Torsten

Torsten was orphaned when he was five years old. His father had gone away on a raiding mission, and while he was gone Torsten's mother died of illness. The thralls looked after Torsten while his father was away, but when the raiding party returned, Torsten's father was not on any of the ships. He had died and gone to Valhalla. Torsten's uncle, Asbjorn, who'd just returned from the raids took Torsten in.

Living with Asbjorn was a completely different experience than living with his parents. Asbjorn lived in a little hut in the city rather than on a farm like his parents had. And he was single, so there was no woman to take care of the women's work around the hut; it was messy, food was scarce, alcohol was abundant. Of course, what could one expect from a Berserker? Asbjorn was a famed Berserker, known for his skill and frenzy in battle though not for his mind. So Torsten grew up only really learning to fight from Asbjorn.

He'd go and practice his skill on the other boys in the town as well, and in the process made good friends with Prince Harald and Ubbe, who opened his eyes to a whole new world of possibility, speaking of how soon their father would let Harald be in charge of some raids. Torsten strived to prove himself to Prince Harald. So he turned to his uncle, and asked him to teach him the ways of the Berserker. Asbjorn was a little shocked, but Torsten was nearly fourteen, he was old enough to make his own decisions.

First he was taken out to the wilds, where there was a small hunting cabin. There they were met by seven other Berserkers, three of which had potential initiates with them. Torsten had gotten lucky, as there were only even nine Berserkers of Tonsberg at a time, and one had recently gone to Valhalla. From there on out, luck would not help Torsten become an initiate. It was all based on his skills, strength, and endurance.

First they had all the potentials drink a horn of ale each, then the potentials all fought each other while the Berserkers watched and cheered the fights on. After every match they had to drink an entire horn of ale, and then go in to fight in the next match. This lasted all night, until one of the potentials passed out on the spot. He was disqualified from continuing on. Torsten found himself glad that Asbjorn always kept a steady supply of mead in his house. He had started drinking mead when he was six and grew quite the tolerance for it over the years.

The next night was a whole new night of drinking and challenges for the potentials until another one of them could no longer compete. They'd always celebrate around a bonfire after each day of challenges, in which the Berserkers would drink and share stories and fight one another. Torsten wanted to be a part of it more than anything. It would be like the family he had never really gotten to have.

The next night the remaining two potentials started by drinking a horn of mead and then fighting each other. Torsten won the fight. They drank again, and then both Torsten and the other potential had to fight their way through each of the eight Berserkers(with a horn of mead between each fight). They didn't have to beat the Berserker(though Torsten beat his first and second Berserker), but merely stand up against them for the allotted amount of time. By the time they'd gotten to the fifth Berserker it was beginning to become a bit of a challenge, but Torsten's rival potential was faring much worse. They both made it to the sixth Berserker, and this was where the other potential passed out. As the other Berserkers began to cheer for Torsten, he demanded that he finish the trial. He wanted to make it all the way through each of the Berserkers. And so Torsten did just that before celebrating with them that night.

But Torsten's trials weren't over. Now came the hardest part... initiation. To acquire knowledge of the runes, Odin had hung himself, as a sacrifice to himself, from Yggdrasil for nine nights. So the Tonsberg Berserkers made sacrifices of themselves to both Odin and themselves just as Odin had done. They strung Torsten up from a tree and left him hanging there for nine days and nine nights. During the day it was quiet as the Berserkers rested off their nights of heavy drinking. But at night they partied around the bonfire, all while Torsten hung there.

Like Odin, Torsten did not eat, nor did he drink the entire time he was hung. After the irritability stage of hunger and thirst, which Torsten struggled through without saying a word, came the delirious stage. And finally he was cut down. One Berserker handed him a henbane seed and urged him to eat it. Without question or thinking, Torsten did. Another Berserker then put a horn of mead in one hand and a pheasant leg in the other. As the Berserkers danced around the bonfire while Torsten ate, they donned their bear pelts and growled as they danced, Torsten could have sworn he'd actually seen a couple of them physically turn into bears.

From then on, Torsten would join the Berserkers for three nights of drinking and fighting starting on the full moon of every month. Aside from that, life went on as normal. Torsten would practice his fighting skills with Asbjorn, or with the other boys his age in town. Finally, five years later, Prince Harald's ship had finished being built and he began to talk in earnest of assembling a crew of warriors for it for raiding purposes. Torsten jumped at the opportunity.

