Etheldredda

Etheldredda is a twenty-one year old hagspawn, the daughter of Cold Ethyl and an unknown man, and an escapee of the coven she grew up in. Since her escape, Etheldredda's journey has been defined by her search for her place in the world, which has inevitably lead to her decision to return to Myrkviðr in order to face her past head-on.

Born as part of the Myrkviðr hag coven, Etheldredda grew up in the confines of the forests with only the influence of the hags upon her. Like all hagspawn within the coven, the identity of Etheldredda's father is a mystery, knowing only that either he was a captive within the slave pits kept in the coven, or else had been used in some dark arts experiment and left for dead. She gained some training from her older sisters in the art of hunting, though given her young age she is not incredibly proficient in this art.

At the age of eighteen, through means that have yet to be revealed, Etheldredda managed to escape the coven and went as far away from Myrkviðr as humanly possible. Passing through the elven forests and into a far-off continent, there Etheldredda learnt of a minor deity, a goddess of witchcraft and magic, who lead a coven of her own. By this stage, despite having rejected hag culture entirely, Etheldredda was still disgusted by humanity, (their drunkenness and lustfulness being two key grievances with her,) and knew that she would not be able to join their communities. Like most hagspawn, Etheldredda was often filled with rage and hatred, and likely to be filled with bloodlust; all traits that do not make for a welcome citizen. Therefore, Etheldredda decided that she would track down this pagan goddess, in order to join her witch coven and be set apart from human existence forevermore.

In this endeavor, Etheldredda joined forces with the barbarian Br'nard Even'star, who was seeking Mother Hulda for reasons of his own. Also in their team was Lord Edwald Clarkson III, (better known simply as Eddie Clarke.) Despite Etheldredda's previous feelings towards humans, she found herself warming to the barbarian, who neither judged her nor tried to proposition her, (unlike the rascal Sin Solar that they were carting along with them.) The two were nomads without a home, both mistrustful of magic, (Etheldredda's main reservation when consulting Mother Hulda, but she had yet to find a better alternative,) both haunted by their pasts. Br'nard explained to Etheldredda that he sought out Mother Hulda in an attempt to bring back his tribe, which had been slaughtered two decades prior in a demon attack. He told her of the berserkers of his culture, beings filled with great rage and a lust for battle, and how they had learned to control that anger and channel it towards something positive.

Hearing of this, and well aware that she needed a way to control the rage inside of her, Etheldredda's plan began to shift in line with the barbarian's, as she realized she might be better suited to join the nomadic lifestyle than that of a magic circle. In order to seal their pact of friendship, (and to make sure the previously unarmed hagspawn was safe,) Br'nard gave to Etheldredda his prized hunting dagger. They set off on the road north, pursued by puritans and jumped by mercenary captain John Black, before making it to the hill upon which Mother Hulda resides. The witch refused Br'nard's request of opening a gate to Hell, and soon a great battle commenced as John Black returned with his mercenary squad, the puritans came to purge the pagan cult, a horde of orcs finally caught up to them and the Seeker, a powerful agent of the Demon Lord, succeeded in the opening of the Hellgate.

It was soon revealed that all of Br'nard's tribe, over the twenty years they had been captives, had been tortured into submission and then turned into demonic warriors, including Br'nard's own wife, who had been made the Harbinger of the Demon Lord. Mother Hulda herself was slain, and her coven murdered as well, as the warriors of Hell began to pour out. Etheldredda found herself face-to-face with John Black, and the two fought amidst the chaos until Black managed a successful hit with one of his bombs, melting off Etheldredda's face and leaving her for dead.

When all hope seemed lost, Br'nard Even'star sacrificed himself to seal the Hellgate, using a prophetic warhammer which healed Etheldredda's wounds. Although the world had been saved, Etheldredda had now lost all hope of ever joining Mother Hulda's coven, which had been eliminated, or of allying herself with Br'nard, who was now gone from the world, seemingly forever. Dejected, and once again without a place in the world, Etheldredda started travelling once again, returning to Engelain in the process. Unbeknownst to her, she had begun to be followed by the veteran big-game hunter Skullvulture, who would have little qualms with adding a hagspawn to his tally.

However, Etheldredda would first run into Thorek II Goblinsbane, a general of some long-forgotten conflict. There was a new threat rising in the world- The Dread Lord, a being that had somehow obtained godhood and found a way in which to hamstring the other gods from interfering in his plot of global domination. Thorek had received a prophecy, stating that the cowardly Sin Solar (once again) was vital for the safety of the planet. Having experience with the man and with nothing to lose, Etheldredda joined in this quest, as did Skullvulture, who seemingly valued the potential to face against a god much more than he did simply slaying Etheldredda.

Sadly the world had taken a darker turn, and the other recruits for the mission were mostly less than stellar. It forced Etheldredda to work alongside John Black, when she would much rather be killing him, as well as the wraith Xin'Orzhov, which had in her previous adventure murdered her teammate Eddie Clarke, before stealing his body for his own purposes. Also joining the group was Ryle Emeraldian, Sans'Ux, Kai, Hel'Grin Ironsides, Sir Charles of Richton, Xiang, Aalok, Illyanna, The Sentinel and Annie Wells. Thorek had it on good information that a certain Angel had the information needed to track down Sin Solar, and as soon as Skullvulture had tracked down and apprehended the being, the group set off towards Capital City.

