Edda

Collective

**Edda** (pronounced *ed-dah*) is the Shaman of the Plains Tribe. She was selected to be trained as a Shaman when she was six years old. Edda is somewhat of a pacifist, and abhors the use of destructive magicks used without caution.

## Appearance

Edda is a short and stocky woman who wears her hair long and wears simplistic ornamental facial paint made from ochre. She predominantly wears furs, and has several pieces of ornamentation made from seashell or bone and leather. Edda makes whatever pieces of clothes she wears, and takes pride in her necklace, which has small copper-red beads and antler beads on it.

## History

### Early Life

While Edda was born into the Plains tribe, her father was originally a member of a different, far smaller tribe, and one of a group of five that survived the flash-flood that decimated their valley home. These five survivors of the Red Creek Tribe were captured by the Plains Tribe, and were permitted to stay, but treated fairly poorly by the Plains Tribe. Edda’s mother bedded Edda’s father, and eventually gave birth to twins- Edda the eldest, and a younger sister who died shortly after birth.

### Becoming a Shaman

Edda was selected as the apprentice shaman by the previous shaman when she was six, a stern lady in her forties called Isa who taught her the tribe’s rites and herblore so that Edda could take over as her successor.

As she learnt more from Isa, Edda’s responsibilities to the tribe increased too.

### Adult Life

When she was 18, Edda caught the attention of Brun an older, prominent hunter in consideration for being the next chief. Edda became pregnant by Brun and gave birth to Ram.

Brun became the chief shortly after Edda gave birth, and Edda raised her son while continuing to be Shaman to the Plains Tribe.

Edda's second, and last pregnancy at 25 was also by Brun, who was then almost 40 years old.

Shortly before Ono was born, Isa became sick. Despite her best efforts, Isa died and Edda took over the role of Tribe Shaman. One of Isa’s last requests to Edda was that she find a suitable successor to the knowledge, as she said she had read the signs that Edda would have a difficult birth and might not survive it.

Edda had a difficult birth because Ono was born facing the wrong way. Ono was seen as a bad omen because she was born with albinism, and as a curse from the spirit world that led to her dad getting killed, as it was her father who directly intervened on Ono’s behalf, when a midwife tried to kill her when she was born, as he broke the sanctity of the birthing tent when he rushed into the tent as he had heard shouts inside and saw Edda weakly trying to fight off the midwife who wanted to kill her newborn daughter, even though Brun’s death was two years after Ono’s birth. Despite living under the chief’s protection, Ono was treated fairly poorly by the other people of the tribe, who resented her presence there. Despite surviving the difficult birth, any further births would be just as, if not more so dangerous as Ono’s birth, and would decrease Edda’s chances of surviving.

Ram and Ono’s father Brun died in a hunting accident when Ono was nearly two. Since then, Edda began sharing the mantle of tribe shaman with her son Ram, and has gradually been training Ram in the lore and training him to be a Shaman to take over the mantle as shaman of the tribe from herself, so she can then focus on raising her infant daughter and eventually move to a place where people would be less fearful of Ono.

## Relationships

### Children

#### Ram

Ram has a remarkable and significant resemblance to his father. He will grow up tall and strong, and has inherited his father’s facial features. Some members of the Plains Tribe comment that Ram looks a lot like his father Brun did as a young man though with lighter hair. He is meek, unsure of himself, and wants to please people. He has a large birthmark on the right side of his chest going up his neck.

#### Ono

Ono is small for her age and has yellowed-white hair and pink skin that stands out in her tribe. Her eyes are a pale violet, and if you were to look carefully at her irises, they tend to wobble when she wants to focus on something. Bright lights hurt her eyes, and she shrieks a lot. Ono is a smart child, though she is presently a little lacking socially and verbally-delayed because of ostracisation from her tribe.

### Familiar

Edda’s familiar is a White Weasel named Gebo. He is very protective of Edda and her daughter Ono, and keeps Ono company when Edda needs to focus on her Shamanic duties.

## The Plains Tribe

The Plains Tribe settled their lands on The Great Plains over two hundred years ago. Originally formed by human isolationists who wished to get back to a simpler existence, these people gradually adopted a Neolithic-era lifestyle. The most advanced thing that The Plains Tribe does is probably the manufacturing of simplistic metal tools and the production of clay storage urns. Tools are predominantly made from bone, stone, wood, and rope, and The Plains Tribe actively keeps dogs, sheep, and goats. They also have a primitive system of agriculture. The Plains Tribe is notoriously racist and superstitious, and is actively dismissive of all non-human races, though attitudes have mellowed considerably in the last twenty years, with the creation of new inter-tribal trade routes on The Great Plains.