Halas
The barbarian city in the frozen Everfrost Peaks.
Overview
Drawn from On the Town of: Halas - 2/15/08 — official article.EQ1Primary · official
The frozen city of Halas is the home of the barbarian northmen. The northmen maintain tight family groups. The city is ruled by a council of village elders. Nearly all barbarians worship and pay homage to the Tribunal, though it is not uncommon for warriors to also pay homage to Rallos Zek. The profession of thief is frowned upon but tolerated, provided other northmen do not become the victim of thieving activity.
Halas' close proximity to Everfrost has encouraged the development of hardened warriors and resourceful shamans. All of Halas' young pupils must endure the harsh, bitter, climate and other dangers of Everfrost almost as a rite of passage.
In order to travel back and forth to Everfrost across the frigid waterway that separates from their home from Everfrost, Halasians travel on the raft known as The Gwenavyne.
Owning to the harshness of the region, warriors, rogues, shaman, beastlord and berserkers, are the only types of professions that the northmen have been able to master. However, the focus of these arts has engendered a brilliant local weapons and armor industry producing some of the finest equipment in all of Norrath.
Taverns abound here, for the lacerating cold of the frigid north is the best quelled at hearthside with soothing glass of the finest barbarian ale.
Many establishments have opened up in Halas including taverns, guildhalls, and various shops that provide basic necessities needed to survive in the frigid northern wildness.
Overview
Drawn from Donnghail - Clan McNaggle (Version 1) — in-game book.EQ2Primary · mirrored · best available source
Donnghail - Clan McNaggle Second Edition
This is a copy of the journal kept by a chieftain of the barbarian]] people of Halas. It chronicles the sad end of Halas.
Entry One: The orcs have been riled up, but I donna know what's gotten into them. It's my job to find out, though.
I canna have them causing any more problems to our people than they already have. I just hope the Tribunal has judged us worthy enough to keep the peace and to smite those beasts down before they get outta hand.
Entry Two: A couple of hunting parties have come back and told us chieftains that the orcs are gathering together. We're beginning to think that we should have voted differently during last thaw's vote.
Choosing to stop attacking those beasts for the time being so that we don't wipe them out like the mammoths may have been in folly.
Overview
Drawn from EQRPG: The Northlands — compiled history.RPGPrimary · mirrored · best available source
The Northlands
Far to the north, Antonica becomes bitterly cold, the land itself frozen and buried beneath ice and snow. These are the Northlands, where few races dare go. Yet one race not only dares but conquers, making its home here amid the ice. The Northlands are home to the barbarian nation.
The Northmen (as they call themselves) are a powerful force in their own lands. The Northern Nation is a loose collection of tribes and villages, in part owing to the harsh conditions of their lands — storms often prevent contact with other groups for weeks or even months, so the Northmen are accustomed to handling their own affairs. This makes the nation less cohesive, perhaps, but its individual components are stronger, and if the nation’s leaders were to fall, the rest of the nation could still survive. History has in fact proven this to be so, and while other nations may scoff at the Northmen and belittle their “primitive” communities, few have attempted to invade the Northlands. and no one has attempted it twice.
The icy, inhospitable lands of the frozen North are filled with unsolved mysteries and potential threats, as well as hidden treasures.
Conditions
The Northlands are cold year-round. Temperatures hardly ever rise above freezing except near the coast and along the southern border, and even in those places it rarely gets that warm. In the interior and to the north, the temperature is often below O degrees Fahrenheit, and water will freeze in an instant. For the most part, summer isa time of clear skies and temperatures just below freezing, while winter is filled with intense cold, bitter wind, and violent storms that can last for weeks or even months. The ground is always frozen, and in most places it is covered by at least a foot or more Of snow and ice. Few plants can survive here: only evergreen trees and small scrub brushes. For further details on the weather and terrain of the North, see Chapter Three.