In their first raid, Torsten distinguished himself by protecting Ubbe, who had just protected Harald. They had somehow fallen behind enemy lines and said Torsten jumped over their shield wall. They said he fought like a bear, that no metal could harm him. And Torsten proved battle after battle that he was a great warrior.

Then one day, while they were all out raiding, Harald received a message that Tonsberg had been invaded by Jarl Angantyr, that his family had been burned in the Great Hall, and that Angantyr now called himself King of Tonsberg. Instead of going back to attack him, as Torsten urged, they went to Birka to ask for aide. While there, Torsten and Princess Freydis spent many nights together while the battle plans were being made. She wasn't his first, he'd had many thrall and freed women in Tonsberg, but she was certainly the most memorable.

Harald and his raiding party, accompanied by five ships full of Birka Warriors made their way to Tonsberg to reclaim Harald's ancestral lands. It was a long and bloody battle in which Torsten chopped down anyone in his path. His path carved a way for Harald and Ubbe to get straight to Angantyr, where the brothers fought together and Harald got the killing blow.

After burning the dead, Torsten helped Harald rebuild the Great Hall. He was rewarded for his participation in the raid, the battle for Tonsberg, and the rebuilding of Tonsberg. Things were going great... Harald got engaged to Princess Gyda of Birka, Tonsberg's defenses were being rebuilt stronger and better than they had been before, and Torsten had enough wealth to get his own small house in the city separate his uncle.

Then one day Freydis showed up in Tonsberg, accompanied by only one shieldmaiden. Something had to be wrong. That's when he learned that Egil, the son of the late Jarl Angantyr, had taken over Birka. Apparently Harald had known this for a few days already. Torsten couldn't figure out why he hadn't already started gathering his forces, Harald was not the type of guy to sit idly by while his fiance was in danger.

Later that night, Freydis visited his house. She told him that apparently Harald had sent a Ubbe to Birka just the day prior to it being taken-over. The message? That the marriage was off, but they could keep the bride-price. Ubbe confirmed he was sent to Birka and that he was expecting to see King Sigurd but was greeted by Egil instead. Gyda was forced to marry Egil. Freydis told Torsten that Harald was likely charmed by this new woman he'd been enamored with, Vigdis. They would need to find a way to break Vigdis's hold on Harald before Birka could get any help from him.

Harald

"Were it my fiance, I would be summoning every able bodied man the moment I found out."

Harald had been Torsten's friend since childhood, when Torsten would join him and Ubbe in the practice fields to train together. Harald invited Torsten onto his ship to join them in raiding, thus cementing their friendship. Now Harald is King, and what Torsten is wondering what happened to his honorable friend.

Ubbe

"It's the least I could do! Because of you and Harald, I'm able to raid and make myself known."

Ubbe is Harald's bastard half-brother, and a good friend of Torstens. He's the only person Torsten feels comfortable bringing his concerns about Harald up to, aside from Freydis. Since then he's been pulled into the loop of trying to figure out how to rid themselves of Vigdis.

Freydis

"Woman, I cannot get enough of you. Are you sure you didn't charm me like Vigdis did Harald?"

He met Freydis when Harald brought their raiding party to Birka to seek refuge and aid, and the two spent every night together for several days. Now Freydis is in Tonsberg seeking refuge and aid. Freydis is spending the night at his house more often than she does with Fjormos in the guest quarters.

Fjormos

"Freydis is stronger than you think, shield-maiden. And she'll never need protecting from me."

Torsten thinks Fjormos is to rigid in her discipline, but still a good fighter. He takes offense to her thinking he would do anything to hurt Freydis, but appreciates the fact that she's looking out for her.

Vigdis

"Freydis is nothing more than a good lay. After all, who wouldn't want to sleep with a princess?"

After learning there were suspicions that Vigdis had charmed Harald, Torsten doesn't like her. Unlike the others, it's more difficult for him to hide his dislike of her. Especially after she made a comment about Freydis, effectively threatening her, but not in so many words. Torsten wants to just kill Vigdis, but Freydis is keeping him from doing so... first they had to try to break the spell's hold on Harald.

Thor

"Hail, Thor, Lord of the Hammer! Lord of the Storm, rumbling chariot that tears across the sky!"

Torsten worships the God he was named after... Thor. He particularly likes Thor for speaking plainly and having no time for intrigue or subtle ploys, and his strength and skill in battle. His goal in life is to live in such a way that Thor takes notice of him. He'd like to drink with Thor when he goes to Valhalla.