The North

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The men who dwell in Asgard are, for the most part, barbarous and savage compared to those who live in the Hyborian Kingdoms to the south. The blond-haired, blue-eyed Aesir are a virile and rough hewn northern race of hunters and axe-wielding warriors who fight by day and carouse by night. With white hot enthusiasm they pursue life, facing death fearlessly with a song on their lips. They are heavyset, proud giant men who value honour, loyalty and a good reputation above all things. The ideal person in Asgard is a young, virile slayer. He is courageous skilled and tough. He is a warrior, a hunter, a defender and a raider. Skalds recount his exploits and deeds in their songs about honour and glory and the favour of the gods. 

Vanaheim is inhabited by a race of savage and ferocious humans known as the Vanir; fur-clad warriors and berserkers of hairy brawn who sail the seas in fearsome black longships in order to unleash their devastating fury upon the south. Warlike and cruel, the Vanir are fanatically devoted champions of the Lords of Ragnarok and the baneful scourge of their foes. The Vanir clans originate from an ancient tribe of barbarians who had long venerated the Lords of Ragnarok since cataclysmic times when primitive humans made common causes with demons - creating unholy pacts with the powers from other realms. Consequentially this bound the people of the Vanir to the worship through their very blood when they pledged their souls to the dark gods of the northlands. 

Cimmerians are among the oldest races, descended from the Atlanteans from a land that long ago sunk beneath the waves and was lost to history, and they have scarcely changed in appearance, demeanour, or temperament. Like the Atlanteans, they are dark-haired and have eyes of grey, blue, or green. They are tall and rangy, with powerful builds, and their skulls are long. Unlike the Nordheimer, though, Cimmerians are generally darker-skinned, almost as much so as the Picts, a race they despise. And also like the Picts, the Cimmerians are adept climbers, able to find purchase in any rock-face or tree and scale it quickly and without fear. In temperament, Cimmerians are a dour and moody lot, practical, yet proud, prone to both brooding and boastfulness, often maddened by the futility of life. Cimmerians only exult in the heat of battle, and the rest of the time their moods are black and occasionally morose. 

Hyperboreans are tall and - for the most part - lanky, gaunt people, though their warriors and slavers can be quite brutish and muscular. Their eyes are bright blue to grey and their hair is universally white. Their ways are considered peculiar and cruel by other races, as they maintain the isolation of their homeland through horrific atrocities committed against those brave or dim-witted enough to enter. They are experts in torture, and tales of their horrors spread amongst their neighbouring regions, inspiring fear of entering their secretive lands.