Broken when not held
The Old World could no longer sustain us. We were too large in number. We had felled the forests. Our crops withered in the barren ground. The cities and villages overflowed with desperate, hungry people. We cast our fate to the sea and found the Ironlands. A new world. A fresh start.
The weather is bleak. Rain and wind sweep in from the ocean. The winters are long and bitter. One of the first settlers complained “only those made of iron would dare live in this foul place”—and thus our land was named.
We are the first humans to walk these lands.
We live in communities called circles. These are settlements ranging in size from a steading with a few families to a village of several hundred. Some circles belong to nomadic folk. Some powerful circles include a cluster of settlements. We trade (and sometimes feud) with other circles.
Leadership is as varied as the people. Some communities are governed by the head of a powerful family. Others have a council of elders who make decisions and settle disputes. In others, the priests hold sway. For some, it is duels in the circle that decide.
The wardens are our soldiers, guards and militia. They serve their communities by standing sentry, patrolling surrounding lands, and organizing defenses in times of crisis. Most have strong ties to their community. Others, called free wardens, are mercenaries who will hire on to serve a community or protect caravans.
Magic is rare and dangerous, but those few who wield the power are truly gifted.
The people honor old gods and new. In this harsh land, a prayer is a simple but powerful comfort.
The firstborn live in isolation and are fiercely protective of their own lands.
Beasts of all sorts roam the Ironlands. They dwell primarily in the reaches, but range into the settled lands to hunt. There, they often prey on cattle, but attacks on travelers, caravans, or even settlements are not uncommon.
We are wary of dark forests and deep waterways, for monsters lurk in those places. On a moonless night, when all is wreathed in darkness, only fools venture beyond their homes.