Hildr Firebrand

Hildr Firebrand
Born	~Early 1700s Kartenheim
Other names	The Black Blade, Starlight
Occupation	Adventurer
Years active	1717-1718 (Thunderbolts), 1730-present
Era	Age of Passage
Organization	The Forsaken (former), Croak and Dagger
Height	6 ft 7 in (201 cm)
Children	Marilka Thyrnmur (Daughter)
Parents	Craig Firebrand (father) Melanie Abdel (mother)

"Fucking amateurs."

Appearance

Hildr is described as a tall, muscular woman with very pale skin and matted, semi-braided and dreaded, black hair which she sometimes ties up. She has a full back and bicep tattoo of a large serpent being pierced by a sword. Her clothes are always some plain shade of black or grey, usually light adventuring leathers and any number of sheathed blades.

Backstory

Childhood

Hildr's earliest memories were of waking up at first light with her father, Craig Firebrand and jogging up and down the same mountain every day. There was no time for coddling or excuses, or to be "standard". Hildr was a Firebrand, and that meant carrying on the name with a sword on your back, gold in your pockets, and glory to your name. Every mistake, every missed step, every weak swing, was punished with silence, disapproving nods, and a walk home alone. Hildr's mother, Melanie Abdel would tell Hildr stories about how her father swept Melanie off her feet. The non-nonsensical poems and cheap flowers delivered with a nervous smile. A far cry from the man she knew, who only told her stories of magnificent battles against dragons and evil wizards. Crowds of cheering people. His name written on plaques across the land. A name Hildr learned to loath every time she saw it in a book.

The Thunderbolts

Hildr was an original member of the Thunderbolts, an adventuring party daringly founded around the same time as the Sankofa Accord. A batch of bastards, orphans, and troubled youth looking to give the Alliance a big middle finger and go right on about their adventuring business. Hildr only did it to impress Craig and maybe find some friends on the way, which she did and more. During her time with the Thunderbolts, Hildr met Elvira, and the two grew very close. They'd exchange books then talk about them over campfires. Hildr would try and pursue a romantic relationship with Elvira, but was rejected. Elvira expressed she didn't want to latch onto Hildr with Val-Adin so close. The two said their goodbyes just outside Val-Adin, and exchanged books one last time. The contents of which are unknown.

The Vessel

A month after the Thunderbolts disbanded, Hildr continued taking on odd jobs across Kartenheim. She did it because it was all she knew, not because she yearned for Craig's approval which she outgrew. One job took her deep into the nearby forests where talks of kidnappers holding children directed her. She tracked them for two days before finally coming up on their camp, right into an ambush. The cultists ambushed and overpowered Hildr, and took her deep within their temple. Hildr went in and what came out was a vessel of pain and anger.

Homeless

Upon seeing Hildr stumble home in tattered clothes and barely conscious, Craig and Melanie rushed to her aid and began healing what they could of her. It was Melanie who suggested they bring Hildr to a high wizard first thing in the morning. That even Melanie’s magic couldn’t heal the shattered fragments of Hildr’s mind. When Hildr came to, she saw Craig standing over her with a crossbow in hand. The bloody skirmish that followed was all a blur to Hildr who was blinded by rage. In a fit of anger she accidentally struck her mother with a killing blow meant for Craig. Hildr left in the night, only to be chased down and apprehended by her father and his friends. One night changed the Firebrand family forever.

The Forsaken

Hildr had been locked away in deepest recesses of the Alliance super-max prison known as The Maw. She was subjected to days of torture within the recesses of her own corrupt mind, preparing a lists of all those who wronged her. What she would do to them all once she got her hands on them. Hildr would get her wish once the Maw’s most high-profile prisoners, the Forsaken, did the impossible and broke out. Their leader saw potential in Hildr and in exchange for her freedom, asked her to join them. Hildr became a silent, lumbering shadow of death for the Forsaken. Her time there was spent killing because it quieted the voices, even if she wasn’t ordered to by the Forsaken.

The Black Sun Cult

As part of the Forsaken’s plans to expand their reach, their leaders sent Hildr to make contact with the Black Sun Cult. The very people who imbued Hildr with the dark magic that fueled her. She made contact with the cult who spoke of a promised day of Black Sun, when the barriers between the material plane and the Shadowfell were weakest. Hildr aided the cult in their rituals leading up to the Day of Black Sun, even taking to kidnapping villagers from the village of Yulyu where Clymene hailed from. This would result in the first of two encounters with Croak and Dagger.