Cutting up from the southwest and running through the center ofthe nation are the Everfrost peaks, a collection of jagged. rocky mountains, sometimes covered in treacher- ous snow and other times bare to the wind. The rest of the Northlands is mostly plains, cold flat expanses of land with nothing to shield the wind and snow. Some canyons and gulleys exist, worn deep into the rocks over time, and villages often nestle within these for protection from the harsh winds. The city of Halas sits in the largest of these canyons, an actual valley cut into the Everfrost peaks. To the east of Halas lie the Frigid Plains, vast glacial lands which even the Northmen rarely cross.
Map
From the EverQuest Atlas: The Maps of Myrist (SOE, 2002).
Official Lore
22Collected official lore pieces, from in-game and out.
The Maps of Myrist
The frozen city of Halas is the home of the barbarian northmen. The northmen maintain tight family groups and the city is ruled by a council of village elders. Nearly all barbarians worship and pay homage to the "Tribunal," though it is not uncommon for warriors to also pay homage to Rallos Zek.
Read the full sourceHalas Stands Against Fear
Halas Gazette:: }-------------------------} Vol. 9 No. 8 ~ Halas Stands Against Fear ~ Our troops pierced through the potent fear created by the Troll army, but were defeated on the field of battle. Only a few of our brave warriors managed to evade death under the axe of Ykesha's army. An eyewitness report of the battle is as follows:
Read the full sourceBrien – Clan Icereaver
Brien – Clan Icereaver Second Edition This is a journal kept by a wild barbarian of the northlands who was instrumental at taking back Halas. Unfortunately, it doesn’t end on a pleasant note. Excerpt: For fifteen years, I have been a babe. Today, on my Woading Day, I have been told why we struggle within the cold.
Read the full sourceDonnghail – Clan McNaggle
Donnghail – Clan McNaggle Second Edition This is a copy of the journal kept by a chieftain of the barbarian people of Halas. It chronicles the sad end of Halas. Entry One : The orcs have been riled up, but I donna know what’s gotten into them. It’s my job to find out, though. I canna have them causing any more problems to our people than they already have.
Read the full sourceLetters of Jonas
Dearest Allyssa, I’m writing to you to say that I am well. I have reached Halas and met the local medicine man (or “”Shaman”” as he refers to himself). He’s a rough sort, but has a good nature, and his manner with those who are brought to him is as fine and caring as I would hope for from any of my students.
Over Halas
Over Halas” by Nicholl Silverfrost of Clan MacNeacail, bard. This is an excerpt from a much larger poem that describes the Shattering, its impact on the Northlands and how even after living in the south for generations, the Northmen dream of returning home. Though snow fell soft as silk Upon stone and street, now silent Flames and fire finished Halas
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Local Color – Halas
Local Color – Halas Second Edition This book collects the colorful sayings of the barbarians of Halas Don’t waste time thinking about doing something, just go out and do it! Why fish for a single trout when you can jump in the water and grab an armful? Don’t go smacking down a baby bear when you haven’t first looked around for its mamma.
Read the full sourceDonnghail - Clan McNaggle (Version 1)
Donnghail - Clan McNaggle Second Edition This is a copy of the journal kept by a chieftain of the barbarian]] people of Halas. It chronicles the sad end of Halas. Entry One: The orcs have been riled up, but I donna know what's gotten into them. It's my job to find out, though. I canna have them causing any more problems to our people than they already have.
Read the full sourceDonnghail - Clan McNaggle (Version 2)
Donnghail - Clan McNaggle Second Edition This is a copy of the journal kept by a chieftain of the barbarian]] people of Halas. It chronicles the sad end of Halas. Entry One: The orcs have been riled up, but I donna know what's gotten into them. It's my job to find out, though. I canna have them causing any more problems to our people than they already have.
