The Lindenheims were among some of the first clans to set foot on what is now known as Neck-Twister Island. The stories vary on why they sailed to the rocky land. There are those who believe that the first clans were driven out of the mainland due to the growing dominance of the Christians. Some say that they once controlled a fertile island somewhere in the Synchron Archipelago, but were forced to move after repeated attacks by dragons. But regardless of which story is told, they all shared the same ending of the landing, and the eventual settlement of the island.

While there was surely more than one Lindenheim that settled on the island, the only member whose name had been preserved for posterity, was Heimir. If he had any siblings, their names were lost to history. He was one of the many warriors who drove the roosting dragons into the forest and built his hall over their bones. And it was from the battles he partook in that earned him the moniker: "the Bone Cracker." From this prestige – along with the plundering and booty he gained – he became very wealthy, and was arranged to marry his first wife, Bergitta Hermundottir. The marriage was fruitful, and she bore him a daughter and three sons. Their eldest, Inger, came to be one of the island's most famed shieldmaidens, while their sons Geiri and Kudran were both married off. But unfortunately, their youngest, Oleg, was killed in the same dragon raid that took the life of Bergitta.

For years, it was assumed by the villagers that Heimir would remain a widow for the rest of his days; his remaining children assumed that they were safe in terms of their inheritances. So it was a great shock to all that Heimir had chosen to remarry at the age of forty-seven. He married a woman nearly twenty years his junior, a maid named Groa Saemundottir. Their marriage was much less successful than his first. After several miscarriages, Groa was only able to give him two sons, Uluv and Gils, a sickly boy whom she would die giving birth to.

The children of Heimir's second marriage were not met with great regard by the children of his first marriage. Inger, Geiri, and Kudran considered Uluv and Gils to be sickly, hiccups, no better than bastards sired from an illicit tryst. But of course, they didn't dare try to mistreat them when their father was around; they still had to keep his trust in them in order to be sure that they still had their inheritances. So once Heimir finally passed on to Valhalla, the three siblings wasted little time in making their point clear to their half-brothers. THEY were in control. THEY would make the decisions of their family, and THEY certainly wouldn't want the two to ruin their reputations any longer.

After this repeated shaming, combined with losing Gils to illness, Uluv had had enough. He decided to leave his father's hall and create a new one for himself and his descendants. His half-siblings had laughed in his face when he announced the news, and swore that he would never find a wife, much less sire his own children. But he still left, and built his hall in the eastern side of the village. The next generation came, and much to his sibling's surprise, Uluv was able to marry, but in the end, only his two youngest, a daughter and a son, lived past infancy. Geiri's marriage proved to be childless, and Kudran was ultimately the only one of the three siblings to have children. Both sides of the now estranged family kept their children from being on good terms with one another. Kudran turned a blind eye whenever his children mistreated or bullied Uluv's, and Uluv made sure that his sons and daughters kept away from their cousins.

And so began the rift between the half-siblings, a rift that spanned generations to come. Each branch of the family whole-heartedly believed that they were the true heirs of Heimir the Bone Cracker, and that the other branch was misbegotten. And for a time, many of the Neck Twisters took sides. There were those who sided with the progeny of Heimir's first marriage, as they tended to be more successful in battle, with wealth, and in producing heirs. Few associated themselves with the lesser-off descendants of Heimir's second marriage, since many of their children died in infancy or from dragon raids.

But time passes, and time changes all. The inhabitants of Neck Twister Island were tested again and again. They braved the blazes and brimstone heat of dragon fire, and fought against claw and fang with iron and steel. They endured the pitiless, frigid northern winds that raked their way through the northern islands, and drove off marauding pirates, ambitious warriors, and other clans viciously vying for land. They carved their place onto the island, amid the craggy stones, foreboding cliffs and haunted, misty forests. In the center of it all were the Lindenheims, fighting alongside their brethren against storm and sea, slashing, punching, stabbing and smashing. They, like their tribesmen sacrificed and called out to the gods in hopes that they would be granted entrance through the gates of Valhalla. But little did they know that the gods would send them something that would forever change the island and its people.

And so our story begins, seven generations after Heimir and his sons...