Hjalvar, Bard of the North's page

Weight Loads 58/116/175

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Special Abilities
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Bardic Knowledge +1 (Ex) Add +1 to all knowledge skill checks.
History of Heresy +1 save vs. divine spells
Skald's Vigor (Fast healing 2) While maintain raging song, gain Fast Healing 2.
Extra Performance: 6 extra rounds/day of Raging Song
Raging Song (standard action, 6 rounds/day) (Su) Song can inspire allies in a variety of ways.

Raging Songs known:
Weapon Song (Su)
At 1st level, the spell warrior can grant a +1 enhancement bonus to the weapons (including ammunition) of allies within 60 feet. At 5th level and every 5 levels thereafter, this enhancement bonus increases by 1. The maximum bonus gained is based upon the number of weapons affected: +5 to one weapon, +4 to two weapons, +3 to three weapons, or +2 to four or more weapons. Fifty pieces of ammunition count as one weapon for this purpose.
These bonuses can also be used to add any of the following weapon special abilities to the weapons enhanced by this ability: dancing, defending, distance, flaming, frost, ghost touch, keen, mighty cleaving, returning, shock, seeking, or speed. Adding these weapon special abilities consumes an amount of bonus equal to the special ability's cost (see Table: Melee Weapon Special Abilities). These enhancement bonuses and special abilities overlap with any enhancements or special abilities the weapon already has, though duplicate special abilities do not stack. If an affected weapon is not magical, at least a +1 enhancement bonus must be added before any other special abilities can be.
The bonus and special abilities granted by this raging song are determined when the song begins, and cannot be changed until the raging song ends and another is begun. These bonuses apply to only one end of a double weapon.

This ability replaces the inspired rage raging song.

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Physical Description:

-Five ells tall, taller than your average man.
-A rotund belly from too much time spent in various inns and cook houses.
-Icy gray eyes
-Pale skin and a paler white mane and beard, thick as a a smith's arm.
-Rings of various metals (copper, tin, iron, bronze, steel) that hold thick braids in his beard together toward the ends.
-Scarred hands and arms from years of smithing and fishing
-Prefers his furs and threads on the expensive side, but pragmatically wears what is prudent.

Backstory:

19 years ago Hjalvar was born to a smith and his wife in the fishing village of Jarlsnet. Melvikh was the smith's name; he was also the high priest and therefore a village elder in the eyes of most. As a devout of Tyr, Lawgiver of the gods, Hjalvar's father was as strict and unforgiving as the winter storms themselves. Tyr also being the god of war heavily influenced the way of life for every villager. Fish and cold steel, that was the Jarlsnet way. The lad grew up among hardworking and pious folk and for a time he grew to be of like mind.

As the boy bloomed into a young man, Melvikh slowly became aware that his son had a knack with words and a way with people. Young Hjalvar could recite the sagas with a flourish that his father had never achieved, even in his advanced years and experience. The high priest was secretly envious of his son's oratory abilities but mostly encouraged him onward with the expectation that he, Hjalvar, would someday take his father's place as a man of the cloth.

Young Hjalvar grew to abhor the seemingly boring ways of his people and their strict adherence to the code of Tyr. Under constant scrutiny of the villagers and the ever-present eyes of his patron, it wasn't long before the brash youth began to lash out in ways unbecoming of the high priest's first born. His behavior turned from bad to worse, eventually spilling over into the blasphemous. Hjalvar's slick tongue had a special way of making his people's religion appear foolish, and he used his talents often to undermine his father's position.

On the boy's 16th name day he had challenged his father's priesthood and his ability to lead the village. Such a blemish to a father's honor was tantamount to treason and called for nothing short of trial by combat. On the night before Hjalvar was to do battle with Melvikh he came to realize that he loved his father much more than he hated the gods, and so made the decision to slip out into the night, leaving his village and his boisterous troubles behind. Gazing into a pond on the first morning after his departure, he saw that all of his hair - his mane and lush beard both - had gone stark white, as punishment from the gods for his heresy. He looked upon a man who appeared as an elder, not the young man who he was inside.

In the following years Hjalvar traveled the coastline, using his skills as a smith and a fisherman to fill his belly and earn some meager coin. He soon came to see that his skills at oration earned him more than a larger bag of coin -- it earned him respect and admiration. It wasn't long before he was making connections, and one such connection led him into a the service of a great Jarl, one Ubba Lothbrok. Hjalvar was given the honor and title of huscarl, soldier and protector of Audun Lothbrok, son of Ubba.

Audun sent the young Hjalvar to war, fighting as a ship's first mate in the conflict with the Romans who occupied Brittania. He was leading men into battle that were thrice the warrior he was, but he had earned their respect through his ability to inspire them to fierce greatness -- to bring their blood to a boil in the midst of battle.

One fateful day he and his men sailed to the British Isles, intent on driving the Romans across the sea back to where they had come from...