[DrPraetorious]

E9 helhirdings is worth considering because you also have dwarves who can cast Legions of Steel.

Both together give them a prot, I think, of 20, which is pretty insane for the early era.

But I think F9 is better - and N4 is a lot cheaper.

A note on luck and misfortune - victory goes to the bold. The more points of luck OR misfortune you take, the higher the variance in your income between trials (it becomes "more random".) If you ever want to win, this is to your advantage. If four players take a lot of fortune or misfortune every game, and four players never take either, and they play a lot of games, the four players who take one or the other will, between them, win more games, all else being equal, because when they're lucky they'll do very well.

That said, take either Fortune 3 or Misfortune *2*. Misfortune 3 is a *lot* worse than misfortune 2.

Of course, you aren't allowed to quit when luck turns against you - nor should you, as you can still pull off an occasional win even with a dreadful start.

Imprisoned Father of Winters - W9N4, Domstr 7, Order 3, Sloth 3, Cold 2, Luck 3, Magic 1. This is the most income you can get (luck gives more money on average than growth, which gives more money on average than sloth,) and still have a decent bless for your helhirdings. Consider Domstr 6 and Sloth 2 if you're worried that you won't have enough resources to recruit 7 helhirdings a turn once you've conquered the surroundings of your capital.
Note that the extra cold point is worth it because temperatures ocillate - if you only take Cold 1, many of your provinces will be cold 0 a lot of the time, so you might as well have the extra 40 points.

or...
Imprisoned Father of Winters. W9F9, Domstr 6, Order 3, Sloth 3, Death 1, Misfortune 2, Magic 1. If it moves, stab it until it stops moving. Repeat as desired. With the Magic +1 and the cheap and powerful svartalf, you'll also be magically fearsome by mid to late game. Try E9 instead of F9 if it amuses you. You'll need to combine it with Legions of Steel for it to be really competitive, though. Your more powerful dark vanir are powerful spellcasters (especially with Shadow Blast), although you tend to run out of gems before you fill up your fatigue.