Hrafnata

Hrafnata
In-Character Information
Country	RagnFjord
Other Name(s)
Class	Rogue
Gender
Alignment
Race	[[]]
Religion
Out-of-Character Information
Date Joined
Affiliated with

{{#if:|}} {{#if:Rogue|}} {{#if:RagnFjord|}}

Hrafnata of clan Ulfrafn, known as Angwusnasomtaqa by the Frost Giants, called Nat or Nata by her siblings:

Hrafnata is from a secluded family, and one of the eldest in her family. Her great grandparents were deeply religious and could not abide by the seclusionist demands of their king. Refusing to allow the family to die off one by one in shame, her great grandmother, Ylva, went to the temple and prayed to the gods for guidance. After spending hours in meditation and prayer, the gods granted her a vision.

In this vision, a black wolf with golden eyes sat before her, staring into her eyes for a long time. Then the wolf turned his attention to a raven flying towards them. The raven landed in front of Ylva and carefully laid a golden rose at the feet of the wolf. The wolf carefully picked up the rose and, while maintaining eye contact, dropped the rose into Ylva's hand. Ylva became the wolf, the raven cried out and launched into the air. Wolf-Ylva ran after the raven, following it tirelessly as the raven flew to the south and west. Wolf-Ylva stopped on a mountain top overlooking the lands of the frost giant. The raven landed beside her. Wolf-Ylva leaned down and gently touched her nose to the raven's beak. Suddenly Ylva became the raven and kept into the air with a joyful cry.

Raven-Ylva circled a valley at the foot of the mountain, then flew along a river and into a frost giant encampment. Then Raven-Ylva flew from tent to tent as though looking for something. She than landed near a cook fire surrounded by frost giant younglings. An elderly female frost giant emerged from a tent, and Raven-Ylva flew to her and landed on her outstretched hand.

Ylva abruptly found herself back in the temple, clutching a golden rose in her hand. A priest was sitting across from her, staring at her. He told her she had been there for a day and a night, unmoving. He said she had received a powerful message from the gods, and that she would be a fool to ignore it.

Ylva went home and told her family of the vision. She then ordered them to pack for a journey, and removed the family to the southwest edge of Ragnfjord on the border of frost giant lands. There she crossed into frost giant lands and found the elderly giant from her vision, and learned she was of the Ayawamat Tribe.

They entered into an agreement. Every year, on summer solstice, Clan Ulfrafn and members of the frost giants Ayawamat Tribe would meet in a secluded valley on the boarder between their lands for a day of feasting and celebration. At nightfall, the eldest in Clan Ulfrafn would face youngest and strongest of the frost giants new warriors in a fierce battle.

For the young warriors, this was a rite of passage to adulthood, and they would gain skill and honor in fighting with such skilled clansmen. For the clansmen this was a right of passage to Valhalla, thus sparing them the shame of dying of old age, instead starting them on threir journey to Valhalla in the prime of their fighting years. This sacred celebration provided the means for traditional rites of passage while maintaining some level of compliance with the unnatural dictates of their respective leaders.

When Hrafnata was 3, she attended her first Solstice celebration. When the bonfires were lit, the ritual combat began. A young raven was startled by the first clash of battle and became entangled in brambles. Hrafnata ran across the field of battle, dodging combatants, to assist the ailing young raven. Seeing this, the matriarch of the Ayawamat Tribe attended the bold child and frightened raven, and bestowed upon Hrafnata the name Angwusnasomtaqa, which means Mother of Ravens in the frost giants language.

Many years of prosperity and respect for the old ways abruptly came to an end. One night a group of armed Ayawamat younglings burst into the Ulfrafn encampment. They said that humans had broken the peace with the frost giants, and the Ayawamat tribe had been slaughtered by their own people when it was discovered they had interactions with the Ulfrafn Clan.

The Ayawamat younglings did their best to defend the encampment as the clan fled. Their bravery, and the older men of the clan let their family's flee into the night. Hrafnata only had time to grab her bow and arrows in one arm, and her baby nephew in the other. As they fled, their encampment burned.

The Ulfrafn Clan did its best to regroup and organize before fleeing to Raven's Hearth, but time was not on their side. Many were lost in the flight. As the remaining clansmen neared Raven's Hearth, they joined the stream of refugees from the countryside.

Upon arriving in Raven's Hearth, Hrafnata only delayed long enough to see that the children of the clan were safe and tended to before joining in the defense of the city.

Weeks later, after the frost giants were finally turned away and order returned to Raven's Hearth, Hrafnata made her way to the temple. She had heard the new king had ordered ships to be built, and new lands to be explored. Torn between her duty to her decimated clan and the chance to fully return to the old ways of exploration and glory, she prayed and made offerings to the gods.

As she left the temple she was thinking of her clan, and thinking it might be best to put aside her desire to be in the first wave of exploration. As she rounded a tree on the path from the temple, she was startled by a raven's cry. She turned to see a black wolf blocking the path back to town. It stared at her with bright golden eyes. Staring into the eyes of the wolf, she could see herself on a ship and feel the wind in her hair.

When she blinked, the wolf was gone and small gold rose was lying on the path in its place. Hrafnata returned to her family and told her sister what she had seen. Her sister agreed she must do as the wolf bid, and presented Hrafnata with the brocade belt that their great grandmother Ylva had woven after her vision. Hrafnata then made her goodbyes to her clan and, with her clans blessing, went to build a ship.