The Dead That Burn#

To die with a weapon in hand is the near zealous goal of every proud raider. It is known that those that are battle slain and then offered to the night sky with the burning of a pyre, are taken to the Halls of the Slain. It is said that the valkry themselves see the column of corpse smoke and they rush from the heavens to latch upon the dead hero and ascend with them.

All raiders dream of this moment, and of their afterlife in the halls, where they feast and battle one another till the day Ragnarök arrives and they return to fight alongside their living descendants against the forces of ruin. The raiders know this to be true for many have seen valkry (either on the field of battle or during the great funerals) escort a comrade into the skies. They also know that to burn a warrior who lacked bravery, is to insult the gods. Such dead rise as vile pyrewights.

The Dead in the Dirt#

Raiders that die of natural causes, plague or the like, are buried in the earth. It is believed that the Lady of the Dead claims those departed. Nightly she climbs atop a three-legged undead horse called a helhest, and rides the world, in search of these unworthy dead. Once found, she grasps the unfortunate corpse and rides hard into the earth, to the secret caverns deep within Grimnir that make up the Underworld.

The Dead That Drown#

Warfare at sea comes with an additional risk. The worst of all deaths, the raiders believe, is to fall into the sea. The living try hard to recover the bodies of their fallen allies from the frigid waters of the Serpent Sea so that they may be honored properly. Otherwise, they become corpse food for the great serpent that lingers in the deepest waters of the sea and are denied an afterlife entirely. Instead, they return as smaller sea snakes that are known to foul fisher nets or drag children from the seashore.