"The Blood of Legends"

--An ancient and forgotten bloodline of legendary warrior-kings and queens, the Asgornsen Dynasty birthed the hardiest of men and women in the rugged and icy peaks of Ancient Scandinavia. Theirs was a land dirtied by mud and covered in snow. Though what was harsh and unforgiving to the foreign wanderer, was a place of breathtaking vistas and crystal blue rivers to the warriors and shieldmaidens of old. And to the Asgornsen Dynasty, Ancient Scandinavia was the ultimate proving ground, where the greatest of men and women were forged in it's cruel embrace.

And it was there that the tales of the Asgornsen Dynasty began - and ended--

The Ironhide of Asgornsen

The Ironhide are the greatest Asgornsen in history, their names etched in the fantastical tales of Viking folklore, and some even gaining favor from the gods themselves. All but Hrargal and Alduin however, are dead and have been so for hundreds of years.

-Hrargal Anvil-Fist-

--Go Here--

Father to the founder of the Asgornsen Dynasty, and grandfather to Alduin Ice-Mane and Lund Grey-Heart, Hrargal was tall and sturdy, his chest wide and his shoulders like mountains. Hrargal was well suited for the harshness of Ancient Scandinavia, tolerating the cold and the rigors of battle like none before him. His hair was golden like the sun, his skin was pale as though it did not react to sunlight, and his frame was large, his muscles thick enough to do an ox proud. Hrargal lived the life of a sellsword, taming Scandinavia's cruel winters wherever he walked. He wore the fur of wolves and bears, farmed the lands and was strengthen by a stubborn willingness to survive. Hardship was an accepted part of a Norseman's life. Rival sellswords and wild animals sought his death, attacking him in his sleep, only to be met with a ferocity that shocked and repelled his foes.

Again and again, Hrargal fended off his enemies, and tales of his martial prowess began to grow. It was said that his battle cry instilled fear in the hearts of his foes, stopping any challenger with a chilling roar that caused even Vikings to surrender. Hero cults began to form, revering and even sensationalizing Hrargal's feats as a warrior. And whereas some cults celebrated him as the greatest of warriors, others deified him, as surely only a god could have such invincibility. There were tensions, clashes between belief systems until war erupted. And as the cults drowned in their own blood, Hrargal Anvil-Fist intervened, stunning every man and woman with his mighty battle cry. A battle cry that saw the cultists drop their weapons and bend the knee. Hrargal became their leader, doing away with their fantastical vision of him, and founding a village he called "Hroggar".

Under Hrargal Anvil-Fist's leader, the village of Hroggar welcomed men and women from different walks of life. Nomads, criminals seeking redemption, lost souls searching for belonging, all were welcomed. And in time, Hroggar became a multicultural hub of technological sophistication as Hrargal's advanced age had given him wisdom. Slowly but surely, the villagers' understanding of the world around them grew, and as Hrargal supposedly passed on to the halls of Valholl, his son, Eris God-Hater founded the Asgornsen Dynasty and brought Hroggar to new heights.

-Edla the Tall-

Grandmother to Alduin Ice-Mane and Lund Grey-Heart, wife to Hrargal Anvil-Fist, and mother to the dynasty's official founder, Edla the Tall was an enormous woman, standing at a staggering 6 feet and 4 inches in height. And though her skin was as fair as the finest maidens, and her hair like a waterfall of liquid gold, she was muscled to the proportions of a Valkyrie. Though her brawn and great talent as a warrior had earned her praise and song, it was Edla's mind and social talent that was unlike any before her. And while she had conquered many a foe on the battlefield with her husband, Edla's true skill was in diplomatic relations.

She was a woman blessed with a silver tongue, with a social mastery that had brought more glory to Hroggar than any sword ever could. Be it convincing a haughty foreign diplomat to offer peace terms or bartering a fellow Viking out of their last line of cattle, Edla wielded the power to talk her way way out of the improbable. And it was her mastery of speech that proved invaluable in Hroggar's transformation from a small Viking village to a hub of multicultural advancement. It was Edla who had managed successful cooperation between the Vikings of Hroggar and the strange men from abroad. And any alliance between cultures that sit worlds apart requires charisma. And it was a charisma that Edla wielded with supernatural ease.

