The World of Layonara

Character Development => Development Journals and Discussion => Topic started by: Riven on June 28, 2019, 11:05:02 pm

Title: Bron Skallagrimsson Character Development Thread
Post by: Riven on June 28, 2019, 11:05:02 pm
Bron Skallagrimsson Character Development Thread
Goal: Battlerager

Original Character History Submission/Bio:
https://forums.layonara.com/approved-characters/new-character-submission-bron-skallagrimsson/msg1157892/#msg1157892

Anguish and Rage


Long the bitter years since Bron stalked out of his father’s mine and home, and made his way into the wide dangerous world. Long the years, of dulling the rage through ale and pick on stone, hammer on anvil, and axe on bone.

“Why live?” This had crossed his beard repeatedly. The weary tread of hikes, selling goods, surviving, drinking, camping in caves and under trees, all were tedious. “Why live?”

And yet whenever he considered ending his fruitless life, the rage would stand him up, shore him up, and move him onward, to the next mine, anvil, or battle.

Rage. Not a way to live. Yet it did let him survive. Living would be in a clan of friends, with a wife, a family, with Vorax-blessed will and …. with purpose. He had….nothing. Only rage.

He was raised honoring Vorax. Yet these years of surviving, not thriving, led to a crisis of faith. He knew that in Vorax’s eyes, Bron was pathetic. No mastery of blade. No mastery of weaponsmithing. No mastery of anything. He hated himself for the lack of commitment, lack of focus, lack of dedication to the mastery of….anything. And as much as he hated himself, and thought to end it all, he hated his father even more. And somehow, in the pit of childish emotions, he sometimes disbelieved in Vorax, or blamed Vorax, and disbelieved in anything that shined with pure courage, pure honor, pure warriorship.

His self-loathing was so deep, that If the Father of Battle existed, Bron knew that in his eyes Bron was unfit to carry Vorax’s shield or hammer.

Forty years have passed since escaping his father’s abuse and beatings. Forty years, mostly alone. And now Bron’s boots have lead him back to Mistone. His dull mind, self-shamed spirit, and ornery scowling cantankerous close-minded brute of a spirit has begun to thaw over these few months, due to the slow friendships developing with others of his kin. Traveling, talking, smithing, and battling with Khrom, Jinn, Van, Gumbo, and Mica have lead to a tiny spark of hope, of light, of ….faith.

When he had left his father Skallagrimson Troll-slayer, Bron had vowed to become better than his father, stronger, swifter, more masterful - and he had vowed to become a Giant Slayer. And last week, shoulder-to-shoulder with Khrom, Bron hewed with hammer and might, summoning the rage to embolden his spirit and limbs, felling giant after giant. He could barely think…..and he knew not what the sharp bright pain was in his chest.

Later, nursing the bruises and stitched cuts from the long battling, Bron wept. Deeply. And remembered. Giant-Slayer. He had vowed to be a Giant Slayer. And now he was. Perhaps he was not so worthless as he had thought. Perhaps Vorax did live inside Bron, in his strong limbs, wide gut, thick skull...perhaps there was something bright inside to live for.

And here were kin, friends, brothers, voicing the goal of living together in a cave hearth-home. Bron’s chest broke, shattered, melted, like an ice flow bursting upon a cliffside under the summer sun. This is it. What he longed for. Vorax…….Vorax…….forgive my disbelief, my cowardice, my lazy lack of focus. I will…..I will to be a warrior in your name. I will to channel this rage into the defense of my kin and kingdom. I will to focus this rage for the building of a hearth-home with those kin who are battle-comrades now.

Relief. Bron lay in the tavern bed. The whiskey on the table forgotten. Cheeks and beard wet with tears. His whole body relaxed…..like autumn leaves falling to the damp earth. He let go...and something inside chose life.

Then Bron heard the old voice, the nay-sayer, the doubter, the trouble-maker, the blamer and shamer, “but you didn’t kill the giants by yourself. There were others, spells empowering you, other blades rising and falling. You were amidst many, slaying giants. Alone, you would have died. As you should….now.”

Bron shook, in shock and sudden panic. Then he lept from the bed with a roar of rage. “Silence! No more!”

Rage rushed in hot fury through his body. “I will not listen to you! I will slay you as I will slay the giants! I have my courage now! I have my battle-comrades now! My rage sustains me! And my kin sustain me! And I will slay giants alone, when I Vorax guides me to!!”
Title: Re: Bron Skallagrimsson Character Development Thread
Post by: Riven on June 30, 2019, 12:12:51 pm
Ice and Stone

Bitter winds blew on the snowy peaks of the Brech Mountains. Khrom led Brom through the deep canyons and steep ridges. The two had been treking for several hours, clearing all foes before them. They were alone, the two of them, and forging a path of blood through the relentless hammering on the dark creatures that brooded and raided in the peaks.

Tracks in the snow....wide as a kite shield, long as a cart. Huge tracks, leading to a cave amidst the ice and snow. Within, the smell of stale sweat in the frigid air, and the deep booming voices of giants.

Together, side-by-side, Bron and Khrom channeled their rage into courage and battleskills, hewing the cruel giants until none stood.

"This is good," thought Bron. "Just the two of us. Soon, it will be me alone, facing the giants as my test. I will face my fears, and face the giants alone. To victory or death, it will be so."

Bron had heard legends....of the Kuldjargh. The dwarven berzerkers who lead the charge in battle. Courage, head first, channeling rage into war-mastery, striking the enemy swiftly. These were the ways of the Battle Rager.

Rumbling from below! More giants were climbing up out of the crevice!

