Fjalarr

**Key Features** | »8.41mm bullpup assault rifle»Horned helmet and light battlesuit»Identity concealing facemask»Disruptor Dirk»Hunting net (recently obtained)

## Tactical Analysis

* **Lessons in trickery**: Fjalarrs are devotees of Loki; the god of mischief, and Hela, the goddess of death. They are both spies, activities under the guidance of Loki, and asassins which they do under the protection of Hela. An ancient order of cloak and dagger, Fjalarrs were the greatest spies and assassins of their timeline, murdering everyone from Emperors to Popes and stealing the Concordiat's scientific data on its portal technology. In this world, they continue their work for their shadowy gods.
* **Slipping and sliding blades**: When the need arises, Fjalarrs can put away the deadly short swords they normally use at melee and their submachine guns, and take out special disruptor dirks that can pierce any armour and let them cut through both vehicles and instantly kill any infantry or battlesuit unit they come into contact with short of commandos. Against vehicles, they can depilot after a few slashes.
* **Ever tried a disguise?**: For all their experience and skills, Fjalarrs are short ranged, fragile infantry whose ranged weapons are poorly suited for dealing with armoured infantry and whose disruptor dirks can only be kept active for a temporary period. Though their short swords can offer some defense against animal scouts, a determined bear or dog will still rip them apart, as will anti-infantry vehicles and structures if their cover is blown.
* **We are number one**: The most elite of the Fjalarr order is allowed to test out a new kind of power suit that makes them tougher, faster, stronger, wield heavier weapons, and become impervious to the bites of the likes of dogs or the claws of bears while they cut their way through enemies, an improvement over their current; quite light suits.

## Background

*"Our actions are going down in history."*

- A Fjalarr responding to an order
When Bjarke unified Scandinavia under his rule and reformed the Norse Faith into the Forn Sidir Church he was approached by an unusual sect that worshiped the deities Loki and Hela above all others. Fascinated by trickery and death they came to the newly proclaimed Keisjar and Fylkir one day and requested that they get the privilege of being a formally recognized holy order to make war upon the enemies of the gods from the shadows. Thus began a long tradition of having the heads of the order, the great gydja of Hela and the great godi of Loki, to jointly hold the position of spymaster in the Verdensrike. In their position, they quite quickly cleared the Christian missionaries from the land and purged them from the territories of eastern Europe to open the way for Forn Sidir missionaries to convert the land to the worship of the omnipotent Norse gods and save them from the influence of the evil Jotun.

They proved to be extremely capable scouts, lethal assassins, masterful spies, and highly competent saboteurs. When Pope Leo the VIIth was planning to start a crusade for eastern Europe, they quickly assassinated the Pope with an elaborate Baghdad battery esque contraption to send a message to the Christians; the Norse were ready for any war the Christians brought. And with the murder of several rulers at the hand of the Fjalarrs, the Northern Crusades would continue to sputter and fail, directionless and beset by the mighty warriors who fought to defend their homeland and their religion from Christian encroachment. And when it came time to launch raids of retaliation, it would be the Fjalarrs who would destroy fortified bridges, produce detailed maps of the targets, bribe the guards of walls, and disable sentry positions.

In the more modern age, the Fjalarrs remained an important facet of Norse society even in the face of the age of increasing secularization.