[Art drawn by me and taken from MY blog] Kai Eyrikdotir
Also goes by Vik Serah, Viscera, Vik
Age A little over a century
Gender Female
Species Varulfur (werewolf)
Ethnicity Sionadyaki
Height 5"9
Occupation Mercenary
__________________IN-DEPTH STUFFPhysical Description
"Dark as deerskin," "eyes like obsidian arrowheads," "hair so dark and long it better suits a beast," are phrases Kai's heard people use to describe her. She's tall compared to most women, and even if she's not she always seems to be bigger by sheer intimidating presence alone. She's muscular, broad shouldered, and flat chested, making her look relatively masculine, but she has the waist and hips of a woman. Her thighs could nigh strangle a man if he were in the wrong place and she in the right mood. The only sign of her non-human lineage that shows when she's in human form is her mouth full of wolf-like fangs.
She doesn't have the characteristic high cheekbones of the native Sionadyaki but her tan skin and dark, narrow eyes suggest otherwise. If left loose, her mane will become just as wild as the shewolf, hence why she usually keeps it tied back in a low ponytail. What doesn't stay back hangs as bangs that frame her face which she sometimes braids. Her upper arms are marked with red tattoos of crescent moons and petaled flowers while her forearms are scarred with burns in the shape of wrapped chains. Similarly, from the knees down her skin is marred by regular burns, the point that she has lost feeling in the soles of her feet.
She wraps sturdy black cloth over her arms and legs to hide this, as well as protect her shins and forearms. She normally wears a loose, light grey tunic under a longer, darker grey sleeveless robe tied with a red sash. Coming from Hyoite and it's frozen climate, pants are also an essential. As an Ulfsark, she also refuses to fight with armor. If she's really feeling into it, or if she's wrestling, she'll fight shirtless as well.
As a wolf, despite her dark hair, the shades of Kai's fur range from bone-white on her belly and light dun across her back with a reddish tint to the tips of her ears, tail, and around her eyes. She could stand shoulder to shoulder with a Adelan draft horse.
Personality
Not the friendliest person you'll ever meet, you're either in her good graces or kept at arm's length. She doesn't particularly like humans, but over the years she's learned to tolerate them and how to act like one of them. In her heart of hearts she's a wolf. She works well in a pack (so long as the people she's working with are competent) but doesn't need to rely on other people to give her directions like a dog. Her many years of working and traveling alone have taught her how to be self sufficient and independent. However, around people she considers her "pack" she is considerably more warm and friendly. Might even crack a joke if she's in a good mood. She doesn't trust easy, but when she does you will have her loyalty until the end.
Magic/Abilities
Descendant of KveldulfAs a varulfur, Kai is a massive wolf that has the ability to take a human form. Regardless of shape she retains a wolf's sense of smell, hearing, and its deadly fangs. She also retains a number of wolf-like behavioral quirks such as a wolf's appetite and taste for raw meat.
Hake's TrainingMost of Kai's knowledge of swordplay and wrestling come from her mentor, Hake. He was an old dog always teaching her new tricks. He taught her how to wield a longsword and to an extent, how to control her berserker rage in and out of battle. When Hake died, Kai took up his family longsword, Brynhildr. The blade was said to have belonged to a legendary shieldmaiden who tragically impaled herself upon the sword after being betrayed by her lover.
A Blessing and a CurseA blessing: Also known as battle rage, but the berserkergang is more than that. It's a kind of blinding, all consuming rage that makes a person loose all sense of themselves and the world around them until the battle's end. As an Ulfsark, Kai has the gift of the berserkergang. She's a competent enough fighter without it, but the gift makes her a true terror on the battlefield. However, when the rage ends it leaves her weak and helpless as a newborn pup. The brightest and fiercest flames burn the most wood and leave nothing but ashes.
