Olaf Pathwander

**Olaf Pathwander**, born **Olaf Alreksson**, is a human priest of the northern barbarian god Vatun. He was the leader of the Company of the Raven.

Olaf was portrayed by Bob Richardson.

## Relationships

Olaf is good friends with the dwarven battlerager, Durlauf Dragonhyde.

## History

Olaf was born Readying 14th, 562 CY in Ullensvang, a small village located at the foot of the Griff Mountains, in the lands of the Frost Barbarians. He was the second son of Alrek Geirrodsson, the local chieftain, who was also a highly respected priest of Vatun. His mother's name was Bera, and his elder brother by four years was named Runolf Alreksson. Alrek groomed both of his sons for the priesthood, but Olaf was the natural, as Runolf was too impatient and made a better warrior than a godi.

From the age of fifteen on, Olaf aided in the defense of his village, assisting his father's housecarls in flushing out orcs, ogres, and other menaces from the Griffs. In summer, he would often join the men of his village and others in sea raids along the Aerdy coast and the islands of the Sea Barons. All this came to a fateful end late in 585 CY, as winter neared.

Olaf had been away from Ullensvang for a few days, hunting in the mountains. upon returning, he found his village a burned-out husk. On closer investigation, he found every man, woman, and child in the village had been slain. He quickly determines orcs were responsible, as there were about two dozen looting the remains, as well as the dead bodies of perhaps a hundred more that his kinsmen had taken down with them. Olaf spent the next few hours slowly picking the remaining orcs off, one-by-one, relying mainly on his magic and his wits, until only a handful remained. By that time, however, the orcs had cornered him. badly wounded, and all his magic exhausted, Olaf was soon expecting to join his kin. Instead, he was greeted by the sight berserking tattooed dwarf wielding a battleaxe. Together, the two dispatched the remaining orcs.

The dwarf introduced himself as Durlauf Dragonhyde, of the mountain stronghold of Morovakk, which Ullensvang sometimes traded with. Durlauf explained that he'd been banished from the stronghold for "a little misunderstanding." Olaf and his new companion gathered what they could salvage from the village, then built a huge funeral pyre for his sole survivor's kinsmen. By rights, the rulership of Ullensvang had passed to Olaf, but he was now a chieftain without a tribe.

That night, Olaf had a vision, in which a raven came to him and suggested he leave the northlands and gather a tribe of his own. When morning came, the young godi cast the runes, which told him to take the "wound-wolf's arm" and go to the "marrow fields" to seek the "kin of the blood swans." After much thinking, Olaf concluded that "wound wolf's arm" was none other that Durlauf, as the skalds often referred to axes as the "wolves of wounds." He thought the "marrow fields" referred to the Bone March, a battle-scarred land to the south, on Aerdy's northern border. Though he was certain that "blood swans" was another name for ravens, he wasn't sure what was meant by their "kin." Regardless, the dwarf was amiable to a trip to the Bone March, and the two set off that day.

A few weeks later, after having finally made it to the Bone March, the pair encountered a man who was being chased down by three armored warriors on horseback. Not liking the odds, the pair decided to aid him, and together, the three were able to slay the pursuers. The man, who turned out to be a mute, communicated to his rescuers via writing that his name was Rook, and he had been branded a traitor by Ivid V, Overking of the Great Kingdom of Aerdy, for refusing an assassination. Realizing that rooks are indeed kin to "blood swans," Olaf invited the man to join them. At that moment, Olaf spied a raven flying to the west, and realized that was the direction their journey led.