And though Edla considered words and knowledge to be the deadliest of weapons, she was every bit as great in battle as she was in diplomacy. Disciplined and blessed with a strategic mindset rarely seen in Vikings, she was the preeminent military tactician of Hroggar, training it's growing population of villagers into capable warriors and leading them in memorable raids. Edla's forces were renown for their stunning skill and discipline as light infantry, keeping themselves nimble and quick on the battlefield, and well trained in the art of switching tactics with seamless ease.

So great was Edla, that save for her grandson Alduin, she remains the only Champion of Jörð in the Asgornsen Dynasty, wielding the arcane war hammer World-Breaker as the Lord-Protector of Earth until her untimely death in battle.

-Eris God-Hater-

Son of Hrargal Anvil-Fist and Edla the Tall, father to Alduin Ice-Mane and Lund Grey-Heart, and husband to Aeta the Fearless, Eris God-Hater was unlike the members of the dynasty he had officially founded. Whereas his ancestors and descendants were strong and heavily built, Eris was long and lanky, his only resemblance to his parents being his golden hair. Hair however, that he shaved as a symbol of his abandonment of his parents' aging traditions and superstitions. He believed himself ahead of his time, scoffing at religion and the gods, and dismissing his fellow Vikings as savage men tricked into worshiping those who claimed to be gods.

And though his dismissal of religion and his relegation of the Norse gods from deities to a non-divine race of superhuman beings had roused great controversy, Eris' ingenuity had transformed Hroggar from a growing village into a great city with knowledge and resources that were the envy of Ancient Scandinavia. Instead of conquests and prayer, Eris God-Hater defined his rule through science. He introduced scholars and libraries, religious elders and spiritual experts were told to devote their time to researching the sciences, crafting with the smiths and renouncing the old gods in favor of science. "While the others go to war with foreigners over this god and that god, we abstain from such madness!", Eris famously proclaimed. However, it was Eris' mockery of the gods that was his downfall.

His insistence that man could replace the gods with the power of logic and reason was seen as blasphemous. He had Hroggar's finest minds study alchemy and develop technologies that called upon the power of runic energies. And these pursuits were seen as perverted by many, the last straw in a string of insult to the beliefs and traditions of their fathers and grandfathers before them. Eris was overthrown. He was no warrior, he could not battle. And his home was pillaged. The experts and researchers killed, and their works burned, Eris was beheaded. His dead body was skinned, and his family was chased out the walls of Hroggar.

-Aeta the Fearless-

Wife to Eris God-Hater and mother to Alduin Ice-Mane and Lund Grey-Heart, Aeta the Fearless was the daughter of feared sellswords Thongar Soraldsen and Fryfnhild Seven-Swords. A skilled swordswoman and former nomad, Aeta the Fearless was known for her agility, athletic frame, and near-supernatural skill with any blade she touched. Muscled to the lean proportions of the quintessential warrior-woman and defined by a stubborn willingness to survive in a world too cruel for most men, Aeta roamed the lands of Ancient Scandinavia, the daughter of legendary sellswords slain in battle by their enemies.

Among the most naturally talented warriors of her generation, Aeta's pride and fierce independence carried her to victory against enemy after enemy, awarding her recognition and employment as one of the most sought after mercenaries of her time. Her time as a mercenary had seen her travel far beyond what her contemporaries had seen. She fared seas and developed a cultural affinity for all manner of weapon and garments from her time in lands beyond, most notably the curved swords she'd claimed from her time in the Arab world. Freelancing as a mercenary and sellsword both in Scandinavia and abroad, Aeta the Fearless wore a variety of armor sets and garments from many different cultures, and her exposure to different cultures had left her a highly educated woman and a speaker of many languages.

