After flipping through the Linnorm Kings book, the Valley of the Birthing Death jumped out at me for some reason. Following a long period of apathetic fixation, I decided to invent some story to back it up for our table's version of Golarion.
Before I post the link to what I've got thus far, I will say I'm mainly interested in coming up with balanced alternatives to a couple of things more than lore/flavor recommendations. That's not to say I don't welcome interesting ideas and tweaks--I'm just more interested, at this particular juncture, in making sure that nothing about it is too overwhelming or underwhelming.
Link: Ulfen Steelborn
What I'm specifically looking for: How to balance and justify Gloryseeker weapons as a Character Trait?
The basic idea behind the Gloryseekers is tied directly to the people wielding them; the wielder's deeds and heroics will restore the object to its full glory. This becomes less of an issue if I end up running this sort of adventure for a group of PCs all bearing said weapons, as it then becomes a simple matter of adjusting incoming treasure. The problem with balancing is mostly derived from the possibility of my actually playing a lone PC with this background. I figure most of the people around here are more competent at the number-crunches and relative balance than I am. The only thing I've come up with is an evolving weapon, but I feel like that's coming dangerously close to archetype territory (which I don't want). I don't want a way to cheat the "character wealth" system by any means.
The modified longevity of Ulfen Steelborn would probably be moot by adventure end. The story's resolution would likely put a stop to the age-drinking. Helmnheir's Curse has a much nastier side effect that was not accounted for.
I'm also open to recommendations for alternative "racial stats" beyond simply replicating a typical Human.