The first permanent settlement in the New World by Europeans was established in 1012 by Thorfinn Karlsevni, a friend of Lief Erikson. Or so it was thought. The settlement grew slowly, with sporadic Icelandic contact, over the following hundred years. In a spark of advertizing acumen almost as great as the naming of Greenland, they called their territory Vinland, or land of vines, in the hopes of evoking that more southerly plant, the grape.

In 1096, contact was made with what the Norse termed Hvitramanna Land, which was more a loose confederation of Celtic groups than a unified place, many of whom were descendants of the those who travelled with Brendan the Navigator in the Sixth Century. The Celtic enclaves encompassed Irish, Scottish, Welsh, and Cornish inhabitants. Some were Druidic, some were Christian, some were an amalgam of several faiths, including Native. .

In 1234, a city of people descended from ancient Phoenician sailors who had fled from the destruction of Carthage was discovered.

The year is now 1285 ce. The territories encompassed by Norsemen, Celts, and Phoenicians cover what another consensus reality in another era might have termed New England, Newfoundland, and Nova Scotia.

Still vibrant and active in this area are the Native peoples, whom the Norse descendants belittlingly term "Screllings".

The story begins, in this atmosphere of uneasy cultural truce, in the melting pot seacoast city of Nuadh Albannach (New Albanny), located where that other timeline might have placed a city there known as Providence, Rhode Island. It is a small to moderate city of sailors, fishermen, merchants, and transients who have arrived by land as well as sea. Within and outside this city, loyalties and allegiances shift with the ever-present tides.

You are welcome to set up your character here within New Albanny, or as you prefer, outside of town. Or, you can be one of the travelling Vikings, who may well traverse the northeast coastlines. Or you may be a Native, from the region, or from further afield. Your creativity is your only limit.

Some General Stuff may be found here as the files below are mostly placeholders at this point. However, maps are beginning to appear, as are references.

Maps | Natives | Norse | Celts | Phoenicians | Cities | References

dustcover photo taken by freydis, 1996 or '97
adaptation and design © 2001 by freydis karlsevni