The story of Ulfnaar the Northlander
Totte
Posts: 13,972
The story of Ulfnaar the Northlander
Ulfnaar was born and raised as a Northlander in Farenir, a small Northlander village on the island of Norland. Norland is one of the small islands of the Moonshae Isles in the Trackless sea. It was a tough place for a child to grow up on. Even though his kin mostly worked as farmers and fishers, there were constant battles with the Ffolk on the southern islands. When food were scarce, the Northlanders raided the southern islands for food.
At the age of fifteen, Ulfnaar become a permanent crew member on of the the ships, the Black Dragon. The ship was feared both near and far as the captain, Rangulf, was an excellent tactician and the Black Dragon was a fast and maneuverable ship.
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Comments
Nice! And a perfect name for the ship. Beautiful water :)
Excellent character, Totte - very distinct with the contrast between his skin color and his striking hair. My only question is, when do we get to meet his shield maiden?
- Greg
Excellent character, Totte - very distinct with the contrast between his skin color and his striking hair. My only question is, when do we get to meet his shield maiden?
- Greg
Thanks ;-) And you maybe will, sooner than you know;-)
A few years passed and Ulfnaar turned from a skinny teenager into a tall and strong warrior. As the Northlanders also were keen merchants, Ulfnaar often found himself in different towns meeting all kinds of people. Every town needed exploring, and what is a better way to know the locals than having good and friendly tavern brawl? It was during one the these journeys to another of the islands that he met a half-elven lass named Mirian. They met after a very good brawl, outside the tavern, both bleeding from cracked lips and bruised knuckles.
Ulfnaar and Mirian had a joyful night, drinking, singing and cuddling, But what can last forever? Ulfnaar’s ship left early in the morning, but he promised himself that he should find that lass again. Not that Ulfnaar’s life was poor of lasses, he was good looking, strong and charming too, but this lass was different, he was in love for the first time.
Time went by, a few more years passed, and Ulfnaar’s duty on the ship ended and he was free to make his own choice, decide where he wanted to go on with his life. There was one person in his life that he really looked up to, the person who had guided him for the past seven years and taught him all he knows, and that was his Captain, Captain Ragnulf. Ulfnaar now was 22 winters old, and his father, Runar, has just passed to the gods. His mother Ranghilde had passed last winter, an exceptional cold winter. He felt time had come, the time to take a long port leave. He would still be a sailor in the command of Captain Ragnulf, in his heart he would.
His brothers and sisters, those who still were alive, as the life on the sea took a hefty toll on the Northlanders decided to take over the family farm. Ulfnaar, being the oldest son, handed his rights down to his oldest brother, Torven. Ulfnaar had decided that it was time to find that lass Mirian, and ask her to marry him.
He spoke with Captain Ragnulf, if he could join the crew and said that he was looking for a girl, and when he found her, he would leave. Ragnulf, who knew what a great warrior Ulfnaar had become, gladly accepted his offer. To once again have Ulfnaar in the ranks, even though for just some months, would benefit them all.
They sailed between the islands for two months, when Ulfnaar at a shabby tavern in the port of Caer Corwell, noticed a familiar face. It was a sailor who he knew had been in the same crew as Mirian. He called him and offered him a tankard of mead, and he asked about the whereabouts of Mirian. Bearwolf, as the sailors name was, told Ulfnaar that Mirian had left the ship almost a half year ago as had met a group of adventurers in port on the mainlands and had decided to join them. She was a restless soul that young lass. She was fast and brave, but more than any man could handle Bearwolf said.
Ulfnaar told Captain Rangulf that he needed to get to the mainlands, to find his love. Captain Rangulf knew that this time would come, he wished Ulfnaar luck and told him that there will always be a place for him on the Black Dragon, if he ever comes back. Ulfnaar decided to stay here in the port of Caer Corwell until a ship bound for the mainlands would show up. It took a month, and Ulfnaar spent his time working in the docks. He made several friends among the tough guys on the docks of Caer Corwell, and some enemies. Ulfnaar always have had a problem backing down. If someone questioned his courage, he would never back down until he had proven his courage.
While he worked and lived in Caer Corwell, he noticed people were afraid of him, and several times tavern keepers said, it’s on the house. Ulfnaar, being a man of honor and respect, always paid his dues. Eventually he found a merchant ship and offered to be of service as a guard free of charge. The Captain was very pleased to have a respected and feared Northlander warrior on his ship and offered Ulfnaar free meals in return. A week later, he set foot on the docks of Baldur’s Gate.
In the town of Baldur’s Gate, he went where anyone on adventure would go, to the local weapons shop, and he was right, Mirian had been there a while back, stocking up on weapons.
