Chapter 1

In the Northlands of the human realm live the tribes of the mountainous barbarians. They are a hardy people who endure long, cold and dark winters with only a brief and cool summer. They are forced to live off the land's animals and sparse fruit in order to survive as the soil is largely permafrost and therefore too frozen to support any form of agriculture.
Not many a merchant is brave...or foolish enough to venture so far north. The tribes live in almost constant threat of the mountain Trolls who frequently venture down from their lofty lairs to devour those not fast enough to outrun them. When not fighting off the threats of winter or the beasts of the Great Forest the tribes regularly skirmish with each other over rights to the most fruitful hunting ground, though it has been known for them to slaughter each other for no other apparent reason but the glory of winning victory for ones tribe. They have a strong distrust and some would say fear (though never within earshot of a Northman) of magic and the arcane, sometimes to the point of murdering any such 'gifted' individual who wanders too far north and near their camps.
They also tend not to like outsiders in general and treat them with a great suspicion. The only other race they ever seem to entertain are the Dwarves, the reason why is unknown however.
This is the tale of one such individual from these lands by the name of Ragnar, a large blue eyed and red headed warrior of near super human skill. He would join the numbers of many such barbarians who have travelled down south from these lands in order to seek out riches and glory. His story however, begins while he was still a boy at twelve winter's old, learning the ways of the Northern tribes from his older brothers.