Homebrew Nanus Drake Lore

[Balasar]

Hi, first time poster, long time lurker on the FOTN forums.

So I’ve been running a game of FOTN for a little while now, and we’ve got a pretty fun party — a Druid, a Berserker, and a Blacksmith, with a 4th player hopefully joining soon. Something they’ve all been super in to since we started was Nanus Drakes, which were actually the entire reason my friend wanted to be a blacksmith in the first place. Since the Nanus Drakes are so popular at my table, I decided to expand their lore a bit, and I thought I’d share it here in case anyone was curious. I’d love to hear the thoughts of some of the other norns out there.

DOTN only really mentions them being from Muspellheim, but it seemed silly that Nidavellir wouldn’t have any native forge beasts, so they’re also found there. Nothing too significant about that.

Honey is a fairly addictive drug for Nanus Drakes in my world. Even a little bit gets them really high and completely out of control. At first I thought it would just be funny when the Druid fed the drake some honey to say he was high, but a few weeks later, I came up with a canonical reason for it. In my world, Nanus Drakes can’t start growing beyond size 1 and actually using their powers until they consume Mead Iron at least once. In addition, feeding an activated Nanus Drake some Mead Iron grants it a permanent size +1 boost, with an ultimate sacrifice equal to 1 + the number of times it’s eaten Mead Iron (not that my players know much about Mead Iron yet, other than that it exists). I’ve decided that for those capable of consuming it, Mead Iron tastes like honey, so in addition to chasing a high, the Nanus Drakes also become convinced that eating enough of it will replicate the effects of Mead Iron.

Because Mead Iron has such a potent effect, and because they aren’t insect sized compared to the other denizens of Nidavellir, this also means Nidavellir Nanus Drakes can grow much larger than their Muspelli cousins.

Finally, I’m also working on using the CRB, DOTN, and LOTA to cook up power boards for a Polar Nanus Drake native to Jotunheim. Purely because I thought an ice themed Nanus Drake would be awesome lol.

Do any of you have any special Nanus Drake related lore in your games?

[andrew]

That's an awesome story. I'm always pleased to read how the lore bits from the game inspire players and Norns and the ideas snowball into some amazing lore.

As for the forge beasts, there are forge beasts in every realm. Each is very different from the other, so Denizens of the North introduced the Nanus Drake and the Liliputians. Lords of the Ash added the Van Folk and the Risabarn, and 5 more remain to be added to future books.

This is why I invest in novels for the Fate of the Norns universe. We have Seith and Sword as well as Horn of the Kraken out already which added a lot of depth to the world and the characters that populate it. Both novels have been converted into adventures, with Horn of the Kraken becoming 2 volumes of adventures (soon to be released). Stephen Pearl has completed his next novel The Mistletoe Spear and Ed Greenwood as well as Michele Franklin are half way through their upcoming Fate of the Norns novels. Chris Challice will also be writing another one based on Hel's youth.

[Balasar]

I’m very much looking forward to seeing the future forge beasts and mounts. Those seem to be some of my players’ favorite creatures as thanes, enemies, and story elements.

Nanus drakes seem to be an awesome way to motivate my overly cautious Blacksmith to do stuff, and my druid just crossed to fardrengir so she can grab a night wolf (which the party first learned about when the blacksmith’s nanus drake got in a cage fight with one), and my berserker is being hunted across the north by a childhood rival with a guardian bear.

These things rock, and I can’t wait to see more.