[Hider=Johan]

Name: Johan Ekengren
Age: 36
Gender: Male
Birthplace: Stockholm, Sweden
Religious Affiliation: Protestant. 
Secular Affiliation: Swedish Empire/Lappvargarna
Level of education: High.
Social status: Frowned upon; A man of simple birth with a extraordinary talent for nasty things. His particular talents for have brought him fame, not all of it good.
Occupation: Mercenary

Appearance: A Swedish grenadier has to be over 6 feet and so Johan is no exception. Standing at 6'4, Johan is as such reffered to as the blonde giant by his mates. His hair is a bright blonde, a slowly receding hairline has caused him to cut his shorter. He sport a blonde beard, thats been cut fairly even and short. His eyes are a dark, blue color, common in his region of birth. He dresses in a grey, large weapons coat covering most of his person. The cuffs are yellow, and the collar blue. The standard of his mercenary force is embroidered on his arm. It portrays A wolf wearing a crown. 

Personality: Unwavering and resilient to a fault. He is a battle hardened, pious man whos dedication to his king turned into a do or die attitude. The mercenary inside him is the combination of glory hounding and greed, with a pinch of embittered survivors guilt. He has seen a lot of death, survived many campaigns and fought since he was 16 years old. Nobody knows war better then Johan.

Skill set: Melee combat (Bardiche), Marksman (Musket), Tactics and Military survivalism. A born soldier, Johan uses his bardiche with great effect aswell as his musket. A large man, he is known to fight tooth and nail, but he posses a surprisingly calm and collected mind for tactics as well. 

Languages: Swedish (native), German (Good), Latin (decent), French (Decent), English (poor)

Bio: A lumberjacks boy from northern Sweden, Johan was born in the poorer regions of Sweden. Lappland is one of the swedens biggest regions, but mainly consist of dense pine forest, mountains and snow. Due to the cold climate, with long harsh winters, food is scarce. The family of Ekengren was a family of 5, the Ekengren couple had three sons with John as the oldest. Lumberjacks by trade, they worked for the local noble, and were fairly well treated all things considered. The family was well known in the community, always going to church and people liked them.

However, one summer, that daily church visit would be different. The priest was standing next to a man in blue coat. A officer of the King army. The church had been called upon to help in the recruitment of young able men. Johan, 16 year of age was a giant among his peers, and was direcly drafted along the 160 other men of the town. Johan, brighteyed and strong, was exactly what they wanted in a soldier. And so, he and his fellow men began to train for the hell that claims numerous lives, War. The war in particular? Europes most devestating conflict to ever have occurred; The 30 year war. Johan had no idea what he was about to encounter.

Johan was a natural fighter and a very intelligent young boy. He already knew latin from church, and under a monks tutelage, learned to speak German as they were headed south, towards the German Imperial states. No amount of religious fervor or training in combat could prepare him for what was to come however. The 30 year war had been raging for a long time, and it was nearing its bloody end. But at the time Johan was thrust into battle, it still had 2 years left to rage. Johan was part of the a regiment that was mainly large men from all over the country. They were grenadiers, armed with rudimentary grenades, a bardiche and a musket. The would march along the line infantry, get as close as possible, and throw their grenade into enemy ranks. Usually followed by a salvo and a charge. They were fearsome, but their numbers were dwindling fast. During his first battle, Johan saw Death for the first time. As bullets crashed trough the skulls of friends and foes. As they punctured and ruptured windpipes and lounges, he saw people fall around him. But he saw Death, he saw the terrible, omnipresent nature of death all around him. And he pressed forward. The battle was won, not by him but simply due to chock and awe tactics. The moral of his enemies broke, as he and his comrades, regardless of losses, ran straight into their ranks. These massive men with great axes were murdering machines.

For two years, Johan turned from boy to man. From recruit to Sergant. From brigh eyed to dull, shrewd and ruthless. His younger brother Willhelm had joined the war as well at this point. At the very last battle the two brothers fought in, Willhelm was struch dead by a bullet to the skull. The peace of Westphalia came the year 1648. Leaving for home, his journey took another year of his life. When he arrived, his family home was gone. The entire village was. It had starved without a proper workforce, and the Noble family had apparently been killed by the Crown. They had been it turned out, catholic supporters of Swedens enemies. Johan returned to the army, looking up a old officer friend named Oskar Gustavson. He was of course, dragged directly into a new war. 

Oscar and him, began to collect more people around them. They were putting in charge of a small contingent of young recruits and some veterans with the expressed interest in acting as a shocktroop. The two of them soon trained a powerfull unit, they became founding members of Lappvargarna. A Swedish mercenary force that the crown allowed to fight wars down in Europe, partly becouse one had to pay the Swedish war chests directly to hire their services. Their expertise led them to fight in several conflicts across the continent. The French in particular were fond of them. By the end of 1665, Johan had made some decent coined and lived past both Oskar and Willhelm. Now he wished to settle down. He didn't want to go back to Sweden however, for there was nothing left for him there. Wanting to put the cold north behind him, he seeks reprieve in Sintra. As something ungodly ravishes the town, he found himself out in service again. But this time as something else then a mercenary fighing fellow men.

Notes: The mercanary battalion that are his brothers in arms, are technically under command of the Swedish crown. Like the German Landknecth, the Lappvargarna are mercenaries that are in hight demand. Known for their Pike and Musket formations and tactics of marching as one, close to the enemy before firing. 

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