Troublemakers At A Viking Wedding

I used the following NPCs in our Vikings & Valkyries campaign. With all the shenanigans going on, it took quite some time until I had to introduce other name-worthy characters (except for Guldnar and Grimhulda, a vicious dragon and a conspiring witch, respectively). A measly statline for B/X type of games is also provided.

Jarl Olaf Gunnbjörn – The father

• Fighter 4; AC 4 banded mail; Atk 1 broad sword 1d8
• An experienced warrior in his 40s, the leader of the settlement. He has long, well-groomed auburn beard and mustache; his eyes, once sparkling with life and vigour, are old and sad, which he tries to hide with drinking and the occassional womanising.
• He wants Ingrid to marry Varghöss for the sake of his people; he is afraid of what would happen if the two families maintained their rivalry, having lasted for generations already.

Fridha – The mother

• HD 1; AC 9 unarmoured; Atk 1 dagger 1d4
• Olaf's wife; not young anymore, but still beautiful. She has braided ash brown hair and eyes as blue as the sea.
• She does everything to stop the marriage between Ingrid and Varghöss, for it's only her who knows the terrible truth that Ingrid and Varghöss are half-siblings. For obvious reasons, she will not share this information with anyone willingly.

Faraldr Eriksson – The uncle

• Fighter 4; AC 5 chain mail; Atk 1 long sword 1d8
• Older brother of Fridha and Olaf's right hand. He has short brown hair and finely trimmed beard.
• He has no malicious intentions, but he may come off as obnoxious and paranoid, as he does everything in his power to keep the perceived integrity and renown of Jarl Olaf.
• He is also very protective of his sister, Fridha, for very much the same reasons.

Ingrid Olafsdottir – The bride

• HD 1; AC 9 unarmoured
• Olaf's astonishing older daughter. She has flowing blonde hair, and she wears pretty colourful clothes.
• She doesn't want to marry Varghöss, but she complies with her father's will.
• Unbeknownst to her (and basically everyone except Fridha), she is  the daughter of the same Sigurd as Varghöss, making them half-siblings.

Helvi Olafsdottir – The sister

• HD 1; AC 9 unarmoured; Atk 1 dagger 1d4
• Olaf's younger daughter. She wears her raven-black hair in ponytail, and her eyes look as innocent as a doe's.
• Underneath the soft appearance hides a wild and free-spirited Helvi, who doesn't want to have a life like her mother's or sister's.
• She yearns for travel and adventure, although her ideas of it are more romanticised than realistic.

Varghöss Sigurdsson – The groom

• Fighter 3; AC 5 chain mail; Atk 1 broad sword 1d8
• A young, handsome warrior with long light brown hair, short brown beard, and deep green eyes. He is the adopted son of Sigurd, ruler of a neighbouring settlement.
• He is engaged to Ingrid Olafsdottir, and while he understands the reasons why he must marry her, he fears she won't bear a son for him ("Just like her mother couldn't", he points out).

Amundr Björgvinsson – The best man

• Fighter 2; AC 6 scale mail; Atk 1 broad sword 1d8
• A tall man with dark brown hair and eyes; he is young but looks older because of his long beard. He is a good friend of Varghöss.
• He carries a precious family heirloom, a silver-bladed broad sword with a ruby in its pommel (worth 1,000 gold pieces in total).

Three Witches

[I've had short descriptions of weird characters and locations like this for quite some time; I think I'm going to slowly publish them on the blog, unless I find a better way of sharing them]

Anna lives in a castle that stands on a seaside cliff. She's always spying the surrounding lands through the eyes of her birds, and she herself is capable of turning into a bird. They say she's keeping a beautiful princess captive in the highest room of the tallest tower.

Esther lives in a tumbledown cottage in the Thornwoods. During the day, she wanders the forest in the form of a nice old lady, looking for weeds, roots, and mushrooms for her concoctions. When the night falls, she turns into a beautiful maiden. Moonlight, however, reveals her true self.

Mary is always on the move, interested only in the pleasures of the flesh: she seduces young men and, having laid with them, devours them. If caught red-handed, she escapes easily on her flying broomstick. Once every lunar month she writhes in torment for hours, at the end of which she spawns a gluttonous swarm of insects.