Valkyrie (Eldingar)

(Backstory, ideas, reasoning)

## Backstory

Before his marriage to Sif, and sometimes after, Thor was fond of walking the streets of Asgard at night, looking for a place to drink mead and possibly a woman to warm his bed for the night. It was on one of these occasions that Thor came across the beautiful Juulia. She was playful in nature, seemingly carefree whilst being very caring towards others.

A few months later, a pregnant Juulia came to the Norse Pantheon to seek out Thor and tell him that she was with child. Engaged to Sif now, Thor refused to acknowledge the child as his own and accused Juulia of being a beggar or even Loki in disguise, come to trick him into providing money and support. Emotionally drained at this rejection, Juulia slumped away from the Pantheon but was stopped by Freya. Ever observant, she had seen what had occurred and could tell that Juulia spoke the truth. She gave Juulia a generous sum of money to help raise the child. Juulia was very grateful and promised not to abuse Freya's kindness.

For around a year Juulia was happy, she worked lenient shifts as a baker so that she could spend most of her time with her daughter, Eldingar. Unfortunately, things would not stay this way for long.

Juulia began to show signs of early onset Alzheimer's disease.

For a few months Juulia tried to persevere and continue her daily life despite her illness.

There was one day where Juulia left the house to go to the local market and pick up some ingredients. She returned home after a mere five minutes but came home to a sight that made her scream in fear. She had left little Eldingar home alone while the fire was still going. It was a weak fire, and Eldingar had done no more than sit near it to watch the flames burn. It was enough for Juulia to make a tough choice however.

Again Juulia journeyed to the Norse Pantheon, where she sought out Freya this time. Juulia explained her illness to the goddess, and ask that she take care of Eldingar for her because she no longer trusts herself to be able to keep Eldingar safe. Sorrowful for her illness, but proud of her resolve, Freya agreed to raise Eldingar and promised to take care of her to the best of her ability. Freya took Eldingar to her home in Sessrumnir to care for her.

A week later Freya began to worry about Juulia being on her own, so came to visit her home. Freya was horrified to find Juulia's home in ruins. Freya found Juulia in her bedroom, weeping. Juulia lunged at Freya, asking her who had taken her child and where she had gone. Freya gently subdued Juulia and put her to sleep.

Freya found herself unable to leave Juulia to worsen in this condition, and so took her to Alfheim, where the elves where able to care for her. They could not cure her illness, but they could keep her calm and ease her when she would panic about losing things or not knowing where she was.

Freya accepted Eldingar under her care out of obligation to Juulya, but soon found herself caring deeply for Eldingar, the child was very active and curious, always running around Sessrumnir and playing with the animals.

When Eldingar grew old enough to speak and have conversation Freya told her the truth about her mother, for she wanted Eldingar to know who Juulya was and what Eldingar had done for her. Together they visited Juulya in Alfheim, who greeted them and engaged in polite conversation, however she didn’t seem to recognise either Eldingar or Freya. Freya found this very hard to deal with, but Eldingar didn’t mind. She thought that Juulya was a nice person and felt very calm around her. Growing up Eldingar would regularly visit Juulya, and sometimes Freya would come along to see her too.

While Eldingar enjoyed playing with animals, as she got older she began to take more of an interest in the other inhabitants of Sessrumnir, that of the Valkyries and the honourable dead that they had brought from Midgard. Eldingar was naturally curious and always happy to greet those that had come to Sessrumnir from Midgard. From speaking to lieutenant of the Valkyries, Reignleif, Eldingar soon learned why they came here, and the Valkyries important role in delivering the dead.

Whenever a human deemed honourable died, the Valkyries would be summoned to collect them. They would descend down to Midgard, take the spirit from the corpse, and escort it back up to Asgard. The body would stay behind and eventually become one with the earth. Upon reaching Asgard with the spirit, a Valkyrie would take the worthy dead to one of two places, either Sessrumnir or Valhalla, where they would be ruled over by either Freya or Odin. Freya always received the first pick of the dead, and would typically pick peaceful spirits, or warriors that had grown tired of fighting. Odin on the other hand would look for warriors of glory that enjoyed fighting, drinking mead, and eating meat. These warriors he took to Valhallla, where the dead could fight all day and return to normal once the battle was over. Eldingar asked why Freya was given first pick of the Valkyries, and Reignleif explained that it was Freya that first created the Valkyries, centuries ago, so naturally first pick would go to her.

Eldingar found the Valkyries fascinating and excitedly bombarded Freya with questions on how she could become one. Freya was more than happy to help her enrol into an academy where she could study and qualify to become a Valkyrie one day. After completing precursor education, Eldingar left Asgard for Vanaheim so that she could study at the famed University of Viden-Palatsi.