She had also visited her childhood friend, the keeper of the tavern the Rusty Dragon, Ameiko. Ulfnaar learnt that Mirian often frequented the tavern, as she and Ameiko were old friends. Mirian had run away from home, she was a high born child, but for her castle dinners and ballroom dancing was too dull compared to the life of an adventurer. Ulfnaar also learnt that Mirian was just pirating for fun, for the adventure. She never saw her parents again. Ameiko was not in her tavern, she was also out on something, what, he wasn’t told.
After some inquiries, Ulfnaar noticed that people seldom lied to him, and seems to tell him what they knew, or that that didn’t know, whenever he asked questions. It looked like his reputation had reached even the mainlands, which was both good and bad.
While asking around in Baldur’s Gate, Ulfnaar was attacked by a group of thugs, apparently not recognising him as an ex pirate. Ulfnaar tried to talk the leader out of the situation, telling him he knew how it was to have to steal for survival, and that he offered to buy the men a decent meal. The leader said they didn’t want any food, they wanted his money and weapons. The battle was quick, and Ulfnaar felt the warrior instincts hadn’t left him even though he hadn’t been in a real battle for several months. Ulfnaar still practiced with his weapons every day, and today those hours of sweat was paid in full. He didn’t kill anyone but when they all were begging for mercy, he said: - “Kids, you tried to mug the wrong person, now go home.”
For weeks he tracked the adventuring party, and they had indeed been busy. He kept going, day after day. He asked around among the small homesteads he came across, and some could tell him the party he was chasing had been there.
He followed the trails in the direction of the Mines of Phandelver. There in the mists he was almost lost, when he saw a beacon of light from, an old and forgotten building. The building looked like some kind temple or shrine. When Ulfnaar went closer to take a look, he was ambushed by a group of Orcs that came from all directions in the mist.
The fight was had but Ulfnaar knew his dirty tricks and after a short and intense fight, the orcs were driven away or killed. Ulfnaar had to take a look inside the shrine. It was devoted to the gods of good deeds. Not any god in particular, which was common here in the wild. Inside the shrine a small magic flame was glowing, and the light from the flame made him feel all warm and happy. The gods were watching over him.
Suddenly he found something that broke his heart, he found a small pile of rocks in a small forest outside the Mines of Phandelver. It was a grave, a grave for Mirian. He recognized her necklace and her sword. She had been killed, someone had killed the love of his life, and that someone would pay. He wept for several days, unable to get a grip on his feelings. It was like every ounce of grief he had kept inside since he was just a small boy just bursted out all at once.
Ulfnaar become more frantic in his search and he asked around in the villages and farmsteads he passed. He travelled south to the town of Candlekeep, where he once again picks up a fresh track. At an inn in Candlekeep, the keeper told him that a group of adventurers had stayed a night, not many days ago.
The track was leading to Athus outside the Brinestump Marsh. Who were those people that Mirian had joined? Could they be trusted? Where they responsible for her death? Had they revenged her death? They questions in Ulfnaar’s where too many and his head started to spin. He was familiar with death, he had seen death among his kin, among enemies. He lost count years ago how many enemies he had slain, but this was different.
Ulfnaar can feel he is near. He saw several old ships on the lake. He grabbed a small rowboat and started to search for clues. A battle had raged here not long ago, and in one of the ships were skeletons sitting. The skeletons wore strange armors, far from the type of armor Ulfnaar was use to see, and some had strange swords too, but they were not moving, the seems to be very dead.
Further along the track he was following, he saw a group of dead goblins. In the distance he saw the lights of a town, and went to the town to ask around, as he had been doing for quite a long time. In Athus at the tavern, he heard that a group of four people recently passed. A dwarf in armor, an elf and two humans, a man and a woman. According to the barkeeper, the group had recently headed out to a place they had on a map, a place where the nature itself was sick. Who were these people? Are they trying to revenge Mirian? The thoughts once again started to spin in the head of Ulfnaar. Ulfnaar heads down to the water, found the old rowboat that he had borrowed just a few days ago and sets off. Navigating in small waters was not a problem for someone who have spent years on the open sea. Although the fog was dense, it did not bother Ulfnaar at all.
The water in the rowboat image looks great!
- Greg
I posted in the gallery comments, but I'll add it here too, I like the story telling regarding this hero! It works well with the art. Your style is quick and to the point.
Thank you FB! Much appreciated!
And I think you will recognize parts of what's coming up next, mashed and bashed as usual.
On the other side of the lake, Ulfnaar finds a row boat tied to a tree. The vegetation is very thick, and it’s really difficult to find tracks at all. He sees a high mountain side rising high into the sky, and there seems to be no way around it.
