Name: Aegil
Title(s): Aegil the Archer, Brother of Völundr
Class: Archer
Gender: Male
Attribute: Not yet given
Era: Age of Gods
Alignment: Neutral Good
Personality: Aegil is in many was a simple man. The perceived majority of his life he lived in a cottage together with his wive, his two brothers, and their wives. The rest he spent traveling as a hunter. He does not care about gold nor power and is perfectly content living off the bounties of the wild, and based on the fact that he cared little about brazenly lying to a King to save his brother it is apparent that Aegil places great value in familial bonds. That being said he is no famed hero and is simply one to show up when needed, as he would otherwise simply continue to pursue his own goal, that being his wish to once more be reunited with his wife Ölrún. He sports a gruff beard, his clothes and dagger are slightly worn from overuse, and his hands are rough and calloused, the only inspiring quality of his being his skill in archery.
Thanks to the machinations of the Throne of Heroes Aegil was preserved in his prime and he thus takes on the age and mindset of a man in his mid 20s, meaning that he will gladly agree to any of his Master’s commands but not be bothered in the least if he were to get distracted along the way. This only applies to orders of less importance of course as he wouldn’t leave his Master to die on a mere whim, but it might be more challenging to coordinate an organized assault with him as he would be prone to attacking in a manner that suits him best instead. It might take an authoritative presence on the battlefield to reign him in if that is the case.
In his free time he is not one to shy away from conversation as his lone travels no doubt left him rather starved for company, but ironically this also leaves him with lacking social skills to actually strike up a decent conversation, leaving him especially wary around authoritative figures such as kings and rulers for obvious reasons. His favorite animals are swans, and he’s still not quite sure how to feel about apples.
Character Objectives: Aegil's needs and wants are in a way whimsical. Seeing as he doesn't particularly care about material possessions and power he is one to be satisfied by the simple pleasures of laying down in a soft bed or even just finding himself in a clean well-kept area. He doesn't mind the wilderness of course and has grown very much used to it, but he nevertheless delights in the change of scenery and living conditions and is easily entertained by modern conveniences. If anything, and while he does not reek, he would likely get enamored by the act of bathing considering how much modern amenities have improved this simple pleasure, but this is likely the extent of his immediate wants and needs.
Owing to his alignment Aegil will naturally aim to do good. Though he is not driven by the chivalric code or other honorable philosophies, it's simply in his nature to drop by and lend a helping hand if needed seeing as he likely has nothing better to do than to continue on his ambiguous journey to meet his wife again. He himself has already accepted the futility of his adventure, but over time has made peace with it and now simply enjoys the act of traveling and seeing the world, honing his skills as an archer and hunter along the way and using them to settle the occasional conflicts he would get involved in. He's not one to think and plan out his actions several steps ahead, unless confronted with a serious confrontation of course, but the way he simply married a Valkyrie one day just because he considered her to be beautiful shows just how whimsical and impulsive he is, let alone how he would spend the rest of his life looking for her despite knowing just how futile his journey was going to be. If he had to name a single Primary Objective however, it would likely be along the lines of simply 'continuing his journey' as he is a wanderer by nature. Anything that will happen will happen and anything that doesn't doesn't. He is the type to enter someone else's adventure as a guest and will gladly be a part of it provided they welcome his aid, just how he only ever played a 'side-character' in his younger brother's myth without possessing one of his own, but he is nevertheless perfectly content playing that role.
Bio: Aegil was born as the second of three sons born to the King of the Sami people, an indigenous population residing in Finland that had close ties to the local Elves and Faeries. While his older brother grew up to be a warrior and his younger would later be known as a renowned smith, Aegil was remembered as a gifted archer. Having grown into adulthood, Aegil and his brothers journeyed together for a time before building themselves a home in the forests of Ulfdalir right next to the lake Ulfsjar. Early one morning the three brothers found three Valkyries bathing naked in the lake in the form of swans and took them as their wives. Aegil’s wife went by the name of Ölrún, daughter of Kjárr King of the Valir, and together the two would go on many adventures. While Ölrún was privy to Primordial Runes and would often use them in the presence of Aegil, he was an archer and not a mage, so while he commonly witnessed her display of rune-craft, he retained none of that knowledge in his conscious mind. Regardless, together they enjoyed a happy marriage of 7-9 years before Ölrún and her sisters were called to battle and never returned. Aegil immediately set out despite the harsh winter conditions and embarked on a journey to reunite with his wife, and though that adventure ultimately ended in failure, he would meet his younger brother Völundr along the way at which point he perform his most famous feat.
