VANAHEIMR
VANAHEIMR
After the Vanir resolved their war with the Aesir, they sought the increased security that Asgard offered against the Titans and their spawn. The Vanir tried to maintain their original realm through visits, but you know how it goes: out of sight, out of mind, even for Gods. The visits to check on the old place became less frequent and finally stopped. Vanaheim was left empty, though not destroyed.
The Titans never razed Vanaheim, and no invaders wrested it from its absentee landlords. The Vanir left it pristine and empty long before that could happen. Today, Vanaheim consists of a collection of grand halls and sacred groves surrounded by golden fields. Only the emptiness of the place and withered branches of Yggdrasil around the borders of the realm suggest anything that is not blooming and vibrant.
After the Titans escaped their prison, the Aesir debated what to do with Vanaheim. Some believe it would make an excellent staging area for sorties against the Titans. Others believe the realm could serve as a last-ditch retreat should Asgard fall before Ragnarök. Most Aesir however, scoff at this second option, believing that if Asgard falls, it is Ragnarök.
A third contingent (mostly of Vanir) believes the Aesir should try to reclaim and repopulate Vanaheim as a colony. These Gods and their supporters point out that new Scions could do most of the work, then they could live there to keep Asgard from getting too crowded. None of the major Gods among the Aesir openly support this idea, though—not even Vanir such as Freyr and Freya. Most likely, none of them wish to be responsible for establishing a colony of young Aesir who could be slaughtered or corrupted or who could one day grow powerful enough to renew conflicts between the two Godrealms. The matter is moot for the time being, as scouts from Asgard found that Vanaheim’s connection to Yggdrasil, and thereby to Asgard, withered some time ago when nobody was paying attention. At least some among the Gods, though, suggest this as the most important reason to find Vanaheim: What happened? Is Vanaheim really still vacant?
Perhaps any Gods who rediscovered Vanaheim could easily take it for their own. Someone merely needs to find the Godrealm’s long-forgotten Axis Mundi on Midgard, and they could move right into the empty halls of the Vanir. Perhaps this has already happened. It is also possible that the recent severing of Alfheim from Yggdrasil has something to do with Vanaheim, as the alfar always held stronger connections to the Vanir than to their Aesir cousins.
