This is Ruskya

Don't let the quiet fool you, work on Blades & Black Magic is happening on jets as I travel (a lot) for work...

Below is a first pass at a Rodinia homeland entry for Blades & Black Magic--tell me what more (within reason) you need to make it worthwhile.  Keep in mind (from me) you are not going to get a frustrated novelist rendition of who begat who in the snowy wilderness among the wolf people before the ancients learned to write yada yada yada...

YOU can make that up and it will be more real and more important because YOU know what you like and how YOU want to play it! I want to give you enough to work with to develop that kind of story--without pouring a sticky syrup of words over it all that drowns your own creativity!

One of the features is a SWOT for each homeland.  SWOT is a business analytical brief used to determine: Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats.  This can be applied to new markets, current operations, new opportunities, etc. Having to do these in the real world made me think it might provide an interesting hook/framework to be used for each homeland.

So without further blather--here is the initial take on a homeland, let loose your comments for good or ill.

Ruskya

Government structure: Warring clans

Weather: Short spring and summer, long, rainy autumn, cold, snow heavy winter

Typical Food: Wild animals, root vegetables

Typical drink: Mead

Typical house: Animal skin yert or wood cabin

Gods: War, Trickster, Mother, Animal, Weather

Trade goods: Furs, raw metal, raw wood

Typical village: 140 men, 100 women, 210 kids.

Typical livestock: Goats and chickens

Ruskya Strengths

Strong fighters

Forest and mountains make them tough to invade

Many natural resources

Ruskya Weaknesses

Fear Magic

Clans mistrust each other

Harsh weather

Ruskya Opportunities

Develop industry to convert resources

Unite clans to become a power

Develop a trade city to bring in wealth

Ruskya Threats

Invasion by a unified power

Secret cabal of clan sorcerers seeks power over the clans

Clan leaders linking to outside powers to gain internal prestige but at cost of subjugation

This is Ruskya

Ruskya is a snowy, mountainous region of the north. The people are golden or red-haired, blue-eyed and the men are bearded and the women typically have hair in braids or long and left loose. Their land is made up of warring clans, but they are not opposed to working together if there is gold and prestige to be gained.

The Ruskya are traditionally armed in leather armor, furs, and using wooden round shields. They prefer hammers or axes in combat and dislike the use of bows except for hunting.

Typical Ruskya mercenaries are raiders, hunters, trackers and swords for hire.  The rare Ruskya sorcerer is seen as a dangerous oddity, not to be trusted and certainly to be feared.  

Typical names Bragi, Egil, Gorm, Heimdul, Horsa, Njord, Njal, Rann, Sigurd, Wulfhere

A Mercenary starts with basic clothing and boots, a fur cloak, a large shield, a spear, axe or hammer, and a knife. 

A Sorcerer starts with basic clothing, boots, fur robes, a dagger or staff.