Svanja Halmusdottir

Landswoman Svanja Halmusdottir

This landswoman may as well have been a dwarf! A thick head like the wholelot of them and she never was afraid to get her hands dirty. She loved the forges and was fascinated by the works of the dwarfes and she was always good for a hearty laughter.
But when that war came, she changed. Not sure if to the better, she got harder. She got formed in the forge, the Dwarves said. All she needs is a polish to shine, and she will be great. But that she got lost before that could have happend. Let me tell you, she already was great, the best landswoman the villages in the whole area have ever seen.

— Halef Timmson,
Militia leader of Steynfurt about Svanja Halmusdottir

Early Life

Svanja Halmusdottir grew up as the daughter of Halmus Umanson, the Landsman of the village Steynfurt. As his only child, she soon showed great promise and interest in most things concering leadership and specifically dwarven crafts. As a child, only seven winters old, she was part of a trade mission to the Dwarves of Clan Dinitur, where she learned in the two years she was there to craft tools with the use of her magic.


She returned and prooved highly skilled in this craft as well as in teaching and adapting it to the working of wood. She would later lay the foundation of magically enhancing wood for more stable structures within the nation of Ederos.

Rising to leadership

When she was 14, her father died during a border skirmish and she and her mother lead their village together.


With 17, Svanja completely started ruling on her own and managed to forge trade alliances with several smaller villages, which would later result in the kingdom of Steynfirn.

Conflict with maurauding Orcs

This trade alliance was put to the test in her 24th winter, as a raiding horde of Orcs came unexpectedly from the north.


In the following skirmishes, the Orcs were repelled, under heavy casualties. Unfortunately, Svanja was one of them. She died days after the last battle from her wounds, lying in the arms of her husband.


Legendary is the tale that after the final battle, already mortally wounded, she demanded the commander of the retreating Orcs to appear before her. Not only did all three commanders of the Orcs follow her call, she reportedly managed to negotiate a lasting truce and the Orcs were then leaving without further maurauding. Unfortunately she never lived to see the arrival of the subsequent emissary.

Legacy

Svanja's accomplishements and legacy were twofold.
Politically she layed the foundation for successfull negotiations with the marauding orcs with her sacrifice - which would later lead to fortifying the dominance of the kingdom of Steynfirm within Ederos but also open up to a contact and alliance with a small dragon clan.

Additionally, her introduction of magically based woodworking was carried on as part of her memory and quickly developed into a very honed skill, unique to Ederos, even surpassing the woodworking skills of some elven tribes. This gave the economy of Ederos, that was lacking controll over the resource rich mountains to the south, a well needed boost and enabled it to fortify against Rhomedan in later conflicts.

Species

Human

Life

1098 AR 1122 AR 24 years old

Gender

female

Eyes

light brown eyes with an always curious look

Hair

Long auburn hair, usually braided into a bun.

Entry for WorldEmber: December 2017

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