Eivor Varinsson

Profile

• Name: Eivor Varinsson
• Age: 31
• Height: 1.71m
• Sexuality: Homosexual
• Status: In a relationship with Tarben

Life Excerpt

The heavy twang of an arrow being released broke the otherwise relative silence of the moment. The arrow travelled straight and true, ending up embedding itself in the head of the stag that had been the intended target.
   ”Nice! That was a perfect hit, Eivor.” Eivor smiled as he turned his head to face the excitement coming from his friend. “Once again you sold yourself short when talking about your own prowess, Wolf-Kissed!” Eivor shrugged.
   ”Maybe I was afraid you’d say no to this hunting trip if I told you how good I really am, eh Vili?” His friend raised his eyebrows and then let out a hearty laugh.
   ”With anyone else that would probably be true.” Vili put a hand on Eivor’s shoulder. “But with you?” He shook his head. “No way that I would say no. I was happy to hear you suggest we spend the day together just the two of us.” A genuine smile spread on Vili’s lips. A smile that reached his eyes. Eyes that gleamed with happiness as he continued. “We get to do this way too seldomly, old friend.” Eivor smiled back at him and gave a small chuckle.
   ”That’s the truth.” He turned his head to look back out across the forest in front of him. “Gods know I would love to do this a lot more. Hunting with good friends as company is always gonna be a great way to spend your time.”
   ”Well, you know...you are the jarl. You can pretty much do what you want.” Eivor laughed out loud in response.
   ”Oh gods, if only that was true. That would make it so much easier having this title!”
   ”What’s stopping you?” Eivor shook his head.
   ”How about everything else that comes with the title? The responsibilities. The accountability.” Vili shifted next to him until finally sitting down next to Eivor, with his back leaning against the fallen tree trunk that they’d been crouching behind for cover.
   ”But how is it any different now from back when you were doing everything a jarl does, just without officially having the title? Shouldn’t you be used to it by now? You’ve been at it for the past 5 years pretty much.”
   ”I know it makes little sense to anyone other than myself, but back then I kept telling myself that it was all temporary. That once I got Sigurd back to the clan that he would handle all of the jarl stuff.”
   ”Not really how it worked out though.” Eivor let out a heavy sigh.
   ”No, it didn’t.” His voice cracked slightly as he’d said it, which made Vili turn to look at him.
   ”Are you okay?” Taking a deep breath Eivor looked at his friend again, with a meager smile on his face.
   ”Thinking back on that period, and all that happened back then, is...it’s still painful. Not just...” He looked away as he felt the all too familiar feeling of regret and pain in his chest. “Not just what happened between me and Sigurd. The words that were said. But also...also the losses that were suffered in between searching for him and...” He balled his fist and punched the ground. “And that witch, Fulke!” Vili put his hand on Eivor’s shoulder again and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
   ”You’re talking about Ceolbert’s murder, right?” It was as if the air went out of his friend as he uttered that name. Eivor’s head dropped, and Vili was certain that his friend was fighting the urge to let the tears come and flow freely at that point.
   ”Yes...That...that was a hard blow. And one that I feel like we could have avoided if...if I would have just been more diligent in protecting him.”
   ”Eivor, don’t. Don’t do this. You need to stop blaming yourself. I know he meant a lot to you, but you weren’t his babysitter. He was a man, not a kid in need of constant oversight!”
   ”And yet if I had insisted on him not going off on his own to hunt...to try and appease Ivarr and his damned ego! Then he...he might still be alive right now...” Vili reached out and grabbed Eivor’s head with both of his hands, bringing his friend's face right up close to his own, staring him in the eyes.
   ”Why do you keep blaming yourself? There was nothing you could have done. As painful as it is for you to hear this, you know that it’s the truth! The Nornir spin the weaves of our fates when we are born. Ceolbert’s fate...his fate was to die by Ivarr’s hands...By his treachery… Just like it was Ivarr’s fate to lose that fight with you and die by your hands.” Vili was almost taken aback when he saw the tears that started to well up in Eivor’s eyes. As they started to fall it was almost on instinct that Vili used his thumbs to gently catch them and dry his friend’s cheeks. His heart was warmed when he saw the smile that spread on Eivor’s face after that. Eivor even chuckled as Vili let his friend go.
   ”I’m glad that it was you that I asked to join me today, Vili.” Vili smiled.
   ”Me too. And I hope you know that no matter what, I’m always here for you.”
   ”I know. And I’m eternally grateful. For you, and your friendship.” Eivor looked over to where the dead stag was. “I think we ought to deal with that.” Vili looked at the stag and then laughed.
   ”Yes, before it’s eaten by something other than us!”


