Torsten Gunnarsson | 37 | Barbarian
❖ Summary
Torsten's an immigrant from Europe, somewhat disappointed by the new continent but trying to make the best ouf of it. This includes making a virtue out of his inexperience and venturing into things in a more daredevil manner than might be necessary, last but not least because he is on a mission to prove himself towards his family and those few others of his 'kind' he knows.
❖ Ambitions, Failstate, Virtues & Flaws
Death might be the ultimate endpoint, but reaching it before time can catch up with oneself in terms of getting old is not the worst thing that can happen. Dying because of a superior enemy or other circumstances one cannot be made responsible for is not inhonorable, but trying to prevent death by avoiding any and every risk life has to offer certainly is. This attitude is not the one Torsten has been living to for the entirity of his past, nor is it the one he plans to go by for every day in the future, but right now it is the one he has and is willing to abide to.
Torsten does not yet know what kind of thing he might encounter in order to prove himself, but that is part of the challenge. Since everybody could just tell a lie about deeds done alone he has to bring back something. The tooth of a giant bear perhaps ? Or maybe some clapped out computer than can only come from an abandoned, irradiated nuclear powerplant control room where aside from sickness only wilderness thrives. Monetary value is not the point, just the fact that he had to overcome his fears, the pain and the punishment.
Of course this is a very stupid task even from the point of view of an observer who is just halfway rationally thinking. Does Torsten care ? Yes he does. He's not crazy in the sense that he'd jump right into the dragon's maw with open eyes and unprepared, but at least he'd seriously consider the chances of slaying the beast by deliberately entering the first stage of its digestive tract and hitting it from the inside while running away and not just run away.
❖ History & Origins
Torsten is the second of three children, all raised by his caring parents Gunnar and Revna. He was not actually born on the American continent, but can be seen as the reincarnation of migration from Europe to the US. It was a tough ride across the Atlantic and one of his brethren was lost to the sea, but the 'modern' rebuild of an ancient boat still standing in a half ruined museum proved seaworthy to an acceptable degree.
Unfortunately, due to the lack of high speed and long range communications, there had been no advance warning for them that things were not really better on the new continent than they were on the old one. In fact, with only what little resources they had managed to take with them and with quite a few natives not so happy to see new people walking around on their shorelines, life turned into quite more of a struggle than originally hoped for. It was there when the still rather young Torsten had to use his sharp blades for real for the first time, getting both his own blood shed and that of other people.
Since then Torsten and his family had never really lived a sedentary life, but found it advantageous to keep moving around. They slowly drifted further South where they hoped the overall climate and circumstances would more resemble what they had hoped to find, but certainly held back in terms of the raiding. It's safe to say that Torsten's experience stems from a series of defensive engagements than aggressive moves against the people they encountered.
His family is still alive and well, but it is a tradition of theirs that every male has to prove himself in some way, preferably all on his own, and bring back something that can tell a story about his achievements. At least in that respect America seems to be a great place, offering an almost disturbing variety of ruins, abandoned cities and threats none of their forefathers would ever have seen in their lifetime...
❖ Appearance & Equipment
At 5'11" Torsten is not exactly a match for some of the wilder expectations and rumors about those 'giant Norse warriors' that seem to be more rooted in fantasies of days gone than actual truth, but those disappointed by his height can maybe find relief in the fact that still stools creak and horses groan under the weight of his muscle. Aside from that Torsten is neither trying to look overly fierce nor does he so by nature. He likes long hair, but for the sake of preserving his field of vision even in a fight he has cut away a lot of it at the sides. His eyes are of an unconspicuous gray color and accompanied by a rather large nose and thin lips below. The most notable thing about his face probably are the tribal markings, large blue patches spanning over large areas of his skin not only along his head, but over the rest of his body as well.
- Large, one-handed axe
- Spear, suited for both wielding and being thrown
- Skinning knife
- Thick leather armor reinforced with fur and hide to serve the additional purpose of thermal protection as well
- 'Civilian' linen cloth, dyed in primitive green and gray
❖ Occupation & Skills
Who'd have thought a Viking's life could be so surprisingly boring ? On average, Torsten has spent only the smallest fraction of his time on actual fighting and still a lot less on training for it than being trained by the daily hardships of life. Moving around and gathering resources has been almost daily routine for him even prior to their arrival on the American continent, so it can't come as a surprise that he's actually faster at gutting a dead animal and hunting for fish in a river than he is in, well, creating carnage amongst his foes. Not that he'd be slow in terms of the latter...
- Wild game hunting
- Fishing
- Fighting with axe and spear
- Sailing, though for anything larger than a boat additional crew is required, of course
- Berserk, the art of going into a deep state of rage to increase one's offensive prowess and mercilessness at the cost of carefulness and overall well-being afterwards. He is still sort of an apprentice though and nowhere near mastering it.
