The Tordenvaer are a loud and thunderous people hailing from the stormy mountain peaks of Glesmyr. During winter they spend most of their time in their ancestral mead halls where they drink and feast until the relative warmth of spring. They are a boisterous people who pride themselves on both their prowess in combat as well as their abilities to weave epic retellings of past glories.
Tordenvaer are marked when they finish their rite of passage. At the end of the ceremony they are struck by lightning and blessed with their magical storm abilities. A by-product of the lightning strike is the bold markings that appear on their face. These marks are permanent and can manifest in different colors (blues, grays, white and black.) they always appear on the face and can appear anywhere else on the body. ThunderCaller marks are usually blue, NightStorm marks are usually black, and WindHowler marks are typically a bright white.
The Tordenvaer are a proud people who hold honor above all else matched only by their love of great stories and good mead. They are rambunctious and thunderous in nature, passionate and loud, but never forgetting their three virtues: Honor, Strength and Courage. They are a tough and hearty people who are used to the rough winters they face even on the edge of Glesmyr. They are not reclusive in nature, but due to their locations they don’t have extensive knowledge of the other races of Orn. This leads them to be either hesitant and wary with newcomers or treat them with a curious interest.
Originally the Tordenvaer were human, before the Shattering. An isolated group of people living in the mountains of Glesmyr met a rift between the Mortal Realm and the Maelstrom. The swirling chaos from that rift leaked into those mountains in the form of a storm the likes of which had never been witnessed by mortals. During the Shattering the storm from the rift to the Maelstrom mixed with the magic of the World Crown, bathing the humans in the energy of the pure tempest. The Tordenvaer were born, blessed by thunder, kissed by wind, and baptized in lightning.
The Tordenvaer have three main households (listed below) and many smaller families. The three largest houses all have a seat in the council that is devoted to the well being of the people.
The ThunderCaller are the largest clan, and quite possibly the most hard-headed. They begin training at a young age to be the best warriors among the Tordenvær, a title they are most proud of. The ThunderCaller hold strength to be their greatest virtue, often leading them to forget there are other ways to solve problems than punching it in the face. ThunderCaller battalions are best known for their war chants, echoing across the battlefield and striking fear into the hearts and souls of their enemies.
We are the storm that scares lesser men.
We are the thunder that quakes the earth, The lightning that ignites the above!
The mountains tremble under our feet!
We are clan ThunderCaller!
Our might has felled the beasts of earth, sea, and sky, Or songs sung for generations, our stories will never be forgotten!
The WindHowler clan are accomplished weapon smiths using the metal mined from the mountains they call home. They feel just as comfortable in the intricate mining systems as they do above ground in their forges. They aren't as rambunctious as the ThunderCaller clan but are just as passionate about their craft. They tend to be the voice of reason if the council can’t seem to agree because most of their pent up feelings get pounded into the weapons they make. No one can purchase their first WindHowler blade as they only craft for those who have proven they deserve one. Honor is the virtue they value most, and will look down on those, Tordenvær or otherwise, who sully theirs through acts of cowardice or other dishonorable deeds.
We are the ones who give the wolves their teeth.
Our blades formed the strongest.
Our metal lasts the longest.
Only the worthy hold our craft in-sheath!
We are the WindHowler!
There is no question of our skill There not a beast alive one of our make can’t kill
. With honor and pride we make our craft.
To be fair we do it best!
No stronger blade you'll ever find, once our mettle cast!
The NightStorm clan are the chief governing body of the Tordenvær in times of peace. They are responsible for cataloging the history of the Tordenvær, with exception of family trees; the family in question in expected to keep those straight (ot to say the NightStorm don’t have an extra copy). The chief virtue of the NightStorm is courage. A young NightStorm initiate is expected to show the utmost courage in the face of adversity. As such, they tend to seek out adventures that will give them the greatest challenge. This often leads an careless NightStorm to be very audacious, overstepping lines and unafraid of consequences. The NightStorm tend to be more reserved. As children, the teachings to be patient and wait for the opportunity to strike often conflict with their need to prove they are brave leading the youngsters into trouble.
We are the keepers of history.
The tellers of tales,
The ones who protect our stories from time.
No hero forgotten by our pens,
No song needlessly lost.
We mark down the fate of all,
And protect them from the frost.
Like many of the races of Orn, the Tordenvaer live in a tight-knit, clan-based hierarchy. The three clans, covered above, will form the Council of Three when a serious matter needs to be resolved (there are also six scheduled meets in a year, one every other month to discuss the well being of the people. Most legal matters are resolved during these scheduled meets). A week before the council meets, the smaller families all go to one of the larger houses and present their grievances before the Elders go to council. The single Tordenvaer that leads one of the bigger three clans is known as a Jarl (Yärll). This is also how most legal matters are resolved; the council is summoned and the two opposing sides present their case. The Jarls deliberate and handle the situation as they deem fit.
