Rjuvik

Rjuvik is a violent bandit kingdom ruled with ruthless efficiency by the chieftain Fulgar.  Under Fulgar, Rjuvik had abandon the old tradition of the raid, but in its place came the pratice of the bandit.  The raid was a practice that had not only captured loot from others (mostly lifestock) but was pratice for the
traditional style of Rjurik warfare.  The bandits rob travelers on the roads and demand protection money to prevent raids from towns and villages.  They want coin.  The values of aristocratic Rjuvik have been supressed in favor of the bandits who now run the country.  An ethos of parasitism is being practiced by Fulgar and his agents.  The law holdings today protect no one, they just prey on the weak.  The guild holdings produc only a minimum, they mostly just distributed the loot.  In the early years of Fulgar, a few of the eorls stoof up for the aristocratic values of honor and justice.  They resented the way every man was out for himself and the strong, far from protecting the weak, preyed upon them.  The number of thrall increased by an order of magnitude.  But Fulgar isolated, assasinated, and harrased the nobles, weeding out the proudest and most honorable.  Over the years some of the eorls put their organizational skills to work for Fulgar, others just retreated to the long houses.  Few were not comprimised by the bandit ethos in some way, even if it was just accepting Fulgar's coin to free captured bandits preying on the
noble's community.

The skalds have kept the old aristocratic ethos alive in song and poem.  The young nobles, born during the reign of Fulgar have been inspired by these tales of purpose and nobility.  The young dryten have sometimes form counter-bandit hirds (warrior bands) and hunt the bandits.  When they have too much success and
retributions begin, sometimes they just law low for a while, but they often go to other Rjurik realms to serve in honorable households as huskarlar (housecarls) where they are seeing the Rjurik traditions in full flower.

Fulgar names no heir, to prevent that heir from plotting against him and replacing him.  He hopes to be able to designate an heir at a point close enough to his own death to ensure a natural death, but no closer than neccesary. 

Interestingly, the role of the druids run the full spectrum.  Some druids hate Fulgar and supported the traditional order.  Some druids feel that Fulgar's policies are favorable to the natural world, since it focuses on inter-human parasitism rather than trying to make nature yield a greater bounty.  Farmland acreage has declined under Fulgar and forestry is ignored (the foresters were on their own, without guild or royal support).  Some druids take no interest in what should be (should Rjuvik be aristocratic or should Rjuvik be less intrusive to nature) and just go about their business as things are.  The Oaken Grove control temples
with just a smattering of sources where they are strongest, while the Emerald Spire is weak in Rjuvik and only holds a few temples.  The Spire normally has a strong base of support holding sources in the undeveloped areas, but two wizards have claimed these and deny the Spire its base of power.  Quirad al-Dinn and Adriala the Dark are two wizards who maintain powerful control of the sources in Rjurvik, and have an arrangement with Fulgar, who tolerates them for the service they can render him.  

Fulgar's Faction
Those among the provincial leaders and guilds who implement Fulgar's control of the realm
 Aristocratic Faction
Those who cling to the old ways of honor, justice, and the protection of the people.  
 Among the Circles
The druid's first allegiance is to Erik, but their affinity to the Fulgar or Aristocratic factions are real.
 Wizards in the Wilds
Arcane spell casters who have an arrangement with Fulgar.
 White Witch's Encroachment
The creeping inflitration of the Taelshore is most advanced in Rjuvik
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