Gunnar Bergstrom
Appearance
A large man, standing at 6'8 with several tattoos surrounding his Svalen mark, which is hidden under his armor. He has a few smaller scars, calloused hands and a rippling physique which is common to his race. He wears mostly leather armor, something that is easy to put on and take off when needed and little to no metal apart from a bracer on his left arm. His armor is lined with teeth of what seem to be large predators, they are in fact werewolf teeth. On his belt he has a pouch or two that keeps his coin and a few small trinkets. He carries a large axe with him that seems to be rather well crafted and well used, if looked closely you could see silver lining on the cutting edge. It seems maintained decently but it's obvious its owner is a little rough on the edges.
Skills and Abilities
Warrior - Gunnar is an excellent fighter, both in his Svalen form as well as his human form. It is obvious he has been in the heat of battle many a time and he stands well above in skill to most warriors and soldiers.
Werewolf Hunter - Gunnar is an experienced werewolf hunter, he has a passionate hatred for these creatures and that's why his axe has silver linings on it, it's not a lot but enough for him to make sure that whatever werewolf he kills is never coming back.
Svalen - Gunnar found his Svalen during his teenage years and since then it has Matured. His Svalen form is white with black streaks through it, as he describes it, it is a remnant of his foolish youth and a reminder as well.
Personality
Short tempered, aggressive and a demeanor that can only be described as unpleasant. Gunnar is a good example of his people though with a frank bit more bitterness and alcoholism to add to it. He lives the life of a mercenary that moves from task to task and spends every coin he ever earned on anything on whatever entertainment he craves. He has little in the way of self-constraint. He has drunk himself in to a bottle because of self-inflicted disgrace. Within the deep core of this man there rests a heart that would do no harm to a child but the barrier of his own stubborn notions often get the better of him.
A few things have changed since his travels with Maude and he played a small part in aiding her to regain what was rightfully hers. He accepted a place into her Harem but found himself still discontent by voices of past disgrace, even if his honor had been regained.
The thing that has changed most is that he allows himself a little more pride about his own achievements, even if you’d be hard pressed to hear him say it.
Biography
Born in the Nordengaard capital he was born to a warrior father and shield maiden mother, they were not exclusive as few Nordenfiir are but next to the love they shared they were bound by blood as they had often fought at eachothers side. Gunnar was a blessing to them and they had high expectations fo him having been born to two proven warriors. They taught him from an early age to fight, he found his chosen weapon to be an axe and he flourished with it. He had many a duel with his parents and he grew in skill every day, that was until both his parents were called to protect their borders against the elves. It wasn't odd for them to go away for such things and they would be away for months at a time, he always knew them to come back. His mother and father left him with a necklace that he was told to keep until they returned, this time however, they did not.
He was only twelve years of age at that point and the news that his parents had passed hit him hard, it left him with a deep anger and like the young teenager he was he was looking for someone to blame. He found only one person that was the head of it all, the one that was supposed to be a father to his people and was supposed to protect them.. The King.
Perhaps deep inside of himself he knew that the king was not to blame, his parents had often spoken to him about the responsibilities of a warrior and it was an honour to die in battle protecting your people. But he needed some goal, something to overcome and in his foolish young mind it was the King that was his target.
Gunnar never stopped training, following the teachings his parents had given him with a singular goal of beating King Iordahn and making sure that no one had to die and leave their child behind like that ever again. The foolish ramblings of a young boy but it was all he lived by. His parents had multiple lovers and so he still had a home to come to, even brothers and sisters though he wasn't too close to them. Gunnar always thought himself a little special because he was the only offspring of his mother and father and none of his brothers or sisters could say the same. In a way he was an arrogant little kid but that's the result of getting more attention from his parents than the other children did, which also created a divide between him and his siblings.
After he had turned seventeen he left to live alone in the mountains for a few months, a trial for him to gain his Svalen. It was tough to say the least and he almost starved if not for a little bit of luck finding a frozen deer early on, and after that he was able to settle and find a proper way to survive. After he had found his Svalen he tried to make it mature as swiftly as possible but he became impatient as it took too long and it would take a while longer for it to fully mature.
So in a rash decision after he turned 18 he thought it had been long enough, he had decided to challenge the king. He was sure he would win, he was older and he had trained with all his might for as long as he knew how to hold a weapon. He went full of confidence and requested an audience with the king, he formally challenged the king, exclaiming that he would have satisfaction for losing his parents. The king seemed more saddened by Gunnar's loss than worried about the challenge, but Gunnar was far too self-absorbed to be able to tell that about the King.
It wasn't long after until he got his duel, he put up a decent fight but the fact was that the King had true experience on his side, while Gunnar had never had an opponent like the King. He had lost but was obviously spared, the King even offered him a position in the Royal Guard for his bravery. The only thing that was on Gunnar's mind was the fact that he lost, all he had to do was affirm his loyalty to the King and he would have been set for life, having been granted a great honour. The young Nordenfiir chose exile instead, something he would later regret even if his pride would never allow him to admit it.
The king even implored him to reconsider, it wouldn't be until many years later that Gunnar would realize that Iordahn truly loved his people and him as well, but there is no use lingering on the past. He left Nordengaard and traveled for a long time, taking odds and ends jobs where he could which slowly led him in to the life of a Mercenary, where he met a human called Markus. Markus was the one that introduced him to the mercenary lifestyle and for several years until Gunnar was 25 they traveled together. They would have been together for longer if it wasn't for the fact that they were attacked by a werewolf. Gunnar and Markus were able to defeat the opponent, they didn't even really know what it was at the time but Markus had been bitten by it.
The following weeks Markus had started feeling a little odd and when the first full moon came Markus and Gunnar were together, seeing what happened the young Nordenfiir was forced to defend himself and luckily was able to defeat Markus without getting bitten, but he had just killed his best and only friend to make it so. It was what set him on track to start hunting werewolves, even if it took him some time to gather information about it.
This was the reason he had a new axe forged that was forged with silver lining in the edge. He was angry just like he was when his parents died, powerless because it was something out of his control and just like he did when he was a child he decided to fight as hard as he could so he didn't have to accept his powerlessness. After years he finally settled himself in to Alliria, a rich city with plenty of mercenary work and because it was such a large city he was also able to pick up on the occasional werewolf hunt.
That is where Gunnar remains to this day, living as best he could. He still had a desire to return to Nordengaard but his pride would never let him, he had chosen exile all those years ago and if it was up to him he would live as such for the rest of his life.
Gunnar’s history changed a little when he met Maude and he found himself joining on a path of redemption that led him all the way back to Nordengaard, aiding the heir to become a queen, it was no secret that he cared for the woman in his own selfish way. Gunnar wasn’t a man of love but his strength and tenacity was appreciated by the Queen, so he became part of her Harem. The fact that he did not remain there physically did not change his part in it and he would return when the Queen bid him to do so.
For now the Nordenfiir warrior finds himself wandering the lands, seeking perhaps something more for himself. He had wasted so many years on false pride and in the regaining of his honor and place within his homeland he could still not shake the unease. That was something he needed to find on his own.
Gunnar's Svalen
Chronicles
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