It’s Midgard Monday! Each week, we visit a corner of the wide world of Midgard. Look for standalone content you can drop into your campaign—whether it’s in Midgard or your own homebrew. Find new inspiration each Midgard Monday!

The vast, icy Northlands of Midgard are equal parts deadly and beautiful. The dwarves, trollkin, and humans who call these lands home are hardy folk who are reliant on customs that seem foreign to those in warmer lands. Northlander society is built not only on the custom and bonds of kin, but also the felag—the fellowship and partnership between those who understand the daily struggle to survive.

Nowhere else is the felag more evident than in the many longhouses and meadhalls of the Northlands. Frequently, longhouses serve as the focal points for Northland chieftains, jarls, and kings to reward their subjects and assure their ongoing oaths. Meadhalls permeate all levels of society, where even the most common folk can revel during the long winter nights.—provided they have the coin.

Plats Fredlosvan

Stannasgard is considered the most open and cosmopolitan of the kingdoms of reaver dwarves. This reputation was built on the strength of its shipbuilding industry, which has long provided the best vessels in the Nieder Straits.

Last year, a red dragon named Visandred the Horse-Eater razed the Stannasgard docks, burning every wooden vessel under construction. Each vessel had been paid for in advance, leaving the industry in a precarious position.

While some builders were deemed too big to fail, most small builders received no support from the coffers of Stannasgard’s ruler, Beragorn Shipkeeper. Forced to renege on their debts, these shipbuilders became outlaws and fled the port city.

Drunk with Power

Such was the fortune of Otur Skepp. This evoker had been renowned for his ability to steam bend-wood for vessels, but he was unable to rebuild his arcane operations without significant investment. When only creditors, no investors, came forward, the dwarf fled to the wastes between Stannasgard and Thunder Mountain. This harsh peninsula is primarily home to outlaws, brigands, and reavers deemed too dangerous for dwarven society.

Otur knew that he needed to find allies in these harsh lands. So the dwarf built a small, brick longhouse using red mud stoked in a makeshift kiln. With his remaining coin, he paid thieves to “relocate” a copper still from Thunder Mountain to his longhouse, which he named Plats Fredlosvan, as a spot for outlaw-friends. Finally, Otur began distilling hard spirits, which he sold to his new neighbors. Hard spirits are difficult to source in the peninsula, and they’re prized for their efficacy in achieving intoxication. (The arcanist has grown into an apt cook of hearty stews and baker of filling breads.)

Starting Over

Otur quickly endeared himself to his new neighbors, and their regular patronage provided the dwarf with stability he hasn’t seen since the flaming doom of Visandred. He has entered into felag with several locals, helping ensure protection while remaining banished from Northland society.

• Thistlethorn Bundeway is a rare sight in all Midgard—an elf. Over 400 years ago, this druid ignored the call of the Great Retreat, choosing to tend to the hardy pines between Thunder Mountain and Stannasgard. Now over 700 years old, the elf’s silky auburn hair has turned white, and his old war wounds act up when it’s cold. Some say the elf’s outlaw status wasn’t determined by reaver dwarves but is instead recognized from older elven shame. Whether this is under the rule of Thorn, the Dornitian’s imperatrix, is immaterial, unless another elf can rescind the druid’s status.

• Fixbor Thorsen has worked at the Plats Fredlosvan since the day Otur first invited his neighbors. The arcanist never offered the position; instead, the lad began helping out for tips. Many regulars believe that Fixbor is related to Marshall Wulf Thorsen, a cleric of Thor in Thunder Mountain. While Fixbor is silent as to reason for his exile to the peninsula, regulars who are deep in their cups suggest that the lad knows more secrets about the Northlands than he lets on.

• No one knows Cairun’s last name or where they come from. The dwarf has a furious, destructive temper that only seems to be tamed by a buttered slice of Otur’s sourdough bread, which the arcanist bakes just like their mother did.

While Otur continues to distill liquors from wormwood, grains, and spices, the arcanist has begun tinkering with recipes to add magical benefits to the drinker. He hopes that he can find a market for such potions, earning coin to repay his existing debts, or at least earn his way back into the graces of a jarl.

Adventure Hooks

Use the following threads as adventure hooks involving Otur and the Plats Fredlosvan, or even as part of your character’s background.

• Otur remains furious at the dragon who caused his outlawry. The dwarf is hunting for Visandred’s lair, and he’s ordered many horses to lure the dragon. The PCs are paid to deliver the horses and are unaware they are passing near the dragon’s lair. (Consider adapting Flight of the Dromedaries from Tome of Beasts 3 Lairs for this hook.)

• Otur unknowingly hired thieves to steal his copper still from the Cult of Ragnarok. The cult’s spies have traced their property to the Plats Fredlosvan and will stop at nothing to recover their magic still.

• Otur is trying to distill a spirit that guards against petrification. The arcanist needs the PCs to find cockatrice feathers, which are often shed in a cave south of Plats Fredlosvan.

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