Unknown to Eldingar, Freya received much resistance from Gunnr, the captain of the Valkyries, about the idea of Eldingar enrolling to study. Gunnr was the only person who Freya had ever told about Eldingar’s lineage, and Gunnr was concerned that Eldingar could inherent the Thunder God’s demonic temper and become uncontrollable. Freya was able to convince Gunnr that Eldingar’s studies would be good for her, and could teach Eldingar discipline.

Life at Viden-Palatsi was difficult to adjust to for Eldingar, for it felt harsh and unforgiving compared to peaceful Sessrumnir where she only encountered peaceful animals and people. This only worsened when her classmates discovered that Eldingar had been raised by Freya. Many of them took this as a sign that Eldingar would automatically qualify and become a Valkyrie without needing to apply herself to her studies. When Eldingar received mockery for this, she lashed out in anger for she didn’t understand why she was being treated this way for something she’d had no control over. A few students took to cruelly testing how far they could push her, finding her outbursts and tantrums amusing. One day they went too far and Eldingar became violent, attacking those that had vexed her.

Eldingar found herself at risk of Expulsion from the university. Gunnr the captain refused to accept her violent outbursts. Freya was ready to step in and vouch for Eldingar but Eldingar refused. She knew that this would prove the other's points that she was given an unfair advantage. From here on Eldingar attempted to stay calm and collected, ignoring those that bothered her. This new approach soon earned her the respect of her teachers, along with some fellow students. While still capable of aggression if pushed too far, Eldingar was able to think things through more rationally and try to avoid violence.

With more friends Eldingar performed better at the university, and excelled incredibly at combat training. While her raw strength may come from Thor, her technique and skill come from hard work and training. Despite this Eldingar struggled with academia and battle tactics, finding it difficult to see the point of such things when she was able to win every fight without needing a strategy.

Freya saw Eldingar's struggle and proposed a challenge, if Eldingar could beat her at Hnefetaf then Eldingar would have her education fast tracked and she would be allowed to take on the mantle of Valkyrie earlier than any other. Eldingar eagerly accepted the challenge however was defeated almost immediately by Freya. This showed Eldingar that she had much to learn in regards to tactics and warfare. Knowing this Eldingar dedicated herself more thoroughly too academic study and understanding the Valkyrie's purpose. Freya was proud of Eldingar for the wisdom of this decision and accepted her wish. Despite this Eldingar still graduated from the academy a year early, due to how quickly she progressed and applied herself to her studies and combat training.

Despite being qualified to serve as a Valkyrie, Eldingar wasn’t able to immediately begin due to the ranks being full at time of her qualification. She was however able to assist the core Valkyries, as an aid that would carry supplies and act as messenger when out on missions. One day a Valkyrie went missing while on patrol in Svartelheim (Land of the dwarves), so a search party of Gunnr and the Valkyries where sent to find her. Eldingar came along as an aid.

The search party headed to a town in Svartelheim where the Valk was last seen. The party talked with the local dwarves about her seen last location. The search party head off to look for the missing Valk, however Eldingar was instructed to stay behind as the territory was viewed as too dangerous for her to come along. The true danger was to remain in the town, for while the others where away, Svartelheim was attacked by Jotun trying to pillage Dwarven Weaponary and Galdur. The missing Valk was a trap set by the Jotun, to lure other Valkyries away so that the Dwarves could not call upon them for aid.

Eldingar fought with all her might along with the dwarves, felling many Jotun. Eventually she killed so many that she was able to stack their dead bodies to form a barricade to halt the Jotun's attack. As Eldingar reached exhaustion and was about to be overwhelmed, the other Valkyries returned just in time to save her. The sight of the entire Valkyrie squad was enough to send the remaining Jotun fleeing. The Jotun did not get very far, for Gunnr had found the dead body of the missing Valk with her head torn from her shoulders. In her fury Gunnr ripped the head from every fleeing Jotun she could find.

After mourning the dead Valk, Gunnr, Reignleif, and the other Valkyries praised Eldingar for her bravery and valiant defence against the Jotun. The dwarves themselves where immensely grateful to Eldingar, and personally rewarded her with a magical bracelet that allowed her to change weapon at will.

Back at Asgard a funeral was held for the Valkyrie that was killed by the Jotuns. After brief discussion with Freya, Gunnr officially declared Eldingar to be a Valkyrie, taking the place of the Valk killed in Svartelheim and officially becoming a Valkyrie.

While her duties as Valkyrie kept her busy, Eldingar still visited Juulia at least once a month.

## Abilities

- Expertly trained to fight with Swords, Spears, Axes, Warhammers, Bows, and a variety of other weapons.

- Incredible physical strength, inherited from Thor

- Teleportation