The land is hard, and life bends to it. Scattered farmsteads lie across the hills and coasts of Scandinavia, each built around a longhouse of timber and turf. Inside, a central fire burns day and night, its smoke clinging to beams blackened by years of use. Families eat, sleep, and work in this single space, often sharing it with animals when winter comes. Most people are not warriors, but farmers. Fields of barley, oats, and rye must be sown and harvested in the short summer. Livestock—cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs—are guarded carefully, for they mean survival. Fish are dried, meat is salted, and every resource is stored against the long, dark winter. A failed harvest brings hunger, and hunger brings death. Society is ordered, but unforgiving. People are divided into jarls, karls, and thralls, yet status alone does not define a person. Honor does. Oaths are binding, reputation is remembered, and a broken word carries lasting consequences. Disputes are settled at assemblies known as the “thing,” where laws are spoken aloud and judgments are made before the community. Punishments come as fines, exile, or execution—there are no prisons. Men and women both carry responsibility. Men farm, build, and sometimes travel across the sea as traders, mercenaries, or raiders. Women control the household, oversee food production, manage property, and produce textiles essential for survival. Their authority within the home is recognized and expected. Belief is woven into daily life. The gods—such as Odin and Thor—are not distant. Offerings are made for harvests, voyages, and protection. Fate is unavoidable, and no one knows what waits after death. Travel is rare, but dangerous. Longships carry some men far from home, across unknown seas. Most never leave. Those who do risk storms, violence, and loss for the chance of wealth or honor. This is not a world of legend. Clothing is wool and linen, layered against the cold. Bright colors mark wealth. Spears and axes are common; swords are costly and rare. There are no horned helmets. Life is short. Winter is long. Only reputation endures.