His brother had in fact stayed behind after his wife had left him, eventually falling into the captivity of King Niðhad who made use of his talents as a smith by forcing him to slave away day and night to produce priceless artifacts. Aegil found out about his brother’s abduction and arrived at the King’s court along with with his three year old son. Known as the greatest archer in the land, Niðhad demanded proof of Aegil’s skill and placed an apple on his son’s head, instructing Aegil to shoot it. Seeing as he had to win the King’s trust Aegil went along with the act and drew three arrows, the first of which split the apple clean in two. When asked by the King why he drew three arrows when he accomplished the feat with just one, Aegil confessed that had his son died, he would have used the remaining arrows to murder Niðhad for having given him the order. The King admired Aegil’s honesty and welcomed him to his court with open arms. Now free to move about the castle grounds Aegil used his bow to secretly shoot birds from the sky, collecting enough feathers to craft a pair of wings for his brother to escape his prison. Niðhad witnessed the escape however, fortunately unaware of Aegil’s involvement, and ordered him to shoot down his own brother to prevent the escape. Aegil did so without hesitation, though having had the foresight to tie a cow’s bladder filled with blood to Völundr’s body, the two brothers succeeded in tricking the King, concluding the story.
Not much is known of Aegil otherwise, though due to the repeated mentions of his younger brother Völundr being King or Prince of the Elves it is implied that they shared a common lineage with them, which would explain Völundr's extraordinary feats in forging famed armaments like the armor of Beowulf, Tilpin's sword Almace, Ogier the Dane's Curtana, Roland's Durandal, Siegried's Gram, Robin Hood's Albion, King Arthur's Caliburn, and many others. This would also explain Aegil's immense bow-strength, seeing as he was shown to be powerful enough to fight off an army of Frost-giants along with his wife Ölrún supporting him and emerge victorious.
Weapon: Bow and Arrows crafted for him by his younger brother Völundr. Boasts outstanding toughness and elasticity to withstand Aegil's powerful draw-strength and has been blessed with Runes by his wife the Valkyrie Ölrún. That being said, being completely illiterate in all things related to magecraft, Aegil cannot use them in any way. They automatically activate upon invocation of his Secondary Noble Phantasm to ignite his bow but don't serve any other purpose.
One hunting dagger (replacing the sword shown in the reference image). This dagger is just that, a dagger, and hold no special properties other than being solidly crafted. Classifies as a D Rank Noble Phantasm if it had to be given a Rank.
ParametersStrength: B
Endurance: E
Agility: D+
Mana: E
Luck: D
SkillsClass SkillsMagic Resistance (B) - Originating from deep within the Age of Gods and being of Elven heritage, Aegil benefits from a high Rank in Magic Resistance. This allows him to cancel spells below three verses and grants him powerful resistance even to High Thaumaturgy and Greater Rituals.
Independent Action (A) - Being a famous hunter Aegil would often isolate himself for days on end during his expeditions, and as such is used to acting independently. Even when rescuing his brother he acted on his own initiative and planned the escape, though seeing as he has no reason not to follow his Master’s commands so long as they seem reasonable to him, he is not the type to rebel or defy orders directly.
Personal SkillsDivinity (D) - Low ranking Divinity thanks to being related to the Elves.
Item Construction (D) - Together Aegil and Völundr once constructed a pair of wings that would aid in the latter’s escape, and Aegil is able to replicate this myth now that he has become a Servant. Though this Skill is of a low Rank, this is only due to the fact that Aegil is only able to construct a very limited array of items, mainly the instruments that contributed to his brother’s escape, yet the wings themselves are of splendid quality. Though Aegil is first required to obtain feathers as he is unable to produce them himself, the construction of wings will only take roughly half an hour after which they can be fitted to either himself or his friends and allies, granting them Agility of Rank C regardless of their previous attributes. This means that a Servant possessing Rank A Agility (with the inability to fly) will still only be able to move with Agility of Rank C while airborne. Their inherent Agility on the ground will remain unchanged of course, though they would now be able to make use of their wings as aerodynamic stabilizers even when grounded, enabling them to perform otherwise impossible movements (such as sudden or unnatural turns, quick acceleration by using the wings for propulsion or alternatively using them to break, etc.)
That being said, seeing as Aegil constructed these wings along with his brother Völundr, he lacks the knowledge and skill to replicate them perfectly, and as such they will fall apart from use. While they will last for up to an hour when used just for recreational purposes and travel, when stressing them in combat and pushing them to their limits they will only last around 15 minutes at best.
