LOYALTY. DEVOTION. FURY.

Sigurd Skjold and his pirate crew raided along the shores of Demalion and Al’Khezam a long time ago.

Sigurd was known for his big, wide grin, which looked even more grotesque because his mouth was nearly toothless. His teeth he had lost because his love for fighting was greater than his talent for it – when it came to seamanship, however, few matched his ability. For this, the crew respected their captain.

Poor people liked Sigurd, as he never robbed the poor, and he made sure they went unharmed. The mayors, barons and counts he robbed felt very differently, and as the years passed, they temporarily stopped their infighting, overcame their differences, and presented a united effort to catch Sigurd.

One day, the authorities of Al’Khezam received intel on the planned sailing route of Sigurd’s flagship Súlan (the northern gannet in Old Norse) with the iconic three masts and flag with a northern gannet. They laid out a trap to catch Súlan. In one mighty effort involving a large fleet consisting of naval forces from Al’Khezam and Demalion, Súlan was forced to sail into a large bay on the Eastern shore of Tryggr, bordering the tiny mixed forest county named Láturpípan. Surrounded and outnumbered, Sigurd Skjold had no choice but to surrender. He successfully negotiated that his crew members’ lives were spared in return for Sigurd’s own life.

One of Sigurd’s contributions had enabled the poor mother of the prison guard to buy medicine to recover from a deadly disease. The prison guard, who cared for his own mother, had no wish to see his mother’s saviour executed, and one night, he smuggled Sigurd out of the prison. The prison guard’s sister, an intelligent and wise woman named Sofía, promised to welcome Sigurd in her home and keep him hidden there.

In absentia, Sigurd was sentenced to death and the crew was spared and only got two years of forced labour.

The search for Sigurd was thorough, and he was found and promptly beheaded after two weeks. Sofía Dalsgarð was shunned from her home town for harbouring the pirate, and she fled into the nearby forests.

Some details deserve mentioning.

First of all, quite fittingly, the crew’s first labour consisted of dismantling Súlan in the search of Sigurd’s loot, but no riches were reclaimed. To this day, stories of treasures buried along the shore of Láturpípan in Tryggr live strong, and occasionally, adventurers and settlers there find riches in hollow trees and in old, unused fields.

Second of all, when the crew had served out their sentence, they set out to find the woman who had looked after their captain, and when they found her, they were surprised to see that she had adapted to the hardships in the nature, learning the ways of the people in the trees, the Kypiq. Being Neran herself, and having a convincing personality, as well as an intelligent way of speaking, it came natural to both the pirates and the Kypiq to follow Sofía. The Kypiq were loyal. The pirates were devoted. Sofía was strong.

Being expelled from her home town for secretly harbouring the infamous pirate Sigurd Skjold was the best thing that had ever happened to Sofía. She would repeat the words “Loyalty. Devotion. Fury.”, and for those who followed her, these words became a way of life.

Together, the Kypiq and the Neran started building the settlement which today is known as Lúður, and over the span of a century, it grew to the size of a large town. Sofía was elected as their first village elder, later on mayor, and her inspiring personality attracted performers to the town, so that today, performers can be easily found in Lúður.

Ater Sofía’s death, there was a large conflict between the Nerans who call themselves “Niðursetumenn” (settlers) and those who have migrated to the town afterwards, but the new mayor handled the conflict perfectly by releasing a rumour that a piece of Sigurd’s treasure had been found in a certain parcel of land in the outskirts of the town.

This was all a while ago now, and though most of the townspeople enjoy the peace and quiet of the town, there are certainly also those who could wish for more excitement. The count of Láturpípan is planning to build an arena in Lúður, and the announcement has created a surge of anticipation for all the artists and performers in the town, in the hopes of a real platform for the performers.