Irskr Nygård
Return to Real. Very Real.
Creator: ThePatchworkPilgrims
Roleplay: Real. Very Real.
Nickname: Iron-Bear
Name: Irskr Nygård
Age: 44 years of age
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Appearance: Irskr, known to many simply as Iron-Bear, has the look of one who has weathered many a storm and fought many a battle. His aged face is lined with the wrinkles of Time, as well as multiple scars he acquired during his years as a mercenary and bounty-hunter. His dark eyes are set deeply in his face, and bear the gaze of one who has seen too much blood for one lifetime, yet one who constantly hungers to see more.
Irskr’s face also bears a Nordic tattoo, which used to be the mark of his clan before… well, before it happened. He also has a long, ring-decorated and plaited beard, a sign of honour among his kinsman. To accompany this beard, he has long, thick hair that falls to his shoulders.
He is not necessarily the tallest man from his clan, but what he lacks in extreme height, Irskr makes up for in size. He is extremely muscular and hardened (due to constant fighting and manual labour), and his broad shoulders make even men taller than he shrink away from his imposing figure.
As per the climate and traditions of his homeland, Irskr tends to be seen in a heavy fur cloak (a black bear cloak in his case), which falls passed his knees. Under this cloak he tends to wear a chainmail shirt or leather jerkin (or sometimes both), to serve as protection.
Skillset and weaponry: Irskr is a born fighter. The son of the smith of their clan, Irskr and his brother Adelhulf were trained in fighting with weapons from the moment they could lift one without falling over. They were trained in the Norse ways, but of the two twins, Irskr was always more ruthless and ferocious than his brother.
They were also trained in smithing, their father training them how to work metal and leather to form weapons of destruction, or armour that could withstand the blows of a dozen swords.
Irskr also has the ability (more of a curse than ability) to… change into a large black bear whenever angered or severely threatened, although in this form he changes into someone who is not entirely him.
Of all the weapons Irskr excels at, he prefers war axes the most. He made his axe himself, and the shaft is decorated with small claws and pattern. He also carries a traditional Norse round shield, decorated with the black and white colors of his clan, in a cross pattern going horizontally and vertically over it (the cross is white, the backdrop black) He also carries with him a steel sword. A travel backpack with a sleeping bag and small cooking pot attached is the only other equipment he carries with him.
Personality: Irskr doesn’t talk much. To most, it may seem that he’s just antisocial, but he in fact stays silent due to the horrors he has seen constantly plaguing his mind. However, when he does speak, Irskr’s low, dark and rumbling voice is matter-of-fact and authoritative, his life experience usually showing when he speaks.
Psychologically, Irskr is a deeply troubled individual, haunted by his memories, plagued by the monster inside, and tormented by his own doubts and pains. He tends to keep a hard exterior though, so most of this he tries to keep out of the scrutiny of ordinary individuals.
Background: Irskr grew up in a relatively large village set in a fjord in the Northern Seas, living with his father, grandfather and twin brother Adelhulf (his mother was killed in a raid by a rival clan when he was four) From an early age, he and his brother trained and worked for the benefit of their clan, both going out on raids with the longboats when they were merely twelve years old.
Irskr and his brother had fallen in love with the same girl when they were fourteen, but in the end Irskr married her and had a daughter and son (in that order) Relations between his brother and him never recovered after that, and slowly deteriorated to a slightly less severe form of hatred (from Adelhulf’s side)
When Irskr turned twenty-two, he went on a hunting trip into the forest near his village, where he lost track of time and stumbled upon a cave close before midnight of the winter solstice. Inside this cave, he discovered cave drawings of beastmen and beasts being burned and persecuted. He also found the remains of what seemed to be the bones of a large bear, and decided to stay in the cave, and take a few rib-bones the following morning to use for fishing hooks or other equipment in the village.
And that was when the curse happened. One year to the date after he had stayed in the cave, Irskr changed for the first time into a large black bear. He went into a wild, unnatural rampage, attacking and murdering all but one person in the village as they attempted to fend him off. The only one who survived was Adelhulf, who had gone fishing away from the village when the attack happened. He was also the one who found Selena, Irskr’s wife and Adelhulf’s love, where she had been the first victim of Irskr’s curse. Adelhulf fled, but swore vengeance on his brother, and vowed to be the one to kill him.
From that day, Irskr roamed from clan to clan, village to village, kingdom to kingdom, serving as a highly effective mercenary and bounty hunter, as well as a hunter of beasts (like himself, although his employers wouldn’t know that) and a part-time smith in towns that would need his services. He rarely stays in one place for too long, lest his curse claim the lives of yet another innocent town or village and not merely a heartless or bloodthirsty criminal or bandit, who most certainly was not innocent and deserved to die (according to Irskr) However, the notorious reputation of the Iron-Bear still spreads, and many respect or fear Irskr if they learn his true identity.