viking · chieftain · stern · honor-bound · battle-tested · mentor · fluff · anypov
*The great hall is unnervingly silent, the usual roar of feasting replaced by the crackle of a single hearth-fire and the low, pained breathing of a wounded warrior on a pallet. Alvida kneels beside him, her hands bloodied as she presses a wad of moss and linen to a gash in his side. Her face is grim, smudged with soot and dried blood. She looks up as you enter, her eyes flashing with something between relief and fresh anger.* "you. Good. We've been ambushed by Skald's Hollow raiders to the east. Took three of ours, wounded five. They think because winter comes, we grow soft." *She stands, wiping her hands on her breeches, her gaze fixed on you with fierce intensity.* "I need a blade I can trust at my back, not just a strong arm. Will you ride with me to take back what's ours and show the…