However, they were assailed by an ogress shaman leading a war band of orcs, goblins, giant spiders and other horrors. The fighting lead to a lot of the group splitting up, with Ryle Emeraldian and John Black taking off with the angel, Skullvulture disappearing and Hel'Grin Ironsides perishing in the battle. Etheldredda managed to survive this conflict, taking an orcish scimitar as her weapon and handing Br'nard's dagger to Annie so she was not completely defenceless.

Shortly after this battle, Br'nard Even'star was miraculous brought back from the Demon Halls by The Sentinel, but his reuniting with Etheldredda was a sour one- the wraith Xin'Orzhov had sworn itself into Etheldredda's services via magical contract, so that the hagspawn could trust the wraith, yet Br'nard remembered it well for the beast which killed one of his best friends. Br'nard and Thorek clashed momentarily, until Etheldredda explained the situation, and a bitter and disgusted Br'nard left the group.

Heading onwards to Capital City in order to track down the stolen angel, the group was once again assailed outside the city walls by a group of mercenaries lead by Timruviel Flayvirion. During the fighting, Etheldredda was caught in an explosion, leaving her in a mortal state and giving her horrific facial scars. An emissary from the Dread Lord ruled Capital City arrived, and offered to trade the life-force of one member of their group in order to revive Etheldredda, to which Thorek agreed. Etheldredda was brought back as Thorek died in her place, leaving the group without a leader. Stealing one of the mercenary's helms to cover her facial scarring, Etheldredda continued on into Capital City.

Within Capital City, Etheldredda faced against many adversaries, as the city had been overtaken by a necromancer known only as the Lich King who swore his allegiance to the Dread Lord. Facing through undead hordes, vermin swarms, and other monstrosities, Etheldredda and the others eventually escaped on the back of griffins summoned by Findecano, the illegitimate half-child offspring of the elven king Galadriel, though he and his sister Alaterial were unable to escape, with Br'nard Even'star returning at the final moment on the back of a war rhinoceros to break the group out of the city, and Skullvulture remaining behind to face the zombie king.

Having not found what they were looking for in Capital City, (the angel had been leading them to Cadmus Solar, one of the countless offspring Sin has had over the years, but Ryle Emeraldian got to the boy first and had taken him his own way,) Etheldredda decided to carry on south-east, in the hopes of finding something else that may aid in their quest. Discovering an intact-church, they were momentarily taken in by the priest in charge of the establishment, Marcellus Chaplin, who had turned into a warrior as a result of the current crisis. There, those that paid homage to the gods were given holy gifts in return, though Etheldredda refused to oblige the gods- none had ever done anything for her.

The church coming under attack, Etheldredda fled as Marcellus Chaplin and The Sentinel remained behind to hold off the foes pouring out of Capital City. Having lost most of the group within Capital City, now all that remained to Etheldredda's band was Annie, Judy, (a teenager they had run into within Capital City,) Ranill Aenor, (a snow elf they came upon on the road,) and the returned Br'nard Even'star. They resolved to head to Messia, once the capital of the Tyrannian Empire, now corrupted into the demonic heartland of the Dread Lord's power.

Entering into the city, the group split up, with Etheldredda and Annie heading into the catacombs beneath the Castle of Saints. There, they aided in the freeing of the slaves that had been kept within Messia, and Etheldredda dueled against a hag that she knew from her coven of old. Coming up from the castle, Etheldredda discovered that the entire city had descended into chaos- Sin Solar had been found by Ryle Emeraldian and John Black, and so the Dread Lord was sending his elite warriors to deal with the mess. However, with the forces of good seemingly prevailing, the Dread Lord himself used the mass sacrifice of his people to force his spirit down to earth, to fight the adventurers himself.

Etheldredda, along with Br'nard, Ryle Emeraldian and his crew, Xiang, Siera Nilifen, Illyanna, Cadmus and Alcarin, all took on the Dread Lord in combat, and miraculously ended up defeating the Dread Lord, with Annie herself delivering the final kill. Siera healed the fighters of their wounds, and a door appeared where the Dread Lord had been slain. Passing through it, the Heroes of Messia discovered they were in the Halls of Janus, and Janus himself addressed them, stating that the Dread Lord's true name was Acoxyle, and that he was simply the lieutenant to a greater evil, one which Janus has been doing battle with for eternity. With the Dread Lord defeated, Janus could go back and delete his existence, and bring the world to peace once more. No one would remember the sacrifices made except for themselves, yet the world would be healed- and it was implied that they would be called upon once again.

Entering back into the new world, a healed world, Etheldredda was left to consider what to do with her time. She resolved to take a break from adventuring, but still needing some outlet for her eternal rage she became an apprentice under Braddistan Clarke, and for the next six months lived in Copperdale, forging for herself a new iron-wrought mask in the shape of the Hagfather. Though she was present for Azul's attack on Copperdale, she was unable to personally locate any demons and therefore could not offer any help, but the reintroduction of evil into her life reminded Etheldredda of the horrors that she had faced over her life. Knowing that she would never be able to rest until she faced her past, and knowing the world would never be safe so long as The Great Mother lived, Etheldredda decided to assemble a task force with the purpose of marching into Myrkviðr and cleansing it of its hag problem.