Ulfnaar is sure that they group of adventurers he is following just cannot have turned into thin air. He knows that they have gone somewhere, but where? After a few hours he finally finds a cave-opening and several tromped down nettles. This must be it, they have entered this cave tunnel. Where does it lead? What are they searching for? Why are they doing here in this evil place?
Ulfnaar lights a torch and enters the cave. He follows the tunnel and when it open up he gets scared for the first time in a many years. In the room is a huge spider. It’s really huge, hairy and looks very mean, but when he sees that it is dead, but still warm, he knows that the group he has been following can’t be far away. He continues through the dark and unfriendly cave. He says to himself that a stormy sea is better than a damp and dark cave any day of the week.
He continued into the cave system, and after a while he came to a large room with a large pile of something slimy beside it. The slimy thing smelled very bad, like that had been forgotten in a barrel over the summer. What was this? He had never even thought that the world was full of such horrible things, good that this one was dead too. Ulfnaar had neither seen nor heard of the feared dungeon lurking monster called Gelatinous Cube, and luckily this one was mortally wounded and slowly disintegrating into a slimy puddle of goo.
Ulfnaar’s thoughts went to when he was on his first raid as a young Northlander boy. How he loved standing in the bow of the ship on the ocean feeling the wind blow in his hair and the taste of salt water in his mouth. How he loved the sound of seagulls and the smell of freshly caught fish. Fish that didn’t smell like it had been rotting at the bottom of a barrel under the southern sun over the summer.
He started to think about Mirian again- How he left all that he believed in, all he had known just to find her and ask her to marry him. That she now was walking in the garden of the gods, while he still walked the soils of the earth, or under it as it happened to be now, was someones fault and that someone would have to pay.
So much have changed, some to the better some to the worse. He has grown up and become a great warrior, but what is left fighting for? He was eager to meet those adventurers, those who one way or another must be responsible for Mirian’s death. What were they like? Why has she joined them? And mostly, what are they doing in this horrible place?
His thoughts kept coming and going. He knew he had killed or wounded countless, both men but also all kinds of goblins, orcs during raids, or defending his village. Maybe someone out there was mourning the loss of someone he had killed, but he never killed women or children, unless they were goblins and orcs. Doubt wasn’t good in his mind, it must be this underground cave that was getting at him, playing games with his mind.
I do recognize the locations, even with the changes. Nicely done. I do hope he finds what happened to Mirian, and by some miracle or twist of fate, she turns out to be alive.
Thanks FB!
If everything works out (the DM finishes the make over of the living room today) we will see as this will the first game session with Ulfnaar, from now on the dice will decide his faith, and I do have a t-shirt saying "The dice are trying to kill me" so I have no idea what will happen. The DM is under wife-orders, no gaming unless the make over is finished.
Just got informed, DM didn't get his RFG signed (Request For Game) as he wasn't finished with the living room, next Sunday it will be, so I will post something else from Ulfnaar's life until the uncertain and uncharted story begins to evolve.
Ulfnaar closed his eyes, trying to focus on the task at hand, finding the group of adventurers that Mirian had joined to find out about her death, and if her death had been properly revenged. He had left it all behind, and he was determined that if revenge was not dealt with the proper way, he would ensure it was. He kept getting a strange vision when he closed his eyes, it kept coming over and over again. He saw Mirian and another woman, an elf fitting the description he had got at several places of one the persons Mirian had joined. They we moving carefully in a dark large hallway. Suddenly a huge skull surrounded by green and red flames appeared and sent something flying in the air that hit Mirian in the head, and she fell lifeless to the ground. It looked like magic, the kind he had seen a couple of times. The scene kept repeating itself every time he closed his eyes, after a while he knew that this was the gods telling him the truth about Mirian’s death. He knew he was close to the group. Would they lie to him about what happened to Mirian? What was that horrible skull surrounded by flames?
The sound of distant battle snapped Ulfnaar out of his dreamlike state. Echoing through one of the tunnels he could hear the all too familiar sound of steel against steel. He took his lantern between his teeth, tossed his shield on his back and grabbed a throwing axe in his left hand. This was how Ulfnaar went into battle, with a sword and a throwing axe ready. When In battle, Ulfnaar always fought to win and survive and did not even remotely consider gentlemanship. A fast axe in the forehead of one opponent while stabbing another with the sword, and then pulling his second sword into his left hand. His mind had quickly turned into combat mode. He scanned the long tunnel when he rushed after ambushes, he went through numerous possible situations in his head and thought how he should act depending on what he was meeting at the end of the tunnel. This was his life, or they way he was used to live his life. Adrenaline pumping, blocking all emotions and other thoughts, only having one thing on his mind, fight and win, fight and win.
