House Hákkarl: The Seekers
“Clan of the Sea”
Long-sundered from the other ancient clans of Middangeard, the Ikkerik came to inhabit the icy fjords of the Far North long before they came to the Realm. Then several centuries ago the Ikkerik experienced their last Midsommer - three times the sun had run the course of solstices but winter had only settled in a little more with each pass. Gripped in ice there was no spring to renew the grains and dead things returned to cannibalize the homes of the living.
In these desperate days, seers of the Wolf Clan foresaw that some Ikkerik would find a land of eternal warmth far to the south, a land of plenty, a land alive with magic. Those who took up the call and sought this place were called the Hákkarla, the Seekers. And many Hákkarla perished when they pulled their longboats across miles of oceanic ice, disappearing into the freezing slush, pulled to the bottom of the sea by the weight of their hauberks and arms. Many more Hákkarla perished in brutal winter storms during the long sail south or in the throats of the unimaginable hungry beasts of the northern seas.
Under the leadership of Jarl Gylfang, several clans of the Hákkarla eventually reached the shores of the Realm, as foretold. Gylfang brought seers who were imbued with a mystical wisdom of a goddess. These were the elder sisters known as the Tví, who called upon the fylgya of a Raven to lead the Hákkarla through the ice and to the shores of the Realm.
Gylfang in his time was known as the Sjohere or Sea Monster, but today is remembered by all in the House of Hákkarl as Teigh Brú Hahn, the Bridger of Lands. He stayed with the Wolf Clan at a place in the Realm the Ikkerik named Skarpenvang. Here in Skarpenvang, Teigh Bru Hahn’s people were destined to found the townships that became the center of Hákkarlan society in the Realm. This of course was the Frjeybergsriki, or Free Towns.
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In these days, the people of Hákkarl remain primarily a seafaring people who live in free towns along the northern coasts of the Realm or upriver in longhouses counseled by chieftains. They are both fearless mariners and exquisite ship builders.
The Ikkerik are a cheerfully boastful people who enjoy telling stories of the greet deeds of their friends and ancestors. When flagons of mead overflow, these stories grow increasingly ridiculously as each person tries to outdo the last with an even more unbelievable set of exploits set in flowery poetry.
An important cosmological concept among the Ikkerik is Tyfig. The word literally means "mirror." Sometimes used to describe state of being, Tyfig is primarily used to refer to one of the Ikkerik afterworlds, the middle place of ships between the sky above and the sky below. It is often envisioned as a world of stars reflected on the sea, and the closest place to Tyfig that a living Ikkerik person can be is on a glass-calm sea under starlight.
Of course, another afterlife sought by Ikkerik warriors is the Halls of the Slain. In this afterworld, granted only to those who die in battle, warriors believe they will be reunited with their fallen friends and companions.
The Ikkerik also tell a myth of two embers that fell from the sky as a gift to their people long ago. Graenn and Blár, Green and Blue these falling embers were called in the stories. Blár has a secret purpose known only to the Ikkerik, but Graenn is described as an ever-burning ember that will make fires that stay lit perpetually. Indeed, there is a gummy burning substance used by the Ikkerik in many applications that even keeps open flame under water. The Ikkerik say it was retrieved from Graenn and shared among the early clans. This substance creates an ever-burning aura the Ikkerik say can light a path for the dead to Tyfig. In some hallowed places on the sea, this ancient green still glows from the depths where many ships sank in battles of old. The Ikkerik call them Djúpstarna - Deep Stars.
Hákkarla Family Names: Gylfang, Agnar, Ingolfr, Vilhjalmer, Sigurd, Hludana
Hákkarl's hue is sable.
Hákkarl's crest is pale-gris a knotwork wyrm argent in full, gyronny sable.
The beast is both the Sjohere and Tigh Brú Hahn, monster of the deep and leader of the Hákkarla on the sable gyronny of Tyfig, the in-between-place mirror of sea and stars.
Virtues most esteemed by the House of Hákkarl are tenacity, vigilance and decisiveness.
Hákkarl pronounced with the "á" as in apple, HACK - arl.