The main family of a clan will reside in their mead hall, while the smaller families will have homesteads in the nearby lands. The NightStorm hall is the largest and is where the council gathers. The Tordenvaer usually have multiple children and thus multiple lines of succession. The leader of the house chooses from their children the one that they believe will be most successful in leading the family forward (not always the eldest). After a young Tordenvaer returns home from his first journey abroad (usually at the age nineteen), they are officially adults; they are responsible for building their own home and are now old enough to court and wed. Tordenvaer weddings last until death, and even then it is uncommon for a widowed Tordenvaer to re-marry.
As a society Tordenvaer loathe cowardice, even to the point that they refuse to use bows in combat. If any among a clan shows fear in the face of adversity, he or she is shunned until such time that the coward has proven their ways have changed, usually a year of wandering searching for opportunity to do great deeds.
At the age of seventeen a Tordenvaer will have a right of passage to become an adult. The details of the tradition are a closely guarded secret, and no two are the same. However, each trial is designed to test the initiate’s skill, loyalty, and mettle. After each trial, thunder will crack and the initiate is struck by lightning and the markings on their body appear. A Trial Keeper, who is highly attuned to the Maelstrom, will design a trial specifically for each initiate.
A tradition among young Tordenvaer is leaving Glesmyr in search of adventure and chronicling their travels in the form of song, poem, or narrative. During the winter they will return home, assuming of course they survive their adventures, and regale their families with tales of daring and triumph.
A form of contest among the Tordenvaer is the art of Boasting. Two or more will take turns exchanging anecdotes of their deeds, adding in as much dramatic embellishment as they can without lying outright. A participant might "forget" the exact number of sea serpents they fought and round up as a result. An often remembered boasting competition was between Kaleva Rumbleroar and Aleksi Ironheart that lasted for three days straight as the two tried to out boast each other, eventually ending when Kaleva told of how she once won a boasting contest by tossing a boulder at her competitor. Using Aleksi’s moment of confusion to her advantage, she tossed a boulder at him.
Natives to Glesmyr, the Tordenvaer will interact with the other races of the shard, trading song and story. As a people, they will give any race a chance to prove themselves like their human ancestors before them.
Tordenvaer that make their way to Vyburg might be able to swap tales and boast with the Scargrim that call it home. These exchanges were made possible by Ingvar Thundercaller, who opened up relations with the Scargrim by helping repel a raiding party sent by Ragna the Hornbreaker. Ingvar slew the scouts and ran to the nearest settlement, a Scargrim encampment, and warned them of the impending attack.
Tordenvaer particularly enjoy conversations with smallfolk, as a group of them call Glesmyr home. Smallfolk also have appreciation for good food and a good story.
The Tordenvaer despise necromancy, seeing it as not only an act of great evil, but also an act of cowardice and disrespect for the dead. Naturally they also have a strong distaste for the undead or people they see as such (i.e. Riven, and Graefward).
The Tordenvaer revere Ivelis as a patron of travelers and tellers of stories. Before setting out on adventures, he is prayed to for protection. Most of their belief system is ancestral worship, honoring the legends of the past.
Tordenvaer loathe Hexadus, for the Queen of Chains is an anathema to their lives of freedom and wanderlust.
Members of the Nightstorm clan frequently worship Banekeril as a historian and keeper of records.
Because of their close proximity to the Scargrim of Glesmyr, stories of the Storm Maidens of Arimir will have reached their halls and enthralled them. As such a Tordenvaer might just pray to Arimir on occasion.
“Life is either a great adventure, or nothing.”-Lerne Hellek, a Seer of the Tordenvaer
Tordenvaer adventurers are common among the people. Like all adventurers they are on personal journeys to prove themselves worthy to be remembered in song.
A clever Tordenvaer will be a trickster, outsmarting foes with guile and skill, Like Lyra “the Jackal” who once drove the armies of five evils to destroy one another through crafted rumors and sly smiles.
Those who are strong will become masters of large weapons, using shear force to overcome obstacles. Ingvar Thundercaller made a habit of never actually opening doors, preferring to break them down and repay his host with a tale of his exploits.
Tordenvaer may even take up the path of the Arcane and become spell casters. This is common among the Nightstorm, who pride themselves on their intelligence.
No two Tordenvaer are quite the same in their styles and still retain the versatility of their human heritage.
"With thunder in your chest, return to battle!"-an expression said when sending one, or charging, into the fray
"Fair weather to you"-a greeting
"May you triumph in battle"- a farewell
"They will sing no songs of you"-the highest of insults, said only to a coward or someone disgraced.
"Your songs will be sung loud and often"- a high form of praise
"Winds of Fate"-Destiny
"Cloud-brained"-a fool