Hroderich Gottfrei

[Hroderich Gottfrei]

Name: Hroderich Gottfrei
Gender: Male
Race: Half-Orc (Or human, if Half-Orc is unavailable)
Class: Fighter
Alignment: LN
Physical Description: 7'3", leonine in build rather than bear-like. Faster than he is strong, with long legs and arms to carry him and extend his reach beyond his opponents. Long black hair plaited to his waist and a thick black beard cut into a short block. Pale blue eyes, ruddy skin with a green tint to his face and hands (wherever he is tan, his skin is greener); His nose is squashed and broken several times over, his teeth clean and straight except for two tusk-teeth on the bottom row where his canines should be.
Equipment: Chain mail, boots with iron-strips inlaid, shield, lion's-head helm, short-sword, longsword, and short-spear.

[Hroderich Gottfrei]

Background: Hroderich Gottfrei, Son of Gisela Hroderichsdottor, Son of Hroderich Hroderichsson, Son of Hroderich Hroderichsson, and so on for as many generations back as can be imagined is the offspring of the daughter of Jarl Hroderich in the Land of the Linnorm Kings. Far back in their history, Hroderich Hroderichson was himself a Linnorm King - a powerful warrior, a giver of gold and amber, a man with sharp iron and sharper wits who pitted himself against all-comers. Since his death, long ago, his line has bred warriors of reputation and ability - but none to match him. The eldest son of every father has been named Hroderich - and should he die before begetting a son, the next eldest is so named. In this way, the name Hroderich has become synonymous with proud warriors - though no longer wealthy or leaders of great armies, their line has continued to hold some small power amongst the Ulfen, guaranteeing them spears and thralls. However, because their holding is near LOCATION, Jarl Hroderich Hroderichsson has ever been having to war against the Witch to the south and with the Orcs to his east. In YEAR, his lands were raided by an Orc chieftain, Gulag One-Eye. Jarl Hroderichwas gravely wounded and his forces nearly wiped out - worse, his eldest daughter, Gisela, was captured in the raid. In retaliation, Jarl Hroderich's eldest and only son led a band of sword Ulfen and spear Ulfen against the orcs, bankrupting what was left of his father's estates. Tragically, in recovering Gisela, Hroderich was killed by the chieftain - though his left his spear, Linnorm-Splitter, in the chieftain's guts.

In the months after her rescue, Gisela would rarely speak or respond to anyone. Her husband, Ragnar, had been killed in the initial raid and her children slaughtered. What horrors she had endured, her father could not bring himself to discover. A few months later, her father was surprised to learn that his eldest daughter was pregnant - and overjoyed. Perhaps, at least, he could pass on his line to a male heir after all. The Orc threat had receded somewhat, and his son's glorious assault had brought respect and sympathy from the nearby Jarls. Hroderich, unable to walk without assisstance, insisted that his new heir be named after him, if indeed it was a boy.

However, as Gisela's pregnancy progressed, she harbored a secret fear - that her child would not be the son of her husband, Ragnar, but of the monster that had slain him - Gulag One-Eye. Her fears worsened as the child grew larger and larger and more fierce within her, swelling her to great size. At her child's birth, her father wept with anger and sorrow - for child was indeed a boy, but he was also the son of their enemy.

In a fit of tearful rage, Jarl Hroderich demanded to have the abomination cast out from his hall to die in the cold of the onslaught of winter. However, Gisela Hroderichsdottor had a different plan. For the first time in months, she not only spoke - she was vociferous in advocating the survival of her child. She demanded, over and over again, that Norns be fetched to tell his future and she clawed at her father when he attempted to take the child. She claimed to have had a vision during the birth, but would not share it.

Jarl Hroderich sent for the Norns.

When they arrived (bought with the very last of the gold and amber Jarl Hroderich possessed), Jarl Hroderich begged them to tell them of his grandson's fate. They told him only that, should the child live, he would be a slayer of men and orcs and that his life would be written in blood. Jarl Hroderich looked to his daughter, who only nodded. With some reticence, the crippled Jarl agreed that the child should be raised to war - taught to ride and to fight shield and axe, sword and spear - to wear mail and to drink ale. In doing so, his support shrank as the other Jarl's pulled their backing and many of his men -nearly all of those except the ones oathsworn to his service - abandoned him.

In the long years after, Gisela's son grew to massive height and great strength - quicker than any of the other boys and far more intense in his studies of war. He grew up knowing only two things - that he was born for war and that he would kill every orc he met. In his eyes, he had to fight to regain the pride his grandfather had lost by his birth.

At the tender age of fourteen, Hroderich stood in the shield wall with his father's men and fended off a warband of orcs. In a great fury, he was nearly killed when he leapt from their wall to challenge the enemy one on one - he was pulled back by his father's captain, Rollo, and shoved towards the rear. He survived. His youth was marked by fearlessness and a quickness to violence, though he heard his grandfather well and learned the lessons of leadership keenly.

Two years later, Gulag One-Eye returned. He swept down upon Jarl Hroderich's hold and outnumbered the Ulfen nearly twenty to one, leading a crusade of vengeance against the men who had broken his power and split open his belly. Hroderich, bastard son of Gulag, was not there - he was walking with his mother, talking to her of his future. When they turned for home, they saw the great black pillar of smoke and Hroderich was torn - should he stay with his mother and protect her, or should he run to aid his grandfather. It was then that the Norns returned.

They gave him three choices, three futures. If went back to aid his grandfather, he would save him - but only him. Their land would burn and their people die and all chances of regaining their honor be broken. If he stayed with Gisela he would survive, though his grandfather would die, and the Orcs would triumph, though Hroderich would lead a band of Ulfen against them and so win renown. If Hroderich left his grandfather's lands, he would be cursed as the Godless, forsaking his duties to the land - but he would travel far and become a great giver of gold, a warlord of renown who would one day return to slay Gulag One-Eye, to reestablish his hold, and to kill a linnorm. Hroderich would become a hero to his people and finally match the deeds of his ancestor.

Wracked with indecision, Hroderich accepted this third fate, to head south and east and seek his destiny. His mother, Gisela, wept to see him go. She cursed him and his ambition, calling him godless and forsaken, begging him to stay. Hroderich would not listen. He cast his fate into the wind, and headed south to join mercenaries and make his way far from his people. Hroderich arrived in the River Kingdoms three years later, young and ambitious, his dark past locked away. He is glory-hungry and ale-thirsty, but disenchanted with life. Three hard years of mercenary work, of raiding and burning halls, of riding and spilling blood have made him numb. He comes to the River Kingdoms looking to reforge himself into something greater than he ever was - and to erase his shameful past.

NOTE: Will update with better info.

[Leonidas Wahrheit]

Hmm...the Hroderich I remember was human...and he might have had a fear of Vampires...

[Hroderich Gottfrei]

=[ That Hroderich needs to stay separate, because explaining his history here would sound like insanity. Also, Vampires. >:[

[Leonidas Wahrheit]

I DUNNO WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT

<.<

>.>