The campfire was roaring and they were sitting on the fallen tree trunk that had served so many purposes for them today. Talking about different shenanigans that they had gotten up to back in Norway in their youth, more than 10 years ago. Tales of murderous trees, dangerous snow drifts and sticks used to represent tails. A slight lull occurred in their talking where Vili put some more twigs on the fire while Eivor simply stared into the flames. Vili sat down next to him again and Eivor looked at him as he rolled one of his shoulders which made a low popping sound. His friend looked back at him with an eyebrow raised.
   ”Something wrong?”
   ”No, no. Nothing’s wrong.”
   ”Then why are you looking at me like that?”
   ”I was just thinking about Snotinghamscire...” Vili’s face seemed to get slightly flushed at the mention of his old home.
   ”You mean...” Eivor laughed as he realised why his friend seemed a bit embarrassed. That just led to Vili looking confused.
   ”I wasn’t talking about that special night of ours, Vili.” The relief on Vili’s face was very visible. “Although, now I am thinking about it.” And the redness returned to Vili’s face and he started rubbing the back of his neck.
   ”That was...an emotional night for me.” Eivor put his arm around his friend.
   ”I know. It was for me too. In more ways than one.” Vili looked at him. “Look, we both needed what happened between us to happen back then. We needed it to help each other heal. And besides, like you said earlier we were fated to spend that night together.” Vili chuckled and shook his head.
   ”Using my own words against me, huh?” Eivor shrugged.
   ”It helped, didn’t it?”
   ”It did. But...if you weren’t talking about that...moment, then what was it that you were talking about?”
   ”First off, it was more than a moment that we spent together that night.” Eivor winked at his friend, and Vili shook his head again. “You need to give yourself credit where credit is due, my friend. But, to answer your question, I was actually talking about when I found you at the waterfall.” Vili smiled.
   ”That’s one of the few things I miss from that place. Those falls...”
   ”Freya’s gift to man.” Vili laughed.
   ”You remembered!”
   ”I also remember you singing as I approached. I don’t know if you were aware of this but I actually stood back and waited for you to finish singing before talking to you.” Vili’s eyebrows went up again, this time in genuine surprise.
   ”But you said you didn’t like my singing.”
   ”Well...I lied. To tease you. Truth is...I really enjoyed listening to you. That song...”
   ”Father taught it to me when I was young.” The sadness in Vili’s voice as he mentioned his father was matched by the sadness Eivor felt in his chest. He rubbed his hand on Vili’s back.
   ”Hemming Jarl was a great man. And almost like a father to me.” After a short pause he added. “Sing it for me?” Vili smiled.
   ”Sure.” Clearing his throat he then started to sing in that nice and clear voice of his.

“It’s a cold, dark day,
Hel’s door is ajar.
Little cubs of mine,
Don’t stray too far.
It’s a cold, dark day,
Come sit by the hearth!
Come hear of the tales,
From before your birth.
O’er the mountains,
O’er the seas,
The flame of Surtr grows...”

Eivor gave him a small applaud and smiled.
   ”Even better than I remembered.” Vili then gave him a cunning smile.
   ”Hauki told me that you paid a bard in Donecaestre to write a song about you.” Eivor laughed.
   ”Oh gods, he remembered that?”
   ”Let’s hear it!”
   ”I’ll recite it for you, but if you think I’ll sing then you’re sorely mistaken.”
   ”Oh boo, Wolf-Kissed!” Eivor chuckled.
   ”It’s not even very good. But give me a moment, and I’ll do my best to recall how it went.” And a minute or two later it was Eivor’s turn to clear his throat.

“From beyond the whale-roads,
From history unknown,
Did the Norse take a stand,
And now all must atone.
Now comes Eivor of the Ravens,
With the sun for eyes,
Trailing a river of blood,
Enough to paint the skies!
Succumb to your fate with a kiss,
A blade to your throat,
The wolf’s fangs to your shins.
For the one blessing,
And the one curse,
Is to meet the Wolf-Kissed!”

   ”That wasn’t so bad. And certainly accurate!”
   ”It...sounded a lot better being recited as a poem than it was hearing the bard sing it.” Both of them laughed heartily at that.

Credits

Story by me. Overlay by CORE. Human art & minion overlay by Laurence. Profile by me. Pixel art by 7Soul1. Background is concept art for the game Assassin's Creed Valhalla made by Rapahel Lacoste for Ubisoft, cropped by me. Eivor, Syninn and Vili belong to Ubisoft, and the Assassin's Creed franchise.