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On a snow-covered island, in the large town of Vikare was born the son
of a clan chief, the boy's name was Raevil Hroltsson. He grew up on the
shore of the small island and learned to fish, swim, and fight. When he
reached maturity, he took the largest ship in his father's fleet,
equipped with 100 well-armed norse warriors.
The ship sailed into a storm and the great winds of the
Endless Sea
blew him into the mountainous shores of the continent. Broken by the
wind and run aground, the ship was hopelessly damaged. Raevil and his
crew left the ship to travel through a pass and into the foothills of
the unclaimed northern region. The men were well-armed against the cold
of the mountains, prepared as they were to survive the cold seas of
early spring.
On the other side of the mountains was a vast forest
filling a broad
valley, it had high peaks on both sides and a narrow pass at the
valley's far end. Raevil's trained military mind saw the potential of a
stronghold in such a well-guarded location. He and his men explored the
valley, hunting to refill stores, finding the proper logs needed to
repair the ship's mast and hull, and mapping the valley. The second day
there, they found the valley's north end, squeezing down to a footpath
to the sea.
Once
the valley had been mapped, two sequences of events were set into
motion. Raevil saw how to use the resources of the lush valley to gain
power over all the Norse Isles and expand the fleet to unseen
proportions. He also believed from this place of strategic perfection
he could raid deep into the continent and send the spoils home to
Vikare. Only a few twisted beasts had settled in the valley, they were
quickly defeated and yielded great treasure, further motivating Raevil
to see what treasures the mountainous lands offered.
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The valley was so plentiful that by the time Raevil's men had towed the
ship to the natural harbor at the sea-path and repaired it, his hunters
had gathered enough hides, furs and treasures to fill the ship's hold
twice. So, he positioned scouts at the valley's entrance and left half
his men to collect the timber needed to build more ships when Raevil
returned with a master shipwright and more men.
He filled the hold of his repaired ship and sailed back to
Vikare to
drop off his bounty to his father and ask for a master shipwright,
another ship, some tradesmen, and more warriors. After seeing his haul,
King Hrolt quickly agreed and gave him a third ship to retrieve the
hides and furs awaiting their return. As soon as the ships were ready,
Raevil sailed again. They added oars to the sails to get back in time
to send the rest of the bounty of the valley back while it was still
early in the travelling season.
At his arrival, Raevil found only a handful of his men
awaiting him
at the seashore. They told of a sneak attack by a well-med strike force
deep in the night. The scouts had given no warning and the camp had
been destroyed with only a few of the men able to escape onto the
mountain where the "forest folk" couldn't follow. They had stolen the
animal skins and burned the camp and timber. The survivors had scouted
little, but felt sure the attackers had left the valley. Raevil
immediately sent his rangers to check the valley for any signs of the
"forest folk." Then he set to rebuilding the camp. He built the new
camp in a box canyon, in a much better defensive location. Stonecutters
and workers fell to building a walled stronghold in the dead-end canyon.
He also sent half the stoneworkers and one-third his
workforce to
build a walled gate into the narrowest part of the southern pass. He
called ForestGate, and sent one out of every four of his warriors to
guard the pass and workers.
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