It was her combined skill and intellect that saw her succeed as a mercenary and evade death where many had been claimed by it. And her reputation as a highly efficient warrior with a stubborn refusal to die had drawn the attention of Eris God-Hater. He'd employed her as his personal shieldmaiden, his bodyguard. And he was enthralled by her long dark hair and singular beauty, and she his brilliant mind. Eris welcomed reason and logic, and shunned faith and religion. And Aeta's exposure to different cultures and their many religions had all but left her disillusioned with spirituality as a whole. She and Eris bonded over their mutual indifference towards the gods, and their relationship deepened. They married and ruled Hroggar side by side.

Married into the Asgornsen Dynasty, Aeta bore Eris two sons; Lund Grey-Heart and Alduin Ice-Mane. But dark times were upon them. Eris was betrayed and murdered by his own people under the charges of blasphemy. Aeta and her young sons were chased out the walls of Hroggar and left to fend for themselves in it's outskirts. But vengeance would be theirs. Years of plotting had seen to that. Her youngest son, Alduin, was gifted Jörð's war hammer World-Breaker and transformed into a demigod. And with her two sons by her side, they struck down her late husband's enemies and retook Hroggar in the name of the Asgornsen Dynasty.

-Lund Grey-Heart-

Son of Eris God-Hater and Aeta the Fearless, and older brother to Alduin Ice-Mane, Lund Grey-Heart was a born warrior. Proud and level-headed, Lund was trained from birth in the art of combat. Like his mother, Aeta, Lund's hair was dark and he clung to his independence just as she had. He was a man of fierce loyalty, shaped by his experiences beyond the walls of Hroggar. Crowned the High King of Hroggar after retaking it with the aid of his mother and brother from his late father's enemies, Lund was a just man. There was much to admire in his mentality. He was a man guided by his beliefs in generous equality of rank and respect.

He was an honest and honorable man, never cheating others and never battling those who lacked the skill, fitness and warrior spirit to wield a weapon. It was a mentality that had earned him the name of the "Honorbound King". He never sought the enslavement of foreign prisoners of war, nor did he ever force the Norse religion on those who clung to their own beliefs and traditions. Though despite his honor, Lund was a force unlike any other on the battlefield. Though calm and reserved elsewhere, Lund embodied the ferocity and power of the feared berserker of Viking folklore. To stand across Lund Grey-Heart in battle was to know fear.

Though it was not mere ferocity and his intimidating size or exceptional skill with a sword that drew fear from his foes. It was his unshakable courage and bottomless pit of endurance that shook his enemies to their very core. His offense was never-ending, and his battle cries like a dragon's roar, overwhelming his foes until they wilted from the endless pressure of his attacks. In battle, Lund was said to have resembled a frenzied ox, butchering his enemies with a brutality that left many willing to flee instead of fight. The last great High King of Hroggar before a line of sword-less ancestors ascended to the throne, Lund embodied the Viking warrior-king.

And though Lund never married, he fathered two daughters and one son.

-Una Snow-Spear-

Daughter to Ingmeld Lone-Leg and Bolfrida Bjaldsen, and wife to Alduin Ice-Mane, Una Snow-Spear was the great huntress of the Asgornsen Dynasty. Compared to the other Ironhide of the Asgornsen Dynasty, Una was small, her frame light and petite. And yet, it was her smaller frame that had seen her become a hunter of unrivaled superiority. Though her parents were unremarkable farmers who raised her in the woodlands of Ancient Scandinavia, Una Snow-Spear was different. She was born adventurous and free-spirited, and her aunt Merta Strong-Heart saw to it that she had a bow and spear in her hands.

And each year she was made, by her aunt, to believe that if her family was to survive the harsh winters, then she had little choice but to kill her prey and return home with a deer for her mother to cook. She was told to forge her own bow and spear from the bones of dead animals, and pray to the gods to bless them with runes of arcane power. And in return, Una Snow-Spear would climb to the highest mountain peaks and slay a dragon or wyvern and offer the slain beast as a yearly sacrifice to the gods. It was a pact that would see the enchantments of her weapons grow stronger each year, and her family protected from all but nature itself. She became Scandinavia's legendary Dragon-Killer, she who fashioned her bow and spear from the bones of dragons, and her armor from their thick hide.

