Background - Brynjar Baardson

[Black Jack Rackham]

Backgound
Born the younger of two sons to Gustave Baardson, Brynjar grew up as most boys do, learning to hunt, fish, and generally live off the land. Many nights were spent sitting around a campfire with his father and older brother Steffen listening to their father regale them with the sagas of their Vesten heritage. Most of these tales can now be heard as Brynjar himself tells them to any who will listen, often trading the telling for lodging and board.

In part, it was those tales that inspired Brynjar to attend the Siggursdottir Axeman School. Despite the wishes of his father and brother, he left to learn the arts of combat and conflict upon turning 16. And though he regrets defying his father he still considers the time well spent. The training he received did more than teach him how to fight. It imparted discipline and wisdom, without which he would most surely already be dead. The instructors tempered him as a smith tempers the steel of an axe.

While still attending Siggursdottir, Gustave was mortally wounded by a rogue bear and died before Byrnjar could return. Heartbroken, he left the school and sought the freedom of the seas. Leaving his brother alone to tend to the small farm his father had left behind, he spent several years sailing and visiting new places. When he received word that his brother was to wed, he returned as fast as he could.

Steffen welcomed Brynjar back with open arms, eagerly putting aside the disagreements they had had in the years before Brynjar had left. The bride-to-be was a local lass, Katrine Walterson, daughter of a moderately successful herdsman. Less than a week after his return, Brynjar stood at his brother’s side as he gained a new sister.
The next few days are among his fondest memories. Home again with his brother and sister-in-law, he quickly fell into a natural rhythm working on the farm. Those happy days were cut short as a scream pierced the night only two weeks after his return. Bursting into his brother’s room, he found Katrine wailing over Steffens bloody body. Brynjar managed to get some of the details out of Katrine before he stormed out of the house in search of blood. His brother’s killer was one Fritjof Winter, a frequent visitor to Katrine’s former home. Fritjof fancied Katrine and vowed no one but he would have her hand. Steffen had deliberately not told Brynjar of this since he did not consider the man a threat and did not want Brynjar’s well known temper to get him in trouble.

Unable to find Fritjof in the darkness, Brynjar returned home. Kneeling, he took Katrine’s hands in his own, both of them covered in his brother’s blood, and swore vengeance. Fritjof Winter would die by his hand.

The skills he learned from his father in the forests of Vestenmannjavnjar, at Siggursdottir Axeman’s School, and on the seas now serve him well. Fritjof has fled and remains on the run. Brynjar searches for him and although the heat of his vow has waned, it will not be extinguished until his brother’s murder has been avenged.

[Black Jack Rackham]

Just an update for you Bob,
I finished the outline of the principles and the direction this background will take you (nothing specific yet but I know who you're gonna be dealing with). Got Sal's approval so it's unfair, underhanded, and downright evil. Hope you like it.

Mark

[Lady Grace]

Got Sal's approval so it's unfair, underhanded, and downright evil. Hope you like it.

Uh-oh...

Just remember, if someone offers you a cookie, EAT THE COOKIE!

[BLAMM!]

Uh-oh...

Just remember, if someone offers you a cookie, EAT THE COOKIE!

I have no idea what that means, but you seem so agitated that I think I will most assuredly eat the cookie.

As for an unfair, underhanded, and downright evil resolution of Brynjar's background, I would expect nothing less.