Neill Family/Weland
Contents
Weland; son of Erik; Brother to Ender
Current Age: 43 (Deceased)
Class: Hero
Weapon of Choice: Longsword nicknamed "Mimameidr"
Current Title: None
Titles Held: Master Weaponsmith of the O'Neils, Scout, General of Khthon, Count of Tepmona, Marshal of Homeland Security (Fronen)
Religion: Norse Pantheon, primarily Thor and the god of the smithy
Unique Items Held: Elemental Vest from the North
Realms Served: Barony of Makar, Fronen, Kthon
Personal Heraldry
Like his brother and the other members of the Neill Clan, Weland never really made use of the over-complicated heraldry that many noble families favored.
His banner was generally a standard square design hung from a banner mount and carried by a standard bearer. The background was blue and upon it was a maroon anvil being struck by two hammers and sending up a lightning bolt in the middle. Those were symbols of his faith and dedication to his upbringing as a smith. On the anvil itself was the rune that represented traveling that Weland adopted after leaving Atamara. After becoming Lord of Tepmona he had a stylized ‘T’ added beneath the anvil.
His personal banner was usually flown alongside the banner of Tepmona when his unit went into battle.
Childhood and Teenage Years
Weland was the youngest of the sons of Erik and Finna Neill and Ender's brother. As a very young boy he was quieter than his brother Ender and was content to live in his brother’s shadow. When not at work doing chores or playing as a child should, he enjoyed listening to tales of battle with raiders from his father and the long odes from his grandfather. It was there that he learned a love for tactics (while his brother enjoyed the heroics far more); often asking questions about the details of movement in the forest and striking at an enemy.
As a boy it would often fall to Weland to take the blame for Ender’s wrongdoings which led him, as he became older, to find other places to spend his time to avoid punishment. It was then that he found himself spending time with his cousin Garm whose father, Gunnar, was the village blacksmith. When Weland’s father died he began to look to his Uncle Gunnar as a father figure. Under his guidance he decided when he became of age to become an apprentice to Gunnar. He excelled at weapon making and spent many of his days in the forge. The first long sword he forged himself he eventually presented to Ender as a farewell gift when he left the village. When not spending time in the forge he trained in melee combat alongside his cousin, Garm, and soon became proficient in all forms of melee combat known to the Clan. When he had finally learned all he could from his own Clan he looked to his brother as an example and ventured into the world at the age of twenty one.
Adult Life
He served with the Barony of Makar for two weeks before saying farewell to his homeland. Enticed by tales of battle in wild lands and riches, he boarded a ship bound for Buelaterra and prepared to start anew. He landed at the docks in Fronepu and joined the realm of Fronen. Interested in parts of the local culture he soon discarded his traditional bearskins (saving only a wolf-skin cloak fashioned from the first beast he killed as a boy) in favor of plate and chain mail armor and trimmed back his lengthy beard and hair. Despite this radical change in appearance that he described to his brother, and caused Ender to worry for his younger brother, his personality forever remained fierce and barbaric.
Wielding another of his self-crafted long swords against bandits and rogues, it was not long before a scourge of the undead and monsters overran the lands and gave him greater purpose. He fought against them for a great time and even found himself imprisoned by the beasts for a period. He was able to escape finding an old passage hidden behind the wall in his crude cell and decided that it was a rather unremarkable experience after being raised with Vikings. During the war, his skill in tracking made him an excellent scout and he soon began training with the Fronen Scout Guild. As the conflict became to come to its end he was assigned to a scouting post in Tepmona and began to take a liking to the land and its people.
For a brief time after the invasion, Weland left the realm of Fronen to join the realm of Khthon, a colony of Fronen founded by Predbjørn II. It was a realm that believed in the value of a hero and considered them the highest class of warrior. Upon swearing his allegiance to the realm, his skills in battle, tactics, and strategy brought him the position of General. Though it had a mighty goal the realm would never live to see it through. Khthon fell to invading forces after several battles against overwhelming forces and Weland was forced into exile. Seeing no other choice, he return to Fronen and swore allegiance in Fronepu once more, wondering if he had made a mistake in leaving in the first place.