Clairvoyance (B) - Frequently used during scouting, simply looking from a high location is sufficient to fully survey a town and search for enemies and also contributes to Aegil’s accuracy with his bow. Naturally Aegil isn’t an actual clairvoyant, but has shown skill in predicting and preparing for future events before they have come to pass, such as when he readied multiple arrows when shooting the apple off his son’s head or when suggesting that his brother should strap a blood-filled bladder to his chest in the unlikely event that he is spotted and Aegil would be made to shoot him down. While actual divining of the future is impossible, Aegil can get reasonably close by predicting likely occurrences on a short-term basis. Other than that, this Skill simply denotes excellent eyesight and perception.
Noble PhantasmsName: Apfel Spalten
Title: Thrice Drawn Arrows of Unerring Precision
Type: Anti-Unit
Rank: B
Range: 1 - 75
Maximum Number of Targets: 1
Description: As the second oldest origin of the Apple-Shot myth, the original being the tale of Palnatoki, Aegil predates the feats of William Tell, Punker of Rohrbach, Henning Wulf, William of Cloudeslee, as well as the stories of those inspired by the original concept of the Apple-Shot such as Hemingr Áslákson and Eindriði Pansa. As such, Aegil inevitably shares this Noble Phantasm with all those that came after him, yet enjoys the benefit of a sizable boost to its potency owing to the age of his myth. This Noble Phantasm is conceptual in nature and is imbued with the attribute of ‘unerring precision’. In other words, this attack must always and will always find its target as its very nature is based on the famed legend of the Apple-shot, something that has been popularized throughout the ages and retold every few generations in a cyclical manner. It is very similar to Gae Bolg in that regard, both being attacks whose very nature forbid them from missing, yet this Noble Phantasm lacks the lethality of ‘always piercing the heart’ and is merely left with the concept of ‘not missing’, meaning that it can hit any part of the target and still be considered a success. This is where Aegil’s “Apfel Spalten” differs from William Tell’s “Apfel Schiessen” however, and that is due to the fact that Aegil didn’t just hit the apple on his son’s head, but split it in half. As such this Noble Phantasm carries a second conceptual property of similar nature to Carnwennan, the ivory dagger of King Arthur, in that it will split and/or slice anything it touches in half. That being said, due to the fact that the basis of this ability is the splitting of an apple and not the slaying of the witch Orddu as was the case with Carnwennan, the concept of ‘splitting things in half’ is much weaker, and while it will still manifest to the extent of causing large gashes and sizable breaks on impact (depending on the size of the target; outer extremities are still very likely to be affected as they possess lesser resistance), it will not automatically sever anything it touches. Lastly, since Aegil readied three arrows in his myth, he is able to repeat this attack twice in the event that his initial shot misses or is blocked, layering the conceptual effect threefold if all arrows hit the same target.
It should be noted that this Noble Phantasm won't automatically 'split' anything it touches due to the weaker nature of this imbued concept. When hitting a Servant's torso for example, it will simply cause a deep gash depending on their Endurance Stat instead of instantly splitting them in half. This effect will only be invoked when hitting less formidable targets like a finger, in which case it will split it down the middle but stop at the palm, seeing as the palm would be viewed as a 'separate part'. This is the downside of the 'splitting' aspect of this Noble Phantasm originating from an apple, yet it nevertheless empowers his arrows and endows them with formidable cutting power. These arrows are less effective at 'splitting' magical barriers as Aegil has no experience with any things magical.
Name: Jötunn Bani
Title: Scorching Retaliation of the Besieged
Type: Anti-Army
Rank: C
Range: 1-50
Maximum Number of Targets: 500
Description: Backed into the confines of a temple Aegil and Ölrún once had to fend off an army of Frost-giants, a battle from which they emerged victorious. Though not much is known about this encounter besides its depiction on the Franks Casket, it is one of the only visual recordings left of Aegil’s life and legend. This Noble Phantasm acts as a celebration of his victory against the Frost-giants that day and as such manifests in a manner best suited to counter them. Not only does it hold the inherent attribute of ‘Giant-slayer’ much like all of Aegil’s attacks, it is also a fire-based skill meant to stand in direct opposition of the Frost-giant’s nature. Its activation signaled by Aegil’s bow bursting into a violent blaze, he is normally unable to use this Noble Phantasm unless two important conditions are met, the first being that he must be defending an enclosed space or shelter and the second that he must be facing a large group of enemies. Without meeting these two requirements first this Noble Phantasm will be permanently locked away, but upon fulfilling them he will be able to use his now burning bow to unleash a horizontal wave of flame by pulling his bowstring taut and allowing the following release to spread the fire into any desired direction. This attack is incredibly effective against any Giant or ice-based enemies, but it otherwise lacks the raw power to raze an entire city block to the ground despite its classification. It is still a powerful fire-based attack of course, but those with high resistance will likely be able to weather the blow albeit under duress and not without sustaining injury.
