The Heitha

Cultural Overview
Far to the north of Verloren lies the frigid expanse known as the Heithmark (or simply “The Mark”), a frostbitten island encased by ice, populated only by the Heitha; heartiest of sailormen, whalers, and monster hunters.

"Drums echo over the frigid waves, and through the mist cuts the silhouette of an ironclad frigate, her bladed prow carving a fresh track through the sea ice. The hunter's chant is accompanied by the gulls that follow, their ceaseless cries demanding for the vast quantities of chum cast overboard; remnants of the monstrous beast suspended from the rigging, harpoons still protruding from its fanged mass. As the ship passes, from the forecastle swivels a ballista layden with barbed bolts, bearing down upon the next quarry. The wind rips through the square sails above her decks, casting shadows over the nameplate marked "Eindride" and the black ensign flying the knotwork serpent sigil of the Heitha." - Witness reports upon spotting a Heithmark Ship

The Heitha typically follow real-world Nordic naming conventions, but do not have to adhere to that rule.

Physical and Cultural Attributes
The sea-fairing Heitha captains and clan leaders of the Heithmark, or “Heithjarls,” do not come to power through their bloodlines, and though the title is for life it is not hereditary. Any man or woman of any lineage can become a Heithjarl should they best the previous in single combat. As such, the peoples and crews of the Heitha are as diverse as can be, many bold sailors having joined from passing merchant vessels or stowed away from the far corners of the world to seek adventure.

Interspersed amidst these folk is a pale group known as the Laore-Glas, or “Frost Elves,” who were the first inhabitants of the frigid wastes after the emergence who taught those that came after how to hunt for the sea monsters and Morians below. From this resurgence of ancient culture comes the lasting tradition of harpooners and hunters tattooing the beasts they’ve conquered upon their bodies with seaweed green ink.

The Heitha people have a generations-long feud with the Morian of the world, this is akin to a territory war, as the Morian see the native Heitha as invading on their lands, or waters, and vice versa for the Heith peoples. Some warriors of the Mark take this feud more seriously than others, hunting the Mor in a way that is deemed inhumane by the Jarls of the land.

History
There may be no other culture that bears a burden of shame as sizable as the ancient Heith. Nearly a millennium ago, the frigid island known as the Mark was home to the ancient heith, a group of human seafarers famous for their quick ships and strong steel. When the war of the Aegis broke out between the elves, humans, and dwarves, the old heith remained neutral for the first few years. Their homeland was isolated, safe from the horrible magics of the Laore, and for a time, it seemed as though a dwarven victory was certain.

It wasn’t until the war began to sway in the favor of the elves that king Fyurstir, first and last of his name, joined the war in favor of their stout allies. Those few months of total war absolutely decimated the heitha people and the Mark. By the time an armistice was called, the Mark was little more than a smoldering ruin.

The next several decades remain extremely hazy. Only one record, the “Stormr Saga”, records the events leading up to Shesha’s emergence. Just as it is with many sources from this time period, actual fact is buried under a proverbial mountain of myths and embellishments. What is known is that, for whatever reason, King Fyurstir and 22 of his finest warriors sailed out into the deep sea, awakening the mother of monsters and sealing Omnia’s doom. Shesha’s fury surely obliterated Fyurstir and his men, but surprisingly, most of the Mark was left untouched by her wrath. To this day, the title of “high king” remains unobtainable as Fyurstir had no heirs and, and his “current state”, it is all but impossible for any contender to challenge him for the throne.

While most of humanity was able to hide within the halls of the Low Kingdom, safe from the horrible serpent and her brood, the Mark was whipped clean of its former inhabitants, rendering it barren. For at least two centuries, the Mark remained under Morian rule, a cruel insult to the proud history of the ancient heith. It wouldn’t be until the first Laore refugees landed upon the Mark that anyone would truly contest the Morians for control of the island.

These elves were sick and weak from decades of self-imprisonment within the Trimedium’s sphere, a mysterious boon which protected most of Verendell from Shesha’s wrath- but at a terrible cost. These elves sought to distance themselves from both the Trimedium as well as their devastated homeland, hoping to start a new life amidst the frosty ruins of the Mark. For a time, both parties lived in quiet harmony, but this was not to last.

Spurred on by their xenophobic leaders, the Morians where riled into a zealous rage, slaughtering the land dwellers in their beds as they slept. Devastated, those who survived fled to the southwest, eventually coming to land in the region of modern day Bettlebrook. It was there that they came into contact with the Far Folk, and like-minded people who devoutly followed the path of the sacred flame. It was here amidst the ruins of the ancient human empire that these two peoples became one, a unique blend of human and elvish culture, determined to take back their homeland from Shesha and her brood.

It wasn’t long before these early people grew to such a strength that they finally had the means to uproot the Morians from their icy throne. With the creed of the sacred flame as their cause and the ancient sagas as their battle cry, the heith of old were reborn. They swept the Mark like a wave of purging fire, slaying all who did not yield. True to their faith, the new heith offered any morian who would hear them a place amongst their ranks so long as they renounced their terrible mother and agreed to follow the Allfather’s guiding light. Many accepted, and the heitha’s numbers swelled.

In time, the morians of the deep rallied a new army to reclaim their stolen lands, but it was to no avail. Try as they may, these new heith would not budge, and after each attack, more and more Morians accepted heitha rule. By the mid fourth century PE, the Morians still faithful to Shesha numbered so few that they could no longer fight. Rather than accept heitha rule, they fled to the ocean’s depths, vowing horrible revenge upon their return. Most, if not all, saw this as the empty threat it was, and both man and mer rejoiced over their ideological victory.

Under the rule of the first three heitha Stewards, morians, men, and elves of the Mark all lived in harmony. Most Morians lived separately from their land-dwelling comrades, but the tensions from the previous crusades were all but absent. It wasn’t until the reign of Steward Hakkon I that things began to take a turn for the worst. Still fervent practitioners of the sacred flame, his people sought for a crusade, but alas, there was no cause to be found. They began to “stretch” the creeds of the Far Code, implying meaning where there was none. Where there had once been tolerance, there was now only spite.

What began as a hatred for the monsters of the deep sea became a hatred for all that came from the sea, and not long after, a hatred for the very Morians who had contributed to the liberation of the Mark. Although it never came to outright violence, the Morians who lived within the Mark’s icey shoals were slowly pushed out. By 734 PE, it’s thought that the island’s entire Morian population was gone, spread throughout the world in search of more accepting communities.

It’s no coincidence that the Morian township of Anned Mor received a huge population boom in the early decades of the seventh century. With the “infidels” repelled, the modern day Mark remains one of the last hold outs for Sacred Flame fundamentalism, a wildly xenophobic interpretation of the Far Code and its edicts. The violent people who call it home are usually content with warring against the horrors that dwell in the deep sea, but during times of political strife, it’s not unusual to see heitha mercenaries fighting on both sides. Whether this disparate group of cantankerous zealots will last the tumultuous times ahead, only time will tell…