Ragnar
Ragnar
Ragnar is a region of the Ice Kingdoms situated between Khafeek and Zhosarik. It is a harsh frontier land that blends the coastal harshness of Zhosarik with the savage terror of Khafeek.
Closer to the borders of Zhosarik, Ragnar is somewhat more civilized. As one travels farther north, the region becomes increasingly wild, dangerous, and terrifying. Like most of the Ice Kingdoms, Ragnar sits on the edge of the last savage frontiers.
Frontier Society
The folk of Ragnar, like those of Zhosarik, fall into two broad categories: those who live within the villages and the city of Hjuuhn, and those who do not.
One group is made up of hunters, loggers, and miners scattered across the frozen tundra. These are homesteaders and adventurers attempting to tame a frozen hell, happy to make lives for themselves free from the social restraints of the rest of the world. This is also the world of roaming tribesmen and barbarian clans.
The other group consists of a connected series of villages and towns that rise out of the darkness along the Vaheem and the border of Zhosarik. Within their walls, “civilization” survives: crafts, industry, learning, and commerce, all sheltered from the savages and monsters of the region.
Geography
Ragnar is made up of several large valleys that run down from the Kha Mari Mountains before eventually opening into a wide plain toward Zhosarik.
These valleys are known for dark beasts, clans of Rhakas, kazinars, earth giants, fire giants, hordes of hazor, and unnumbered hordes of kaznarks that follow in the wake of larger creatures.
Many of the valleys have thick layers of red-tinged ice in their basins. Others are filled with black firs and blue pines.
The highlands between the valleys are inhabited by the tribes and barbarians of the region. These uplands are made up of rocky soil, patches of arctic grasses, and low greenish-blue sage bushes.
Peoples of Ragnar
Most tribes of Ragnar are human, particularly the Khalgols and Uhans. There are also several troll tribes and a number of well-established Acirean tribes.
The Khalgols make up the majority of the barbarian tribes and tend to dominate the region.
The tribes of Ragnar survive through hunting, herding, raiding, logging, mining, and seasonal movement across the highlands and valleys. They are hardened by the cold, the beasts, and the constant pressure of hostile forces moving south from the deeper Ice Kingdoms.
Frost Woods
In the center of Ragnar lies a great forest of blue pine and black firs. It spreads outward from the largest valley to cover roughly one hundred miles of tundra plain.
This forest is known as the Frost Woods.
The Frost Woods are dark, damp, and covered in mist. The interior of the forest is colder than the tundra surrounding it. The frozen ground within the forest often breaks away into thick, cold, muddy peat swampland known to swallow large parties with ease.
A thick, swirling mist pervades the entire forest. It clings to everything and has been known to suddenly freeze around warm objects. Those who travel through the region often wear thick fur boots to keep their legs and feet from freezing solid.
The Frost Woods are well-known territory for the Hazor, who are able to regenerate lost or frozen flesh with ease.
Ruined Town of the Frost Woods
Toward the center of the valley, near the edge of the Frost Woods, lie the ruins of a large town that has succumbed to the forest.
The ruin is filled with undead things and is usually avoided by travelers.
Those who must travel through the Frost Woods do so quickly, during the limited hours of sunlight, and while armed to the teeth. If they are unfortunate enough to be caught in the valley or forest after darkness falls, they often sleep high in the trees and set minor deadfall traps for protection.
Settlements
There are very few settlements in Ragnar, and even fewer as one travels toward Khafeek.
Along the shores of the Vaheem are numerous small fishing villages. Nearer the border with Zhosarik, these settlements grow into larger towns.
Only one true city anchors the region: Hjuuhn.
Hjuuhn
Hjuuhn is the anchor of Ragnar. It is a double-walled circular fortress city filled with smiths, wood-carvers, tribesmen, hunters, herders, traders, and frontier folk.
It is a harsh place of gray, solid stone, but wealthy compared to the rest of Ragnar. Hjuuhn is well known for its wood and metal exports and serves as a way moot for tribes, adventurers, merchants, and travelers moving northward through the region.
The city is also viewed as a break-wall against the hordes of monsters that flood southward. It is well suited to receive these attacks.
There is forty feet of space between the first and second wall, filled with numerous traps both magical and mundane. The city itself is nearly a mile wide and sits at the entrance of the largest valley cutting through Ragnar.
| Hjuuhn Information | |
|---|---|
| Type | Fortress city; way moot; trade city |
| Region | Ragnar |
| Location | At the entrance of the largest valley cutting through Ragnar |
| Construction | Double-walled circular fortress city of gray stone |
| Defenses | Two walls, 40-foot killing ground between walls, magical traps, mundane traps |
| Known For | Wood exports, metal exports, smiths, wood-carvers, tribal moot, monster defense |
| Population | Unknown |
| Ragnar Information | |
|---|---|
| Type | Ice Kingdom region; frontier land; valley realm |
| Region | Ice Kingdoms |
| Location | Between Khafeek and Zhosarik |
| Major City | Hjuuhn |
| Major Landmark | Frost Woods |
| Terrain | Large valleys, rocky highlands, red-tinged ice basins, black fir forests, blue pine woods, tundra plains, cold peat swamps |
| Major Peoples | Khalgols, Uhans, troll tribes, Acirean tribes, hunters, loggers, miners, homesteaders |
| Major Threats | Rhakas, kazinars, earth giants, fire giants, hazor, kaznarks, undead, cold peat bogs, monster hordes |
| Known For | Hjuuhn, Frost Woods, barbarian clans, frontier settlements, monster-filled valleys, wood and metal exports |
Adventure Use
Ragnar is useful for frontier survival adventures, monster-war campaigns, tribal conflicts, frozen wilderness exploration, and fortress-defense scenarios.
Possible adventure uses include:
- Defending Hjuuhn from a southward monster horde.
- Escorting miners through the valleys into dangerous claims.
- Investigating undead activity in the ruined town within the Frost Woods.
- Helping a tribe recover kin lost in the cold peat swamps.
- Hunting hazor that have taken shelter in the Frost Woods.
- Tracking kaznark hordes gathering behind larger monsters.
- Discovering why the red-tinged ice in one valley has begun to melt.
