Valhallans are a group of extra universal Humans who as of YE 43 have found themselves in the Kikyo Sector-in fact some could say that they are indeed cut of the same cloth as their Nepleslian counterparts; baseline humans that have found themselves in a new, rather unwelcoming universe. Surrounded by all manner of hostile lifeforms; creatures hellbent on conquest and who knows what else, bio-engineered weapons capable of cracking planets with ease, super-soldiers that are capable of felling even the most skilled of warriors with little effort, and, to them at least, undying horrors that no matter times you slay them they rise yet again stronger than ever.
Yet, much like the Nepleslian, the Valhallan has something going for them; while not able to call upon much of, if any, of the advanced technologies widely available to other factions, they often are able to win the day through ruthless cunning, ingenuity, sheer savagery, and a relentless determination bordering a combination of religious fanatics and insanity. This compounded that as those with Iron Company left, anomalous readings from ship sensors indicated a possible “Heat Death Scenario”, with them having barely escaped with their lives.
For them, there is no way back-survival, or annihilation are their only options…
Most Vahallans will have some degree of combat experience, whether participating in the near-ceaseless warfare that propagated their home galaxy between competing nation-states, or simply fending off local fauna. The various natural dangers combined with a life of hardship make them perfect frontiersmen, settlers, and soldiers; pushing ever forward and trying to build a new life in a new universe.
Vahallans tend to have no set naming conventions; often leading to a “Bob and Areith” scenario when it comes to naming conventions; you could a very American sounding such as “Jake Hitchcock”, or “Bill Jones” and they could have a couple of buddies names “Ahamed Al-Hassiem” and “Asahi Haru” or even something straight out of fantasy and mythology such as “Balgruff the Greater” or “Ferin Frosthammer.” This could be the result of the mixing of cultures-very much a thing through conquest and trade-or possibly someone getting a few fantasy novels mixed up as actual history.
Regardless; this makes Valhallans a bizarre and quite frankly varying lot.
Valhallan culture could be best described as a “Culture that War Built”, many are given over to martial practices, or industries that can further this. This can lead to the admittedly deserved stereotype of “A bunch of savage barbarians banging rocks together that somehow managed to achieve space travel.“ Yet if one looks beneath the oceans of bodies often left by the vicious infighting that colors much of their existence before their arrival in Kikyo would reveal a series of complex societies, albeit quite feudal or tribal in nature with all that it implies, both good and bad.
Unfortunately, this is also one of the main sources, entirely self-inflicted mind you-of the Vallhallan's woes. Many a lord and chieftain often engage in a series of complex, almost labyrinthian layers of intrigue and byzantine politicking. Valhallans engage in a combination of Polytheistic and Ancestral worship; in reality, the Ancestors are actually reviled as the cause of a lot of the 'Modern'-day valhallan's woes, as it was their warring that led to the Collapse of their civilization; not that most really try to change anything because they aren't adult enough to admit that they're doing the same thing their predecessors did, only on a far smaller scale.
However, in spite of the vicious infighting, many will often happily set aside their differences, however briefly, to face a far greater threat; “They may hate each other, but they hate you more!” Then go right back to brutalizing each other. The current issue of the Mishhuvurthyar, and the prospect of a potentially better future in the Sector has many convinced many to cease or at least cut down their infighting and make the attempt to try and get along.
There is however, a unifying force aside from a greater external threat; is alcohol-booze serves not only as a means of relaxation after a hard day of labor or conflict but has served as a diplomatic role as well in the form of the Aletruce.
The Aletruce is as it sounds, all fighting between parties is to cease, and leaders and the men under their command will often assemble as the brewers of that world supply their finest wares. Poppossible terms of peace are negotiated-even the most bitter of foes will side aside their differences when one of these is called. Of course, sometimes the Aletruce is called upon every so often and will function as “One part Pub Crawl, one Part Embassy/Diplomatic Meeting, and One Part Olympic Games” with various contests of strength and skill and of course the usual bout of Drinking Contests. This has actually led to the odd tradition of them being extremely civilized when sitting in a bar or alehouse as such places have an odd sort of reverence-even the worst drunks among them will still show some respect towards both proprietor and the establishment.
Of course, breaking the truce is often either through overt action or subterfuge is… ill-advised, and consequences are fairly dire.
Funnily enough, most Valhallans are not overly familiar with what one would consider 'normal' knowledge and terminology from their Earth-descended counterparts; for example when Valhallan hears “cat” they tend to immediately think of the Nekovalkyrja. However, if you were to show them a cat-they would likely inquire “Is it Dangerous?”, and more importantly-“Is it Edible?” They also tend to view certain technologies to the left of witchcraft such as Soul Transfer-this has actually led to a number of wild and fantastical rumors of horrific and perverse rituals1). Even individuals from more industrialized worlds will still view this and other technologies with a degree of wariness.
Valhallans are overwhelmingly human, though, albeit rarely, other species do turn up in their ranks; these are likely stragglers picked up by whatever group they happened to be traveling with.
For Valhallan characters, the recommended starting ages are between 16 and 21 as this is considered the age of majority given the high mortality rates among children and infants.
Most Valhallans tend to be on the tall side especially for humans-most stand anywhere between 6' to 7'6'', though local conditions of whatever planet they grew up on and circumstances will have an effect on this.
Most Valhallans will weigh anywhere between 160 to 300 lbs, this is due to their rigorous lifestyles, though as always, there are exceptions to the rule.
Valhallans range the entire spectrum of builds and skin tones, though obesity is not overly common. As always, the environment will always have an effect on this. Eye and hair color can also range massively, many Valhallans often favor either braided hair or completely shaving it off. Beards are often highly stylized as well. Many of them often favor body art in the form of tattoos-many of these are often used to represent accomplishments and triumphs-usually great feats of strength and courage.
Cybernetics is generally seen as an emergency measure to keep someone alive or an expensive if powerful oddity. To others, something to be scorned, and the individuals using them are often seen as weaklings; using machines to make up for being soft or being so foolish as to require such augmentations. Though this stigma is slowly changing, those with cybernetics are still looked down upon for what many would see as incredibly foolish reasoning.
Valhallans comprise the majority of the members of the Iron Company, however, it is not uncommon to find them working as independent merchants, scavengers, craftsmen, and of course highly skilled soldiers.
Commissar Farzi created this article on 2023/06/25 16:15.