In a world like ours, but different in many ways, there lives a tribe of bears. Not bears you or I might think of, bears that have a language and history, tradition and culture. Bears that live in the vast and wild north, in a desolate frozen desert called Svalbard. Bears that are intelligent and skilled metal workers, that create armor for themselves and live under the rule of a king named Vraurk Vradison. They are solitary for the most part, only meeting in times of war, or celebration. Except for one group of young male bears, the appointed Guard of Svalbard. In their troop, they constantly patrol the borders of Svalbard, for visitors are no longer welcome.

Vraurk was a wise but paranoid king. In years before, outsiders had overtaken the then bear-king, a young and foolish male called Buol Glamdrolson. He was polluted with the outsiders ways and tales of glamorous life in cities lit by electric power. Buol decided that he wanted his bears to live the way the outsiders did, and so ordered a great and barbaric castle built on the cliffs next to the frozen arctic sea. In doing this, he ignored hundreds of years of bear tradition. The armor forged under his rule was weak and decorative at best, made of lesser metals like gold and silver. Vraurk hated the new ways Buol was introducing to the bears. "Iron and steel are bear metals, not glittering gold!" he would boom to his growing underground resistance. Soon, he had enough followers to oust the corrupted king, killing him in front of the gathered masses. He ascended to the throne and had the castle torn down, and a monument built in it's place Buol's head upon it as a constant reminder that a bear was a bear, cold and simple as the snow they made their living in.

So, in the years since, Vraurk forbade any visitors to Svalbard, saying that any caught crossing it's borders knowingly or not, were to be killed on the spot. He formed the Guard of Svalbard to uphold his ruling, forming it out of the best bears in his realm, 10 bears were commanded to spend their lives patrolling the extensive borders of Svalbard, and so they did, without complaint and without questioning. It was odd at first, constantly being with other bears, but they adjusted and grew to love each other as no friends ever could. They became a team, each member would protect his brothers until he died, and knew they would do the same for him. More time passed, and old members died, leaving the rest to mourn and find replacements.

It soon became apparent that if the Guard did not add females to it's ranks, they would soon become extinct. There was no shortage of she-bears who did not want the honor of joining the Guard, and the generations of cubs born in the troop were trained to be excellent fighters, and when the bears came upon a fire mine in their patrols, armor was forged for those old enough for it. Most bear armor consists of a single back plate that covers the sides as well, and a helmet. Some add sheets of chain mail to cover their bellies, but soon realize that this is more of a hindrance than protection, as it tends to be easily torn away and tangle with the feet in battle.

Many generations passed, and the guard today has been inbred with their duty and their skills. They are the essence of what their ancestors strived to be; vigilant, brave fighters, who let nothing cross the borders of Svalbard. The current guard consists of 5 males, 5 females and 2 cubs.

The eldest is called Forgeron, a wise and grizzled male with rust-red armor, dented and stained with the blood of many enemies and a few friends. Kasatka is the next oldest, and the oldest female. She is Forgeron's mate, equally wise and grizzled, and she never fails to have a story to tell the cubs to lull them to sleep at night. Next is Dramoro, son of a bear couple who recently fell into a deep crevasse and died. Because of this, he tends to be moody and quiet, not a huge change from his temperament before. Dohai is Dramoro's little brother, but barely weaned when his parents died. Dramoro is fiercely protective of him. Rolvaag is the third eldest male and son of Forgeron and Kasatka. He is intensely hotheaded and temperamental, eager for battle and victory. Also a child of Forgeron and Kasatka, Helleri is the oldest cub, and due to get her armor as soon as the troop finds a fire mine. Like her older brother, she is hotheaded but tempered by a wary knowledge of how dangerous the outskirts of Svalbard can be.

The youngest fighting male is Modomnoc, a quiet but friendly bear who prefers to wander in the drifts and think of poems to woo the youngest fighting female Pyree. Sadly, her attentions drift more toward the mysterious Dramoro. She is easily distracted from her patrol by almost anything, but can be counted on when she is needed. Solange is the second eldest female, and it is her duty to protect the cubs in the event of an attack. Mature and responsible, she is highly regarded among the bears. Most do not notice it, but she has and intense liking for the fiery Rolvaag, and even fewer know he reciprocates her feelings. Nineveh and Rue are twin female bears, and feel intensely outcast. While traveling around the borderlands, the troop happened upon them, an abandoned pair of cubs. Kasatka was still nursing Rolvaag and took them in as her own. Since they are of questionable bloodline in a society that determines rank by who your ancestors were, Nineveh and Rue often feel worthless and undeserving of there position in the guard. Therefore, they fight with an intensity rivaling Rolvaag and Forgeron's, always trying to prove there worth. Lastly, Soren, son of the bear-king himself. While a young bear, Soren was sent off to join the guard to build his fighting strength and agility, and hates his father for it. He feels that his father didn't want him and sent him off to get him out of the way. An intense bitterness is what drives him, learning politics from Forgeron, fighting from Rolvaag and compassion from Solange so that he may be an even better king than his father.

This is the story of the Guard of Svalbard, and how an ancient blood-feud changes their whole outlook on life even as it helps them to find their true destiny.