Folki Asgajólf

> " *Each day is a blessed day for the faithful.* "
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**Folki Asgajólf** is a holy cleric and cult leader from the Twelfth District. He is a member of the Yuwen household and is one of the closest advisors of Iger Yuwen.

When House Yuwen goes north to pledge fealty to House Snow, Folki travels with them. He is accompanied by a group of eight men who represent part of his cult following. He goes with Iger into the great hall of Winter Keep during the pledging of fealty.

Aria notices that he spreads his arms and bows his upper body slightly when introducing the lord of his house. He seems to regard everything around him as inconsequential or amusing. His eyes are almost constantly glittering with unspoken emotion. Most of the time he speaks lightly, jests often, and laughs at others, but Aria also notices a harsh streak beneath his outward nature. She thinks he is a man who could turn just as easily to cruelty as to laughter.

Folki is strongly supportive of the ideas of Iger, despite many privately regarding them as completely delusional. He agrees that Iger is the reincarnation of Shaegic, god of war and divinity.

Much of his early life is not known. He believes his father was a Sethren reaver who raped his mother while voyaging along the East Shore. When he was still in infancy his mother took him from her home village to be raised with the child of a female cousin in a nearby settlement, as her milk would not come. The other infant died during the winter of that year, leaving him the only child for several years of stillbirths until more were born who survived infancy.

According to Folki, from a young age he experienced terrible headaches and suffered many fainting spells. He says these were visions from Reinohem which were manifesting themselves during his young years. He was the oldest child in his relative's household and held a large amount of influence over the other children.

As a boy he was taught construction and shipbuilding and demonstrated considerable skill in the trade. After having dreams he believed were sent by Reinohem, he left his village and began traveling the District, preaching on street corners and sleeping wherever he could without payment.

Over the course of several years, Folki's travels took him out of his birth District into places he had never traveled before. He believes he was drawn farther north because the practice of the Irsgithimmil faith was stronger there.

After several more years Folki traveled throughout the Fourteenth District and eventually came to Maellfell. There he met with House Maellor and pledged fealty to the house lord. He was granted a place as a cleric in the vassal house of Yuwen.

Folki is a highly religious man who holds his faith in the gods of the Irsgithimmil above all. He is viewed by some as a zealot and somewhat unstable. There are those who believe he is insane and others who see him only as delusional.

He is the leader of a cult to Reinohem, the god of prophecy, the dead, and the season cycles. He believes he is sent dreams by Reinohem and that his headaches and dizziness are caused by the god's attempts to communicate with him during his waking hours.

His extreme religious ardor and fervent loyalty to the Reinohem deity in particular have led him to believe that the north is not nearly pious enough. He encourages daily prayer and sacrifice among his followers and others he encounters in new settlements. He wants to bring back the old practices of human sacrifice by burning.

Because Reinohem draws strength from the agony of his followers, Folki practices self-mutilation. His arms and chest are scarred with deep cuts that will not completely heal. At one time he told Argenn of the vassal house Wrent that he wants to put out his own eyes in the future for the god.