Character Avatar: Bartek Borowiec
Character Name: Refr Grimmundarson
Age: 30
Rank/Title: Freedman
Race: Skaldi/D'Angeline
Country: Skaldia (Now in Terre D'Ange)
Player: Merle
Appearance: Though he is fairly tall and leanly muscled, Refr was nonetheless considered small by his Skaldic brethren. His long red hair was another feature that set him apart, though not so much as his brooding, sultry good looks. The freedman's lips are sensual, his amber eyes piercing out from the long lashes and milky pale skin he inherited from his mother.
Personality: Refr's personality is fiery as his mane, quick-witted as his namesake. Despite this, he tends to exude a calm, almost detached demeanor. That isn't to say that he has any compunctions about jumping into a brawl with little to no provocation, though he won't take a fight to the next level unless he has to. Once he opens up to someone his nature is much lighter and more relaxed. He laughs as much as he scowls, sings as much as he fights. Refr can sometimes be quick to anger, but tends to forgive minor things just as swiftly (Usually after a good fist fight, or a drink).
History: Refr was born in the middle of an intense, bitterly cold snowstorm, the son of a thane named Grimmundr and a D'Angeline bed-slave. His mother died giving birth, but he learned bits and pieces about her from the thralls who raised him. Her name was Fabienne and she was from the City of Elua in Terre D'Ange. She also had fair hair, green eyes and had sang to him while he was in the womb.
Between his status as a half-foreign slave and looking more delicate than he is, Refr was constantly subjected to insults and threats. Yet he managed to prove himself again and again. Such was his persistence and fighting skill that he eventually earned enough to buy his freedom. He was allowed to take his father's name and became a member of the lord of the steading's family. But being a freedman was not the same as being a free man.
As he grew older, he began to chafe at the social restrictions. Refr also still felt a great deal of bitterness over his mother's enslavement and death, and curiosity about her people. When the Skaldi went to the aid of Terre D'Ange, Refr begged to go with them, but he was denied by both his father and his master. In the confusion of war, he took the opportunity to leave on his own. It has taken many weeks, but he has finally arrived in the city of his mother's birth with little more than the clothes on his back and a few words of D'Angeline.
Updates: After some years in the City of Elua, moving from stable to boarding house to ratty inn and back again, working this odd job or that, slowly picking up the tongue and customs of his mother’s people, Refr grew restless of the pointless toil and decided it was time for a change. Along with his faithful equine companion Hilda, he has traveled around Terre d’Ange and Skaldia to learn the songs, stories, and lore of both. On occasion, he even strayed beyond those borders, but the language barrier made such ventures difficult and rare.
In fact, most of his travels were difficult, and Refr spent as much time scraping by to earn his keep as he did learning anything. Still, these experiences have gained him some knowledge of the wider world, and perhaps some small measure of maturity and wisdom that he did not possess before. He’s also made progress in his quest to become a bard, though without formal training he has a long way to go.
Eventually Refr’s path brought him back to the city, and he has managed to settle into a routine that seems almost as if he’d never left. Finding what work suits an uneducated laborer with imperfect command of the language, seeking what shelter he can afford. These days his fledgling skills at storytelling and growing repertoire of tales and folk songs supplement his income, and he does not have to resort to sharing accommodations with his horse quite so often, at least.
