#runecaster

This is Vanessa Hopings. I made her for Runecaster, which is a really fun indie ttrpg with a really cool magic system. You should support trans artists and check it out!

✨Regular + glowy magic version✨

Accidentally spelled chestnut as chestnute………

Manaforge by

Norsery Rhymes from A to Z Happy Thorsday - Egill Skallagrimson, The Poet Berserker Runecaster Well here we are another Thor’s Day and another 20 min sketch of a Norse (and Germanic) mythological characters.  This week it’s Egil / Egill Skallagrimson mentioned in the Egil’s Saga that included a mythical telling of the life of the real man.

Hi name has been translated to ‘Awe’, or ‘Fear’, or ‘dread’ combined with ‘edge’ or ‘point’ of a weapon. Which unlike the farmer Giant Egil who shares his name, where the meaning had the context of being afraid of the sword. Egill here is meant to imply the use of the sword, and that others should be afraid of his blade’s edge.

With his last name being not a family name but the name of his father. The name meant Skull, or bald skull from Skalli /Skalla and Face masked Helmet from Grimr. All together implying a head like like a helmet.

His father was Skallagrím Kveldulfsson and mother Bera Yngvarsdóttur, with a very large and well documented family line that’s too big to go into here beyond mentioning his brother Thorolf Skallagrímsson and that he had 5 children, most prominently his daughter Thorgerd Egilsdottir.    

He was described has having an overly large, misshapen, and hard head, that has led many today to believe he might have had Paget's disease.

Egill's quick temper and Berserker nature lead to many violent interactions when he felt insulted or done wrong.

The first instance of this when he was a child, some local boys cheated him badly which led to him taking bloody vengeance on their heads with his axe.

And when his wife was denied her inheritance he challenged, fought and killed everyone responsible, down to the last one who he killed by biting into his neck.

He also after feeling insulted and killing King Erikr and Queen Gunnhildr's friend launched a long running feud from her and her family that saw her sending assassins' after him and lead to Egill eventually killing members of her family, including her son who came after him. Which led Egil and his brother, who had been a friend of the Queens' up until that point, to be exiled once her family member Erik Bloodaxe becomes king as well.

On leaving, he curses the land and it's people using a Nithing or Nidstang Pole that combines spoken spells, and rune magic, with a horse's head on a pole. The curse would make the people unsatisfied and have troubles until the King and Queen are dead or exiled. But Gunnhilder curses him as well to feel restelss and unhappy until they meet again. Both these things happen, and the King and Queen are forced to leave in exile themselves, while Egill is miserable in his wandering.

This all ends when Egill, asks for forgivness for himself and his brother, while all are in exile. Presenting two epic Drapa poems, the first an short apology, and the second one a long, complicated and impressive one that priases the King and Queen, and tell their histories, stories, deeds and majesty so impressively that they felt he could not be harmed. Leaving Egill and his brother being forgiven and all curses lifted from all involved.

He then fights for the English King Aethelstan, who compensates and pays him two chests of silver, after his brother dies in the battle.

He was a successful raider of the Eastern route through Scandinavia and Rus gaining him a lot of wealth earlier in his life. On returning home with his silver, he built up his farm and fortune and became a powerful politician, poet, and rune caster. He also used his magic to block poison, remove curses, and to heal others. Writing poetry throughout his life which is considered to be some of the finest ever written of the type and time. Growing to be a respected elder who was a force of nature even after he went blind. 

Few would deny the power of the written word. To inspire, to stir, to incite. But some people take this a step further. For these individuals, “the pen is mightier than the sword”, is no mere saying, but a literal truth. Drawing on the magic inherent in words and symbols, these sages wield their ancient and unique powers to change the world.

Penny, Rune Caster 🇱🇷

Lawful Good

When libraries burned in the wars that passed, the world was focused on surviving, rising again. Penny had once been a teacher of history and magical literature, but in those gray times there was no place for her. Penny then decided to travel the world, recruiting people who want scholarship, and passing on the information she has to future generations, allowing history not to be lost in time. Penny knows the reasons for the wars, and she has faith that with her help she can raise awareness. Will Penny be enough for humans not to repeat the mistakes of the past?

Penny, Rune Caster 🇧🇷

Leal e Boa

Quando as bibliotecas queimaram nas guerras que passaram, o mundo estava focado em sobreviver, se reerguer. Penny outrora fora uma professora de história e literatura mágica, mas nesses tempos cinzas não havia lugar para ela.