(SCANDINAVIAN UNION)
POSTED BY: NORTHERN HEAVY
While those Black Forest blokes get all the atten-tion, and for a bit they were the destination of choice for trolls, the Scandinavian Union is once again finding trolls, especially the native giant metavarient, moving in rather than out. There are a couple of spots to focus on—I’m going to cover the island of Sifjorden, and I hear another poster will be covering the deranged Vikings of Avaldsnes.
One thing to make clear right off—while there may be some good spots for orks and trolls in the Union, this is no thanks to the local governments.
They’re still getting pushed around by some se-rious anti-meta forces, the same ones that led to their departure. The difference now is a local
“hero” named Peikko Skarsgaard. Peikko has made a place and put the word out for trolls to return, or come, to this sacred homeland to show that ha-tred and tyranny do not control them.
There is a catch. This move is not back into the metropolitan areas, but instead into a rath-er remote locale on the south shore of Sifjorden in Norway. It’s a mountainous peninsula that lacks real roads, but Peikko operates a transport service with a beat-up Osprey out of Narvik, or trolls can come on foot from any of the other cit-ies on the island. It’s not an easy journey, but it’s worth it to join a community that’s really good for trolls.
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The only bridge to the island comes through Finnsnes. Thetown had a decent vibe to it last year when Peikko started his efforts but a lot of meta sentiment, especially anti-troll, has been developing. At least four trolls have been killed, and a half dozen others attacked, when they tried to pass through Finnsnes over the past few months.
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Traveler Jones>
Not to be the bearer of bad news, but those events costtwelve human lives, and a matching number sent to the local med centers. Tell the tale from both sides if you’re going to tell it. Finnsnes has been bringing in additional private security because of the number of trolls passing through and the acts of violence they’re committing on their way to their little troll paradise.
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Sunshine>
Flame war halted! Both sides have pointed out potentiallyskewed stories. Go get some facts or evidence before making any more comments here on JackPoint.
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BullLife isn’t easy there, but as the community grows it’s getting easier. More workers to take care of the land and help build homes and local structures. Mining the nearby hills is supplying some beautiful stone, and Peikko found several stonemasons early in his efforts who are mak-ing structures that are not only sized and built for trolls, even giants, but also beautiful.
That reminds me of a good point to bring up about Peikko Kotiin (that’s the name of their community).
The life of giants anywhere in the world is tough. Basic trolls have it rough, but add another meter in height, and fitting in anywhere becomes almost impossible.
The construction in PK is all built with that in mind.
Your average troll actually gets to feel small, or at least not cramped, in this place. Smaller folks feel down-right tiny, as nothing in PK is built to accommodate them. This may be a spiteful bit of vengeance or just an effort to truly make the trolls feel like it’s built with just them in mind, but it truly makes for a strange visit if you aren’t over 2.5 meters.
PK is working very hard at being a self-sufficient community, so the list of other jobs in town are nu-merous, and many are remarkably boring. Because they are the only residents, there are plenty of roles you don’t normally find trolls in. Some of the more advanced fields, where trolls are usually shunned, were harder to fill, but that was why Peikko worked to draw trolls from the Black Forest. They’ve been getting that advanced skillset for a long time.
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Interesting Northern didn’t mention that Peikko’s initial funding (which he is still using) came from Evo. They’re also supplying the local stores and businesses. I get that it’s normal because Evo is the meta-friendly mega, but they have no competition here. Strange. This seems to be just an Evo corporate town.>
0rkCE0>
There’s a shadow transport operation using only trollriggers that is based “near” PK. It’s far enough to not look related to the town, but all the riggers live in PK. The cash they are raking in feeds back into this community and helps it fund the resources it doesn’t have yet.
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Turbo Bunny>
Sorry Turbo, that’s no shadow courier service. The rigsmay not be registered and the pilots might be flying on phony SINs, but this complex of an operation screams corporate support, and since Evo’s the only mega in town, my money’s on them.
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Traveler Jones>
Just to be clear, this little movement isn’t draining theBlack Forest of their citizens. PK is small. Maybe five hundred trolls in total live there. The big draw is that every other metatype has a big ole’ goose egg in the census numbers. They’re growing steadily, but with only trolls welcome, their potential growth is limited, especially considering the financial and social position of most trolls. Getting from Seattle to PK could easily run over 50K for a troll, and I don’t know many trolls with that kind of cash sitting around.
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Icarus>
Since it’s already out there, I’ll just open up. If you want togo there and don’t mind taking a handout to help, hit up your local Evo HQ or office. Ask to be connected with Vice in Vladivastok. He’s not a troll, but he’s a contact point for getting a ticket. He used to run the shadows under the same handle but now acts as a worldwide Mr. Johnson for Evo.
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Hard Exit>
Fraggin’ sellout.>
Hard Rock>
Fraggin’ rookie.>
Hard Exit>
Who you callin’ rookie?>
Hard Rock>
Walk a mile in my shoes. See the path I’ve taken. Thenjudge the course I choose.
