Ragnhildr Vésteinsdóttir Brimskelda

"When all Suðya bows to one ruler, it is united and it is strong. We have been weak for too long - I will make us strong again."

— Ragnhildr Vésteinsdóttir Brimskelda

Ragnhildr Vésteinsdóttir Brimskelda is the queen of Suðya, both by lineage and through victory in battle. Although she is a direct descendant of Suðya's founder Vésteinn Brimvargr, her family had fallen from power by the time she was born. As a child, she burned with resentment at her line's disinheritance and swore to return the children of Vésteinn to Suðya's throne. The kingdom had long been torn by internal strife, and generations of civil war had driven it far from the height of its power two centuries earlier. Ragnhildr fought to restore the Kingdom of Suðya to its former glory and demanded that all its lords either bow to her or perish.

Early Life

Ragnhildr was born into war. The Jarls of Suðya fought one another over an empty throne, and no claimant held it for more than a few months before being deposed. They had recently lost their last scrap of overseas territory when the Kingdom of Bernicia seized the island of Hersey, depriving the Suðyar of a valuable base. This loss, added to all the others of the previous two centuries, became a weapon in the Jarls' rivalries, as each accused the others of the disloyalty and folly that had brought Suðya low.

These conflicts claimed Ragnhildr's father Gunnar before she turned nine. Her mother had died earlier, after a long illness brought on by Ragnhildr's birth. She was passed from one family member to another but found no home that would keep her for long. She was too wild, too angry, and too willful for any of her kin. At fourteen, she left Löngeyja entirely and traveled to Eyju, where she joined the crews of various Drekkamen of the Reginnsþjóð, raiding across the Northeastern Region for treasure in Reginn's name. There she learned to fight, and more importantly, she learned to lead. She even forged an alliance with the greatest of all the Drekkamen raiders, Jarl Gunnar Bloodaxe.

Blood and Steel

With Bloodaxe's support, Ragnhildr returned to Löngeyja intent on becoming its ruler. She began calling herself Vésteinsdóttir to emphasize her connection to her mighty ancestor. She gathered support from a few of the Jarls of the north and then marched south. Her army was small, but at its core stood Bloodaxe's raiders, veterans of a hundred battles and many blessed with the exceptional strength and stamina of the Drekkamen. Ragnhildr herself became a legend on the battlefield during that campaign, a descended Valkyrie who cut down all within reach of her blade. Their victories drew support from those who had remained uncommitted, and her army grew rapidly. By the time they reached Stjórnavágr, the capital of Suðya, she had more than tripled her numbers. The stories of her prowess had already spread and weakened the resolve of her foes. Some even claimed that she had somehow renewed her ancestor's ancient bargain with Grianfhear of the Kailish Stones and that the Skuggabjorn lurked in the shadows at her command.

The battle for Stjórnavágr was brief. Someone, whose identity has never been discovered, opened a gate into the city, and Ragnhildr's forces surged through. Within hours they had defeated all who chose to resist, and many among the city's defenders fled, surrendered, or joined her. Over the next two years, Ragnhildr swept across the rest of Löngeyja, hunting down all who refused to swear fealty to her as queen and finally beheading the last of the defiant Jarls in 3980. Since then, she has ruled unopposed and has turned her mind to future plans and to the further restoration of Suðya's ancient glory.

Queen of the Isles

At the height of Suðya's power they ruled more than half of the Eileanan an Iar and even threatened to conquer parts of Ynys itself. Ragnhildr aims for this and more. She intends to become the Queen of the Isles, ruling all islands within reach of her fleet. Her alliance with Jarl Gunnar Bloodaxe remains strong, and for seven years the ports of Löngeyja have stayed open to the Reginnsþjóð while they raid throughout the Ynys Archipelago. In the five years since pacifying Löngeyja she has focused on rebuilding Suðya's forces, which had been drained by generations of internal conflict, and it seems likely that she will soon move to expand her domain.