Vs. Croak and Dagger

Hildr’s first real encounter with Croak and Dagger occurred at Oakvale after the heroes’s first successful quest. Hildr had only been passing through when she quite literally bumped into Clymene. Hildr thought nothing more of them until she met them a second time when she took a contract from Yulyu to deal with some bandits. Hildr used this opportunity to scout out the village’s defenses and saw nothing she nor the Cult couldn’t handled. By this time, she had discovered that not only was Craig the reason Croak and Dagger existed, but that one of the Forsaken, K’jalis, had defected and was amongst their ranks. This was cause enough for Hildr to add Croak and Dagger to her kill-list once she was finished helping the Cult. The opportunity would present itself once the heroes walked right into a trap set by the Cult.

The First Fight

Croak and Dagger, accompanied by venerable hunters from Yulyu, were ambushed in a forest clearing by the Black Sun Cult. The two groups were evenly matched, until Hildr revealed herself and began clearing the field. Hildr locked swords with Clymene’s mother, Atalanta, who did little to stop Hildr’s relentless assault. Hildr displayed feats of incredible speed and strength as she quickly overpowered Atalanta. Sensing her mother was in danger, Clymene, with Barbatos in tow, sprang in and confront Hildr. What they were confronted with was a unrelenting force, Hildr was almost completely untouched when she sliced Barbatos’s arm off, then proceeded to break Atalanta’s back against a tree trunk, permanently paralyzing Yulyu’s top huntress. The confrontation ended with Clymene, failing to honor Vecna’s deal, turning to dust. It was Croak and Dagger’s first taste of defeat, at the hands of a truly sinister force.

The Second Fight

Returning to stop the Black Sun Cult’s pinnacle ceremony, Croak and Dagger came better prepared, and with help from Edgar Castille and his men, and a longtime friend of Hildr’s, Lydia Barrett (Laura). Powered by exposure to the eclipse that was powering the ritual, Hildr unleashed a hellish series of strikes that Croak and Dagger withstood. They answered with their own flurries that only made Hildr madder. To Craig’s horror, the rage seemed to take on a life of it’s own, consuming Hildr. With all their strength exhausted, Croak and Dagger took to wearing Hildr out. Forcing her to consume her own life force to power her rage. It would prove to be successful, as Hildr had all but exhausted herself, opening her up to a combined assault that would finally level the Black Blade.

Judgement

Hildr sat in judgement at the Hero’s Rest Tavern, locked behind three inch thick bars. She was forced to once again sit with the weakened voices in her head. Talks with her father were brief, usually spent with Hildr staring at him with all the hatred she had left. Yulyu had made their decision, nothing short of execution would satisfy them. Of course, it wasn’t their choice to make. Hildr’s actions attracted the mighty jurisdiction of the Alliance who owned the land the rituals were taking place on. Yulyu was owned by the High Elves. This technicality, as well as the mercy showed to her by Croak and Dagger, was what kept Hildr’s head off the chopping block. The decision to force Hildr to serve out her time with Croak and Dagger, infuriated Yulyu, but a decision had been made. The time Hildr had spent behind bars, gave her time to think. Think about how not only had the Cult failed and abandoned her, but so did the Forsaken. That was all the reason Hildr needed to join Croak and Dagger.

The Trail

Croak and Dagger had gone missing for over two weeks, and people were starting to worry. It was Craig who suggested, much to everyone’s chagrin, that Hildr be the one to track and find them. Hildr took to searching with little word to anyone that she was leaving. The trail led her to the Dwarvish city of Bhurnram. There, Hildr heard of the heroes who evacuated a zeppelin after roguish Orcs laid siege to it. Hildr’s search for information led her to the city guard who had captured and held a Warforged suspected of murdering a citizen. The Warforged was Sayrax. Feeling something close to pity for Sayrax, Hildr broke her out and in return asked for help in locating Croak and Dagger. The duo teamed up as traveled across the Dwarvish regions to the kingdom of Verytus.

