The Sundering Basin Cultures

NORTHERN CLANS AND CUSTOMS

In the North, the clan is the first truth. A man is his kin, his sworn companions, and the weight of his name, and little else will save him when the winter comes. Loyalty is not a virtue there. It is the ground itself.

Names carry the line. A son bears his father's name, as Raef Sorensson is the son of Soren. A daughter bears her mother's, as Brynhild Runasdottir is the daughter of Runa. A name without a parent's behind it marks a person bastard-born, and the North does not let that pass unnoticed.

A Jarl rules a clan and its lands. A Hersir rules a fortified hold. A Thegn holds land under oath. Any seat may be held by a man or a woman alike, and the North weighs strength, reputation, and deeds proven in hard company when it decides who is fit to hold one.

The land shapes the rest. Long winters teach the smoking of meat, the salting of fish, and the keeping of stores against the dark months. What one hold learns of surviving, it does not hoard. And a guest under a roof is owed protection while the fire burns.