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Hard Exit>
That’s philo-drek. Life’s tough. We all know it. But I’dbreathe my last before I took on the corporate choker. Ork love for life!
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Hard Rock>
There is plenty of ork love in Evo, young chummer. It’skind of the corp’s schtick. They’re proving that they have some empathy for the metas they make their billions off of because they are letting these trolls live a life in their remote little town, away from a world that just doesn’t get them yet. And may never. But Evo does.
Damn, I sound like an Evo-mercial.
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0rkCE0I shouldn’t just focus on trolls, even though I ti-tled the article “Here Be Trølls!,” because the orks have found a firm footing in the fjords of Finland.
Say that ten times fast! Truth is, they actually flour-ish in a lot of places in the Scand U, though most of those places have one big thing in common:
water. The orks in the Scandinavian Union have been welcomed en masse to work on the docks and boat crews all over the coastal towns and cities. Everywhere you find a wharf, you’ll find a community of orks tied to working it.
And in that is both the boon and the bane.
Each town’s ork community is like its own little gang. It’s not the best analogy, and they don’t de-serve the negative connotation that comes with it, but they aren’t welcoming of outsiders, especially other orks. Competition is fierce for work in these places, and every group wants to have the best and strongest. They often push out the weakest, who then try to go find another town to work in. They aren’t seen in the best of light in most other places.
These moves are sometimes strategic, and in order to better their home community, an ork will go to another community and sew discord. It’s an inter-esting chess game between a group of individuals that most people just look at as big, dumb muscle.
The ones that are genuinely shunned and kicked out usually end up on shipping and fishing vessels. Better to go out to sea than to try to deal with the racism and segregation they find inland.
On the boats, they rise in the ranks thanks to their strong work ethic and drive to be better. It doesn’t hurt that they are rarely smaller than even the big-gest other people on the boats. Trolls don’t do well on ships, elves have the balance but not the bulk, and humans just aren’t a match in the brawn department. The only meta group they struggle against is the dwarves. Strong backs and usually
a bit of tech skill gives them a one-two punch of assets. Luckily, most dwarfs have an aversion to being out on open water. Stubby legs and dense muscle are not a good combo if treading water be-comes necessary.
Since most chummers reading this aren’t going to be looking for work on the docks, or out on a boat, this information isn’t just valuable to the lo-cals. It’s best to make your intentions crystal clear when you’re getting chummy with local orks in the SU. Even if you’re working a job to trash or grab a Maersk shipment, you’re better off telling them that’s what you’re there for instead of trying to but-ter them up. Being too friendly makes them think you’re working an angle from another community.
Best bet is to get a sense of the room, determine who’s working the dock and if anyone is operating as security, and work your way in with the dock-workers to gain info. Most would much rather you dig for dirt honestly and give them a chance to warn their guys of trouble rather than to go in and risk having to hurt someone unnecessarily.
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Watch out for Maersk Särskilda Skyddgrupp slagshanging out in the bars where you’d connect with the orks. They hang there to pick fights with tough sods and get info on ops going down against Maersk.
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PicadorAll in all, though the Scand U isn’t the best over-all place to be a trog, they have some great niches.
Then again, this is exactly the kind of thing that we are trying to get away from, right? Orks and trolls in stereotypical positions. Peikko Kotiin of-fers a wide range of opportunities for trolls, but it’s isolated and segregated, which is probably what a lot of the world wants. And while the orks are the ones fighting hard for their communities, it’s kind of making me think. This is basically keeping them focused on fighting amongst themselves, rather than trying to get out into the rest of Scandinavia.
Well. Didn’t expect to come out of writing this with a suddenly different opinion, but I guess what those trolls told me is true. Writing the words gives them strength. It makes you think about them more than just saying them. It makes you own them.
If I’m going to see things in a new way, I guess this is the best place to drop the data. Runners of the world, here’s a place that needs some hooders and anarchists. Hit the Scand U and help the trolls and orks get the place they deserve, not the place they’ve been put.
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Interesting turn of events. I’m glad he left that for the endand didn’t go back and rewrite the whole thing. Seeing someone change for the better is rare in this world, rarer in this line of work, and ultra-rare on this VPN. Good on you, Northern.
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Stone>
Northern’s dead. Sent this off, went to Scandinavia, got asfar as Finnsnes, and found out just how rotten that town has become. RIP chummer. Your words are forever here.
And in the Resonance Realms, if ‘cat is to be believed!
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Slamm-0!AVALDSNES
POSTED BY: 2XL
I’m not going to tell you how to feel about these guys, because I’m not sure how I feel. I’ve heard all the arguments—that they’re living up to the worst stereotypes about orks and trolls and just providing fodder for people who want to believe we are nothing but savage brutes. That they are showing how orks and trolls don’t have to play by the rules of society, and they can follow their own rules and build something strong and functional.
