A cloaked figure stands on a mound of countless small bodies under a full moon

The G i B universe

The In-Between and beyond.

A mythology built on real Viking-age magic, real Icelandic places and real witch trials, then pushed into the present day.

Grounded in Viking mythology

Ná Seiðr and Trolldómr are historically accurate Viking magic practices.

In the twelfth century, Iceland was an independent commonwealth running the oldest parliament in the world, and turning slowly from the Old Norse faith to Christianity.

Seiðr worked on fate, perception and reality. Ná Seiðr was its dark, necromantic side. Trolldómr dealt in shapeshifting, spirits and curses. Odin and Loki themselves practised. When the church arrived, all of it became witchcraft, and the faithful were silenced, punished or scattered.

The staves, costumes and symbols in Olga are culturally accurate, researched in Iceland with Icelandic historians and artists.

The realms

GiB in layers.

Two figures sitting on the railing of a fog-bound suspension bridge, the deck wet with rain

The world of the living

Skinheim

Where her logic and consciousness are stuck. Without deep feeling or memory, Olga judges with an almost godlike detachment.

A hollow-eyed doll-like girl in a grey haze

The Shadowlands

Myrlond

The In-Between, where her memories and feelings are trapped. Here she shapes shadow haze into dream states, and you can read her mood in the land itself.

A black winged figure beneath a red ring of light

The underworld

Helheim

Not a hell. A whole realm, good and evil included: home of the sick, the peasants, the trolls, and her father. The place she wishes one day to be.

A collage of decaying, soul-infused dolls and a dark tunnel

Ódáðahraun, Iceland

The Dollhouse

A Viking burial ground beneath “the wasteland of evil deeds”, holding a thousand years of forsaken, soul-infused dolls.

Two ravens in flight over a misty marsh, one trailing pale threads from its beak, the other carrying a glowing heart

The ravens

Hugin carries the mind. Munin carries the heart.

Descendants of Odin's ravens guide every soul across the Myrlond, always in pairs. The right-hand raven carries logic and consciousness; the left, identity, emotion and memory. A soul needs both to enter Helheim.

Olga's two halves have never been carried.

People and organizations

Everyone wants something from the Broken Child.

An armed Knight in tactical gear, lit by a muzzle flare

The hunters

K.O.B.R.

The Knights and Observers of the Black Rose

Born from a papal committee sent to study Icelandic witchcraft. The organization is split between two goals: Observers want her studied; Knights want her ended.

A single black rose in a misty glasshouse

The faithful

The Church of the Broken Child

Her father's support system, grown into a religion with a Headmaster, a Council and a strict canon of rituals. Protection turned into possession; the creed will do whatever it takes to never allow Olga to break free.

A father and four daughters in white dresses standing in a field in front of an old barn

The keepers

Hegnvarðarætt

HEG-n-VAR-thar-ite · “the keeper family”

They smuggled her out of Iceland. Generations later, on an American farm, their devotion has turned into business.

A towering Broken One, a stitched creature of bone and limbs, in the fog

The guardians

Broken Ones

Stitched together from human and animal parts, with no soul of their own. They exist to protect the Broken Child. Some of them beg to disagree.

The business of soul entrapment

How to bring back someone you love, in three easy steps.

And this, folks, is why you never spend time with trolls.

I The Deal. A customer asks the Troll to bring a loved one back. The Troll asks for a boon: something it cannot do in the world of the living.
II The Seal. The customer performs the boon. A message delivered. Someone hurt. Sometimes worse.
IIIThe Vessel. A doll is built, and the soul is trapped inside it, forever able to see and hear, never to touch or feel. The doll is delivered. Some families keep it. Some, unknowingly, throw it away. It's heartbreaking.

Lexicon

G i B's language.

The start of a living glossary. gibuniverse.com is where it can grow into a full wiki.

Awaken: One brought back by Olga. Normal means can't kill them. Olga was the first.
Broken Ones: Soulless bodies stitched from human and animal parts. Stupid, loyal, sometimes dragon-sized. “It's knitting. Just patience, really.”
Death Bind: The black cut shared by Olga and each one she Awakens.
Haugr: A burial mound; to the Vikings, a door between the realms.
Ódáðahraun: OH-thaah-tha-hroin. Iceland's largest lava desert, “the wasteland of evil deeds”. Real.
Ná Seiðr: Corpse magic. The necromantic side of Seiðr.
Skuggi: “Shadow.” Olga's extremes, given a will of their own.
The Seven Ones: The largest Broken Ones, guarding the Dollhouse entrances in the Ódáðahraun. Yes, there are seven of them.

Franchise potential

G i B can be B i G.

A world built to be collected. It all started with a toymaker, its deepest secret is a vault of a thousand soul-infused dolls, and its hero stitches her own creatures. Fans don't just watch this world; they can hold it.

Concept: a grand theatre at night with a glowing winged GiB marquee and crowds outside — On stage and on screen Theatrical runs, premieres and live events. Concept art.

The Olga vinyl figure and its G i B box beside a black plush of Shadie the cat, who looks up at her — On the shelf Collectibles: Olga, Shadie, the Broken Ones, the Dollhouse dolls. Concept art.

GamesAtmospheric horror in the vein of Little Nightmares.
Collectibles + toysA toy line written into the canon itself.
Fashion + music’90s grunge and sadcore, already back with Gen Z.
Fan loreA glossary, realms and factions deep enough to grow a wiki.

Back to Olga → Where it's headed The series →