Synopsis
I have seen my death for many years. Don't think to scare me with it
Description
Tall of height with broad shoulders and burly limbs, Vala looks more like a fighter than a seer, which is just as well considering her role as a hunter in the small village she belongs to in the north.
Asides from her considerable stature, her snow white hair (which she likes to keep short) is sure to make her stand out in a crowd.
Though most certainly a woman grown, it's hard to pin down whether she's in her late 20's, or 30's or even 40's. Her face may appear youthful, but the faint wrinkles around her brown and somewhat narrow eyes tell of a lifetime spent in the snow, squinting against sun and wind.
Whilst travelling, Vala wears a brown hooded cloak over her gear from her time as a shieldmaiden, which consists of a beige tunic, chainmail shirt, belt and dagger, along with thick fur gloves and boots.
With her sword broken and her shield turned to splinters many years ago, Vala now carries a large staff, useful both as a walking stick and self defense weapon, and when she has the time to fix her dagger to the end of it, a hunting spear too.
Personality
As a shieldmaiden, Vala was headstrong and slow to anger, yet implacable when roused and had an appetite for beating men to the ground. She was also highly eager to prove herself in any given task, whether it was swinging a sword or rowing an oar, yet in spite of being stronger than most men, she always came second to her older brother, who was the strongest and tallest among their clan.
She is still headstrong, still slow to anger and still terrifying when angered, but much of the fire has gone out of her over the years. The best words to describe her manner these days are tired and dispassionate. There won't be much use trying to get a conversation out of her unless she feels like it.
Equipment / Abilities
Equipment: Chainmail shirt, dagger, staff
Skills: Experienced fighter and hunter with survival knowledge in both the north and the south. With the seer sight, she is able to see into the future, mostly in her dreams but the visions can come at will if she wishes. She can't control how far she's able to see and sometimes the visions may not come to pass, but most of the time, she sees just a few days or weeks ahead of the present.
History
Vala originally belonged to a clan that still held to the old ways of reaving and pillaging along the coasts of foreign lands. From an early age, Vala proved herself to be more useful as a warrior than anything else, so she became a shieldmaiden as soon as she was an adult and joined the raids, driven by her rivalry with her older brother who was also quickly gaining a reputation of his own.
Her clan's activities naturally put them at odds with those who preferred to trade rather than raid, and this came to a head one day when Vala and her kin raided a country that was under the protection of another clan from Atamor. Though the high king Jorgen tried to settle the matter peacefully, it quickly became clear that there was no other option except to fight. Vala's clan refused to give anything in recompense and the other had no desire to appear weak.
In the battle to come, Vala was fighting at her brother's side when an enemy's axe cracked into her helmet and knocked her unconscious. That was when she had her first vision, which she dismissed as a dream upon waking up back at home, the battle apparently won. The vision showed her village on fire with her brother and her entire clan dead, and herself lying on the ground with an arrow in her throat.
For a week after, things continued as normal until Vala had the same vision again. This time, she told her brother about it, who then told everyone else. All agreed that she had the seer sight and forced her to go north as they prepared for an attack, most likely from those they had defeated earlier. No one could ever know that the clan was forewarned by a seer's vision, so it was for Vala's own protection that she was made to leave, but she wept bitter tears all the same. She would never know whether her clan survived or not.
As she wandered the frozen north, she eventually found a village with people who could lead her to a small community of other seers. She has been living with them ever since as their best hunter and protector, but now she has gone south to hunt the renegade who killed the high king.
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