That they have built independence and strength for themselves. That they are in danger of mov-ing from the status of easily ignored gnat to that of annoying mosquito, so they are in danger of being swatted by the powers that be.
As I said, I’m undecided. Part of me rolls my eyes whenever I hear about them. And part of me wants to run off and join them. I’ll try to present facts as clearly as I can so you all can decide what you will decide.
Just off the southwest coast of Norway sits the island of Karmøy, and toward the northern end of the island is the village of Avaldsnes, home of Har-ald Fairhair, the first king of Norway. Get ready for a time warp if you go there—there is not an ARO in sight, and modern architecture is shunned. I’m not saying they don’t have the Matrix, but they like to keep it subtle. If you need the Matrix, you use your commlink screen, or perhaps an ARO visible only to you. A few buildings have sod roofs, and very few of them are taller than three stories. The most imposing building is a stone church with a large square tower. This is St. Olav’s Church, originally built as a Christian church in fourteenth century. It retains its Christian functions while accommodat-ing a broader base of worship, most notably to the older gods of Norway.
The thing about the village, though, is that it pales in comparison to the boats.
At most times, a fleet of longships is docked in the Karmsundet strait. They ape the appearance of ancient Viking watercraft but are considerably larger and rely on neither sails nor oars—they have a number of engines lining the sides to mimic the maneuverability oars can provide. They are con-siderably faster than longships, of course, as a top speed of ten knots would never do for modern combat. And that’s what they’re used for.
The orks and trolls of Avaldsnes have decided to reclaim their Viking heritage, by which they mean raiding whoever the hell they feel like. Other vil-lages in the Scandinavian Union are the easiest for them to reach, but sometimes they make their way to the British Isles or Allied German States just for variety, and to keep the government heat off them.
Which leads to one of the mysteries of this village—why is it tolerated? There is no mystery
about it. The ships have been identified in well over a dozen raids, everyone knows where the ships dock, and none of the residents of Avaldsnes are exactly subtle about how the town’s economy works. So why doesn’t the government sweep in and take care of what is clearly nothing more than a band of pirates?
Because, according to many rumors, they are much more like privateers. The very first raids by the Avaldsnes Vikings were rather haphazard in their targeting. They mainly just shot up whatever buildings were near the shore and then ran ashore to see if there was anything valuable inside that hadn’t been destroyed by the barrage. It didn’t take long, though, before they became more tar-geted, focusing on corporate warehouses and displaying a knack for hitting especially valuable goods, including new consumer electronics, de-signer fashions, and legal, semi-legal, and ille-gal pharmaceuticals. Millions of nuyen worth of
goods have been destroyed and/or stolen. Not at all coincidentally, the western Norway black mar-ket has been thriving, the quality of buildings in Avaldsnes has been improving, and their fleet of ships is growing.
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Here’s one of the tricks about this place: The longshipsthey have are not any known model, and there are no records on who is selling them to Avaldsnes. The town has no ship construction yards, so they aren’t building them themselves. Where are they coming from?
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SounderOfficially, the Scandinavian Union government has labeled the town as lawless and has cut off all government support from the area. Given that they are active pirates whose base is well known, the pirates seem quite fortunate to have gotten off with that fate, and the German and UK govern-ments, as well as representatives of other states in the Scandinavian Union, have filed multiple protests. If these protests continue to fall on deaf ears, expect the aggrieved parties to take action beyond paper filing.
The Vikings, of course, respond to these pro-tests by saying “bring it on.” Their leader, who calls himself Hardrada after an old Viking king, has gone to great lengths to declare Aveldsnes as a “free city” (or free village, whatever) and say that his people will live as they will, according to an old code, and none will stop them. It’s a bold tactic, because while Hardrada and his crew have some nice ships and a reputation as fierce fighters, they’re sitting ducks. If anyone takes a mind to it and doesn’t care about pissing off the Scandina-vian Union, they could take the whole village out.
As far as I’m concerned, it currently is a question of “when,” not “if.”
In case you hadn’t guessed yet, the reason this is posted here is that the vast majority of these neo-Vikings are orks and trolls, so Aveldsnes is a very ork- and troll-friendly town. There are a num-ber of theories as to why there are so many orks and trolls there, ranging from the innocuous and most likely true (Hardrada is an ork, and he brought in his friends first, and they brought in their friends, and so on, and trogs know trogs) to the offensive (orks and trolls like violence, so of course they’re
In case you hadn’t guessed yet, the reason this is posted here is that the vast majority of these neo-Vikings are orks and trolls, so Aveldsnes is a very ork- and troll-friendly town. There are a num-ber of theories as to why there are so many orks and trolls there, ranging from the innocuous and most likely true (Hardrada is an ork, and he brought in his friends first, and they brought in their friends, and so on, and trogs know trogs) to the offensive (orks and trolls like violence, so of course they’re