Valenhall

This article is about the mythical resting place of Linnorm Kings and Ulfen heroes. For the known town in Arcadia, see Port Valen.

Valenhall (or Valhalla in the Dwarven language) is a place of endless glory where great Ulfen heroes travel to live out the final days of their lives. Scholars disagree whether it is a physical or metaphorical location.

History

The first person to hear the call of Valenhall was Linnorm King Ulvass, who subsequently left the Lands of the Linnorm Kings for Arcadia to seek it out in -473 AR. However, upon arriving on the shores of Arcadia, the call fell silent in Ulvass' ears. Without resources to come back home, he and his followers established the village of Port Valen, but never stopped seeking the call of Valenhall until his death. Residents of Port Valen who hear the call of Valenhall describe that it lies far to the west, beyond the Forest of Trials and Wyrmlake. No one who has set out for Valenhall has ever returned.

Any attempt to learn more about Valenhall via divination simply fails. For this reason, in the Lands of the Linnorm Kings and the Inner Sea region as a whole, most information concerning Valenhall come from stories of questionable authenticity. It is believed that reaching Valenhall is only a matter of crossing the Arcadian Ocean. Skalds sing that in this new land full of knowledge and treasure, Ulvass built a mighty hold, guarded by einherjar and valkyries and overseen by a trio of norns, where warriors could fight glorious battles by day and join great feasts at night, and that he still lives in eternal bliss.

Common wisdom in both Port Valen and the Lands of the Linnorm Kings purports that Valenhall prevents anyone from knowing more about it before hearing its call (something that must be earned by a truly worthy individual), and attempting to see Valenhall before hearing the call supposedly makes the journey impossible. Anyone who tries to return to Avistan after hearing the call simply fails, either due to the lack of crew or freak accidents.