And it was during a battle against the largest of ice dragons that Una first came across her future husband, Alduin Ice-Mane. Together they waged war against the beast, severing it's wings and slitting it's throats till they were bathed in it's blood. The dragon dead, their adrenaline swarming through their bodies, they parted ways - but with a passionate impression of one another. Their misadventures and joint battles with one another continued, their encounters more fiery as the days came and went, and eventually they wed as Una married into the Asgornsen Dynasty. Though as they grew older, Alduin was kept firmly in his prime, the boons of a demigod preventing him from aging. Una however, grew older, and as she aged - her skill on the battlefield grew sloppier.

She was slower, not as nimble or as accurate as she'd been in her youth. And in battle, a single mistake, one incorrect judgment could prove fatal. And it did. Her flesh punctured by the venomous tooth of a wyvern, Una was slain atop a frozen mountain peak, and later found by her grieving widower, Alduin.

"Whoever reaches this Mountain's summit will be bestowed by the power of Jörð"

On the surface, Alduin appears to be a man of iron will and a warrior's magnetic presence. Born the son of an ancient Scandinavian king murdered by his own people, the Snow Prince's life was one of exile and difficulty. Raised in the wintry savagery of Ancient Scandinavia and away from his slain father's kingdom of Hroggar, Alduin was strengthened by a stubborn willingness to survive. Hardship had been an accepted part of his life, and because of that the Snow Prince developed an impenetrable will and warrior's confidence. And while molded by the struggles of his childhood, Alduin's psychology is deeply defined by his role as the Champion of Jörð, the Norse equivalent of Gaea.

Tasked with protecting the Earth from the evils that dare destroy it, Alduin became the epitome of the principle of a self-fulfilling prophecy. As a result, the Snow Prince believes that he is meant to fulfill the role and carry out the actions demanded by his role as the Champion of Jörð, making it a highly significant part of his identity. And it is this role that has seen Alduin's life changed forever. Along with the power that accompanies his transformation into Jörð's chosen demigod, Alduin has also accepted a string of responsibilities and expectations that encompass the entire world. And because of the sheer greatness and magnitude of his role, Alduin identifies said role's greatness with his own greatness, having no way of actually knowing he will succeed, merely taking the ideas of Jörð and her prophecy of him, on faith.

-- "Greatness is what defines a hero" --

And this reality is what has magnified his confidence and self-assurance. While on the surface Alduin's role as the Champion of Jörð appears to be one of heroism, action and adventure, it is also a journey of discovery and identity. The search for one's identity is a journey that all beings embark on during the course of their life, and the Snow Prince's years as the Champion of Jörð is his journey unfolding before his own eyes. However, because Alduin so strongly identifies his own identity with his role as the Earth's chosen protector, he often loses himself in bouts of introspection whereby he searches his past to understand who he is and the man that he has become. Returning to his attachment to the self-fulfilling prophecy, Alduin understands that for a prophecy to be valid, it must come to fruition.

And the self-fulfilling prophecy that Alduin finds himself engulfed in, a prophecy which foretells of his great death on the battlefield honoring his role as Jörð's champion, is one that weighs heavily on him. It has led him to understand that greatness is not a gift but a burden. He must succeed otherwise his legacy and the years he has devoted to being Jörð's champion will have been for naught. And because his role demands that he act as both a warrior and hero, the Snow Prince is unique in that he does not give any credence to "honor" in the battlefield, nor does he ever allow his own personal morals and philosophical beliefs to interfere with his role as the Earth's protector.

Because of this, Alduin has zero qualms with slaying his foes, and often does so with the brutality and fury of a viking. And it is his obsession with vanquishing all of the Earth's enemies that drives him to be absolutely ruthless and even aggressive with his enemies. In addition to his aggression in the battlefield, Alduin shows little to no mercy to those he identifies as his enemies. Despite his aggression, Alduin is not quick-tempered and rather, is cold-blooded. Still, he can often be playful his allies, an aspect of himself which manifests against his enemies as occasional taunts despite how seriously he takes his role as the Earth's protector.

As previously mentioned, the Snow Prince never allows his own morals to interfere with his being a hero. This is owed to his strong belief that he can only be an efficient protector and hero if he recognizes that he cannot allow his own personal morals and subjective views to supersede the fate of the world.

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