Beginnings of Hrimbrunne

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Hrimbrunne
The World of Frøstsfyre

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Alternate Name: Steinn heimr
Original Name: Maakera
Imperial House: Imperial House of Arnbjørn; Imperial House of Bleeding Stone ( Blóðlát steinn )
Lord Magistrate: Kull grímmr
Great Beast: Surt (the Pitch Black)
Mother Goddess: Eorðan (aka Jörð )
First formed billions of years ago, the planet Maakera was a world of great splendor abundant with life and protected by the Mother Goddess Akka (aka Maaemä ). She kept the ancient Gods from meddling in her worlds affairs only to have advanced civilizations evolve that destroyed her from within. Then came streaks of light from the heavens striking their world releasing the first Elementals of fire and ice. Fiūr was home to the Elder God Surt the Black and Yeǵ became home to Ýmir the Screamer forcing the peoples of Maakera to endure thousands of years of warring between them.

But their arrival also set in motion Maakera's destruction as their moons slowly spiraled inward until crashing into the planet causing total devastation. Recreated within the Abode of Gods becoming known as Steinnheimr to the Gods of Ásgarðr before the events of Götterdämmerung and creation of Goð heimr . Steinnheimr was drawn into the void created by Ásgarðr's absence where it was discovered by the Dark One . In the skies above Steinnheimr, he found Jörmungandr ( Miðgarðsormr , Midgard Serpent) had been transformed into swirling bands of cold and heat encircling the planet.

With the Awakening well underway without him, hordes of Hrímþurs and Eldjötnar were soon upon him followed by the more monstrous Jökull and Mund-spilli . They would flee when the Elder Gods themselves emerged to make war against the Dark One knowing that to remain would mean their own end. Wielding the sword Hel brandr , Surt severed the Dark One's arm and cleaved Ýmir in half (resulting in the death of the greater part of Ýmir's conjoined body). Seeming on the verge of total victory, a mysterious god called Arnbjørn (Eagle-Bear) attacked who could see the fracture lines where Helbrandr had been reforged.

Striking these points repeatedly, the future Lord Magistrate of this world shattered the sword and destroyed Surt casting his ash to the winds but imprisoning his soul within a massive dark crystal. Surts queen Sinmara would survive him to become Queen of the South ruling the polar region of Silubrą (silver) while Arnbjørn traveled north following a pattern of ley lines converging on either side of the planet. Like magnetic poles of supernatural power, these were the regions where the Moons of Maakera had destroyed it and where magick was at its strongest.

Ýmir's "lesser" part had survived to be reborn as Queen of the North, ruler of Marglóð (Gold), where she made war against Arnbjørn (aka Grímnîr ) with her brothers Brimir and Bláinn . Ironically, Arnbjørn would take Ýmir as his wife by defending her against her brothers and they had a son named Hrafnaguð (Raven God) together. Arnbjørn would build a magnificent castle called Skalli borg surrounded by a massive fortress named Gríms garðr at Marglóð (later called Hamarr fjäll ; Stone Mountain) founding the beginnings of the Imperial House of Arnbjørn over which he ruled as Lord Magistrate.

Having conquered all of Steinnheimr, Grímnîr eventually abandoned it to Hrafnaguð so that he could dwell among the gods. Married to the Norn princess Kol grímmr , it would be she who attempted to unite ancient bloodlines to create their common traits. This included the most ancient of those reincarnated from Maakeran souls, those descending from the Elementals and the later human lineages Nazjaną such as the Myräkkä , the Mäkrä , the Tuli , the Nibelung , Mǫgr , the Múspellslýður , the Héla , the Óðr (Sons of Fury), the Karhu , the Su'ž , the Okci and the Risi .

While his father had been defeated, Surtr (Son of Surt) became more of a threat by providing aid to Sinmara so that she became Queen of the South ruling from Silubrą. It would be by her actions that the House of Arnbjørn fell against itself and the name Hrim brunne (aka Frøstsfyre) became more commonly known by various practitioners of seiðr, galdr, vardlokk, gandr, útiseta, fjölkyngi, fróðleikr, trolldómr, gerningar, ljóð, taufr and hellirûna. Hrimbrunne became a world dominated by elemental magicks where pure sorcery is actually rare.

Practitioners of sorcery understood not to use their powers recklessly as this was a world whose peoples glorified in destroying anyone abusing this power for self-serving reasons. Only by serving another might any transgressions by such practitioners be forgiven and only by gaining respect might they escape punishment altogether. Seiðr ( Dökk seidr and Ljós seidr) and Galdr (particularly Krigs Galdr ; War Magick) are the more commonly known forms of sorcery. Unlike those worshiping the gods of Ásgarðr, these practitioners worshiped Freyja and Freyr of the Vanir being the most active in opposition to Ragnarøkkr !

