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I'm invited to Adventure League. AL has strict rules on character and lore setting.

I greatly enjoy Faerûn of Forgotten Realms, as I read Avatar Series, First 4 books of Drizzt Do'Urden, reading Dragonlance now.

I'm also DM on personal campaigns, but don't run currently Faerûn campaigns.

I did some research, tried many searching variations but couldn't find any lore wise guidelines of similar atmosphere like Vikings, Norse lifestyle or Celtic lifestyle. There are obvious gods like Talos who mimics Perun or Thor if you wish and an even plane of Ysgard (Gladsheim), which is some kind representation of Valhalla (The Heroic Domains).

Considering many monsters, societies and their resemblance to many our world cultures, it is kinda strange, that I can't google it right to find a place in Forgotten Realm material plane, where people live by Norse or Celtic customs.

My question is - is there any information about people of Faerûn lore of such "theme"? Do they exist at all, I mean, if there's no Norse/Celtic styled communities in Faerûn, is there any closest ones? If there are such settings, where I can find/read/learn about them?

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  • \$\begingroup\$ I think it would help if you specify what aspects of "Norse lifestyle" interests you. \$\endgroup\$ – dzielins42 Aug 11 '16 at 10:09
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Northlanders / Illuskan

They live in north parts of the Sword Coast and on the Moonshae Isles. They are mostly tall with blue or grey eyes and light hair, so their physique resembles stereotypical Scandinavian people.

They worship Tempus, god of battle, very similar to Thor. Their culture is based on respect which is earned by showing self-sufficiency and martial prowess. They generally prefer war over agriculture, and have history of raiding using longships. They are driven into battle to prove their strength, to gain respect or to simply conquest and plunder. This is the typical stereotype of an (earthly) Norseman doing Viking raids on villages and who is not afraid of (honourable) death. They also resemble the Ironborn from Game of Thrones, who in turn are the "Vikings of Westeros".

Most of this description is based on Races of Faerun. It's 3.5e book, but I think its lore is continued in 5e. Human section in PHB 5e has Illuskan subsection so they are still official human culture. Examples of their names do not sound 100% Norse (Bran, Stor and Get but no Wulfgar, Sven or Floki) and surnames are even less norse-like (Brightwood, Stormwind) but still are better than other listed cultures.

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    \$\begingroup\$ The 5e 'Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide' has more continuation of these characterisations. \$\endgroup\$ – RichardJ Aug 11 '16 at 17:25
  • \$\begingroup\$ Yes, PHB had very scarce information about Illuskans, I forgot to mention them in question. (I understood their obvious resemblance to mentioned culture). Another thing I forgot to check is Sword Coast Adventure Guide. Thx for reminding, @RichardJ. \$\endgroup\$ – Anderty Aug 13 '16 at 9:20
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    \$\begingroup\$ Me and many Scandinavians with me would appreciate if "typical" were swapped for "stereotypical", so that we have less explaining to do when people come here and meet actual Scandinavians. ;) \$\endgroup\$ – Jakob Nov 3 '16 at 18:29
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Jakob: I've edited it \$\endgroup\$ – dzielins42 Nov 4 '16 at 8:23
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For Celts, my vote would be the Ffolk of the Moonshae Isles region. That area has a distinct Celtic feel, including naming conventions (capitol is Caer Callidyrr), and the Northlanders in the islands just to the north of the main cluster of islands are viking types complete with longboats and raiding.

Reference - Forgotten Realms Wiki

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