Quietly, but with focus and will, Bron hummed a hymn to Vorax under his breath - a potent gut-filling limb-regenerating tune that summoned the rush of hot heat and flurried frenzy of hammer strikes against his foes. By the end of the battle, Bron's firm eyes and face said it all. This will be his path. The berzerker frenzy and bright battle courage were reforging his spirit. Reforging his will to live. Reforging his purpose in life.

Silently, Bron knew. He would dedicate himself to the path of courage and berserker fury. He would master the rage into a deadly weapon to defend his home and kin. He would forge his body and spirit into that of the Kuldjargh, the Battle Rager.
Title: Re: Bron Skallagrimsson Character Development Thread
Post by: Riven on July 06, 2019, 05:49:10 pm
Bron and Khrom
// Cut and paste (with some edit tidying) of Battlerager RP on Discord when the server went down //

Khrom:
Ye said ye been practin' , aye?

Bron:
Aye....channeling my....darkness inside...anger...into somethin useful.
the battlerage in combat......feelin the strengthening o my limbs....surge o' adrenaline in me chest and gut...
and usin that to slay the foes! (nods) feels good....better.....than whats been happenin in my life before...where the rage eats me insideout...despite the hammerin' on stone and anvil.

Khrom:
Dats wut et mean bein' a rager, lad.

Bron:
Seems to be....though I mightily have wanted to meet one o them. But seems i'm finding it inside meself...

Khrom:
Ye bottle dat rage, 'old et en loike te ye need et.

Bron:
The Kuldjargh, esteemed...only heard tales o them.

Khrom:
Ye got et in ye, Bron.

Bron:
Fearless....(scowls) been practising that too....
Khrom, i been a coward in this life...drinkin too much.....lazy...not makin meself a master o anythin...

Khrom:
Oy see it in de way ye foight and boi de look en yer eye in battle.
Ye nay coward

Bron:
Aye....standin side by side ye in the thick o the battle...been good fer me! followin yer lead in the combats.

Khrom:
Ye dun tink oy'm scared when oy go oot and foight?
But oy use et.. and knuw oother rely on meh.

Bron:
I've been in the past...thinkin o endin this life. But i think (deep breath) i think the ugliness my pa beat into me, maybe be burnin out with the rage o battleragin...and seein the difference my rage can make on the battelfield.
Chargin in, I been followin yer lead.....then the two o us, nay a group, fightin all those giants in the ice caves.
I be feelin.....
somethin stronger inside....more purpose.

Khrom:
Ye jus need te keep pushin yer self.
Ye push forward when udders scared te go ahed.

Bron:
Aye...and I know JUST the next test for this old Bron.....to do or die.
All my life i been wantin to be a giant slayer. Did so, in a group with ye. Did so, just the two of us. Next up - solo. Goin to head to Dregar and take down ten o those timbers! That be the test o what i be practisin...
Alone.
And I be watchin ye knockdown beasts, even 12 foot tall giants! so....been tryin to practise that too. Good learnin, since coming back to Mistone.
much different than the past years. maybe make somethin o meself yet.

Khrom:
We beh de foirst line Bron..

Bron:
Aye, seems so in many groups we journey with.......OK, enough heart-to-heart talks (scowls). Back to the grind eh? I'll help ye dig the clay! then prepare for my test.....focus my will and courage into the battlerage.

Khrom:
If we fall our death must be in service of others.. if we die so other ken loive.. den it was a gloroius loife

Bron:
Aye...i see that now. Been selfish, i have. many years....now seein more perspective. We have kin here...goin to build a keep, a cavern hearth-home! Now That's somethin to look forward to. And be a defender o it!
I'll keep prayin to Vorax to forge me into a Kuldjargh! Seems.....seems...it's comin to be, step by step

Khrom:
Jus' knuw dat being a rage nay mean ye stuped.
Ye foite smart an ye foite hard.

Bron:
Course! I got a good head...ugly mug, but good head on these shoulders! still got my wits.....seems i can bring it on at will, if I hum a hymn to Vorax, and breathe deep, Breathe deep and slow like...then fast!

Khrom:
Dat's guud.. mean ye have control of yer rage..

Bron:
Thanks for yer .....faith in me, Khrom. Ye've been a good friend. Means a lot!

Khrom:
Loike oy said oy knuw ye.. Oy've see wut ye ken do an yer potential.

Bron:
Heh, aye...thanks! As to ye, I'm impressed....shocked sometimes....at yer readiness to charge into the unknown. Up mountains, deep into caves...ye keep on chargin forward. Ye be the eptiome o courage, Kkhrom.
inspiration to this .....lug.

Khrom:
Oym myself am searching te unlock more of meh untapped rage..

Bron:
aye?

Khrom:
Aye..

Bron:
I've seen ye tauntin the giants! (laughs)

Khrom:
Oy' ken beh stronger.

Bron:
Aye...and I've seen ye rage! fierce yells too!
And knockdown those fell beasts.....that take the strength o raging!
I can't do that...yet. I ken fell them with the hammer, but not trip them to the ground!

Khrom:
Oy'm close..
Oy tell ye Oy'm close.

Bron:
Aye. i've found....course, Vorax may make it different fer ye....but i've found...
that breathe and focus be the key.....and the hymn to Vorax, just hummin' in my belly.
Then when it comes, it's a hurricane!

Khrom:
(nods)

Bron:
If I just fly off the handle, it ain't as strong or stays as long...but focus willfully, humming his hymn deep inside, the power surges through my body and into my strikes!

Khrom:
I will be loike a landslide comin off deh mountain..

Bron:
Aye, ye will, Khrom. And I'll be right there beside ye, the hurricane and the landslide!