One might suddenly find an entire mountain waking up revealing an ancient Jökull or Mund-spilli of enormous proportions lying unseen and unknown. An elite warrior class called the Rekkr emerged to deal with these dangers and the elite of the elite were the Skrímsli veiðr (Monster Hunters), those who took on the greatest threats. Among the most powerful of the elementals are great lumbering beasts called Drekar typically embodying the elements of earth ( Grund ), wind ( Styrm ), water ( Sjó ) and fire ( Fýrr ) while others are formed from interbreeding.

Myths speak of their creation being a result of Jörmungandr shedding his scales which then fell to the planet becoming newborn Drekar. Such beasts are pursued by Monster Hunters because felling them provides the wealth of kings as every piece of their remains has value... if they survive to claim it. But the rulers of the far-flung kingdoms of Arnbjørn's diluted bloodline would adopt the Drekar as their symbols until the emergence of Kullgrímmr! He would restore the flag of the eagle-bear and renamed the House of Arnbjørn as the Imperial House of Bleeding Stone because of all the bloodshed caused by those trying to claim it as their own.
Hrimbrunne is a world dominated by the elements of fire and ice where continents drift north to south while the planet itself rotates east to west. While the continents drift along a predictable course, life migrates to remain in climate zones where it was acclimated and would remain for periods of several thousand years. Doorways between Hrimbrunne and Earth were open more frequently during the Miocene and Pleistocene periods in Earths history explaining the origins of most life across the planet. Many other animals came from the other Worlds of Shadow and some, such as the elementals, came from Goðheimr.

The ruins of past civilizations litter the planet as it rotates and ice destroys everything in its path. Some peoples tear down their communities to rebuild elsewhere using hard labor or by using sorcery to teleport themselves or to bury themselves waiting for the coming thaw thousands of years in the future. They will often abandon their cities to whatever peoples follow after them who are acclimated to the changing climate. While being a world teeming with life, it can be extremely harsh and brutal during its more extreme periods of climate change where life has evolved in different ways to survive.

The great ice sheet of Fimbulvetr (Great Winter; Winters Thunder Vintr þruma ) actually moves faster than the continental drift beneath it until reaching Svalbarð (Cold Edge) at the equator on the vanward side. The aft side is calmer in nature as warm, fertile lands slowly give way to snow and ice in a more peaceful transition. But as you transition further northward, life becomes more scarce and darkness becomes longer until that's all there is. As you transition further to the south, one finds another region where life is scarce but where day extends longer until there is no night to speak of.

The Northern Hemisphere possesses the colder regions and was given the name Winterbourne ( Vintr merki ). It begins with the boreal forests and high alpine lands of Frisia (aka Greater Frisia; Frigidia) which contains the most abundance of life. Surmaaja (aka Tūndâr landa , Tundra Lands) begins at the Ýmir Mountains of Frigidia and is followed by Stark vreiðr (Violent Rage) and Kalderia (aka Cold Expanse). Reaching the vast plains of Winters Thunder, it rises into a massive ice sheet up to two miles high in places until breaking apart and crashing into the arctic ocean Stórr skaða (Big Damage) at Svalbarð.

Anything trapped within the ice is released at this point where it is confronted by the Skåne whose home is Skånelandą within Stórrskaða. Making their living from the seas, the Skåne are the first to face or benefit from, anything released from the ice of Svalbarð. They themselves are said to have been released from the ice and found their way to Skånelandą to begin new lives among the bears they worship. The sheer volume of noise released at Svalbarð can be heard for miles in all directions from this point which is why this entire region is often called Winters Thunder.

Stórrskaða gradually warms until becoming the Ægir and Rán Oceans before giving rise to Norð lanða home to the Norrœnn (aka Norns ). Norðlanða is the first of the five zones in the Southern Hemisphere known as Summerbourne ( Sumarr merki ) which is where land begins its rebound from beneath the ice erupting with volcanic activity as a result. The remaining four zones are Eldaria (Lands of Fire), Aridia (The Deserts of), Storm heimr ( aka the Thunderlands) and Vör (Spring aka Grœnlandą ). The latter two of these are together the lushest with life differing only in the amounts of rain each gets.

Brann heimr (aka the Burnt World) is a name sometimes applied to all of Summerbourne that includes Eldaria and Aridia with parts of Norðlanða and Stormheimr. It is a hostile place of desert wastelands, volcanoes, and planetquakes caused by the upheavals of land released from the weight of Winters Thunder. Norðlanða, Stormheimr, and Vör combined possess upwards to seventy percent of all life on this world. Wintry storms from Frisia giving way to rain over Vör and clashing weather fronts result in explosive consequences over Stormheimr.