Shortly after his return he was appointed the Count of Tepmona and oversaw the repopulation, reconstruction, and defense of the region. He spent most of his days tending to paperwork and the problems of the people in Tepmona and most nights drinking himself into oblivion with the citizens of Tepmona in the city tavern. As war came again to Fronen, however, he recruited as many of the citizens of Tepmona that he could pay and left Tepmona for war on Fronen's borders against the realm of Avalon. With the end of the Avalon conflict he grew once again used to periods of peace mixed with orders to move out in defense of Fronen's allies.
While an eager youth with dreams of ruling, he found as life went on he was content with his Lordship over Tepmona. He found that the hardy people of the region reminded him of his home and that among them he never yearned to return to forests of Makar. Local legend from the time says that he confided in the citizens one night at the local tavern that, "Should I die many years from now and only be remembered as the Count of Tepmona, I would be happy. I cannot ask for a better land or a better people." After sometime as the Lord of Tepmona he eventually established a first line of defense in the region. He declared the army to be called the ‘Tepmona First and Only’ as he was the only noble to fly the banner of Tepmona and to recruit exclusively from the region.
While generally a joyous, down to earth noble that held no qualms with mingling with the people of his region, his long stay far from his homeland had brought to him some civility and culture. He wrote to his brother once that “it is likely you wouldn't be able to recognize me without taking a closer look now that so many years have passed!” His Viking pride and stubbornness, however, would always remain trademarks in his life.
When the traitor tyrant Grimbaldus lead a rebellion against Fronen in a bid to gain power for himself and his lackeys, Weland heard the news first in Llorginal where he was maintaining a vigilant watch for monsters. When Grimbaldus succeeded thanks to the treachery of Enzeru, Weland joined the counter-rebellion and fought for Fronen's liberation. After some skirmishes with 'loyal' militia the battle eventually ended in the rebellion's favor. After political squabbling that was the result of the chaos following the rebellion, Weland fought skirmishes with many of the confused ‘loyal’ militia once more before order was finally restored to the realm. For his dedication to his post and his loyalty to the Republic he was eventually awarded the position of Marshal of Homeland Security for Fronen. It was a position he accepted with great pride and joy.
As time passed he spent little time in actual war (which led to his stepping down from Marshal of Homeland Security and allowing a younger face to take on the title) and more time cleaning the scourge of small monster and undead bands that would occasionally appear. While things seemed calm for a time, the monsters began to multiply at an alarming rate and the next Invasion had begun. Weland fought only once against the undead and monsters for he soon found his realm in an unlikely alliance with them as an infernal Daemonic force invaded the continent. Weland steeled himself for battle and stood vigilant as he always had against a supernatural foe.
With the war against the Netherworld dragging on, many of those who were close to Weland noticed that he began to withdraw himself from everyday activities. He spent much of his time staring off into the distance to brood or spending hours in his study. Some even began to grow worried and commented that he could often be overheard mumbling that he tired of the "fool nobles" he served alongside and wished he could meet a fair end on a true battlefield. Some contributed this behavior to his viking nature; (though he treated his desire for death in battle in a much darker way than his brother) though some still worried that a taint had reached him a during battle with the forces of darkness.
His old energy returned, however, when Tepmona was taken from him by the Daimons and all of Fronen was driven back to Fronepu, the capital, by the evil horde. Weland took to the field several times, swearing to his fellow nobles that he would rather die then leave Fronen burning behind him as he ran like other nobles had chosen to do. It was then, on one fateful morning, that Weland finally met his end.
The Death of Weland O'Neil
(The following is an excerpt from the biography of Lord Weland, compiled by an unknown scribe for unknown purposes. It refers to him several times as 'The Lord of the Wolf, a moniker apparently chosen by the biographer to romanticize the wolf furs Lord Weland was wearing on the day of the battle. The historical accuracy of the text has been called into question by many scholars who studied the Third Daimonic Invasion)
The Lord of the Wolf, Weland of Fronen, stood strong that morning. As the golden rays of the sun spilled over the burned fields outside of the gates of Fronepu, he stared at the horizon, perhaps sensing the infernal forces beyond it. As the men of his brave unit took morning meal and prayer Weland refused their offers of food and spiritual strength. He would feast on the tender meats of war and pray only through hands clasped onto the hilt of his mighty blade.
