Sygtryd

## Kröl of the Kryn

Sygtryd TÏvarsðóttir is the Kröl of the Kryn.

## Biography

Sygtryd was born to Brön Skærsnær and Myrta Ungrburðr in 372 AC, though this year is not known to them as such. In the calendars of the Kryn, it was the year 254 of the 6th age.

In her earliest years, Sygtryd was not of any note around the village as she wasn't born to a heroic father or exceptional mother, but many saw that this child would have a life blessed by the gods. She was, what the Southerners called "kissed by fire," or of red hair as her folk called it. It was believed that red hair was a sign from the gods of their blessing and that should this person fall in battle, they would return after they had reached their fill of the feast with the gods, to come back to this world as a newborn, knowing only of the feast that was beyond.

Sygtryd wasn't pushed into belief as was tradition, but her life directed her into this way. After her eight birthday, she was sent into the mountains to live in solitude for a month. She took her supplies and headed off to find a cave she had seen in a dream that had plagued her for nearly a year. Every night she dreamt of this very cave and every morning woke to learn more about it. When she reached the cave after four days of walking, she found it just like she had seen it in her dreams. A circle of rocks where a fire had once been kept, a bed made of pine needles, and a stream near the back of the cave that flowed from the ceiling onto the ground where it disappeared. She made a makeshift wall from cutting small trees that populated the mountains and tying them together with rope that was in her supplies. She knew that her rope would never be used for an easy out as some of her peers had done. Her food was solely acquired from hunting, though this was never her specialty, trapping small animals made it easy to catch things without much effort.

During her stay, it was clear to her that the gods gave their blessing to whatever might come to her later in life. She heard the gods in the flowing of the stream and in the howl of the wind, she saw the gods in the food she caught and in the fire that never ceased to burn. She knew that this was their call and answered it as a devout zealot to them.

After her month in the mountain cave, she came back careful to take all of her supplies back, earning her a spot of honor in the kröl´s hall. She could live both there and with her parents, something only those who proved exceptional valor or resourcefulness.

She would find the next years of her life filled with tests such as the one in the cave, from longer trips she went through at eleven and then at fourteen, to being brought to war at the young age of fifteen. Her prowess was special with that of a sword, for not many people aside from the most distinguished warriors could wield it to her level.

In 391 AC, the previous kröl was challenged by Rogar Longshanks and defeated in an embarrassing matter. Left on his knees, rather than submit defeat, the man pledged himself to Rogar and raised him to the title of King Beyond the Wall, something the Kryn had never followed through with.

After the embarrassing defeat, Sygtryd decided she had enough of this awful reign. He had done nothing of note other than going to war with a neighboring tribe where all he accomplished was the death of her father and mother. Now all she had left of them was an empty house and two steel blades. She asked the other distinguished warriors if they felt the same way and so they gathered outside of the kröl´s hall where they voted on their new leader. In honor of her accomplishments and seeming favor of the gods, they elected her as the new leader. A woman had not led the tribe since the year 68 of the 6th age, but it was still common in their folklore.

She asked the other warriors to spare themselves the deed and let her finish the chieftain. She entered the hall and proceeded to kill everyone there from the servants to the chieftain's children, saving him for last. She woke him first before allowing him to discover what had happened and run out of his doors before she appeared behind him and said, "You disgraced this tribe with your rule, this was the price," and she slit his throat. Many villagers had come out to see where the screams of pain were coming from and had assembled before the hall. After Sygtryd slit, the chieftain's throat proclaimed that his name will be forgotten for the disgrace he brought to the tribe and that the warrior's had elected her to be the new chieftain. Several people spat and turned to go back into their homes while others chanted her name. At the age of 19, Sygtryd became the Kröl of the Kryn, carrying the title Sygtryd TÏvarsðóttir, Kröl of the Kryn.

Since becoming kröl, her sister proposed that she take a husband in order to establish a line should she die. Her husband was named Olön Runewright for his obvious profession in addition to being a formidable warrior. After being married for three years with no children, they came to the conclusion that she was infertile. It would mean that there would be another transition of power in the village.

She heard of reports that Rogar was finally massing and asked anyone who would follow the fool to go there. She would follow through on the previous kröl's pledge.

## Timeline

* 372 AC - Sygtryd is born
* 380 AC - Her first trip into the mountains
* 383 AC - Her second trip into the mountains
* 386 AC - Her third trip into the mountains
* 387 AC - Her first war
* 391 AC - Sygtryd becomes the Kröl of the Kryn
* 393 AC - Sygtryd marries Olön Runewright
* 397 AC - Sygtryd and some of the Kryn make their way to Hardhome

## Family

* Brön Skærsnær, father, 350 AC - 388 AC
* Myrta Ungrburðr, mother, 354 AC - 388 AC
* Rhyta Hlíf, sister, b. 378 AC