Village of Skali
Torvaldsland ends near the frozen sea areas, at the lands of the Red Hunters. The men of Torvaldsland though sometimes have different ideas concerning the boundaries of Torvaldsland. They like to claim that their boundary encompasses anywhere that their ships land. Their ships have been known to journey as far south as Schendi and Bazi and as far west as Tyros and Cos.
Torvaldsland itself is a harsh and rocky land with many cliffs, inlets and mountains. Its geography resembles the Scandanavian countries of Earth. Arable soil is rare, found in thin patches and extremely valuable. Thus, most of their farms are very small. Due to the rarity of good land, communication between these isolated farms is often by sea in small boats.
The raiders of Torvaldsland often live within the hall of their Jarl. There are true halls and common halls, the former being for the wealthiest of Jarls such as Svein Blue Tooth. The primary difference between the halls is that the true hall is made of wood, a valuable commodity in the north. Timber is more often used to construct ships rather than halls. Thus, there are few true halls in Torvaldsland. One common custom, for both types of halls, is the greeting of a guest to the hall. The master of hall, garbed in his finery, will stand at the doorway into the hall holding a bowl of water and a towel. The guest will then wash his hand and face.
The common hall is a longhouse, about 125 feet long. Instead of being made of wood, the walls are made of turf and stone. The walls may be up to eight or more feet thick. The hall is oriented north to south so as to reduce the exposure to the biting north wind. At the center of the hall will be a rounded pit for a fire. Ventilation is supplied by narrow holes in the roof so the hall is often smoky. The hall is essentially a single room that serves as residence, dining room and sleeping area. The kitchen area is separated from this main room by a wooden partition. The roof is only about six feet high so most of the men must bend and stoop to walk around.
Down the length of the hall, in the center, there is a trench dug about a foot deep and twelve feet wide. In this trench are set tables and benches. There are also wooden posts here that help support the roof. The edges of the hall are the sleeping areas and stones mark off each person’s area. Each area is about eight feet long. At the edge of the sleeping area some logs that have iron bands around them. The bands have chains and iron fetters, used to secure female slaves. Windows are rare in these halls. If they do exist, they use the dried afterbirth membrane of a bosk fetus to cover the window.
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