When the great war horns of Fronepu called later that morning Lord Weland stood ready at the gates of Fronepu, his unit of men at the ready behind him. When the gates finally parted Lord Weland and his men were the first to march to the line. As his fellow nobles joined in him battle The Lord of the Wolves barely had time for the common greetings and civilities of his rank. Instead he simply stared at the coming horde of Daimons, his arms crossed in defiance. And as the nobles around him shouted varying orders to his men, he spoke only one:
"Men of Fronen, fight and die."
Though many of the men in his unit quivered openly with fear, Lord Weland's booming voice gave them the strength to forget their fears. His great presence, for he stood nearly three heads taller than the average man and was well known to have the strength of ten, was enough to steel them against their unholy foe.
As the Daimon army drew closer to the stalwart lines of Man, Lord Weland withdrew his mighty blade, forged in the fires of Atamara and infused with the magicks of their people, and held it above him. The sun's rays glinted off of the polished metal and sent a beam of divine light into the armies of the enemy. Using this beacon Lord Weland was the first to charge towards the coming horde, his soldiers the first to follow, and it was under his banner that the rest of the armies of Fronen made their way against the enemy.
The Lord of the Wolf, true to his name, was the quickest to reach the enemy. With each swipe of his mighty blade he sent the bodies of many beasts flying through the air. With each determined step he cut a line into the enemy ranks, leaving a river of red gore behind him. Yet, for all his strength, he had fought too far into the Daimon horde. He soon found himself surrounded by the beasts and cut off from the support of his fellow Men.
Knowing that this moment would define him, Lord Weland let out a mighty war cry and fought on bravely until he stood atop a mound of broken Daimons, their blood raining from the skies where it had been thrown off his blade. It was then, from the shadows, the lord of the evil Daimons approached Weland. The foul monster stood a head taller than Weland and wore shadows for its armor. The cursed axe it bore let out viscous screams as the monster swung it through the air. At this display The Lord of the Wolves simply laughed and then snarled as he hurled himself into the fight.
They grappled with one another for what seemed to be hours. Lord Weland struck many blows against the foul monster, but each was traded for an equal blow from his enemy. Soon, Lord Weland came to realize that he would have to take the beast with him in order kill it. Running at the mighty beast, his war cry sounding like the roar of an angry wolf, Lord Weland hurled himself through the air with a single leap and drove his blade into the neck of the monster. As he fell away, however, he saw a thick and twisted dagger embedded in his chest. Falling to his knees, he stared at the monster with pure hatred as he vanished from the battlefield cackling in delight.
Around him, the battle still waged, but he had done his part. The men of his unit, while still fighting, came upon his body soon after and found him barely living on his knees. In his hand he was clutching the dagger of the enemy and it was apparent he had used it to kill dozens more of the Daimon before he finally lost almost all of his life. Deeply concerned that they would lose their leader, his unit broke from battle and collected the body of The Lord of the Wolves onto their shields to bear back to the city.
Just before they reached the gates Lord Weland reached out to his scribe and pulled him close to his lips. With his final breath he spoke only a single, strong word:
Valhalla.
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Official records indicate that Lord Weland Neill's body was retrieved from the battlefield by his unit sometime after he was killed in combat. The place of his permanent burial is written to have been on a cliff overlooking the sea a small distance from Fronepu. He was buried in full armor, with his sword upon his chest. Records tell that for some time the refugees from Tepmona maintained vigil over their former Lord's grave and that many nobles, both known and unknown to Lord Weland in life, visited his grave to pay their respects.
Celebrations lasted for days and included feasting and drinking. It is said that during those few days countless volumes of poetry were written and dozens of songs were sung that featured him as the hero. And though no single woman was known to have been in Lord Weland's life (He left behind no children) many maidens were said to have spent days crying after his death was announced. In another biography of Lord Weland, written by a scribe that had been in his estate's employ, his faithful squire was recorded to have said one the first day of his death ceremony:
"If we are warriors enough, my lord, we will all see you again at the table in Valhalla. No doubt you'll be drinking and feasting with Odin himself, sharing stories of battle and laughing. And if we are men enough in life, my lord, we will fight with you again one last time when the end times come. Only, if only my lord, we live to be as brave as you."
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Give me a quill and give me a sword. If negotiations fail I'll chop their head off, then we'll see which is considered mightier. - Weland
