Solveig Eriksdottir

Solveig Eriksdottir is a player character. Solveig is a massively sized Kuronian shieldmaiden and raider of near legendary strength. Solveig was previously a member of Ivan Skarsgard's warband and sworn to King Egil of Grobin, her strength and spirit displayed in several raids against Saxangle coast towns of Pettylin.

 Background 

Solveig was captured in a failed Kuronian raid on Donryk, when a when a cleric of Baldur who had been visiting the town, Alwin of Meredune, surprised the raiders and cast a mighty fireball into their midst. Half of the warband was killed outright, and the rest fled in terror and confusion, leaving an unconscious Solveig behind. At the request of Donryk's village headman who feared that he would be unable to control the massive warrior, Alwin took Solveig to Uhtred, king of the Kingdom of Bebbanburgh.

Seeing the potential of having such a mighty warrior in his service, Uhtred offered Solveig a choice: go on a mission for him and be sent home with honor, or be imprisoned until ransomed. Solveig swore on her armring that she would do his bidding. Uhtred believed her vows to be sincere and gave her conditional freedom. Solveig is ashamed of her defeat and angry at herself for being captured instead of killed in battle. She is determined to redeem herself in the eyes of both gods and men so that she can claim her place in Valhalla when she dies.

 Witnessing The Rebirth of Rand'Ayn 

On the orders of Kung Uhtred, Solveig joined with a band of adventurers (including Serini, Ildan, Orphiel, Alaura, and David Ironhead) who were investigating strange occurrences near Dunmine. As a result, she was one of the witnesses to the rise of Rand'Ayn, an ancient and terrible red dragon, who was awakened or raised by a strange and mysterious cult trying to resurrect the dragons and of which one of King Uhtred's sons, Uhtred the Younger, may be a member.

 Escorting Princess Stiora to the Shrine of Mordor 

Instructions by King Uhtred and subsequent events led her and the band to escort King Uhtred's daughter, Stiorra, to the Shrine of Mordor, for purposes unknown. Attacks on the band, and Stiorra's attempts to escape, led to the death of Stiorra's secret drow lover and father of her unborn child, and subsequently led the adventurers to discover that the Shrine of Mordor had been sacked by a mighty force of hobgoblins, who made off with an ancient artifact contained within.

 Chaos in Mordgard 

Solveig and her fellow adventurers, trying to assure Stiorra's safety, then attempted to bring Stiorra to Mordgard, where they discovered that the town had come under siege by King Athelred of Lundene. Athelred had mustered an army to attack Solveig's sworn master, King Uhtred, and Bebbanburgh in secret, but the ealdorman of Mordgard, Aelfric the Godly, had refused to join as he believed it would violated sacred oaths he had taken. As King Athelred, a sworn enemy of King Uhtred, would seek to seize Stiorra and would likely misuse her and use her as leverage against his hated enemy, the band considered what they would do. A misguided attempt by Serini and Ildan to assure Stiorra's safety by delivering her to Lord Hael of Hailburg led to Stiorra's death.

Solveig participated in the ensuing course of events that led to the deposition of the unworthy King Eathelred, and the accession to the throne of Aerthos Brightblade, and the successful defence of Mordgard against the hobgoblin horde.

A brief romance with Osgar, a skilled Saxangle warrior and younger son of Aelfric the Godly, ended when Osgar was slain by a hill giant in the Battle of Mordgard. Solveig slew the giant who had murdered her love, and with Aelfric, swore a mystically binding oath of vengeance against the forces of the hobgoblins who had brought the giants to attack Mordgard.

In the immediate preparations for the the Battle of Mordgard, she was surprised to see her cousin Thorstein leading a group of Kuronian mercenaries. She learned from him that Frost Giants and Goliaths had come down from the lands to the north of Kuronia, subjugating the lands and its people, and forcing those who did not bend the knew to flee to Pettylin for refuge.

 At Present 

Solveig has faced many perils and prevailed. Despite being captured by the Drake near the swamps of Aerohunt while attempting to travel back to Bebbanburgh, who attempted to turn her into a yuan-ti, she and the rest of the band were rescued by their fellow Dr. Koppel Schleppen, who had been able to avoid capture through his magical prowess and quick mind. She wears trophies taken from a battle fought between a small green dragon and her band of adventurers, in which they ultimately triumphed and Solveig dealt the final, killing blow.

Solveig has a strange, mystical connection to the wolves of Pettylin. She is deeply concerned with her own honor, and values strength in battle as a high virtue. For the most part, Solveig travels happily with her band of fellow adventurers who work to protect Pettylin from the dragons and hobgoblins and other threats which face the land. She has a special relationship with King Uhtred, who has an almost paternal interest in her and takes pride in her achievements. She is a master of sword and shield, and possessed of a fearsome battlerage and bloodlust, and her renown as a warrior has begun to spread to nearby lands of Pettylin.

Serini and Dr. Koppel have both noted that Solveig has a connection to the land of Pettylin and to its wolves, and have begun to speculate that she has a destiny tied to that connection.