The Vyir fight mostly with a steel shield and a steel short sword but berserkers prefer a weapon, like a battle-axe, to slay dozens of enemy with every swipe. Some warriors were dual wielders, again, berserkers. The Priests use battle staves in which they send bolts of light from. The Battle Mages also use staves but the stave depended on what element they wanted to project. A Fire Mage would use a Fire Stave, a Water Mage would use a Water Stave and so on. Everyone used carved runes on bone for it's magical properties but the Priests used the runes the most and taught the others how to use runes for a battle advantage. All Vyir men were covered from head to toe in full body tatoos by the time they were thirty. All men grew huge beards (even the Priests, who only shaved their heads) Most Vyir men grow out their hair and braid it. They would also braid their beards so looking from warrior to warrior, it was hard to tell them apart unless you ask them! All Vyir, regardless of rank, had a tatoo on their right arm of their Clan symbol. Singing in battle is very common, since Orcs did not like to hear humans sing on any note, it provided an extra distraction. Once the Vyir warriors are in their Halls, they either recite their battles in verse or they sing of their achievements. On the Holy days, all Vyir would gather to the Priest and be led in singing after the sacrifice of the atonement, 12 white rams and the blood would then be sprinkled on the crowd and their sins would be declared to be forgiven. Most Vyir are not overly religious but they mutter "wird"(fate) or "by the gods!" if they are surprised at something. The warriors and the nobles raise their boys to be warriors and their girls to be wives and mothers, although since Raghilda the Immortal, it was no longer frowned upon for a properly trained daughter of the Thane or a Yarl to lead men into battle. Some Clans frown on the practice altogether and some openly embrace it. Dead Orcs stink and the Vyir never take trophies from the body of the Orcs they kill but they do loot the bodies of gold and silver. Everything else (except for the weapon, which was melted down and reused) was burned. Only Nords take bodily trophies. Every Hall had it's vomit pit outside of the Hall and every Clan had their own drinking game. A Thane would always add his sons, his nephews and his cousins to his shield wall and then they would accept outsiders. Warriors could be elevated to Thane only by a Yarl and only the High Yarl can raise a Thane to a Yarl. Clan Ysgramor was the most honored, respected and powerful Clan in all of Vyirlundia, that is why they are only asked to sit on the Dragon Throne in case of extreme National emergencies. Usually the Clan Heads (Clan Earldomans) would refuse a Yarldom because their office kept them busy enough but in rare cases, a Clan Earldoman would accept the office of Yarl but he would pass the Earldoman title and responsibilities to his brother or one of his sons. The High Yarl would sometimes create Earldomans in order to watch over forts owned by the High Yarl as well as reward friends. The Earldomans without a fort to watch were on their own and could own farms but they could not lead men into battle. Thanes could own multiple villages and farms in theory but in reality, because of the war, most owned just one farm and one village. The Yarls (even in war) often owned multiple farms and villages and would place Elders of the Kelti in charge over those manors but the revenues went to the Yarl. The money that is used by the Vyir is the guilder and it is based on the Nord gelder, the only difference being that the guilder could either be of silver (lesser value) or of gold (greater value) and the head of the Yarl in the city of the mint went onto the coin. Every Hold Capitol had a mint. Some merchants quickly discovered that they could make money by holding money so they opened up banks and the rest is history. The Yarls did not regulate the economy unless the merchants started to become too powerful, since the war was of utmost importance. The Vyir didn't think twice in slaughtering Orc woman and children because the Orcs didn't think twice in eating Vyir women and children. The Frost Orcs once had a powerful Kingdom where Vyirlundia is now but the Frost Trolls revolted from under the Frost Orcs and destroyed half of their Kingdom and the Vyir destroyed the other half. The Frost Orc kings left numberless tombs filled with gold and silver and enchanted weapons and the Vyir spent their time looting these tombs when not at war. The very few poor that existed in Vyirlundia were the blind, maimed, halt and feeble-minded, the Temple provided a small stipend for them in return for services in the Temple, such as being a lay preacher or a lay healer. The few warriors that ran from battle (it was rare) were expected to move to the Holds Capitols and take up a useful trade. Nords would come up from the south to fight alongside the Vyir but since their strength was not "on par" with the Vyir, they would fight in the back of the shield wall as archers. Vyir youths at twelve or thirteen would take their wilderness test. If they came back alive and they received no help, they passed the test. If they received help, they failed and had to go to a Hold Capitol to pursue a useful trade. Rarely would a brother or a father have to go into the wilds to bury the body (what was left of it) of their son. The war booty that a warrior would collect, 10% of it would go to the Temple and depending on the Bride price asked, a large chunk of his winnings would go to a dowry to be paid to the father of the bride on the eve of the wedding. In return for the dowry, the son-in-law could expect a place on a shield wall (if the father-in-law was noble) or immediate aid in case of a disaster (if the father-in-law was not noble). Every Hall has a Blacksmith and a Priest but only the wealthy Halls have a Battle-Priest.
More lore to come!
(By the way, if you are an author and a historian and you wish to help me write this series, contact me on this blog and I'll give you permission and you can co-author this series! P.S. Everything you write in this series becomes my property since this series is under copyright.)
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