User:Velali
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Tormented by her calling, she seeks blood for a sin never forgotten. |
Velali grew up in Rosfjorn, a remote island far to the north, in a village tucked neatly into a valley in the shadow of the towering Svladifari'Njall mountain range. She was a daughter of the Rognvald tribe and grew up doing what every other Rognvald child did - fighting, foraging, hunting, crafting and living in the same manner her ancestors had. Her mother died when Velali was young, having had succumbed to malnutrition during a particularly difficult winter. As such, she was raised by her father, Vilhjalmur, and a collection of the village's womenfolk who acted as her stand-in mother. Vilhjalmur was no great hunter or fighter, but there was no man or woman who could best him at singing, dancing, and playing the pan flute. He carried with him the sum of the Rognvald history in musical form and Velali looked up to him with fierce admiration. His chosen occupation landed her in plenty of fights with the other children, who would scoff at her father's boyish good-looks and make bets about what would kill him first - the cold, or the carrion birds. She was always quick to anger, but her father was always soon to be had, calming her down with one of her favorite stories, or a happy tune to which they would dance and laugh. Time went on like this for several years, relatively peaceful, as far as survivalist tribes go on an island long-forgotten to most of the world. There was, of course, skirmishes with the nomadic centaurs, the Gunlaug, who lived on the other side of the island and the occasional pack of wolves who thought it would be worthwhile to attack a camp of hunters. Beyond this though, Velali knew little else of worldly strife.
It wasn't until her 13th birthday when all in her world was turned upside down. Her father decided to break the number one law of the tribe - he left Rosfjorn. Vilhjalmur was a man of the written word, of science and intellect. He felt that his people were just one thin winter away from dying out completely, so he and a few others who agreed with him took a boat and set sail south. Originally, their plan was to make contacts and arrange trade routes with the outsiders, but her father, wise as he may have been, never planned on encountering her. Illisaria was her name, a woman of great beauty, wealth and power. Velali's father stood no chance. He fell in love. Illisaria was a capable woman, this Vilhjalmur was certain, and so he asked her to join him back to Rosfjorn, to meet his people and convince them of their misguided ways. Illisaria declined to return with him at that time, but managed to get sailing routes back to Rosfjorn, so that she could join him once business was wrapped up at her home. Some time later, Vilhjalmur and his companions managed to return safely to Rosfjorn... but, as Rognvald law goes, he and those that went with him were killed on sight. The Rognvald maintain a strict law about abandoning their motherland. Once you leave, you are an outsider. Outsiders are killed immediately if found, no questions asked. Velali was devastated when she learned of her father's death but no one came to comfort her. In fact, she quickly became the target of even more disdain. Not just from the other children, but from the adults of the Rognvald. Her father died an outsider. A failed outsider that sought to return to the embrace of the Rognvald, that which he abandoned. Such a thing was beyond recompense. Velali hated them for it and strove to do better, to outperform every other child in everything that she could, to show them all just how great her father was, to raise a child like her. This only served to further fuel their ire, for the daughter of an outsider was trying to make them all look weak. She was forced to do every awful task that the tribe could come up with, yet still she fought to gain any edge, always able-bodied, even when she wasn't. A year went by like this and Velali was soon developing into a woman, both tough and equally beautiful - a last gift from her late father, if you will. Winter Solstice, Velali's birthday, came that year, and so too, did Illisaria.
At first, the subtle changes in the weather were simply ignored as a one-off year. Then the changes in the animals came and the Rognvald were soon talking about bad omens. Shortly after, some of their hunters were attacked by 'monsters'. Such a thing didn't exist to them. It was only the Gunlaug and the occasional dragon that stumbled upon them, who never paid them any mind. Even still, sightings of monsters and monster attacks began to soar until not a single person doubted their existence. Then the village was attacked, and Velali took up spear and shield to protect it, as she knew her father would have wanted her to do. Many of the Rognvald lost their lives that day, but many were spared, in part perhaps, because of the small role Velali played. Still, the other's of the tribe looked down on her and she trained harder, only now with real weapons, against real life monsters. At first, she killed these monsters alone, doing what she could to keep game trails clear and foraging grounds unmolested. By the age of 16, she led a small raiding party of five others, and her opinion was well-respected among those of the village. Herself and Durindar, another youth who led a separate raiding party, soon had their stories recounted by the village elders beneath the roof of the mead hall. It had been a few years since the last skirmish with the Gunlaug tribe, a truce established shortly after the appearance of these monsters, and the two tribes were working in tandem to kill off these monsters. Little did they know, Illisaria was using these monsters as a distraction, while she set up her fortifications, nestled within another valley in the Svaldifari'Njall, next to a place known as Mirror Lake...