A curse: Kai may have the gift of the berserkergang, but the varulfur would see that gift as tainted for what she has done with it. She killed a someone of close blood relation, and what's worse, ate of their flesh. For this, she is cursed to become a Starving Spirit. When pushed to her limits, beyond that of the berserkergang, the Spirit may posses her body and warp her form into something monstrous. The beast she becomes stands taller than the trees on two feet put prefers to run on four, gaunt as a birch in winter when the branches are stripped of leaves. Her hands grow sharpened, grasping claws and her face is lost behind a skeletal maw. The only aspect of who she was that remains is her dark and tangled mane, falling over her shoulders and back like a shroud. In a cruel twist of fate, the curse also extends her life beyond that of a mortal lifespan. She does not age, but instead watches those around her grow old and perish before her. For what she has done, she is to live and suffer.
Relationships
Eyrik Ardenson - father
Insanya - mother
Ayden Eyrikson - brother
Hake - mentor
Merscot "Mercy" MacGregor - friend
History
The day Kai was born was the day her grandmother died, on a day between the very end of winter and the beginning of spring. Kai's mother, Insanya, came from one of the reindeer herding nomadic tribes that migrated seasonally around Hyoite. She was the first human to enter varulfur territory, brought by her father when they decided to marry. Her father, Eyrik Ardenson, was supposedly descended from Ragnar the First Ulfsark. Everyone in the varulfur likes to claim they're descended from Ragnar, but her grandfather Arden always said that his great-great-great uncle Yngvar Saltfang was an Ulfsark and direct descendant. Kai's little brother, Ayden, was born two years after her.
Even though they were half-human, Eyrik's family did their best to treat Kai and Ayden as they would any other child of the pack. This was easy for Ayden, who first began to shift at the age of three. Year after year they waited for Kai to shift, but she continued to remain in human form. Her parents took her to the shamans and oracles of the various packs, but nothing they did seemed to have any effect. They figured that her human blood prevented her from taking wolf form.
It was difficult for Kai not to feel inferior, despite being the firstborn child and equally skilled as the other varulfur her age. Her legs were fast and carried her far while her teeth were sharp and her nose keen, but still she could not shift. When she was between the ages of eight and nine years there was suggestion of marrying Kai to someone from her mother's clan when she was older. Being a young and emotionally vulnerable, she became distressed at the thought of leaving her wolf family to be with "other humans," and started to take more desperate measures.
During one of the the long Winter Nights, she stole her grandmother's old cloak and lay over her barrow, praying to Fenrir for the ability to shift, therefore making her a true varulfur like the others and giving her a reason to stay. That night she dreamed of a land filled with sunlight where the sky met the sea, an inexplicable sense of peace, and the wings of a great hawk. She saw of her death, the sword that would pierce through her throat and felt the final breath she would breathe. She dreamed of chase and hunting and the taste of blood on her tongue. She dreamed of bloodlust and awoke with rage burning in her bones. The young varlfur howled as her body began to shift and the berserkergang seized her.
Fenrir had heard the girl's prayers. If she wanted to overcome her human blood and become a true wolf, she would need Fenrir's gift. Sadly, no gift from a deity comes without its price. In her rage, hunger, and confusion, Kai murdered and partially ate one of her kinsmen, a younger cousin. There were a few brief moments she was able to regain herself and realize what she had done. She could feel the weight of his flesh filling her stomach and the taste of his blood on her tongue. The varlfur have a saying, that " when a wolf tastes the flesh of its own kind, it gets a liking to it."
Disoriented and in shock, she reverted back to her wolf form and fled from varulfur territory. Her mind regressed to a more feral state as she traveled across the tundra and hid from the family that searched for her. She fled the Farthest Northlands of Hyoite through Ragnar's Pass and has not looked back since. When her family could not find her, they assumed she had perished trying to survive the unforgiving Northlandic winter alone. What has become of the varulfur since, only Fenrir knows.
