thebeardserker - Tumblr blog

thebeardserker · 4 years ago

Text

@thebeardserker made a donation…

Vladimir doesn’t know what a ‘symer’ is, but it’s probably an insult. He’s used to being insulted, at the very least, so he decides not to react to the term. He has a job to do, after all.

There’s something raw and powerful in the Lokfarian’s blood, an ancient force more than just diet, exercise, and good family lines. It’s more than just merely healthy, it’s… improved. There’s a lot of magic up north, apparently. Ancient magic. It makes the blood - drawn quickly from the opened vein - difficult to work with. Difficult? Different? Either way, it is no simple task.

He has to brace his feet and focus intently on the narrow stream, coalescing it, twisting it, folding it. And folding it again. And again. And again. He finds his hands repeating gestures, over and over, his silver claws gleaming and beads of sweat growing on his forehead as he focuses on the sample. The blood holds an idea of what it wants to be, the shape it wants to take, and Vladimir finds himself not merely shaping the blood but guiding it into shape. Layer after layer. He fights sea-salt and frost and flashes of old memory that don’t belong to him. He’s almost exhausted by the time he presents the carefully-woven bloodstone, a shape that had wished to take the form of a figurehead of a ship as much as a droplet of blood. Perhaps it would suit the Lokfarian as a good-luck pendant.

#THIS SCRUFFY RUFFIAN IS PLEASED #thank you twinky blood mage #bloodforvlad

6 notes · View notes

thebeardserker · 4 years ago

Note

Wildlife and livestock, the useful and the pest.

The few outsiders who’ve managed to find their way to Lokfar and survive to tell the tale will tell you, “everything’s bigger in Lokfar”. The people there are larger than most, even by more general Freljordian standards, and the wildlife is, for the most part, humongous. Some say there’s something in the land that makes everything grow much, much larger than life.

Unlike the Winter’s Claw, most Lokfarian tribes are sedentary and maintain settlements located within Lokfar’s milder biomes, better suited to sustain their lifestyle. Within those towns and villages, the Lokfarian four-horned sheep is the livestock of choice, closely followed by goats, Snowtusk pigs (a domesticated cousin of the much larger and fearsome Speartusk Boars), hens, geese and ducks. Wealthier tribes that benefit from larger and greener lands would also keep horses and small herds of Stàlhof yaks.

When the ísjór breaks, announcing the beginning of summer and the raiding season, the four-horns sheep shed their thick woolen coat. Large fat stores enable them to withstand the cruel Lokfarian climate until their wool grows back, in time for the next winter. Much larger than their southern counterpart, a single sheep can shed enough wool to clothe an entire family. None of their parts go to waste: an old four-horns can be harvested for food, tallow, bones and horns. Their guts are made into tough cord used for fishing lines, sutures and even stringed instruments. Once processed, whatever will not be used or consumed by humans is then used by hunters as bait, or turned into feed for carnivorous pets.

Speaking of, Lokfarians love their pets! The sort of animal one keeps as a pet can be influenced by a variety of factors: which god the tribe worships, what lives in the vicinity of the settlement, one’s profession, social status, wealth or lack thereof...

Dogs are a common choice, due in part to their versatility. They hunt, guard livestock, fight off intruders, forage, orient themselves through blizzards, pull sleighs, while simultaneously being loyal family companions. And they’re great to warm your feet on a cold winter’s night. Being closer to wolves than breeds present in other parts of the world, they’re a popular pick among the many followers of the wolf-headed god.

Sailors and fishermen often like to take cats as their pet. Originally tamed lynxes tasked with hunting bilge rats and other pests, they have been crossed with cat breeds brought back from raids on southern lands to achieve a more domesticated temperament. Which really is another way to say “reduce the likelihood that they will shred your toddler into ribbons while you’re busy catching fish”. Similar in look to its more feral ancestor, the Lokfarian cat is a beautiful (but deadly to oversized rodents) creature, with its thick and often grey fur, powerful build and sizeable paws (and accordingly large toe beans).

The Lokfarian Laughing Bird, or falkackla, is another favoured pet, an elegant creature protected by all noble tribes. It takes its name from its signature cry, a deep “hyoh”. While their raptor-like features look intimidating, and they have the largest wingspan of the local birds, falkackla are in fact fairly docile and will shy away from a fight, especially against creatures they recognise as predators. After all, Lokfar is a hard enough place to survive in, there’s no need to make life harder for themselves by picking fights, losing feathers and dying of exposure. They are endowed with a razor sharp beak capable of breaking the frozen flesh they like to scavenge, left behind by predatory hunting packs. As such, they’re happy enough to stick around hunters, or really any human who’ll let them feed on their scraps. Chortles of falkackla will sometimes gather around young hunters, chests puffed out, and attempt to chase them away from their kills, making for an interesting test of character. If the birds succeed, their laugh can be heard throughout the entire territory.

Birds of prey such as Blueback falcons, eagles and owls are more animals typically kept as pets because of their usefulness.

Outside the relatively safe bounds of these settlements, one needs not travel far to find themselves in complete wilderness. An outsider might encounter (abnormally large) rabbits, feral yaks and musk-oxen, reindeers and moose. And where these roam, predators are usually near. Wolves and white bears, among others, stalk their hunting grounds relatively undisturbed, but even the stronger packs won’t venture too far up north. Deep into the endless wasteland of white dwells a creature few would dare provoke: the vanjakyrm.

The unfortunate traveller might see a flash of bright pink, right before getting torn to shreds by this very angry, very territorial landwyrm. Its long body is protected by tough pink scales, contrasting starkly against the snow; a warning to any creature foolish enough to wander into its territory. Feathers of a darker pink puff out around its neck and cover its wings. Don’t let its fairly small size fool you: the vanjakyrm is a bloodthirsty bundle of pure speed and fury, armed with long fangs and razor sharp claws. A single individual can take down an ill prepared hunting party within seconds, although they much prefer preying on mammoths, whose frozen carcasses will sustain a vanjakyrm mating pair for much longer. Many sagas tell the stories of mighty warriors setting out in search of the incongruous serpent, but few end with a triumphant return…

The waters surrounding Lokfar aren’t a much safer place than its hinterlands, though it hasn’t been much of a deterrent to the seafaring tribes. Frost serpents, krakens, Earthrender Whales and other marine horrors are both predator and prey in the frigid sea. Every now and again, a fresh new, bigger, toothier, tentacle-ier creature appears to wreak havoc to the coast, and every time, wolfship crews rise up to the challenge. The latest such monsters to emerge from the depths are Hullfaced Sharks. Their favoured snack seems to be wood. Specifically, the wooden hull of Lokfarian wolfships, which they snap like twigs between their powerful jaws.

But they will settle for a Lokfarian sailor, if push comes to shove. They’re not fussy.

#cracks knuckles #finally getting around to these #sheriff-caitlyn #worldbuilding #wildlife #Lokfar #prompts

5 notes · View notes