partnership. Their defeat and the subsequent destruction of the library in 1 AH was not just a military loss; it was the shattering of a dream. In the ashes, they made a choice: they would never again be bound to a land that could be burned or a fortress that could be besieged. They would take their dream and make it mobile, a covenant carried in the hearts of its people, forever beyond the reach of tyrants.
The Collective is a nation without borders, its identity built on shared values and motion rather than territory.
"All Voices Heard": This is the sacred principle that survived the war. While giants, by virtue of their scale and strength, hold ultimate responsibility and final decision-making power, no choice is made without the counsel of the Lítillfólk. Every mobile settlement is governed by a "Hearth-Council" of elected representatives from all races. A giant may be the shield, but the community is the arm that guides it.
The Wandering City: Their capital is not a place, but a event. It is a vast convoy of giant-drawn platforms, sledges, and mobile forges that travels established routes across the tundra. When it stops, the Wandering City blossoms into a bustling, chaotic, and vibrant metropolis of tents and temporary structures, a testament to their resilience and adaptability.
The Covenant of Mutual Aid: Every member, giant and small, is bound to contribute to the survival of the whole. A giant's strength protects the farmer, and the farmer's harvest feeds the giant. This is not a demand, but a shared understanding born from the hardship of their exile.
The Sanctity of Choice: Their greatest cultural value is the freedom to choose one's path. They are a haven for dissidents, exiles, and free-thinkers from other nations. This makes them incredibly diverse but often politically fragmented.
The Ghosts of Haugaeldr: They are the keepers of the world's lost memories. They preserve what fragments of knowledge survived the library's burning, and their skalds sing the epics of the War of Broken Oaths as a warning against the seduction of absolute power.
Pragmatic Idealism: They dream of a united world but are not naive. They know the Frost-Grasp and rival nations are constant threats. Their partnership is a practical necessity as much as an ideal, honed by generations of hardship.
Nearly nine centuries after their founding exile, the Collective remains the underdog of Niflheimar. They are the mediators, the traders, and the stubborn conscience of the giant nations. They are often mistrusted by the rigid Stone-Shields, despised by the elitist Sun-Splinters, and seen as weak by the Frost-Fangs. Yet, they endure. Their mobile nature makes them nearly impossible to eradicate, and their ideology continues to attract those who chafe under the rule of the other powers. They are a living reminder of the path not taken, a flickering but unyielding flame of partnership in an age of frost and tyranny.