Krypteia

the Nordland Saga

Sure. For Aevar... I liked everything until I got to the history. I enjoy the idea of the son trying to live up to the greatness of the father (though I think the father's exploits are a bit much when described as being infamous across every corner of the known world), but I agree that it gets a bit cliche after that, the part of turning on and fighting with the father, killing him, and then being exiled. I think something simpler might work better, be less overly-dramatic. A lot of people feel the need to put some hugely momentous event in their backstory, which can be alright, but I've found that characters with straightforward backstories can be just as compelling. Sounds like he's already working on that, so I expect that'll be fine.

the Nordland Saga

I definitely think 1 or 2 more would help round things out nicely. Still some good variety we could use.

the Nordland Saga

Haha, I suppose that is a possibility. I figured by suggesting she be pregnant you meant at least several months, or long enough for the bump to start or something. Obviously up to the player, though, that would definitely be a big challenge to RP something like that in this setting. Might be more trouble than it's worth.

the Nordland Saga

Added an image to my profile, somewhat close to what I wanted, though the written description still takes precedence.

For what it's worth, I think it would be totally badass if we had a pregnant lady, though you'd probably need to change up the history a bit, since it doesn't seem like she'd be coming along on the raid then. Could always just volunteer to go into exile as well, if her husband's getting kicked out.

The Relics (No Plot/Fantasy/Character Driven/Worthy of Skepticism)

Hi guys, I'm sorry but I'm going to have to not join. Nothing to do with the RP, I'm just a little busier than I anticipated, and trying to catch up with something in progress might be a bit too much for me right now. Wish you guys the best of luck, though.

the Nordland Saga

Added some clarification to the thievery and medical skills, to better define what those actually entail, and added an important extra sentence to her combat ability.

Looking forward to seeing what everyone else comes up with!

the Nordland Saga

Here's my character, let me know if you think I should change anything about her.

Erika Maritsdottir

(Pretty close match for the general face and hair. Eyes should be hazel, and she won't be half-naked in the rain.)
Full Name: Erika Maritsdottir.
Sex: Female.
Age: 19.

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Appearance: Erika’s not a large girl, but she seems to be done growing standing at about 5’5”. Her build is slim, with wiry muscling throughout, a result of a light diet mixed with the physical labors that she prefers. She has narrow hips and a relatively small chest, a flat stomach, and roughly equal proportions for her upper and lower body. Her skin is pale as any northerner’s, and bears a minimal amount of scarring or notable markings.
Facial Features: She has a fairly comely face, with soft features that stopped appearing childlike several years ago, to her relief. Her eyes are hazel and not very large, her nose small and not protruding overly far from her face, with thin, salmon-colored lips. Her hair is a very dark brown and kept at about shoulder length, with a slight curl to it especially when damp, which is quite common. She almost always leaves it loose.
Clothing/Armor: Erika’s never been fond of dresses, and prefers furs and leathers instead. She doesn’t encumber herself more than she needs to, but will certainly wear enough to stay warm, typically leather leggings and fur boots, a hide tunic under a fur shawl with a hood, and leather bracers. She makes all of her own clothing, and owns no pieces of armor.
Weapons/Equipment: As a self-made hunter, Erika owns a medium-sized recurve bow for hunting game and a moderate store of arrows, though she is very cautious with these now that the means for producing more are not as readily available. She owns two knives, one for skinning animals and another, slightly larger one for self-defense. She also has a hatchet and a larger wood-cutting axe. None of them are ideal weapons of war, but they’re not useless, either.
(Looked a while for an image, but couldn’t find one I liked. I may add one later if I find something that mostly fits this description.)

Personality: Erika’s largely an introvert as a result of being more or less a social misfit, but that certainly doesn’t mean she’s shy. She’s quite comfortable on her own, speaking to few people for days at a time, but if she needs or wants something from someone, she’s not afraid to force an issue.

Restless is probably the best word to describe her. She understands the way her society works, but that doesn’t mean she has to like it, and it doesn’t mean she has to submit to it every step of the way. This endears her to some people and alienates her from others, and Erika’s fine with that, content to let people think what they will. She’s brave, willful, sometimes rash, self-sufficient, and typically friendly, so long as she’s being treated as a friend. Erika doesn’t have an excess of pride, either. She won’t be anyone’s slave, but she’s able to recognize when something needs to get done, and she’s willing to do it if need be.

History: Erika was never a very good Viking girl.

She doesn’t even have a father, for one. Well she does, somewhere in the world, but she’s never met him, and wouldn’t recognize him if she did. Erika came about as a result of rape when her mother Marit’s village was burned by a strong warband. Marit was spared, however, and for a time wandered with other survivors until she was taken in by another village. Marit was not taken as a wife by any of the men of the village, and was left to raise Erika alone, among the poorest and lowest in the village, but alive.

Erika did a poor job of fitting into her role even as a child, gravitating more towards the activities of young boys, and developed a bit of a troublemaker’s reputation. Despite her mother’s efforts and those of concerned members of the village, her attitude could not be adjusted, though eventually as she matured Erika came to have a slightly more well-rounded view on her place in the village, especially when she was expected to begin contributing. When she was able, however, she took up hunting, and spent many days apart from the village with some of the boys, learning how to shoot, make snares, and other skills associated with hunting.

She was expected to marry at some point, around when she was fifteen, but her traits were typically considered undesirable, both her physical prospects for child-bearing, and her stance towards her position in the village. Erika was fine with being overlooked, and instead began to desire accompanying a warband on a raid, given her steadily improving archery and formidable bravery. When she was nineteen, she got her wish, but it didn’t turn out quite like she’d planned. Being near the rear of the group, she wasn’t aware of what exactly went wrong, but the raid was a disastrous failure, and Erika was exiled along with several others as a result.

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Combat Skills: She’s a pretty good shot with a bow, which is by far her best approach to combat. Her sneaking is pretty good given her experience as a hunter, and she could probably kill a man with her knife if she could get the jump on him, but she’ll rarely be able to overpower anyone, and her lack of armor makes it a bad idea for Erika to be near the most dangerous fighting. She's also never killed anyone, so her ability to kill someone might not guarantee that she could actually go through with it.
Other Skills: Hunting, trapping, tracking, sneaking, some thievery (no pickpocketing, just a tendency to quietly snatch up things that are lying around), fletching, cooking, cleaning, sewing and stitching, minor medical skills (she knows how to clean and stitch cuts and minor gashes), navigational skills, climbing. She has a pretty good singing voice, but doesn’t use it when other people are around.

the Nordland Saga

Gonna be honest, I'm not real sure what the discussion is here. I agree that it was obvious we are set in a time period long after the fall of Rome, probably something early medieval, and as for this shield wall thing... if we only have a few people, it doesn't really seem relevant where it came from or if we would have knowledge of how to do it.

I say put up the OOC whenever you feel like it.

EDIT: Also, Vikings are defined as Norse seafarers from the 8th to 11th centuries, so it seems incorrect to refer to either the Germanic tribes or the Britannic clans that Rome battled with as Vikings.

the Nordland Saga

I have no problem with other people having multiple characters if they want, but I think I'd stick with just one. I also think I like the idea of no NPCs now. Might make things more interesting if all of the survival aspects have to be done by our characters, and can't just be dumped on random viking people with no names.

the Nordland Saga

Are there going to be NPCs in our exiled group, or is it going to solely consist of our player characters? I think I'm fine with it either way, actually. Doesn't seem like it would be too hard to add people in after getting it set up.