Kai spent the rest of her adolescence training with an old berserker named Hake after she spent a several weeks stealing from his bait traps. A retired warrior, Hake lived alone on the boarder between Hyoite and Connlaoth. He taught Kai all he knew of combat, survival, the ways of humans for the day she might chose to live among them, and the ways of the berserker. He died when she was fifteen, of sickness that struck in the heart of winter. She buried him in the spring before taking his sword, Brynhildr, and starting her life as a wandering mercenary.
In the winter of the following year, she agreed to protect a semi-isolated village in the mountains north of Connlaoth from bandits and monsters until spring. A month into the season, one of the village children went after her while she was tracking down a jotnar mountain troll that was getting too close to the village. When she inevitably found the jotnar, it killed the child, reminding her of the young cousin she had killed. The young shewolf went berserk on the mountain troll and by sheer perseverance managed to kill it. Some of the villagers became worried when neither Kai nor the child had returned by sundown.
In the morning they went out searching for them and found Kai in the snow, still in her wolf form and covered in blood. The jotnar's body had turned to stone in the early daylight, appearing as nothing more than an odd arrangement of boulders. They saw the slain child and the blood covered varulfur and came to the conclusion that she was responsible. Despite her pleas of innocence, they judged that she had killed the child and had to be dealt with. They bound her forearms in silver and nearly burned her to death in the village square. As the flames scorched her legs, she was overtaken by the berserkergang, broke free and massacred the entire village. After that she realized that, despite human blood, she would always be a wolf and that her ancestors were right to despise humans.
Over the years she has traveled across most of the continent, never staying in one place for too long, and has participated in her share of battles. The life of a mercenary is never easy but it suits her well. In her early career she gained the nickname "Viscera" from one of her employers after she returned from battle covered in the insides of her enemies. She thought a fearsome name would help further her mercenary career and reputation, so most people these days only know her as Viscera, Vik Serah, or Vik.
Lore of the Farthest Northlands, as told by the descendants of Kveldulf [note: these are
folktales told by the varulfur people. They believe them to be true but whether they are ACTUALLY true, like most folk tales, is unclear]
The Beginning In the beginning, there was only the earth, the sky, and the sea. One by one, the creatures of land and sky climbed out of the sea, shook the water from their pelts and their feathers, and spread across the lands. The salt water they shook off their bodies went into the sky and became the stars that shine at night.
Fenrir, Mara, and Kveldulf Fenrir was the first wolf to leave the seas. He is the Father of all wolves and he was also the first wolf to die, but he chose to stay on this side of the sky and watch over his descendants. During the early days after life left the sea, men and wolves were fast friends and could understand each other's speech. Because of their excellent teamwork, they became great hunters and were feared by every other living thing. No creature, from deer to bear to sparrow were safe from man and wolf when they went hunting. Before long, Fenrir became worried that man and wolf would soon hunt all the creatures of the world to their ends and all life would cease to exist. Using his power as a god, Fenrir made it so man and wolf could no longer understand each other's speech. Unable to communicate, man and wolf quickly turned against each other and have been enemies ever since.
It so happened that Fenrir had a beautiful daughter named Mara and her pelt shimmered with all the colors of the world. Many wolves coveted her for as their mate, but Mara had been close to a young human named Askeladd. He was a great hunter and understood the ways of the earth, the whisper of the trees and the heartbeat of the ocean against the shore. Together they went on many a hunt and sang to the winds. They loved each other and were saddened when they could no longer communicate. Askeladd went to Fenrir begged the wolf god for help. After seeing how deeply this human loved his daughter, Fenrir took pity on him. He tore off a piece of his own pelt, giving it to Askeladd and telling him that wearing the pelt at night would allow him to turn into a wolf and that his name was now Kveldulf, which meant 'evening wolf.' He was the first of our kind, the first of the Varlfur. Together at last, Mara and Kveldulf lived happily together and had many children who would become the Varlfur clans that inhabit the Farthest Northlands of Hyoite. When Mara eventually died, as all living creatures do, Fenrir took her beautiful pelt and placed it in the sky. The light that shines off her pelt is now called the Northern Lights, or Mara's lights, and Mara became a goddess of love, motherhood, and of she-wolves.