Read the full sourceHALNews
The Halas Gazette:: }----------------------------} Volume 8, No. 1 ~Wayfarers to Build Ship~ Wayfarers Brotherhood leader, Morden Rasp, has claimed the northwestern edge of Antonica as his shipyard. He has named the area, Nedaria's Landing, after one of his leaders and close friends, reports say. Sources say that the area is still being surveyed and that Rasp…
Read the full sourceHandbook of the Ravens of the North
Handbook of the Ravens of the North Halas, the ancestral home of the Northmen, is no more. Torn asunder by years of fighting with the snow orcs, the city was finally razed to the ground by the fiery chunks of Luclin raining down to fulfill the shaman's prophecy: "On the night of fire, Halas shall be consumed by earth.
Read the full sourceDearest Allyssa,
Dearest Allyssa, I'm writing to you to say that I am well. I have reached Halas and met the locale medicine man (or 'Shaman' as he refers to himself). He's a rough sort, but has a good nature, and his manner with those who are brought to him is as fine and caring as I would hope for from any of my students.
Read the full sourceDearest Allyssa,
Dearest Allyssa, I was saddened to hear of your sister's accident, and fervently hope that she is well again when this missive reaches you. It is shameful that the sunken portions of the dock area have never been fenced or railed for the safety of passers-by. I saw no end of injuries like hers in my practice, and expect that there will be many more.
Read the full sourceDearest Allyssa,
Dearest Allyssa, I was overjoyed to receive your letter, but dismayed yet again over the words your father had for me. My resolve to learn pharmacopoeial skills to make me a prestigious consultant and worthy of your hand in his eyes has only redoubled. My education proceeds, as my host allows me to observe his treatments and preparations.
Read the full sourceOver Halas (House Item)
Over Halas" by Nicholl Silverfrost of Clan MacNeacail, bard. This is an excerpt from a much larger poem that describes the Shattering, its impact on the Northlands and how even after living in the south for generations, the Northmen dream of returning home. Though snow fell soft as silk Upon stone and street, now silent Flames and fire finished Halas Stone ra…
Read the full sourceDearest Allyssa,
Dearest Allyssa, Truly I was overjoyed to hear that your sister has recovered, apparently without permanent harm. She is, as you, of a fundamentally healthy nature, and it served her well in her recovery. I hope that she will be more careful in the future, however. As for myself, life has settled into something of a routine; I am finding even the exotic becom…
Read the full sourceDearest Allyssa,
Dearest Allyssa, Fortified by Effusion of E'ci potions, I have begun exploring more of the area, traveling with hunting parties as they go out to bring in the food for the village. And such beasts they hunt, mammoths as big as houses, white leopards with black spots, creatures I had only read about and sometimes not even believed.
Read the full sourceRise of the Orcs – The Rejoining
Rise of the Orcs – The Rejoining” Second Edition This book details how the orcs would organize into armies the likes of which had not been seen on Norrath for millennia. The following historical account details what stories would describe as the main turning point in the rise of the orcs.
Read the full sourceThe Northmen Send Aid
Odus Chronicle:: }-------------------------} Vol. 9 No. 8 ~ The Northmen Send Aid ~ Many citizens have begun to protest the lack of aid we are giving the Guktan Army as the Trolls and Dark Elves march upon them. It also seems as though these protests are popping up all over Norrath.
Read the full sourceRise of the Orcs – The Deadtime
Rise of the Orcs – The Deadtime” Second Edition This book details the histories of several orcish tribes when they were nothing more than savage beasts. The following historical account details the early years of the orcish people.
Read the full sourceProfiles
Name: Ameylia The Unloved Race: Barbarian Class: Shaman Ameylia was born into a troubled marriage between a clansman from Halas, in the icy wastes, and a farmer's daughter from Freeport.
Read the full sourceOct 2
Oct 2 Today was an especially cold day. Never stay in Halas again. The only bright point was I met a Master Brewer named Garsen who agreed to join our group and help us explore the uncharted depths of Permafrost. He seems to speak only in rhyme which is a bit annoying but his skill with weapons makes up for it.
Read the full sourceFurther sources
33Lore that mentions this in passing.
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Community articles
18Fan-written encyclopedia entries — useful overviews, lower authority than the primary sources above.
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Field notes
Adventuring notes from the atlas — what to watch for and what the zone offers. Flavor, not lore.