And then, shortly after her 17th birthday and three years into battling creatures of nightmare, war broke out. Illisaria walked into the village as if she was the long-lost queen of the Rognvald. No hunter was able to shoot her with an arrow, no warrior was able to cut her with their steel. It was the first time in her life that Velali felt true fear. Illisaria made her terms clear, "You have all been so busy, fighting my little pets..." She paused, looking thoughtful for the briefest moment, "All of you will bow, as the Gunlaug has, and yield to me as Queen of Rosfjorn." The Rognvald felt betrayal before, but this was unthinkable - the Gunlaug, who share similar laws and ancestry, bowed to her? None of the Rognvald bowed, but openly brandished their weapons to her. She replied to this with, "You attacked me when I came into your village, but I can forgive you of that. However, you refuse me now, even though you know that you cannot harm me. And what's worse, you killed my one true love, Vilhjalmur... I cannot forgive you of your crimes, and sentence all of you to death." Velali was stunned. This woman loved Velali's father? Did her father lead this evil woman to Rosfjorn? She didn't know what to believe... "Child, you look so upset." Came Illisaria's words. As Velali's eyes met Illisaria's, she knew she had to say something, "I will kill you for what you have done. I will dance on your corpse for how you have sullied my father's name." Of course, Illisaria knew who Velali was and cared for her as much as she cared for her father, Vilhjalmur. Which is to say, not at all. Illisaria, beautiful and serene as she was, offered a small smile to Velali, turned and walked right back out of the village. Chaos descended as magic was unleashed, portals to some horrible plane of existence opened, and monsters began pouring forth. It took the combined effort of the entire village to not succumb to defeat. Many, many lives were lost that day and the Rognvald, aware of the second betrayal that day, cast Velali out for her father's crime. The death of each and every person was on her hands, and instead of killing her, they did one worse - exile. She, like her father before her, was an outsider. She left Rosfjorn after that and began her life as a sailing raider, her companions from her raiding parties against monsters had opted to go with her on her journey into exile. Ever-faithful, they knew riches and power the likes of which only the Rognvald legends were said to have known. The people the world-over knew to fear the northern raiders, in their Valbrandium armor, at the helm of some fearsome, dragon-like ship. At the age of 27, Velali found herself upon the shores of her homeland, Rosfjorn. At this point, her small company had swelled to a small army of 50 able-bodied men who knew much more of the world than any ten people of the Rognvald - and were capable of backing up that knowledge. Their fleet of a half-dozen ships docked at the frosty shores of Rosfjorn and waited a week before they began the journey on foot to the Rognvald tribe, out of respect for those that lived there. Velali smiled, for the first time in years. She was home.
The Rognvald, looking weary and few, thought they were breathing their last breath of fresh air when they saw Velali's army march into the village. She ignored them all and went straight to the mead hall, then announced she would hold audience with the tribe leader, whoever that may be. Rikgjard, a youth she recalled from her younger years, was that man. Thankfully, he was keen on acquiring their help, despite Velali's, and her original companions, status as exiles. There, Rikgjard inducted her and her men into the tribe and released her of her exile, all past sins forgotten. The men, whom she had convinced to come here, were wary of what this might mean for them, owing their allegiance to the Rognvald and this man, Rikgjard. Tension began to grow stronger with each passing day, and Velali, sensing this, brought her men to the Valbrandium mine - a place she had promised to take them as reward for helping her in this place. They soon outfitted themselves and the rest of the tribe with new arms, having had made great success mining in the cold tunnels beneath Svaldifari'Njall. The metal, Valbrandium, was and still is a rarity, even for those native to Rosfjorn. With the ingenuity of these outsiders, however, they were able to extract more of the ore with fewer cave-ins and refine it better than ever. They would be rich with the surplus they had acquired. Soon after, the raids against Illisaria began anew. The Rognvald quickly and decisively defeated the Gunlaug, using the superior tactics of the foreigners, and began to march on Illisaria, the Witch of the Reach. She held them off with ease, however and none were able to set foot in her domain. They knew that if they kept the pressure up, the Witch would fall, surely. It would seem she knew this too, and so she went beyond the Svaldifari'Njall mountains and brought to life something... unearthly. Wraiths, from the men and women fallen in battle over the bloody course of Rosfjorn history. The war intensified, and Velali called in for reinforcements from the lands beyond. Rikgjard, Velali and Durindar eventually put a stop to the Wraithen army, but at great cost. Illisaria, as cunning as she is, managed to lure Rikgjard into her lair and killed him, leaving the Rognvald without a clear leader. The village elders decided to take control in the power vacuum and commanded Velali and her allies to leave, believing that she was the bad omen which brought all this chaos to the Rognvald. Thankfully, Illisaria put up a barrier around her fortress and retreated into distant memory for the time being. Velali, bitter for being exiled a second time, after effectively saving her people, took her remaining army and left Rosfjorn with the promise to never return. By the age of 32, Velali received a message from During, begging her to return to Rosfjorn and meet with him.
He wanted her to kill a child. She wouldn't. She couldn't. Within the shadow of the Svaldifari'Njall, Durindar told her, "She's the unnatural offspring of Illisaria. Gunther's men saw the child walking in the woods with the Witch just last week. She could be rebuilding her army, with that creature at the head of it," Durindar spat on the ground, then wiped his face. "You know as well as I what this could mean for us. For the world, if we don't stop her now." Velali knew what she had to do... she would kill that child and then the Witch herself. She traveled through the forest, beyond the Gunlaug and into the Svaldifari'Njall. The barrier was no more, but no monsters of nightmare patrolled it's walls. What could the Witch be up to? There, Velali waited a fortnight for her opportunity... and she descended upon that child with 15 long years of pent up fury, eviscerating her beyond recognition. In so doing, she fulfilled a prophecy created by the Witch Illisaria; the twisted soul of that corrupted child branded it's evil taint upon Velali's own. From then on, Velali served as The Hjertjeger of the Witch, commanding her own army of corrupted men and beasts, called the War Dogs. She took the heart of every man she killed, claiming their soul for her Witch-Liege. Hundreds of years passed in this way, an untold thousand men, women and children put to The Hjertjeger's spear.
Now, The Hjertjeger, having served her Witch-Liege faithfully, was sent to Lithrydel to collect the heart of Eirik, a man cursed by Illisaria and stripped of his magic, to repay a debt in blood. Her story is still yet unfinished~