Here's the quick and dirty on the Aesmannar from my Known Realms. The overall culture is a "fantasy Old Norse," Beowulf, Grendel, dwarves and giants, the whole mythical kit and caboodle. The Eastern Tribes generally follow the Vanir gods, the Western Tribes the Aesir, but all the northern gods are followed to some extent across the region.
The Eastern Tribes
Daagringas, the “Children of the Dawn”
Tribes are listed in descending order of power
Folk of the eastern tribes are mostly red haired and green eyed, though blonds are not uncommon, especially among the Bjaarna, Weolfa, and Eijolf. Other skin, eye, and hair colors are not unknown, though they are usually found commonly only among the Vaarama and Hjaarda, which have imported many slave women as concubines over the centuries during trade with the War Lands.
Vaarama: The Vaarama (the “Tribe of the Warm Lands,” relatively speaking) are the most “civilized” of the Aesmannar, trading regularly overland with the lands to the east and adopting civilized ways. Other tribes call them “dragon-blooded,” not out of their martial prowess or fierceness, but because of their greed. It is said there are more merchants among the Vaarama than among all other Aesmannar tribes put together; strictly speaking this is true if you do not count vikings who are as willing to trade as they are to plunder. Recently a group of traditionalists, who seek to return to the old ways and abandon all the trappings of the Easterlings, have broken off and formed their own tribe, the Vraij (“Free Men”).
Hjaarda: The “Hard Ones,” so named for their fierce warrior ways and ancient traditions, many Hjaarda serve as mercenaries in the continuing war in the War Lands. Currently allies with the Vaarama, who maintain the ties with the Easterling merchants who hire Hjaarda condottas.
Fylgja: Known as the “Shifters,” this tribe is strong in the druidic tradition; ruled by descendents of the Druid Kings of old.
Weolfa: Known for their wolf-skinned berserkers, and otherwise quite backward and savage even by Aesmannar standards.
Eijolf: Said to be more than a touch elf-blooded, a great number of sorcerers arise from this tribe, for better and for worse.
Bjaarna: Known for their bear-skinned berserkers, and otherwise quite backward and savage even by Aesmannar standards.
Vraij: A new tribe that broke away from the Vaarama to return to traditional ways.
Jialta: Said to be a touch giant-blooded, known for being very strong but not very smart; unfortunately, no few combine the giant’s mighty thews with their elemental sorcerous powers, again with a lack of wits, though often great and terrible cunning.
Venglo: Snake-kissers, the “People of the Fang” are said to follow Loki. This tribe is dominated by the Vaarama, and warriors of this tribe are often used as mercenaries by their trading caravans. Women rule the clans, which makes this tribe that much more disliked by other tribes. As if that was not bad enough, it is also said (truthfully) that no few clans among the Venglo are inbred, and more than a little cracked in the head. The Venglo are known for their wild flame-red hair, emerald green eyes, and pale tattooed skin.
The Western Tribes
Skjamringas, the “Children of Twilight”
Tribes are listed in descending order of power
Folk of the western tribes are mostly blond haired and blue eyed, though redheads are plentiful, especially among the Hjorda, Djagara, and Haijo. Other skin, eye, and hair colors are not unknown, as the western tribes have taken many women as concubines over the last century while a-viking.
Scandi: The strongest of the western tribes, “The Dangerous People” sail the infamous dragon ships, and are the most likely of all Aesmannar to be encountered in the southern lands a-viking (“Raid and Trade Expedition”). They are second only to the Hjaarda for the infamy of their martial prowess; fortunately, the Scandi are also renown for the great number of good-hearted (or at least, not black-hearted) heroes who arise from their clans.
Skagha: The second strongest of the western tribes, and eternal enemies of the Scandi, the Skagha sail longships with serpents at the prow. Most southerners can’t tell the difference between the dragon and serpent carvings, not that it would do them much good, anyway.
Gyotta: The “Godly Folk,” this tribe is renowned for its long tradition of being ruled by priest-kings. Their power is not as great as it could be, however, as the Gyotta are as full of dissension and disagreement as the Aesir and Vanir; the tribe is as often driven into civil war over points of canon as it is at peace.
Vangara: Allies of the Scandi, the “Far Wandering Peoples” were the first to develop the clinker-built longships so commonly used today among the Aesmannar. Their shipmasters continue to be in demand, both by other Aesmannar tribes and by Kalian merchants, as the Vangara have explored regions of the Southlands that even Criestine explorers fear to tread.
Hjorda: This western offshoot of the Hjaarda formed long centuries ago when civil war wracked the homeland far to the east; a princeling and his followers fled across the great bay and conquered one of the minor tribes then extant on the Vangara Peninsula. Their descendants today form the royal and noble clans of this tribe, and maintain the ancient Hjaarda martial traditions, while many of the lesser local tribes were reduced to near slavery. The Hjorda are allies of the Skagha, and are if anything, even crueler; many of their vikings raid neighboring tribes and sell their fellow Aesmannar into slavery far in the south.
Djagara: Once beholden to the Hjorda, the Djagara broke away a century ago to form their own free tribe. Slavery and thralldom are illegal on Djagara, and each man is a king of his own hall; Djagara is a primitive democratic republic of sorts, and no decision is made that affects more than one family without many days and nights of debate, drinking, fighting, and drinking at the thing.
Haijo: The Haijo, or “Shark People,” are xenophobic and insular; as legend holds that the greatest warriors of the Haijo are were-sharks, the island is one of the few locations avoided by even the most avaricious and brave viking.
Bakka: The “Hill People” are disorganized bunch of clans, inbred and superstitious, said to be allied with local clans of deep dwarves and derro. They have few vikings and are too primitive to build their own ships, which is good, as many of the warriors are cannibals.
Skogga: The “Forest People” are cousins to the Bakka, and like the Bakka are inbred, cruel man-eaters, said to be allied with dark elves of the wood; unfortunately, they are more technologically apt, and Skogga go a-viking for gold, glory, and long-pork…
The Bastard Tribes
These are known to the other tribes as the “Bastard Tribes,” as, long ago, they merged with or assimilated other, non-Ermannar or even non-human tribes into their bloodlines.
Skrelinga: These clans are said to have assimilated a demon-worshipping brown-skinned tribe many centuries ago, when they arrived via a crashed ship of strange design. The ruling clan today is known for raven-black hair and blood-brown eyes, and is powerful with vile divine and arcane magic. The tribe builds strange barrows atop which they sacrifice Scandi and Vangara warriors alike to their grim gods.
Trondso and Trongso: These two tribes are both troll-blooded, so much so that it is difficult often to tell where the half-human tribes begin and the troll-clans end. Fortunately the clans war with each other more often than with others, but blood and fury flow fast and far when either of the tribes are united under one king (often multi-headed and magically powerful with ancient troll-blood magic).
Jarkka: The Jarkka are a half-orc tribe, the result of an orc invasion that decimated the local clans a century ago. The Gyotta have never been united enough to route them, and the Bjaarna are too busy holding off invasion from their pure-orc cousins to the north. Unfortunately, the viking tradition is live and well among the Jarkka, and their demon-prowed vessels can often be seen raiding the coasts of other Aesmannar tribes.