Reunion

During their search of the plague-infested streets of Verytus, Croak and Dagger were accosted by infected Inquisitors. At the height of the fight, when they seemed surrounded, Croak and Dagger were caught off guard by the site of Hildr leaping from the rooftops, and slicing through four Inquisitors. Aided by Sayrax, the new group was able to fight their way to the heart of the infection, the city cathedral. There, the Forsaken’s Necromancer-Supreme, Gwynevere Aural stood with her foul magic cast over the city and its denizens. Gwynevere expressed her disappointment in Hildr being bested by the likes of Croak and Dagger, and Hildr expressed her disappointment that Gwynevere’s head was still attached to her body. The new ranks of Croak and Dagger quickly disposed of Gwynevere, when Laura and Incineryn sacrificed themselves using explosive artifacts to render Gwynevere all but immobilized. Giving their friends the edge they needed to exact the killing blow.

Cataclysm

In the events leading up to Cataclysm, Hildr had stood with Croak and Dagger for as long as they’re hunting the Forsaken. Her cold, detached demeanor maked it hard for most of them to connect with Hildr without annoying her, but they’ve learned to accept her and mostly stay out of her way. When the Citadel erupted and Caelrogh’s horde emerged, Hildr felt responsible since she had not seen it coming. Hildr was there the day that Croak and Dagger struck Caelrogh down, and closed the rifts for good.

The Shadowfell and Onward

Worried about Elvira and the Jaeger Corp, Hildr took it upon herself to go out and look for them. Her journey led her to the darkest depths of the Shadowfell, eventually joined by the other members of Croak and Dagger. Hildr was faced with Aeres, a powerful entity disguising itself as Hildr's mother. Despite seeing right through the trick, Hildr launched into a rage and exposed herself, giving Aeres the opening she needed to take control of Hildr. What ensued what another battle against Hildr, which went similarly to the last. Empowered by the corrupt energy of Aeres, Hildr battered and slammed her party members while they tried to break Aeres's control. In the moments leading up to Hildr being freed, she was forced to witness every misdeed she had done on Caelrogh's behalf. Every memory played out in front of her. Just before she had to witness her mother dying a second time, Hildr was freed. With an exhausted, bated breath, Hildr screamed at Aeres, "Leave. My. Friends. Alone!" Since the events of Cataclsym and the Shadowfell, Hildr has grown protective of her friends. Even if she won't admit it.

Abilities

Furious Tank. Hildr charges her foes with fanatical conviction and can endure a wide range of attacks without stopping her assault. This is complimented by her tenacious rage and domineering presence.

Zealous Presence. Hildr has an intimidating, staggering presence which she brings with her to battle. It can inspire and strike fear into friends and foes alike. You'd better hope you're the former.

Undying Rage. Hildr has a bit of a temper. Her convictions, promises of revenge, unpaid debts, it all fuels Hildr. In moments of blinding rage, Hildr goes into a Barbarian state in which her eyes go black and her strength becomes something otherworldly. She won't stop until she or her enemy is dead. The fact that she's still walking around should tell you how most fights with her go.

Relationships

Aiden "If you're reading this, I know you took my copy of the 'A Lady and her Rose' you scrub.."

Atalanta "You should have killed me. You really should have. Because now, now I'm coming for you, Atalanta. I'm going to pull everything out from beneath you, and your fucking people, and bathe you in a goddamn sea of your own blood."

Craig "When I picture my dad, it's a little bald guy running around, hammering, sawing, and painting a tavern at three in the morning. His granddaughter right behind him."

Elvira "You said you had some things you had to 'figure out' the last time we talked... what the fuck does that mean? All I ever give you is time. Time and space. I like you, I told you that, so...what the fuck? I don't know."

Melanie "You're dead and I can't change that. I can't spend another day going over everything I'd do differently. What I'd say to you. Go over the awful things I call myself. But I don't want to be that person anymore. I don't. So, this is it. This me moving. So...I'm sorry for... everything and I miss you every day. I'll keep trying to be better."

Maribelle "If you have a problem with Maribelle, you have a problem with me. She knows I've got her back, and I know she's got mine. We just click like that. There doesn't have to be any of this bullshit or trauma-dumping, we can be real and watch over each other, and open up if that's what either of us needs. If she goes right, she knows I got her left. Don't fuck with us."

Marilka "If you ever lay a hand on her, I'll rip your chest open and dance in your chest cavity. How's that for a quote? We good..?"