The continent of Nordveld is a place of magnificent mountains and bitter cold. It is the ancestral home of the Kallardian and Blainn races, who live together in relatively autonomous klans ruled by Hövdings, which are part of larger regions called läns. Important decisions are made in assemblies called tings, where every free man has the right to vote.

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No records of Nordveld's history prior to The Sundering of Asterra have been made available at this time.

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At some point in the ancient past during a cataclysmic event known as The Sundering of Asterra, the entire face of Nave changed drastically. The continents of Myrland, Urmothâr, Sidoia, Sarducaa, and Nordveld—once a singular connected continent called Asterra—were torn apart. The land mass split up into the continents as we know them now.

Urmothâr—or as the Tindremenes call it, Lykia—in the south-east, Sidoia in the south-west, Sarducaa in the west, and Nordveld in the north-west fell apart from Myrland, as the tectonic plates of the southern hemisphere sunk several hundred meters into the ocean. This left a huge landmass fault and an enormous waterfall, hundreds of meters steep, between the Inner Sea in the north and the Coral Sea in the south, called Tecton's Fault.

The former land bridge between Myrland and Nordveld became an island, and two enormous bridges were constructed to link Myrland, Sarducaa, and Nordveld together once again. In the ages before The Conflux, the Kallards of Nordveld and Tindremenes of Myrland waged whole wars atop of Tecton’s Fault for control over the island itself and its strategically important bridges.

These wars were so impactful to the Kallards that Nordveld's many warmongering klans consolidated under one chieftain to fight off the Tindremic Empire's forces.

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Eventually the Tindremic generals led their armies to a great success over the Kallard forces, leaving the heavily defended town of Meduli behind and setting up a bridgehead on the eastern coast of Nordveld. After conquering the town of Varborg in the west, the Tindremenes controlled the greatest parts of the south of Nordveld and started to assimilate the “savages” into their Empire.

They subdued those who actively resisted and tried to enlighten the others by using the full force of the Tindremic political machine.

The main target for the Tindremic forces was Branth, the capital of the Kallards in the far north-east of the continent. However, to access Branth they had to either cross the Fensalir Mire, or attack the well-defended mountain stronghold of Rimfrost.

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To the frustration of the Tindremic generals, the consuls of the Tricapita back in Tindrem completely underestimated the difficulties of crossing what they saw as “a small puddle”, and the army lost vast numbers to the mire's unfamiliar terrain and dangerous inhabitants, human and creature alike.

The Tindremenes, though greater in number, faced an enemy who was not only familiar with the land and its dangers, but also used to the rough climate. When the consuls finally realized that the situation in the Fensalir Mire was hopeless, they had the army pull out of the wetlands.

The political bickering surrounding the invasion continued, with many consuls eager to be part of a successful conquest of the Kallard capital. Winter was coming and Rimfrost's Gorge, the only pass wide enough for an army to cross, would have been snowed in for the next few months. Against the generals' advice to properly regroup and wait for spring, the consuls ordered an even riskier advancement; a full frontal attack on Rimfrost.

The consuls where somewhat aware of its massive defenses built by the Blainn, and predicted they would need the help of the Húergar to overcome them. Knowing that this could be a sensitive matter to the Húergar council as they are cousins to the Blainn race, the Tricapita never revealed its true intentions to them. Instead they requested a small party of Húergar “emissaries”, among them carefully selected architects, to help in “negotiating” with Rimfrost.

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The stronghold of Rimfrost was built centuries ago by Blainn craftsmen and engineers, and is set inside and above Rimfrost's Gorge. Its defenses are excellent and the strategic position over the pass make it virtually impossible to besiege it. The entrance to the pass is closed off by a massive defensive structure made of what looks like a single piece of polished gabore.

The Tindremenes felt confident in their campaign since the Húergar architects had served them well before, for example in the construction of Tindrem, and their prowess in masonry was second to none. However when the Húergar architects arrived and realized that they were supposed to take part in fighting the Blainn they immediately refused.

The planned efforts to persuade the individual Húergar by promising them the spoils of Rimfrost or huge sums of gold merely insulted them, and without further ado they all turned on their heels and marched back to Myrland.

Both sides felt betrayed by the other. The Húergar were infuriated by being asked to fight their own, and on top of that destroy a grand work of masonry and engineering. The consuls however couldn't understand the principled squeamishness displayed by their old ally, and felt that this betrayal had cost them their victory.

It was thus that the alliance between the two peoples that had lasted for centuries was fractured.

As winter came the Tindremenes were forced to retreat to Varborg—not a single man had been killed in battle at the siege of Rimfrost and not one Blainn or Kallard had been captured during the expedition. As no blood was spilled, this is still considered the most shameful campaign in Tindremic history.

