Skjaldmeyjar

When Odin called for warriors to aid him in his battles against the frost giants, Grim Haraldsen was one of the first to answer. Devoted to the one-eyed god, he fought in the wastes of Jötunheimr for three full years before returning with tales of valor that enraptured his entire clan. Barely months later, the call to arms came again and Grim followed, but this time with a heavy heart as he left his now pregnant wife behind. He did not fare as well in his battles and he was struck down. Even as the lifeblood drained from his body, his faith never wavered. Calling to the Allfather, he begged not to save his own life, for he had died a warrior’s death, but to aid his unborn child. As the last breath escaped his body, he heard a whispered, “It is done.”   Aesa Grimsdotter’s life was always a charmed one and by the time she could hold a sword she already exhibited skills greater than any boy twice her age. By her sixteenth winter, Aesa had already established herself as an equal to any warrior in the clan, but she was eager to prove herself capable of even more. Setting off to hunt by herself, she became lost in a snowstorm that started without warning, and for two hours she huddled behind some rocks as the cold bit at her flesh. Stopping as quickly as it started, the blizzard eased and Aesa found herself greeted by two ravens circling overhead. Somehow she knew that they were trying to tell her something and when they flew away from her, she knew they were trying to lead her somewhere and it was her destiny to follow.   For two more hours she trudged through the fallen snow before finding the ravens pecking at what appeared to be a small stone box half buried in the ground. Prying it open she found a hammer, its metal gleaming unnaturally in the sun. As she picked it up she felt a surge of power jolt through her body, she grew more muscular and she gained knowledge of powers she had gained, she finally knew who she was, Odin’s Shieldmaiden.   From that day onward, Aesa’s life was different. She threw herself into her new role, and even after the gods retreated to their own plane, she continued to praise their name in battle. In the 1st century she fought against the Romans, in the 8th century she lead raids on London, but after fighting in the Norwegian civil war of 1130 C.E. she found that with her clan long gone, she no longer knew if the country she once loved truly existed anymore. Deciding she would be better suited living alone, she withdraw to a small cabin in the mountains, vowing to spend the rest of her life there.   That changed in 1940 as the Nazi war machine rolled across Europe, when Norway faced invasion—even after declaring itself neutral. Travelling to Oslo, Aesa offered her services to the government and for two months she proved her worth fighting alongside the resistance, but by June it seemed inevitable the Nazis would win and she was asked to escort King Haakon VII and several officials as they escaped to London, England, a place she had last seen 800 years prior. The operation was a success, and while the exiles helped organize the resistance against the Nazis’ now-collaborative Norwegian government, Aesa, under the name Skjaldmeyjar, teamed up with the Allies of Freedom, Britannia, and several others to help defend the UK, saving the life of Winston Churchill on at least two occasions.   After the war, Aesa returned to Norway and inspired by her allied friends, continued her heroic career fighting against the forces of SHADOW, particularly Ragnarok, who she saw as a dark reflection of herself. The fight continues to this day, with Ragnarok’s obsession with Aesa greater than ever. SHADOW built a second European base of operations on Soroya Island several years ago, and Ragnarok convinced Overshadow to allow him to run it. Naming it Hammerheart, he oversees SHADOW’s plans for Europe, but his secondary motivation is to bring Skjaldmeyjar down, even if it takes all the forces he has on hand to do so.