Brengr

During the time of troubles Gods walked among mortals as fellow kin. To the pious this was a tragedy, to the ambitious an opportunity, and to the treacherous a gateway to ultimate power. But to those who sought to cut out a path in life through the strength of their arm, it was a battle. A final battle to prevent the domination of evil. There would be no praying to Merolius for salvation. If a dark sorcerer sought to become a god, it was up to mortal men to cut him down.

It's difficulty to say how many of the tales attributed to Brengr hold water. Most of the tales were written a hundred years ago by the traveling skald, Ervin Howe, who doubtless embellished the tales as much as the folk he heard the tales from. Ervin's tales, written as short stories for easy distribution, have been compiled into volumes whose protagonist has gone on a seemingly limitless number of adventures. There's no timeline, little if any indication when the stories took place, depictions that are considered quite offensive this side of the Skolzem mountains, and political jabs that might have seemed poignant at the time of writing but look foolish now.

### Stories

There's no timeline of the stories, but some have events that must have come before or after others. The legacy of Brengr is roughly as follows:

- Brengr was born on the battlefield when his village was overrun by the armies of Kel'Rizarr. The army was camped on the outskirts of the forest where his tribe made its home, and although they held off the raiders at first, they were eventually overwhelmed. Brengr's mother, upon giving birth to her child, blessed him that as long as Kel'Rizarr walked the earth, Brengr would live to avenge his family, his home, and his people. Brengr was found by orcs, who raised him as their own.

- While in his teen years, the chieftain of the Orc tribe was challenged for the right to lead the clan and killed. The new chieftain, biased against Brengr for being human, banished him. Brengr discovered that the new chieftain had used poison, a coward's weapon, to claim his station, and, enraged, returned to the tribe and demanded a similar trial. The chief put his loyalist warriors in the way, and Brengr carved a bloody path through the chief's lackeys, eventually taking over as the tribe chieftain.

- The king at the foot of the mountains, influenced by his court magician Kel'Rizarr, ordered the army to move out and destroy the orcs who pillaged the outskirts of his kingdom. Brengr, their leader, was captured and crucified in public. During the night, Brengr drew his strength and pulled the nails from his cross, then pursued the king with a blood-lust. Kel'Rizarr turned to shadow and fled, and Brengr slew the king by forcing the nails into his eyes.

- News came that the great dwarven mines were destroyed, and Brengr suspected that it was the doing of Kel'Rizarr. He entered the mines and fought against many dangerous and strange creatures in a gauntlet of battles before finding the necromancer, and slew him then and there.

- Brengr had inspired many people to venture away from the luxury of civilization and pursue a life of danger. He grew to be a sort of king on the mountain, leading a village of disparate humans, dwarves, and orcs to form their own society and fought to claim the mountain as their sovereign home.

- Kel'Rizarr came back as a shadowy knight and wandered the lands, killing anyone he came across and drinking their souls with his armor, seemingly unstoppable. Brengr faced him but was defeated. Laying in a pool of his own blood, Brengr called upon the people to give him their devotion that he might end the threat once and for all. Somehow he stood up and once again challenged the death knight, his ax pulsing with light, and slew Kel'Rizarr. Now that the necromancer no longer walked the earth, Brengr was free to die. The people mourned his passing, and cut his symbol into their skin so that he would always be with them

### Characterization

Brengr is characterized as being larger than life. He never backs down from a challenge, and is saved as often by luck as he is by inhuman skill. He's described as being a giant of a man, but quick and agile like a cat. His attitude in early stories is typical of the tribal orcs, quick to anger, fearless in battle, and ever as ready to kill as he is to be killed. In his mid-life he adopts more civilized sensibilities, albeit with resentment as he unites the Guroptoi. His demeanor changes to melacholy in his later life, reflecting back one his life without regret or nostalgia, and philosophizing about the human condition.

The stories often make mentions of frost giants, and Brengr does frequent battle with them, usually without any pretense of diplomacy. It's believed that the real counterpart to these 'giants' is actually the goliaths who live in the area in modern days.

There are at least 3 women Brengr takes as a wife, and over a half dozen more where it's insinuated. While it's not uncommon for orc tribes to give their chieftain free choice of as many partners as he wants, it's quite likely, given how identical all these women are in tropes, that they were either changed distinctly or added in whole cloth by Ervin Howe. Ervin has many 'historical' works, and each similarly includes the same tropes for its damsel in distress.

Another aspect likely contributed by Ervin is the depiction of orcs. The stereotypes change, not with the story's chronology but with when the story was written. In the early works Brengr considers them to be comrades in arms and takes to their ways readily, but by the late works he distances himself from them. Ervin even wrote a new origin story later in life, retconning the original story of Brengr's birth and having his town be sacked by orcs instead of undead.

### Soul

Brengr is said to have a vendetta against the necromancer Kel'Rizzar that lasts beyond death. As long as the elven wizard lives, Brengr will be there to put him down.

A family heirloom given to his descendants were the nails he used to kill the king at the mountain's foot. At some point the nails were reforged into an X shaped pendant, a symbol of the cross Brengr was crucified on, and passed down until they were received by Yunet from her grandfather. While in Yunet's possession, Kel'Rizarr was seemingly brought back in some form of unlife, and Brengr's soul was bound to the most pure remembrance of his life; the nails. Yunet's body now hosts two souls, her own and Brengr's, granting her the power to see his destiny fulfilled.