Farkas

### Reign

Earl of House Ulvgar (sometimes between 134 - 104 BE)High King of the Bryndans (101 - 77 BE, 24 years)

Jarl of Fenrir (104 - 77 BE, 27 years)

### House

House Ulvgar

Farkas is known by many Bryndan historians and scholars as the first High King of the Kingdom of Bryndol. According to *The Book of Ulvgar and All the Wolves of Fenrir,* he reigned from 101 - 77 BE and his only son, Beowulf, succeeded him to become High King and Jarl of Fenrir after his untimely death.

Records of him were mostly written by his great-grandson Hol the Unready, who wrote all his achievements down by listening to living relatives who knew Farkas personally. While some of his detailed accounts may have been possible, it is equally possible that some accounts may have been exaggerated, biased, or even false.

## Early life

Farkas was born at around 134 BE in the settlement of Harom, before it was changed to Fenrir. This meant that he was born during the Petty era before Bryndol was a unified kingdom.

His entire childhood is unknown, but he is credited to being the first Jarl of Fenrir in 104 BE before the rest of the settlements followed by example in 101 BE.

Sometime before becoming Jarl, he met Noel Redbeard and the two became lifelong friends. He also knew Vargus Hornbeast but it remains unclear as to whether he and Vargus met before or after Farkas established himself as High King.

## Reign

### **High King of the Bryndans**

Farkas is cited in *The Book of Ulvgar and All of the Wolves of Fenrir,* as first Jarl of Fenrir, after renaming the settlement from Harom, and being the founder and first High King of the kingdom of Bryndol.

According to sources on the kingdom's unification, Farkas met with each major Earls from various Bryndan settlements and persuaded them to unify under one rule and that each settlement will be ruled municipally by Jarls. No precise reasons were given for unifying the realm but it was believed that the settlements were suffering starvation and losing resources and so this prompted the idea for a more centralized government. The Earls were likely more than happy to agree to this change because the House of Ulvgar was regarded as one of the three most highly respected Houses during the Petty era with the other two being Kurtis and Fenrir.

### **Wolf and Raven Bond**

Being in a position of high power where many may covet the title of High King, Farkas sought out an ally that would relay to him on what went on between the Jarls from other settlements. Farkas knew House Mork were masters in espionage and so he traveled to meet with Jarl Jon I in Oforsonlig where the two arranged a pact where House Mork would relay information to House Ulvgar and aid them whenever Fenrir is under threat from outside entities or civil discourse. In return, Jarl Jon I and his House would have legitimate claims to the throne if House Ulvgar loses power.

### **Raids**

Farkas had arranged many personal raids throughout his reign but most notably was when he issued a raid in Epsilonian lands. This raid is of historical importance as this aftermath would inspire two Epsilonian assassins to take Farkas and his wife Freya's life in retaliation. The raid would, supposedly, be Farkas's last raid as well.

## Freya Mayflora

The story as to how Farkas met his wife, Freya, is uncertain. The story was so vague that even Hol the Unready had trouble making sense of it in the Ulvgar chronicles*.* According to Hol's mother, Han, Farkas met Freya when their party was raiding a town in Egoi in the Lazio Empire. She stowaway onto Farkas's longboat as they were returning home because the was a wanted woman for leading a conspiracy against the emperor of Lazio.

Helga of Treyga, a woman who personally knew Freya growing up in Fenrir, told the story differently to Hol. Helga confirmed the raiding story to be true but told Hol that he had only met Freya after they returned and that he saw her standing by the shores onlooking their return. When Hol asked about her stowaway on his longboat, Helga reply was:

*"A silly claim that men make of his own ship."*

This led Hol to believe that the longboat was, in actuality, an analogy of Farkas' own phallus and that Freya stowing away was the two engaging in sexual intercourse. This could possibly mean that the story told to Han was a more censored version as she had been told this story from her father, Noel Redbeard, as a child. Helga's story made even more credit among modern historians, as no such records of made mention of Freya being born in the Lazio Empire or a woman of the same name being wanted for conspiring the murder of the emperor exists.

## Assassination

In 77 BE, while Farkas and Freya were asleep in their longhouse, two Epsilonian assassins snuck into the settlement and made their way inside the High King's chambers and stabbed Farkas and Freya in the heart in their sleep and had escaped undetected, leaving the daggers in place. It wasn't until the next morning when Vargus entered their home in search for the two realizing that they had not awoken yet and found their corpse and bed sheets soaked in blood along with the dagger forged from Epsilon. Later that same day, a distraught Beowulf was to be named High King of the Bryndans and Jarl of Fenrir as he was the only living son of Farkas and Freya. His first act as High King was to take vengeance for his parents death and declare war on the Epsilon Empire.