Born in the fishing village of Thorog, on the Pypergfjord in the duchy of Pled, Gothar was raised with his eight brothers and three sisters. Gothar was the second born son behind Njord . This worked to his advantage as all of his father's attention was on the oldest grooming him to take over the family boat building profession. Wanting nothing to do with boats Gothar spent his free time watching the warriors go off to raid in the spring and dreamt about their adventures along the coast till they would return with their embellished tales of adventure. As hard as he tried to stray from the family business, he was time and again made to help Njord with random chores which usually meant lifting and carrying the heaviest of loads. Combine that with his intimidating frame, Gothar become stronger and larger than the other kids his age at Thorog.
As he grew in age and mass, Gothar started to notice that the women of the clan were paying him more attention than he ever saw on someone else. He began to show off by tossing barrels around and lifting two woman at a time one on each arm. Envy grew from many of the other boys his age as well from the older boys. His father would laugh and proclaimed that it was in his blood. The truth about Gothars blood was actually far removed from his father.
What was little known to all the tribe except a select few woman like his mother, oldest sister and the Hag, was that his true father was something far unexpected and kept a secret at all costs.
The summer solstice came and all the young men aged fourteen years entered the Trial of Manhood. Each was given a knife and the clothes on their backs. They had to swim the canal to Leket Island where a tribe of savage berserkers called home, and were to bring back the fragile Yucca bud found at the highest point on the island and return it intact.
Gothar knew he had this beat, he had trained himself to swim the distance already, and had even dared to wander the shore line once during a full moon.
This was daring as the full moon was the most dangerous time to wander the shoreline , for the tribes on that island were like the Vhokki but different in one main way. They embraced their furry and during the full moon would rage and vent, becoming what they truly were.Beasts of the wild.
Gothar knew he had this beat, he had trained himself to swim the distance already, and had even dared to wander the shore line once during a full moon.
This was daring as the full moon was the most dangerous time to wander the shoreline , for the tribes on that island were like the Vhokki but different in one main way. They embraced their furry and during the full moon would rage and vent, becoming what they truly were.Beasts of the wild.
The Clan had high hopes this year , the Jarl had his 4th son Lynwulf, who most likely would follow in his other brothers’ footsteps and become a true berserker. The berserker was rare in the Thorog tribe but there were the few that would hear the call and bring forth his warrior spirit. It was on this Trek of Manhood that Gothar found his future.
The day of manhood came and the thirteen lads of the tribe set off from secret locations along the coast chosen by the elders. Gothar had been brought to a cliff edge so high that he would have to spend a long time navigating down to simply get to the water’s edge. The spot chosen for all boys was picked by the Hag Mother. She had always placed boys right at the edge of the water to give them all an equal start. Her choice for Gothar stunned many of the tribe but her word in these rights was law.When the Conche shell was blown to sound the start of the race Gothar watched from his perch up high down at the other boys runing out into the waves. Looking for a way down, he paced the edge like a caged tiger. The cliff sides were jagged and steep, wet from the spray of the sea. The rules were simple , you can not go back only forward towards the island. He watched as the twelve boys were past the wave mark . His anger grew within himself and got hotter by the second. His chest heaved as he saw his dream of getting to the island first smash among the rocks at his feet. Fists clenched and chest heaving he could do nothing but scream a primal scream of ancestral rage. From a distance his mother and eldest sister, accompanied by the Hag mother, watched from a secluded rock outcrop. The hag smiled with a look of knowing while the other two watched in awe. They watched as Gothar’s young body seem to enlarge and become feral in every way.They watched as the boy, now beast, stalk the cliff edge and screamed a beastly howl causing all three woman to shrink back behind the rock incase this animal would spot them. Then to all amazment, Gothar simply jumped off the cliff howlling the whole way. The woman all ran to the edge, Hag mother skipping gleefully the whole way .
Sure enough he had the blood. A beserker he was and one of the ones of ancient times she knew.
From there place on the cliff they watched as the raging Gothar crashed into the white waves crushing him into the rocks. Blood could be seen but his screams were not of pain but of victory. The young rager swam against the waves with broad wild strokes, making it to the calmer center of the water . The women watched as he disapeared into the mists of the Island.
It was three days later when Lynwulf arrived to the victorious crys of his family and the whole clan. This was expected from the son of a Jarl. He came back with tales of woe and a wound across his leg he had cared for himself. He spoke of wolves and men that were like wolves that stalked the night. Stories of the screams of the other boys sent with him. Of Gothar, he spoke saying he saw him only once , high atop a cliff in the center of the mountains during his own descent with the yucca plant. He had called out to Gothar but his instincts told him to hide when he looked his way. What he saw was more animal then human. Covered in blood he looked like a beast from myth.
That day three more boys returned with similar stories. One boy, Crudd, was telling of being hunted by wolves and was about to be jumped on by a massive wolf when Gothar jumped out of the darkness wrestling the creature and gave him time to get away.
The people of Thorog waited . three more days past with 3 more boys returning. Similar storys to be told. But that would be all till the 7th day when the body of Gothar was found by a fisherman on the beach . covered in so many wounds the fisherman thought him dead and when he tried to pry out the small bundle in his arms , the body of Gothar came alive with lightning reflexes to grab the man by the throat showing his teeth as he struggled out of his grasp he came running back to the village.
Gothar was braught to the Hag mother who tended his wounds for a full month.Nobody was allowed into the den during this time and only his mother and sister was allowed to bring them food to be left at the door.
After the month was up Gothar came out a changed man. For a man he was , nobody could deny. His boyish movements were replaced by the movement of a hunting animal. Clumsy motions were replaced with fluid gestures. For reasons of his own Gothar spoke to nobody of his tribe as he left into the autum night with only a look over his shoulders towards his mother who had always been there and his eldest sister Lanka who was always his childhood companion. Off he went while the tribe looked on in silence all knowing that he was truely the son of the battle rager.