Ulfnaar hears an explosion echoing through the tunnels, and when he finally sees the end of the tunnel, the sound of battle ends as quickly as it had started. Ulfnaar slows down, and walks slowly to the end of the tunnel. He sees four people, and they all fit to the description of the people he has been chasing for a long time. There was the Dwarven priest, called something like Garnuck or Gareck or something similar. He just can’t really remember what the tavern keeper said. And there was the Wizard, Ater Evenwood, a human name, so it was easier to remember. He also spotted Merishal, eh Marishol, eh forgot that name too, she’s a deadly Elven rogue, or at least that was what he was told. And last the Monk with a foreign name, she was called Amen Katching or something, Ulfnaar was not very good with names, specially foreign names, or Elven or Dwarven or Goblin or Gnome names. He was not good with names at all. Remembering names had never been his duty, it was the duty of the Captain, his duty had been to fight to defend his kin, and fight to feed his kin. The Monk joined the group recently, just after Mirian has died, or so his many long talks with taverns keepers said.
It’s time for a quick introduction of the members of the adventuring party that Ulfnaar soon will meet. Who are they?
We begin with Ater Evenwood, wizard extraordinaire, seeker of knowledge and the answers to the great questions. He always carries his huge grimoire, from which he can cast many magic spells. He also makes notes of any findings that is worth noting, to increase his knowledge. Below is a picture of Ater Evenwood opening the door to the local tavern.
We continue by introducing Garnek Grayaxe, Dwarven Priest. garnek is walking one man salvation army. He has given salvation to many undeads, returning then to peace. He is also an experienced healer and uses the gifts from his god to heal wounded comrades and to do good. Below is a picture of Garnek Grayaxe giving salvation to some ghouls.
We now take a look at Merisiel, an elven girl born by elven parents but raised by humans in Baldur’s Gate. She was left at the temple of Lathandar, and raised to become a temple guard, but she didn’t have the patience for prayers and book, so she left the temple and raised herself as a thief on the streets of Baldur’s Gate. She travelled the world as a freerider, hiding on ships. Her throwing knives that she carries hidden all over in her clothes are her favourite weapons. Below is a picture of Merisiel fighting off two Goblins.
And at last, let us introduce Ameiko Kaijutsu. She’s a member of one of Baldur’s Gate’s noble families but she does not really care for the aristocratic lifestyle, so she spend most of her time running her tavern, the Rusty Dragon, or out on adventure. She also heads the Baldur’s Gate’s famous glassworks. She’s trained in Martial Arts, and don’t really need a bouncer at her tavern. She is the person who founded the expedition the adventure group is on, to recover history of her ancestors. Below is a picture of Ameiko handling a drunken patron at the Rusty Dragon.
Chapter 2 - A new beginning
When the fighting was over and Ameiko had groin-kicked the undead captain and the sounds of battle silenced as fast as they had begun, the group of adventurers heard a voice, and a man with a lantern in his hand entered the cave. The man spoke:
My name is Ulfnaar, son of Runar. I have travelled sea and land to find the love of my life, Mirian, and all I found was her grave. I ask you, have you revenged her death? Please tell me how she died, I saw visions in my head, and they were very disturbing.
The others looked at Ulfnaar, and Ater Evenwood said did you say visions? Visions are good, very good. The dwarf Garnek stepped forward and said My name is Garnek GrayAxe, and yes, we did revenge her death. Ameiko, said to Ulfnaar, that if he was interested, she would like to hire him for this endeavour. Ulfnaar liked the idea, as he would like to ask about Mirian, and learn more about her, but Ater said, you will never understand her, she always jumped head first into dangers, and it was what killed her. Then he looked at Ulfnaar’s lantern and said: “Please, remove that light, you blind us all”.
They found a key on the undead they had killed, and a chest, painted in green and red. Ulfnaar had arrived just when they found the big treasure, and he felt a little embarrassed that he just arrived in time for dessert. Ulfnaar, not seeing very well in the darkness without the lantern did nothing, he just talked a little with the others that was not busy with the chest.
Ameiko suddenly called for Ulfnaar, and he was given a strange foreign blade, a very good one, named Whispering Shrike, and he was asked to swear an oath to protect Ameiko Kaijutsu. He was told that the blade had magical powers that would help him do that. When Ulfnaar asked what kind of blade this was, Ameiko said it was a Wakizashi.
Ameiko decided that the group should travel to Candlekeep as she wanted to find out how dead sailors employed by her family could turn into walking deads. They stopped by the house of Waltrus the Druid. He was the warden of the marshes where the Soggy River exits into Sog Bay. On the road to Candlekeep, Ulfnaar learnt that the ships belonged to Ameiko’s family and that they were grounded here about twenty years ago, and plundered. They arrived late one evening to Candlekeep, and there was no problem at the gates as Ater Evenwood had a house in Candlekeep.