Descendants of Kveldulf and the Origin of the Ulfsark Kveldulf and Mara had four sons, Hrothgar, Ketil, Hjalti, Aldulfr and a daughter named Ylfa. When they were born, they had the forms of human children, but as they grew they were able to take wolf form and shift between the two, like their father. Often times they went to go visit their parent's respective families, but when visiting Kveldulf's human family, they were told to be careful and never let them know how they could shift from men to wolves. The animosity between men and wolves was still strong, and Kveldulf feared his human family would kill his children if they knew. After spending time among humans, Ylfa fell in love with a man named Kjaran and married him. For many years they lived happily together and raised children. She married him under the condition that he would promise to never follow her when she went out to hunt. Kjaran agreed, he did not think it strange at first and assumed his wife simply preferred to hunt alone. One day, Kjaran's curiosity got the better of him and he followed his wife into the forest where he watched her turn from woman to wolf, thinking his wife cursed, or worse, a demon. That night, as his wife and children lay sleeping, he went out into the night, barred the doors to their house, and with tears in his eyes, set it on fire killing nearly everyone inside. Only their youngest child, Ragnar, was able to escape the flames. As he watched his mother and siblings burn, Ragnar prayed to the wolf god for help. Fenrir, enraged at the death of his descendants, gave Ragnar the gift of the berserkergang, which he used to kill his father before fleeing to his uncle's families. He was the first Ulfsark, first to receive the gift of battle rage from Fenrir. The death of his family sparked a long, bloody feud between Kveldulf's descendants and the humans of the Northlands of Hyoite.
The humans, who were greater in number, wiped out nearly all of Kveldulf's descendants. The varulfur were pushed again and again farther into the north. Over the course of many years and many bloody battles, Hrothgar, Ketil, Hjalti, and Aldulfr were all slain. Without the four sons of Kveldulf, and by this time Kveldulf himself had passed on, things looked bleak for the varulfur. Taking the bodies of Kveldulf's sons, the remaining varulfur fled to the Farthest North and buried Kveldulf's sons under cairns so high and so great that no human could desecrate the graves. These became the four mountains that divide the Farthest North and the rest of the world with only one pass in or out. They say the widows of Kveldulf's sons climbed atop the cairns in their slain husbands and swore they would remain there until the end of time, that in the winter they slept and in the spring their their sorrowful tears flowed down the mountains as snowmelt. The remaining varulfur fled to these lands through a single pass in the mountains. To keep humans from getting into the Farthest Northlands, Ragnar the first Ulfsark stood guard at the pass until the end of his days. That is why the pass is known as Ragnar's Pass, to honor him.
In times of need, Fenrir choses a varlfur to become an Ulfsark and gives them the gift of the berserkergang. Some of the most well known figures in northern varulfur tales are Ulfsark, and they are always brave men who inevitably sacrifice themselves for the greater good of their clans and kind. ( Ivar the Iron-Skull slayed a man eating sea serpent, Uthar Grekisson rid the Farthest Northland of dangerous mountain trolls, .etc)
Starving SpiritsThe varlfur have a saying, that 'when a wolf tastes the flesh of its own kind, it gets a liking to it.' They also say that eating the flesh of another wolf brings a curse upon you, so that when you die you will become a monsterous being known as a 'Starving Spirit'. Upon death, the spirit leaves the body and takes the form of a monster that walks on two legs, like a human, but runs on four, like a wolf. At full height it stands over a head and a half above the tallest man with claws long as carving knives. It has no face but a skeletal head with hollow eyes and an ever hungry mouth full of teeth. No matter how much it eats, the Starving Spirit remains gaunt as a dog during famine and will seek to devour whatever, and whoever, it can. The only way to put a Starving Spirit to rest is by driving a blade through its mouth and burning the body. Only then can the spirit be freed.
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