Borghildr

## ***Backstory***

**I grew up with a disgraced surgeon. He had saved countless lives up until he snapped and started eating people. I always thought that he meant to eat me when I was fit enough, but I ran away first. I was no one’s pet. Still, the skills he taught me in his free time were useful. How to sow skin and mend bones, how to reconstruct a body… and how to take it apart. I heard about him after a few years on the streets. Death penalty, killed for killing a nobleman and eating his heart. Funny, I knew about a dozen other people he killed, but no one helped the ones in the gutter other than me. Of the 5 others that escaped him, two died in my arms. I’ll never forgive the surgeon for that.**

**At 35, knew something was… different about me. I looked at the Valkyrie with jealousy rather than lust. I wanted that beauty, that strength, that, that… I wanted to be myself. I never wanted this body, it was never good enough. I knew being a Valkyrie wouldn’t lift me out of the gutter, there were plenty in there with us, but I hoped to be more okay with it. I cried for the first time when I heard about how much the magic cost to make me who I was.**

**I joined a merc corp at 100. Survived on the streets so long, starving to death every night and stitching together people who couldn’t get to a doctor every day just to make ends meet wore on too long. I thought maybe if I became a formal medic, I could afford a house. Maybe one day get the spell I needed. They gave me a sword, told me to point it towards the enemy and gave me a slap on the back. First time I ever stitched someone back together with food in my belly. Wish that they had thought to give us guns, maybe we could have shot back every once in awhile. Found out later that the generals had positioned us as a distraction. I left the merc group. I was no one’s pet.**

**135, joined a charity clinic. They said they needed people with skills and would pay a little better for those with training, official or unofficial. I worked there for 10 years, steadily saving money. That money went up in flames with the clinic. I was arrested carrying people out of the building. Everyone else in there died. Even Mary-Anne, the one who gave me a chance. Then the Council started reforming the city.**

**150, joined a second merc corp. Now that I had some official experience under my belt, they were a little more welcoming. Worked there happily for 46 years, met Gudrun there. Now she was fierce, always ready to fight anyone, but would rather take everything they owned after. We weathered a dozen rejections from brass for gender changes together. We left together after the battle with Addon. We wouldn’t give up, even if everyone else had.**

**I went back on the streets. So many people there owed me favors that me and Gudrun knew anytime experimental components showed up. Gudrun and her team usually snatched them on their own. I just fought off those stupid enough to try and get them back. Gudrun was her own left hand but I was the ambassador, I knew how to cut the deals we needed with the right people. My honesty was what won them over most of the time, even though my lies got us to that point. Scroall became a comfort to me. I had never been religious up until that point. Those who knew me were certain I’d die soon, and go to Necros. I look forward to proving them wrong.**

**One day, Gudrun took me aside. She said, “Borghildr, you are no good to me dead.” “I’m not dead yet.” I replied. “Your soul is,” she said. “Unless you get hope again, you will be worthless. I’m giving you a month off. Find joy.” So I took up wood-carving, and it brought the first smile to my face in my life.**

## Involvement in Adventures

Member of the Northbound legends

Assigned there by Gudrun, leader of a cult that was attempting to recreate a spell to transform Valkyri into Valkyrie. After succeeding in this quest and casting the spell upon herself, Borghildr continued with the group in order to continue developing her skills as a surgeon, as well as to assist the people she was beginning to grow close to. After the battle with Haithem, she retired from adventuring to open a hospital and work as a teacher. She is found in 3 locations: a woodworking studio, a hospital bed, and a lecture hall. Students and visitors note a tendency to talk to people who are clearly not present, as well as a tendency to hold strange, 2-faced wooden carvings in moments of stress. Even stranger is a golden labradoodle who seems to follow Borghildr wherever she goes. The dog responds to Fenrir, and does not seem to assist Borghildr in any notable way. It is the only creature able to get into her private chambers, however.