ET 
EN Creating a background for your character
Origins and beliefs
Your character is one of the chosen ones. Whether he/she is a skilled diplomat, mighty warrior, wondrous musician or a great craftsman – he/she has been summoned. And it is considered a great honor by him.
You character can be from any world, any place (fantasy, sci-fi or real-life), and any period of time. You can have any gods and religions and even have your own creational mythology. (After all who knows exactly how the world came to be.).
Facts of life
There are some things you must consider though. There are things in the world of Nordic Equinox what’s existence is so obvious that to doubt or question it would be plain stupidity.
The land of Nordic Equinox – The land of Nordic Equinox is a pseudo-medieval world. It has all the characteristics of a medieval society but supports also magic. There can be magical races etc. Please consider this when creating your character. While your character can be from “the future” or even an alien – he/she/it must disguise himself as a medieval person.
Please be considerate of other players, for their characters might come from a completely different background setting than yours. Don’t expect everyone to know what your character is or even to like/hate him/her/it. Try to avoid known historic or legendary characters – while not forbidden, the other players my shun you, or make unwanted assumptions (and there CAN be two of you if someone else also chooses this personage – consider this a parallel universe or just a strange and mysterious thing).
Also as stated before – ONLY those special abilities apply that are granted to your character by Ancalagon. There are NO exceptions to this rule. All abilities your character might have in his background world, will be reduced to mere human equivalents in this realm (what you actually can do, that can your character do).
By far the easiest and most encouraged approach is to play a medieval character from your own area.
The abstract forces of Light and Darkness (The Forces) – they are not allowed to manifest themselves physically in this battlefield but can use dreams or body-less avatars to communicate with your character. The forces can only communicate with your character if he/she has allied himself/herself with the respective force. Such communication is perceived as a great honor or a sign of distress.
Ancalagon the dragon – he is the master of this realm. He can shape it in any way he chooses, all your characters abilities and skills are granted by him. He can either manifest himself physically (witch has never happened yet) or use an avatar to communicate with the characters in game.
Disciples of the Dragon – they are the mortal minions of Ancalagon, keepers of Nordic Equinox. Their duty is to see to the needs of all participants. It is impossible to harm or hinder a Disciple in any way. They represent the wishes of Ancalagon and hence they have to be obeyed by all.
Manala – Manala is the hall of the dead. If your character dies for some reason, You go there. It is a designated place in the game area and players are shown where it is.
While in Manala, remember that all battle-slain are brothers, there are no enmities in this place of afterlife. There are no sides there, there is one hall for everyone. So rejoice with the others or have a quiet rest. Your injuries will be seen to and be sure to drink plenty (of water of course ;-) ) while there. You can stay in character if You like to, but don’t have to.
From Manala your character can either depart to his/her homeland (You go to the OOG camping area and have a nice quiet camping weekend for the rest of the event) or return back to the battlefield. You can return to the game only when the Disciple who governs it allows you.
So even if you are a “hard core” roleplayer, you can bring your character to Nordic Equinox without reservations, he will never die permanently while here – it is the magic of this realm, a part of it. And he can always return back to his natural setting.
Of The Pact and the creation of the world!
Time before time
In the beginning, even before time, there was chaos. Great powers whirled in the formless void each trying to form it in his image.
Slowly two of the greatest, Light and Darkness arose, drove others aside and battled each other relentlessly. During this conflict, things both beautiful and terrible were wrought and destroyed. Out of the void new creatures and powers were formed. Many things perished but many endured. But still there was no life or death for time itself did not exist.
As the conflict raged, one by one all the other forces allied themselves with either Light or Darkness. The duality of the world was represented in everything. It was the first order of things – two sides in conflict.
And lo! Suddenly the chaos was no more and the void was no more and there was time. And because of time there was life, and for the first time in eternity there was something to lose.
In the eye of the storm
Shocked and surprised by the change in the nature of things, the forces halted. In this brief moment a fragile truce was made. It was decided that equilibrium should be maintained between Light and Darkness. The world and all things in it were divided equally and for that time all reluctantly agreed to this arrangement.
During this time of uneasy peace the first mortals appeared. Mere flickers of life compared to the nearly endless existence of the forces. They came in many shapes, some more and some less powerful. And like a rising tide they thrived in the peace and became mighty in their own accord.
Still there were both subtle hostilities and open conflicts. Forces changed sides and even the newly appeared mortals started meddling in this all-engulfing war. The order was threatened.
The Pact
Not to undo what was wrought, not to lose what was gained and not to return to chaos, the forces stopped their struggle once again. This time they conceded that for the conflict to end, either Light or Darkness should be declared the mightier. To judge this, a neutral power was chosen. So it happened that both Light and Darkness chose young Ancalagon, the first creature of its kind and of many to come – a dragon.
Thus he formed The Pact:
I. One of the great forces is superior and keeper of the balance
II. The other of the great forces can challenge the superior one
III. The challenge can only be made once a year
IV. The challenge can be battled out only by mortals
V. The mortals can freely choose for whom they will fight
VI. The forces can only encourage the mortals, not aid them
VII. The winner is declared by Ancalagon
So it happened that the weakest held the fate of the strongest in their hands. It was their mortality that gave them the power. For even when all mortals would ally themselves with one side, they would still be short-lived and their children would have a freedom of choice anew.
Creation of the Battleground
In the far north, away from all the hospitable lands a battlefield was created. And once every year the best warriors of mortal lands are invited to come forth and allying themselves with either Light or Darkness to decide who will be the superior for the year to come.
Every year at the time of autumn equinox, when both Light and Darkness are of same strength, in the far north the Nordic Equinox is held. A great gathering of warriors and other mortals of power, this battle and feast is legendary.
Neither magic nor power of the forces can be used on The Battleground. Only the abilities granted by Ancalgon can change the reality that is governed by strength of arms and skill of words.
All the forces can do is to inspire the followers of their cause and hope to gain the loyalty of them and their children, in years to come.
But the choice is free and for the mortals to make - every year anew. Thus even when lost or slain, all mortals go to the halls of Valhalla from where they can freely depart either to their own lands or back to their comrades on the fields of Nordic Equinox.
No one wants to return to the formless chaos, with nothing to win or nothing to lose, only an eternity to battle. So with great difficulty the forces still agree to these terms.