The consuls in Tindrem had nothing but snide remarks and incomprehension for their generals' lack of military skill. While the army set up winter quarters outside Varborg, the generals were brought back to Tindrem to fight a variety of Nordveld beasts and, in the end, each other to at least amuse the Emperor until the army could make a new attempt on Branth.

Then The Conflux happened.

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As the cultures of Nave recovered from the throes of The Conflux, an uneasy truce was forged between Nordveld's many klans and the Tindremic Empire. This truce would remain in effect even through the Tindremic Empire's slow decline in the years to come, and only unraveled when The Irruption once more threw Nave into turmoil.

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The hordes of The Irruption never reached the northern parts of Nordveld. It is believed the icy winds stopped the flying Fleshbiters, and that the prolonged exposure to cold weakened the larger insectoids, preventing them from venturing into the mountainous regions.

Many of the Varborgians had time to flee up north and eventually reached Branth, which remained completely unscathed during the invasion. Other regions in the south weren’t as fortunate for they were farther away, or had to circle around the great Fensalir Mire, meaning they met with the same fate as Myrland.

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Three official expeditions from Nordveld have reached the shores of Myrland in the last two decades. The first was a failed attack on Meduli where the currents of the Inner Sea seem to have been underestimated, leading to most of the fleet disappearing down the Fault of Tecton, never to be heard of again.

A few late coming ships managed to go on shore around Meduli and the haggard crew immediately surrendered in favor of a few years worth of penal servitude, as long as food was included. It so turned out that the ravening gang was the sole surviving population of a small coastal village east of Fensalir Mire, which had simply abandoned their territory and set sail for a better future. The population has survived to this day with most working in the fishing trade; some as new citizens of the Tindremic Empire, others still considering themselves Kallards.

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The second expedition was a carefully planned attack on Tindrem's harbor in 29 AD by a fleet from Branth led by Ingunna the Drummer, Noaid of Skadi. At this time the capital had a burgeoning trade with Sarducaa via an expanding port in Khwar Migdal, the western end of the now ruined Bridge of Tecton.

When the Tindremic ships had anchored, the crew disembarked and the port hands were about to unload the brimming hulls, Ingunna's infiltrators set fire to the surrounding harbor. In the ensuing chaos and under cover of night, her fast rowing ships swept in with small crews to man the trade fleet and quickly sail it out to sea, carried by a southern wind people would swear was as unnatural as the profound drumming from the accompanying ships.

The audacious move took the Tindremenes by complete surprise, and if it hadn’t been for the strange wind blowing the flames towards the sea, the fires would have surely spelled disaster for several districts. Evil rumors circulated that Emperor Isaios Avitus would not be disturbed during all this bedlam as he was preoccupied with enjoying a particularly well-composed suite on lyre and hornucopian dronepipe.

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The rumors surrounding Emperor Isaios Avitus, coupled with the degradation of having an entire trade fleet including its goods stolen from right under his nose, were probably some of the reasons for why the third encounter with a Kallardian expedition unfolded the way it did. For the first time in 400 years an official delegation from Varborg arrived in Tindrem in 32 AD to seek an audience with the Tricapita.

The delegation was led by none other than Bárd Laglegur, the current Länshövding of Varborg, who claimed direct descendence from the famous Tindremic general Cassian Andel Bellus, the original conqueror of the city. The Varborgian ruler sought a treaty with the old Empire, possibly even a reunion, and had brought valuable gifts and a boatload of famous Varborgian Ale.

Emperor Isaios Avitus dismissed the tribute with the now famous dictum “Wine smells like nectar, beer smells like goat”, and went on to accuse Bárd for the Branthian attack, demanding Ingunna's head on a plate before any negotiations would take place.

Efforts were made to explain the somewhat complex governmental system of Nordveld with Läns, Tings, and Hövdings, and the fact that there’s no sovereign ruler—meaning Bárd had nothing to do with the attack and held no power over neither Branth nor Ingunna. “I am not king. The people is king.” said Bárd finally in broken Tindremic, but Emperor Isaios Avitus would hear nothing of it.

He replied that if Bárd was not the king he was just an entertainer, a mere jester at the imperial court, and it seems a deeply affronted Bárd and delegation barely managed to hastily set sail back to Nordveld before swords were crossed.

Kinsman, thy journey to the king ended otherwise than I would have chosen. I urged much thy coming hither;
now, I entreat thee, go home with all speed, and come not in the way of king Isaios, unless there be better
agreement between you than now seems likely, and keep thee well from the king and from his men.

Ölvir Högg, “Bárd Laglegur’s Saga”, Chapter 25

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For the past few years this is where the political situation has been left hanging, as there has been no official talks since. Trade is continuing as usual albeit with a high tax on Nordveldian commerce in Tindrem, which coupled with the Diádima outbreak have led to an increasing amount of traffic to Meduli.

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